“16 For I am not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth;
to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17 For therein is the righteousness of God
revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” Romans 1:16-17
A “witness” is someone who attests to a fact,
so in order to be an effective witness for Christ, one must have first-hand
knowledge of Him. John the Apostle speaks of this in 1 John 1:1-3, when he says, “That . . . which we have seen with our eyes, which we
have looked at, and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word
of Life.” Today, we who have experienced new life in Christ give an account of
His love and forgiveness, both verbally and in the way, we live our lives.
Becoming effective witness for Christ begins
with understanding the theme of our witnessing which is Jesus Christ. Paul
defined the gospel as the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). If we are explaining the sacrifice of Christ, then we’re not really
sharing the gospel and witnessing cannot be effective. (“For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and
him crucified.” 1 Corinthians 2: 2; 9 That if thou shalt confess
with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath
raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation.” Romans 10:9-10 KJV) An important part
of this theme is the fact that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation, not
just one of many ways. “I am the way, the truth and the life. (John 14:6).
“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other names under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” Acts 4:12
“1 Moreover,
brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also
ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are
saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed
in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also
received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the
scriptures:” 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
"He that committed sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from
the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that he might
destroy the works of the devil." 1 John 3:8 KJV
This is the gospel we are to preach is that Christ came, He died, was buried and rose
again on the third day, in other to solve the sin problem of man. We must testify to the Gospel that Christ died for our sin (“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” Romans 3:23), the beginning of the sin of man from the first Adam,
the promise of the saviour as explained in the Laws and the prophets (Genesis 3:15, Isaiah 9, 53 etc. ), and the purpose of his death (John 1:29, 10:10, 1
John 3). We are to testify of
His burial and the importance of Christ resurrection. ("He was handed over to die
because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God."
Romans 4:25 NLT). That resurrection is
important in dealing with the sin problem and in eliminating sin from the world.
In becoming effective witnesses for Christ, we must understand that the
unadulterated gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation.
“16 For I am not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth;
to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17 For therein is the righteousness of God
revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” Romans 1:16-17
Meditation: Jesus chose 12 men and called them apostles.
He wanted these 12 to be with him, and he wanted to send them to other places
to preach. Mark 3:14 ICB
Prayer point: Pray that you (we) experience more of Jesus
Christ in your daily living so that you (we) can be an effective witness(es) for
Him.
To be continued…
