“Debtors for Christ”

In this time of much bad news, there is the good news which God has brought to us.  By reflecting on the gospel of Christ, we can have hope and peace in this time of great distress.  God’s word to all of us is good, even though certain barbarians spout off many words of bad.  In the words of the Apostle Paul, listen:

I am a debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians; both to the wise and to the unwise.

So as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to

               Everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

               For in it is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith; as it is written,

               “The just shall live by faith.”  (Romans 1:14-17 NKJV)

Paul understood the concept that all men and women are part of one another.  This is the great word of the gospel of Christ.  A person who has faith is obligated to share the good news with those who have no faith, regardless of who they are in high society, whether “a Greek”, considered well educated or “a barbarian,” at that time a vast uneducated lot, which was much of Roman society outside of the elite.

Paul says, “I am a debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians; both to the wise and to the unwise.  So as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.” (Rm 1: 14-15)

Paul declares himself in Christ joined to these people, so he has an obligation to share with the Gentiles the gospel of Christ, as he had previously done to his Jewish brethren.  It was only after being rejected by the Jewish people and being sent out by the church at Antioch that he began to focus on the whole of the Gentile world.

One of the primary distortions of the Christian message in the American culture has been the idea that salvation is simply a personal choice.  The redemption of Jesus is personal, individual and real!  However, the preaching of the good news has been inadequate by only emphasizing the vertical dimension of the cross, “me and Jesus.”  The cross has another dimension which is readily visible, the horizontal.  The horizontal dimension of the cross is my love and duty to my fellow human beings.  In order to be an authentic Christian believer, we also much be baptized and participate in the community of the universal Church (the “catholic church” of the Apostles’ Creed).  The church is apostolic in that it goes back to the beginning of the faith in Jesus (see Matthew 16:15-20).  The “rock” of the church is not Peter, but Peter’s confession of faith, when he said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God! (v.16).” This confession of faith unites all Christian believers throughout the whole world, regardless of race, creed or denomination!

[There is a third dimension of the cross, the z axis, or the internal axis, in which we are also called by God to love ourselves.  I will speak of this at another time.]

Those who work to separate the whole family of God from one another, by emphasizing divisions of color, ethnicity, national origin or lifestyle are not of Christ.  The church is about the formation of the bride of Christ (see The Revelation 7:4-12, Chapter 22 and Galatians 3:26-29).  Paul is completely clear when he says these words:

“For ye are all the sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

For as many of you have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female;

For ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

(Epistle to the Galatians 3:26-29 NKJV)

The New Jerusalem of John in The Revelation of John is a city made up of people from all nations.  Paul speaks of the “bride of Christ” (Ephesians 5:23-32) and says, “For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones” (v30).  Paul goes to great lengths to speak of the most complete human relationship known, husband and wife, in order to illustrate by comparison the more complete union with Christ, which believers in Christ have [in Christ].

The good news of the Gospel of Christ is that through faith in Christ we become members of one holy family of God, made up of persons from all races, nations, creeds, tribes, and nationalities.  Whatever divisions we may have emphasized in the past are now gone! When a person is baptized into the faith of Christ, they cannot claim division from others also baptized into Christ, for we are all “in Christ.”  The tower of Babel is torn down, the universal language of the Spirit is begun (Acts 2:1-21).  The “speaking in universal tongues” tore down divisions among all those in Jerusalem, no matter what their origin or race or creed.

The good news in this season of bad news is that Christians cannot be party to building walls to keep out refugees from other lands.  If we understand the gospel of Christ, we cannot turn away those seeking refuge from danger.  We can work for an orderly process, when there are so many.  But the ridiculous notion that a wall will keep out all the boogie men and women is so full of holes that even a child knows better than this.  As one senator said this week, “We are using a 4th century solution to a 21^st century problem.” (BBC News)  Surely we can do better than this!

A Christian who preaches and teaches the gospel of Christ to the world, both Gentile and Jew is necessarily responsible to address the glaring problems of our age.   We must speak the truth in love, even when there are those who may disagree with us.  The good news of Christ is really good news!

I would rather live and die welcoming others into the faith of Christ and his church, no matter what color, race, creed or nationality they may be, than become a hypocritical Christian, who only welcomes persons just like me.  Let us live and let us die by the words of the gospel of Jesus:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son [to the world], that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.”  (The Gospel of John 3:16-17 NKJV)

I challenge the reader to find anyone anywhere who is excluded from the Gospel of Christ.  By implication, all men, women and children are welcomed to come to Christ.  By extension, all Christians are obligated to welcome all those who come!

Rev. Bill Wilson, MD