What is the gospel- What does it mean to be saved- What are we saved from- Who does the saving- Today there seems to be a lot of confusion among professing Evangelicals regarding these questions. Thus, in a time like this, we need to be clear about what is the gospel. As we study the importance of evangelism, as we encourage our members to go out and share the gospel with people, what are we asking them to share-exactly- This is where Galatians 3-10-14 is so critically important in our understanding of the gospel message.

When it comes to evangelism, so often we read all the right books, listen to all the right Podcasts, go through all the right training, and say all the right things when sharing our faith, with little or no results. This is because so often we are neglecting the most important link for effective evangelism.

The mission of the Church is the worship of Christ, which means to ascribe worth-ship to Christ, which means to exalt the glory of Christ, to exalt his magnificence. But how do we do that primarily- Matthew 28-16-20 is the key to answering that question.

As we watch the nightly news and see the mess our world is in, as we see the evil that is out there and how it just seems that things are getting worse, it seems no matter how hard we pray, no matter how hard we try, no matter how many churches get planted, no matter how many missionaries we send out, the world is just spiraling out of control. It can all seem so discouraging sometimes. Well here's where passages like this one can be so encouraging.

We live in a culture that is in the midst of the worst identity crisis in the history of the world. Men want to be women. Women want to be men. Up is down. Left is right, and both unbelievers and many believers have been so infected by our post-modern culture they are like fish who don't even know they are wet. The emperor has no clothes on and very few people realize it. Today many people have no idea who they are. This should not be true of the believer, and in this text, Peter wants to make sure that believers know who they are, that there is no question about their self-identity.

What right do Christians have telling anyone how to live their lives or why they should change the way they live- When we look back at the past and consider the atrocities that have been committed by Christians, how can we proclaim to the world Christ, and him crucified, when it is in the very name of Christ that so much evil has been perpetrated- Simply this- Our authority to proclaim the gospel is found in Christ and in his words, not in those who bear the name of Christ.

The apostle Paul was zealous for evangelism. During his approximately 35 years of ministry, Paul visited roughly 48 cities, by some estimates be planted somewhere between 14-20 churches, and traveled over 10,000 miles -mostly on foot-. He was driven to share the gospel with anyone, and here in this passage he shares four motivating factors that powered his zeal for evangelism.

In our world, greatness is defined by power or influence or strength or wealth or savvy, the ability to manipulate, control or influence the system or others in order to advance yourself or to advance your cause. But we serve a paradoxical God. One God who exist in three persons, who is transcendent and yet became a finite human, who is sovereign and yet was crucified by his own creation, who is all powerful and yet chooses to accomplish his will through weak, frail humans. We conquer by yielding. We reign by serving. We live by dying. We are made great by becoming small.

Christians need to stay mission focused. The Great Commission, our mission, is to go and make disciples of all nations, not go and make Conservatives of all nations or make Republicans of all nations or make pro-lifers of all nations or whatever. What people need more than anything is the gospel.