Proclaiming Christ

Today, people are standing up and being counted for many things. In fact, I am amazed at the perverse, even horrendous things people will speak up for and what some are even willing to die for. Yet here we are with the life-changing message of the gospel, and often we hide in shame or are embarrassed by what we have to say. But it is time for us to stand up and be counted as well. Jesus said, “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38).

In the first-century, the thought of Jesus dying on the cross was scandalous to the Jews. The Greeks, who prided themselves on their cultural and intellectual attainments, thought it was nonsense. But the apostle Paul said, “We preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:23–24).

Are you ashamed of the simple message of the gospel? I hope you’re not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, because God’s righteousness is revealed in it. You see, we have our own sense of righteousness and our own sense of what is right and wrong. But God’s righteousness is a lot different than ours. It is only at the cross that the righteous requirements of the law and of God are satisfied. It is impossible to fulfill them apart from the cross. So it is through the gospel that the righteousness of God is revealed.