When Jesus gave us the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20, it is clear that it was a mandate for then, for now, and until the end of time as we know it. At least once in each of the three verses Jesus used the word “all,” and in the third verse, He also used the word “always”. Let’s look at it…

18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

He said all, all, all, and always, Amen? By the way, He also said that it would be “to the end of the age” or the end of time. That lets us know that Christ’s mandate was for then, for now, and until He returns. Titus 2:11-14 gives us an example of what the gospel produces in all who believe when it says…

11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

The priority of the gospel of God’s grace, which is Jesus Christ Himself, is the distinctive marker of this age we call grace and truth. Do you really want to do something about all of the social and political injustice everywhere? Stay true to seeing souls saved. But remember, though grace is free, the truth often hurts…

In this show, I want to discuss with you the insidious hindrance to the gospel that is increasing in strength and scope. As a result of all of the emotionally driven focus on the social ills of our society, people are being duped into their own sorts of political and social gospels. Much of these things are only serving to perpetuate and exacerbate the lack of soul-saving influence that many Christians and local churches are having on the lost. John Wesley said of Christians that, “You have only one business on earth—to save souls.” I wholeheartedly agree.

Dr. Tony Evans said in response to the Parkland, Florida school shooting that, “the further you remove God, the more chaos fills the vacuum. Its as simple and as difficult as that.” And one can get no further away from God in this life than not being saved. Chaos is at work in all of this strife in America because people need God in their hearts. It’s that simple. But the difficult part is, most people can’t handle the truth. But did Jesus give us an out-clause? Did He say only to preach the gospel during fair weather?

We must not allow anything to even come close to taking priority over spreading the gospel of salvation from sin. Keep coming at these problems with all the cookie-cutter committees and coalitions instead of faithfully presenting the gospel of salvation, and don’t be surprised when we keep getting the same destructive results. We must admit that much of what we’ve been doing is putting the proverbial cart before the horse. We’ve been trying to solve social ills the world’s way. And that just doesn’t work! Its time for some much-needed adjustment…