How does God reach the people of the world?

A better question might be to ask, "How does God use us to reach the people of the world?" My first impression is that God reaches people through the preaching of His word. Romans 10: 14-15, How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!"

We have seen this over and over in our study of Acts. Every time that Peter, John, Stephen, or any of the disciples preach the gospel, the church grows. We see the church go from 12 in chapter 1, to 3000 in chapter 2 (after Peter preaches), to 5000 in chapter 4 (after Peter preaches), and 5:14 says "multitudes were added." After being commanded not to preach the gospel at the end of chapter 5, we see that they v42. "did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ." Then……..what does the beginning of chapter 6 start out with???? verse 1 says "Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying" Why were they multiplying? They were multiplying, because the disciples were preaching "Jesus as the Christ." After the death of Stephen when the church started to get persecuted heavily, what do we see the church doing as they are scattered? Acts 8:4 says, "Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word."

I can hear you now, "Alright Brian. We understand that they preached. Let's get to it. What is your point?" My point is this. "How many times do you ever hear Christians preach the gospel? I know that I am around a lot of them. Almost all of my friends and the people I hang out with are Christians. How many times do I do it? The fact is that all of us try to use the "lifestyle evangelism approach," or the "waiting for the Holy Spirit" to open the door excuse. This is something that has been laid on my heart for a long time now. (30 minutes is a long time to me. Anyone who knows me can tell you this.) I need to be purposeful in my preaching of the gospel. I need to set aside time, I need to get in my car, I need to get some tracts, I need to get a PA system, I need to do something so that I can get in front of lost people and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ with my mouth.
People don't care how I live. They can just look at my life 5 years ago, if they knew me, and use that as an excuse to blow my "lifestyle evangelism" off. To live a good and moral life has become something that the world comes to expect from Christians. To see a Christian living a pure and righteous life does set them apart from the world and bring Glory to God, but the preaching of the gospel so that lost souls can be saved is the one act of obedience that I believe God loves the most. You are never more of a representative for Christ than when you are sharing the message of our Lord and Savior Jesus with a lost and dying world.

I have said this before, and I believe it with all of my heart. God gives each person a ministry in which they can share the gospel with lost people. Whether it is at the mall, on the streets open air preaching, teaching Awanas, raising your lost children, inviting your lost neighbors to dinner and sharing the gospel with them, taking the Christmas story out to neighborhoods with the church on the 20^th of this month, singing Christmas carols to the elderly and then sharing the gospel with them. I could go on and on and on.
What is your ministry? I would love to get a list of ministry ideas. These would be ministries in which the gospel is clearly presented to lost people. Maybe this would help people get some ideas in case they don't have a ministry yet.

Brian Davis
The wretch who was made free by the blood of Jesus

An Apparent Contradiction from Paul and James in Romans 3-4 and James 2

This topic has come up again, so I went back looking for a discussion board that I wrote on the topic from my Exegetical Studies class on the book of Romans. For the next few weeks, I will be taking a look back at this subject, and (hopefully) posting more here. This is a great opportunity to slow down, and really consider the implications of both sides of the topic. Open discussion or comments on the subject are more than welcome.

Paul's thesis for this section of Scripture is that we are seen as righteous, justified before God apart from the law. Paul builds his case for this thesis using Abraham and what takes place in Genesis 15. In the beginning of Chapter four, Paul introduces Abraham into the conversation. In this diatribe, Paul turns the table onto the Jews that he is addressing. After making the bold statement that "man is justified by faith apart from observing the law," (Romans 3:28) He then asks his audience what Abraham "discovered in this matter." (Romans 4:1) Paul then uses the passages from Genesis 15:6 and Psalm 32:1-2 to show how Abraham was seen as righteous without the law. Specifically, he was seen as righteous before he was circumcised. This righteousness came because of his belief, his faith, that God would keep His promise to give him a child and make him a great nation. Paul's conclusion is that Abraham is the spiritual father of Jews and Gentiles, and that salvation for all is available through faith alone in Jesus Christ.

The apparent contradiction between Paul and James in Romans chapters 3-4 and James chapter 2 was not something that I could easily reconcile at first glance. I know that there are many "contradictions" like this in the Bible, but when I can move out and interpret Scripture using Scripture, then I find that these passages can harmonize quite easily. When I find a hard verse, paragraph, or even chapter, I have to interpret that passage using what I know and understand from other clear passages of scripture that are on the same topic. It is clear what James says to use in chapter 2:17, "faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." Paul very clearly states that there is nothing that we can do to be seen as justified. So using that, and then reading on into James 2:18, I think we can see clearly that James was saying that our good actions will be proof of the faith that we have placed in Jesus.

Now it gets tougher, for me at least, when James starts talking about Abraham. James claims that Abraham was justified by his obedience to sacrifice Isaac (2:21). The statement that was made in Genesis 15:6 that "Abraham believed in God and it was credited to him as righteousness," was fulfilled in "what he (Abraham) did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?" (James 2:21) Verse 24 seems to take the whole subject even further in the opposite direction from Paul. "You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone." Even through all of this, James still quoted Genesis 15:6, which clearly states that Abraham was justified before his works. In James 1:17-18, James makes it clear that salvation is a gift from God, not anything that we can earn.
When James talks about works, I think that he is talking about the proof of our faith. In John MacArthur's commentary on James 2:21, he makes the statement that "James is emphasizing the vindication before others of a man's claim to salvation." I think that it is important to see that James does not say that God considered Abraham and Rahab righteous for their deeds. These deeds were demonstrations of their faith in God that could be seen as righteousness by others. This was evidence to everyone of their saving faith in God.