Soul-Winning Motivator Podcast #162
Welcome to the Soul-Winning Motivator Podcast #162.
This is Daniel Whyte III, president of Gospel Light Society International. As always, it is so good to be with you today to challenge you, encourage you, exhort you, and motivate you to witness for the Lord Jesus Christ right where you are to those who are not believers in Christ. Even though we will share some instructions on how to witness for the Lord from time to time, we believe that most Christians do not need to learn how to witness for the Lord, they just need to go and do it; so our aim is more motivational than instructional.
Our soul-winning Passage from the Word of God today is 1 Corinthians 9:21 which reads: “To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.”
Allow me to share with you some insights regarding this Scripture from the Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable:
Likewise when Paul was with Gentiles (“to those who are without law”), he behaved as a Gentile (“as without law”). This would have involved eating what they did, among other things.
The references to law in this verse may be confusing. In describing Gentiles as being “without law,” Paul did not mean that Gentiles are totally lawless. He meant they were not under the Law of Moses like the Jews were.
Paul wanted his readers to understand that, even though he did not observe the Mosaic Law when he was with Gentiles (Gr. anomos), he was still under God’s authority (ennomos).
As a Christian, Paul was not under the Law of Moses, but he was “under the Law (law) of Christ”. The law of God for Jews, before the Cross, was the Law of Moses, but His law for Christians, in the present age, is the Law of Christ. The Law of Christ is the code of responsibilities that Christ and His apostles taught, which the New Testament contains. Some of the same commands are in the Mosaic Law, although the codes—the Mosaic Law and the Law of Christ—are not the same.
“This is one of the most difficult sentences in the epistle, and also one of the most important, for in it Paul shows how the new relation to God which he has in Christ expresses his debt of obedience to God.
Our soul winning quote today is from Vance Havner. He said: “It is not our business to make the message acceptable, but to make it available. We are not to see that they like it, but that they get it.”
Our soul winning devotional is part 27 of our series titled “The Master Plan of Evangelism” from Robert E. Coleman.
Consecration – The Proof of Love
Supreme obedience was interpreted to be the expression of love. This lesson was underscored most emphatically on the eve of His death. As the disciples gathered around Him in the upper room following the paschal meal, Jesus said: “If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments. . . . He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me; and he shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself unto him. . . . If a man love me, he will keep my word; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my words; and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me. . . . If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love. . . . This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you. Ye are My friends if ye do whatsoever I have told you”.
Demonstrated by Jesus
Absolute obedience to the will of God, of course, was the controlling principle of the Master’s own life. In His human nature He continually gave consent to the will of His Father, which made it possible for God to use His life fully according to its intended purpose. Repeatedly He sounded it out: “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to accomplish his work”; “I seek not my own will, but the will of Him that sent Me”; “I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in His love”. It could be summed up in His cry of Gethsemane: “Not my will, but thine be done”.
The cross was but the crowning climax of Jesus’ commitment to do the will of God. It forever showed that obedience could not be compromised—it was always a commitment unto death.
The worldly minded religious leaders stated the truth when they said in derision: “He saved others; Himself He cannot save”. Of course, He could not save Himself. He had not come to save Himself. He came to save the world. He came “not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many”. He came “to seek and to save that which was lost”. He came to offer Himself a sacrifice unto God for the sins of all people. He came to die. There was no other way that the inviolable law of God could be satisfied.
This cross, having already been accepted in advance, made each step that Christ took on the earth a conscious acceptance of God’s eternal purpose for His life. When Jesus therefore spoke about obedience, it was something that the disciples could see incarnated in human form. As Jesus put it, “Ye should do as I have done unto you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, a servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, blessed are ye if ye do them”. No one could miss this lesson. Just as Jesus found His blessedness in doing His Father’s will, even so His followers would find theirs. This is the sole duty of a servant. It was true of Christ, and nothing less can ever be accepted as worthy of His disciple.
In our next episode, we will look at Consecration – The Principle in Focus
* * * * * * * * Let’s Pray * * * * * * * *
Dear friend, if you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, may I encourage you to get to know Him today.
First, accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God’s law. The Bible says in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
Second, accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”
Third, accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 10:28: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Also, the Bible states in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
Now this is bad news, but here’s the good news. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Just believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead by the power of God for you so that you can live eternally with Him. Pray and ask Him to come into your heart today, and He will.
Romans 10:9-13 says, “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. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Until next time,
Keep the soul winner’s fire!
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