Who needs the gospel? We do!

Backing up to Romans 1:15 (NIV), it caught my attention that Paul said he was “eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome.” In other words, he wanted to preach the gospel to people that were already Christians. Why? He was writing to believers, so why did he say he wanted them to hear the gospel?

Bob Deffinbaugh suggests the following reasons:

(1) The gospel is never understood as fully by the Christian as it could and should be. We can never hear the gospel too often. We can never understand it too well.

(2) The gospel is constantly being distorted. In our own sin, we are inclined to distort it, both in its application to ourselves, and in our representation of it to others. The gospel as defined in Romans is a standard, against which we must constantly measure our own concept of the gospel. Romans is the perfect standard; ours is the imperfect.

(3) The gospel is not only that truth by which we are saved and that truth by which others are saved as we bear witness, it is also that truth which is the standard for our daily lives. Paul said to the Colossians, “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him” (Colossians 2:6).

As we consider others that need to hear the gospel in this week’s lesson entitled “Who Needs The Gospel? They Do!”, let’s not forget to consider ourselves. Present the above suggestions to your class and ask (1) how do we misunderstand the gospel?, (2) distort it?, (3) apply it daily as a plumb line for conduct in our lives?