So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. – Romans 1:15
Who is it for…and what is it for?
Those are 2 crucial questions to ask about any product, service or message that you’re hoping will bring about change.
Paul deals with both questions in the next verse when he says:
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. – Romans 1:16
Now here’s what I’d missed until today.
Many people think of the gospel as a tool for converting non-believers into believers.
But that’s not what it’s for.
The Gospel isn’t for the “non-believers”…it’s for those that believe.
It’s for those who arent yet born again who hear the message, believe, and then become born again.
It’s also for those who are born again, who hear the message, believe, and have their lives transformed by what they’ve heard.
In Romans 1:15 Paul is talking to believers whose “faith is spoken of throughout the whole world”. (Romans 1:8)
And he says that he is ready to preach the gospel to them.
A gospel that tells them that God isn’t angry with them…that there’s no condemnation for those who are in Christ…that Jesus became poor so that you could be rich…that your sins are forgiven…that you have a new nature and the old nature is dead…that by Jesus’ stripes you were healed…that God lives in you…
And if you’ll believe with your heart, and confess with your mouth, you’ll experience the power of God unto salvation in every area of your life.
That’s really good news.
That’s the gospel.
That’s what you may think you already know.
That’s what you need to believe in order to receive it.