In Sunday school my church is going through the Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689 (similar to the Westminster Confession of Faith).
This past Sunday we studied chapter 20: "Of the Gospel and of the Extent of the Grace Thereof."
That's seventeenth-century fancy talk for "the spread of the gospel."
We talked about the revelation of the gospel in a person's life, its necessity for salvation, God's sovereignty in deciding who receives this revelation, and its sufficiency to save us.
As we talked about the second paragraph in this chapter, Dad explained there were 3 implications of it. First, this is the paragraph (
updated by Founders Ministries to modern language
):
Th(e) promise of Christ and of salvation through him is revealed in the Word of God alone. The works of creation and providence, when assisted only by the light of nature, do not reveal Christ or grace through him, even in a general or obscure way. Much less are those without the revelation of him in the promise or gospel enabled to attain saving faith or repentance by seeing these works of God.
Based on the truths of this paragraph, here are the 3 implications Dad shared:
1. Nobody deserves to hear the gospel.
2. All who don't hear the gospel are lost.
3. Some people will never hear the gospel.
Just think on these implications, these truths.
And then, if I may be so bold, do two things: 1) pray for the lost (passionately, persistently, consistently) and 2) share the gospel (with your family and friends, yes, but with total strangers and people you barely know).
You and I did not deserve to hear the gospel. But God let us. Why would we want to hoard that glorious gift?