Living Letters

Christians are walking epistles, written by God and read by men. That means we’re the only Bible some people ever will read. They’ll form an opinion about God based on what they think of us.

Yes, that’s a lot of pressure, but we are His representatives. We can’t escape the fact that we’re examples. All that we determine is whether we’re good examples or poor ones. So we are to be examples to those who are watching us.

One thing that seems to permeate our society today is a sense of hopelessness. But as Christians, we have that hope. And we need to deliver it. We need to tell others there is hope in this world. There is purpose. There is meaning.

Writing to the church in Thessalonica, Paul said, “We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God’s Good News but our own lives, too” (1 Thessalonians 2:8 NLT). Paul understood that God called him not only to preach the gospel but to live it as well.

What’s more, Paul shared the entire gospel, not just part of it. He said, “I have fully presented the Good News of Christ from Jerusalem all the way to Illyricum” (Romans 15:19 NLT).

The problem we have today is that we sometimes edit the gospel. We leave out things that we think will offend people. But if we are going to share the gospel, we need to give the entire gospel.

Any gospel that promises the hope of Heaven without a warning about Hell is not the gospel. And any gospel that offers forgiveness from God without saying that we need to repent of our sins is not the gospel. The essential message of the gospel is Jesus Christ—Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That is the message we need to convey.