Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Reading the book of Acts, two things occur to me. First, this is the only book in the Bible where we see Christian preachers actually preaching the Gospel. Second, when you pay attention to that preaching, it bears only slight resemblance to the Gospel we hear today.
Many things that are preached, whether in our own churches, or by guest evangelists, or on television, simply do not appear in the preaching of Peter and Paul. I’m convinced those apostles would wrinkle their noses and wonder why we preach like we do.
Why don’t we sound more like them? Often, it’s because we have substituted half-truths for Gospel truth.
Here are some prominent examples. You will not find anyone in the Bible saying these things.
“Just ask Jesus into your heart.” No one in Scripture preaches this, and no one ever does this. We are never taught that the way to be saved is to invite Jesus into our hearts. But when we hear that someone did ask him this, we immediately pronounce the person saved. Help me out here. I can’t see how that makes any sense.
“Make Jesus the Lord of your life.” This gets closer, maybe, but you still won’t find any biblical preacher urging this. It’s not immediately obvious, especially to the person who is brand new to Christianity, what this would even mean. The truth is Jesus is Lord, with all authority. (Matt 28:18) Whether you want him to be or not, He’s already in charge. You don’t make him Lord. You don’t make him anything. The only question is whether you will obey him through faith, or go on doing your own thing.
“God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” I am not arguing with either concept there, but only highlighting something. That is, the Gospel preachers in Acts, never, not once, urged people to come to God through Christ by emphasizing his love for sinners.
Shockingly, not only was the love of God not emphasized in Acts, but the word “love” doesn’t appear at all in the entire book. The whole thing is about the spread of Christ’s Gospel and how it turned the world upside down, and they forgot to mention love. The modern Gospel, by contrast, focuses on love so much it reeks of sap and sentimentality.
What does the apostolic Gospel emphasize? Let me first point you to the Gospel messages preached in Acts 2:14-39; 3:12-26; 4:8-12; 10:34-43; 13:16-41; and 17:22-31.
Go ahead. I’ll wait here.
Certain themes and concepts are repeated in all these Gospel sermons. God has fulfilled the promises and prophecies of Scripture by sending Jesus to be the long looked-for Messiah. Though he did good and not evil, his own people rejected him. He was crucified, dead, and buried. He rose from the dead on the third day. God has made him the judge of all men. Now, eternal life and forgiveness of sins is found in his name. Repent (turn from your sins) and believe to escape the coming wrath of God.
It may not fit on a bumper sticker. But, this is the message that caused such great upheaval, both then and throughout history. It’s the only one that will continue to do so.
Gordan Runyan is the pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Tucumcari. Contact him at: