Can We Share the Gospel by our Lifestyle?

God means what He says and says what He means! My hermeneutics are “literal”, however, that being said…study the scriptures yourself and make up your own mind! Pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit…

Scriptures are from Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

Romans 10:11-15 “Now the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on Him will not be put to shame, ¹² for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, since the same Lord of all is rich to all who call on Him. ¹³ For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. ¹⁴ But how can they call on Him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without a preacher? ¹⁵ And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who announce the gospel of good things!

Jesus said to his disciples in Mark 16:15 “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation.

Luke 14:23 “Then the master told the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and lanes and make them come in, so that my house may be filled.

Who is the master and who is the slave in this parable.?

Romans 1:1 Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle and singled out for God’s good news—Romans 6:22 But now, since you have been liberated from sin and have become enslaved to God, you have your fruit, which results in sanctification—and the end is eternal life! We are told that we are God’s Slaves 1 Peter 2:16 As God’s slaves, live as free people, but don’t use your freedom as a way to conceal evil. Philippians 1:1 Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus: To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons.

Throughout the New Testament, it’s quite clear that the followers/disciples of Jesus are slaves and we’re expected to go out and share the Gospel! The Master of course is Jesus. He’s planning on having a full house of those who love Him.

According to my understanding, a disciple is a dedicated follower of a teacher…so like the original 12 disciples, as Christians, if we are dedicated to following Jesus, we also become HIS disciples (SLAVES). Putting that into context with all of the things that Jesus taught the original 12 disciples (APOSTLES) in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, can we truly preach the Gospel of Jesus and Salvation without mentioning sin, hell and the day of judgement? If we don’t mention these things, how will anyone realize what they’re being saved from? Can we truly expect people to recognize their need for a Savior if someone doesn’t inform them that they need to be saved? Can we really live a lifestyle that would make someone curious about why we’re so nice? My thoughts are that the answer to these questions is a resounding NO! I used to believe, partially because I was told by many Christians including Pastors, that there’s such a thing as “lifestyle Evangelism”. I’m sincerely questioning that concept now… I can’t find anyplace in the Bible that it says our commission is to live like a nice guy and others will figure it out. Some of the nicest people I’ve ever met are atheists, agnostics, Buddhists, nature worshipers, etc. Here’s the crux of the matter: THEY DON’T HAVE JESUS CHRIST ~ YESHUA HA MASHIACH(Hebrew) as their SAVIOR! I believe that I’ve failed in my commission if I don’t tell them about Jesus and what he did for mankind. His sacrifice of dying on the cross for “ALL” sins and our belief and repentence; we will not have to pay the price and the penalty of burning in HELL. Jesus has paid it ALL!

Acts 20:26-28 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of everyone’s blood, ²⁷ for I did not shrink back from declaring to you the whole plan of God. ²⁸ Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock that the Holy Spirit has appointed you to as overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood.

This was the Apostle Paul speaking to the church at Ephesus as part of his farewell speech because he was certain that he was never going to see them again. He was on his way to Jerusalem and hoped to arrive in time for the Pentecost, knowing full well that the Jewish authorities were planning on arresting him. Paul made it very clear that we must always be prepared to share the “WHOLE” plan of God with everyone. The elders of the church were there, but so was the entire church body, so I don’t think that we can say that his statement wasn’t inclusive of everyone listening.

Ezekiel 3:16-21 Now at the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁷ “Son of man, I have made you a watchman over the house of Israel. When you hear a word from My mouth, give them a warning from Me. ¹⁸ If I say to the wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ but you do not warn him—you don’t speak out to warn him about his wicked way in order to save his life—that wicked person will die for his iniquity. Yet I will hold you responsible for his blood. ¹⁹ But if you warn a wicked person and he does not turn from his wickedness or his wicked way, he will die for his iniquity, but you will have saved your life. ²⁰ Now if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and practices iniquity, and I put a stumbling block in front of him, he will die. If you did not warn him, he will die because of his sin and the righteous acts he did will not be remembered. Yet I will hold you responsible for his blood. ²¹ But if you warn the righteous person that he should not sin, and he does not sin, he will indeed live because he listened to your warning, and you will have saved your life.”

Doesn’t it make sense that what God said to the prophet Ezekiel pertains to disciples today? Ezekiel is the watchman over the house of Israel and Christians are watchman over today’s church with Jesus as the head. In Ezekiel’s time, faith wasn’t a common place term, as a matter of fact, faith is only mentioned 2 times in the OLD TESTAMENT…now that doesn’t mean that faith didn’t exist, after all, Abraham, Moses, David and many others displayed their faith in God by following his directives. The prophets such as Jeremiah, Isaiah, Daniel, Hosea, Malachi and many more all faithfully foretold of the coming Messiah. Even Psalms tell us of the resurrection of the Messiah. So the Israelite had faith that God’s prophets were telling the truth about the coming Messiah.

We who have Jesus Christ, the propitiation of the promise of the Messiah, must recognize that whether it’s in the Old Testament or the New Testament: God doesn’t change…He’s the same yesterday today and forever. So if He told Ezekiel to warn people about sin and tells them that he and they will die if He doesn’t tell them, then why would He expect anything different from believers today?

https://jesusamazinggrace.com/2020/05/03/the-plan-of-salvation/

Solomon writes in Proverbs 24:10-12 If you do nothing in a difficult time,
your strength is limited. ¹¹ Rescue those being taken off to death, and save those stumbling toward slaughter. ¹² If you say, “But we didn’t know about this,” won’t He who weighs hearts consider it? Won’t He who protects your life know? Won’t He repay a person according to his work?

Do you say to yourself, “let somebody else do it”? Do you think that as long as you believe that Jesus died for your sins, there’s nothing else for you to do?

Matthew 9:37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few.

Matthew 5:11-12 “You are blessed when they insult and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of Me. ¹² Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

John 14:6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

John 20:21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

1 Corinthians 10:31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for God’s glory.

Witnessing is a double bonus: It not only shows a fellow human the path to salvation, it helps you to learn more about God’s Word.

Philemon 1:6 “I pray that your participation in the faith may become effective through knowing every good thing that is in us for the glory of Christ.”

Colossians 1:10 “so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God.”

2 Timothy 2:15 “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth.”

2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness,”