"Believed On In The World"     

I Timothy 3:16

 

     The Lord Jesus Christ is God "manifest in the flesh." God the Son came into the world as a man. He died under the penalty of sin as the Substitute for God's elect. He was raised from the dead, thereby being "justified in the Spirit." In all this he was seen, watched, and reverently observed by the holy angels. This Christ is the subject of all true preaching. In the book of Acts, which records the preaching ministry of the church during the apostolic era, the words "preach", "preached", and "preaching" are used thirty-seven times. Every time the theme of preaching is the Lord Jesus Christ. He was and is, by divine appointment, preached unto the Gentiles - PREACHED IN HIS TWOFOLD CHARACTER as God and man, the only mediator between God and men (I Tim. 2:5-6) - PREACHED AS THE ONLY AND ALL-SUFFICIENT SACRIFICE FOR SIN (Heb. 10:1-14), the only one by whom sin could be put away and the one who has effectually put away the sins of his people by the sacrifice of himself (Heb. 1:3; 9:26; Rom. 5:19; II Cor. 5:21). As our sins were imputed to him, so his righteousness has been imputed to us! As he was made to be sin for us, so we are made the righteousness of God in him. - PREACHED BY ALL WHO FAITHFULLY PREACH THE GOSPEL (I Cor. 2:2). All true preachers in every age have preached Christ crucified. In the Old Testament all the prophets spoke of him. In the New Testament all the apostles spoke of him. Today all true preachers preach him constantly. He who preaches the Book of God preaches the Son of God. "And," Augustus Toplady wrote, "he will still be preached to the end of time, as long as there is one elect sinner uncalled, and until all the vessels of mercy are brought to the saving knowledge and love of himself."

     This blessed Christ who was preached unto the Gentiles, was, and is, and shall be until the end of time, "BELIEVED ON IN THE WORLD." The Spirit of God makes the preaching of Christ crucified the means by which sinners are converted. Christ alone is the Object of faith, and the preaching of Christ crucified is the means by which faith is granted to sinners (John 3:14-15; 12:32; Rom. 10:17). Through the preaching of the gospel God the Holy Spirit gives faith to the chosen.

 

 

Don Fortner