Sunday, June 28
God provides opportunities daily for people everywhere to know Him. He moves upon their hearts through His Holy Spirit. He reveals Himself in the beauty and complexity of the natural world. The vastness, order, and symmetry of the universe speak of an infinite God with limitless wisdom and infinite power. He arranges circumstances or providences in our lives to draw us to Himself.
Although God reveals Himself through the impressions of His Spirit, the glories of nature, and acts of providence, the clearest revelation of His love is found in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. When we share Jesus with others, we provide them with their best opportunity to be saved.
Read Luke 19:10 and compare it with James 5:19, 20. What does Luke’s gospel teach about Christ’s purpose in coming to earth? How do we cooperate with Christ in His work of saving the lost?
According to James, “he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death” (James 5:20). The book of Romans amplifies this thought. In Romans 1 and 2, both the Gentiles who have seen God’s revelation in nature and the Jews who have received God’s prophetic revelation in Scripture are lost without Christ. In Romans 3-5, the apostle reveals that salvation comes by grace through faith alone. In Romans 6-8, he describes how the grace that justifies each believer is also sanctifying grace. In Romans 10, he states that “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13), and he then points out that none can call if they have not believed, and they cannot believe if they have not heard, and they cannot hear unless someone tells them (Romans 10:14, 15). We are God’s links in the plan of salvation to reach lost people with the glory of the gospel.
We do not witness to give people their only chance to be saved. We witness to give them their best chance. What is our role in God’s plan of redeeming the human race? Think about this, too: how many people have heard the gospel from your own lips?
