…but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Romans 5:8-11
I had a colonoscopy a few years ago. When I woke up from the procedure I was given bad news. They had removed a growth. The doctor told me that it was “the kind we worry about.” He said it would be biopsied and he would call me with the results in a few days. It took over a week and when he called it was good news, It was not malignant. If someone tells you, you don’t have cancer. It isn’t a big deal unless you’ve had some time to consider that you probably do have that dread disease.
The lesson here is that before there could be good news there had to be bad news.
We need to remember that lesson when we share the gospel. We are tempted to give the good news without first explaining that there is bad news. The bad news is that for an unsaved person the eternal destination is hell. The good news, of course, is that there is salvation through faith in Jesus. We so dislike giving bad news or hurting folks’ feelings that we try to jump right to the good news and destroy our witness.
There is no Easter without Good Friday. There is no resurrection without death. There is no salvation without repentance. If we sugar coat sin, we deny the lost a need for a savior. Relating less than the full gospel is worse than giving no gospel at all.
Share some bad news… then some good news and
Be blessed.
Nick
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