Harvest Daily - September 26, 2005

September 26

The Simple Truth

I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me--that Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, as the Scriptures said.

–1 Corinthians 15:3–4

Someone once asked the great British preacher C. H. Spurgeon if he could put into a few words his Christian faith. He said, “Yes. I can give it to you in four words: Jesus died for me.” That is what it comes down to.

The gospel in a nutshell is that Jesus Christ died for our sins and was buried and raised on the third day. That is the cornerstone. So when you are sharing the gospel, remind those you are speaking to that Jesus died for them. He shed His blood for them.

Paul the apostle was a brilliant person, known for his great skills of oratory. He was known for his grasp of culture and languages. And if anybody could have intellectually convinced a person of the validity of something, it was Paul. Yet here is what he said when it came to preaching the gospel: “Dear brothers and sisters, when I first came to you I didn’t use lofty words and brilliant ideas to tell you God's message. For I decided to concentrate only on Jesus Christ and his death on the cross” (1 Corinthians 2:1).

He also said, “For Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News—and not with clever speeches and high-sounding ideas, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power” (1 Corinthians 1:17).

We can actually hinder the message of the gospel by complicating it. It’s that simple, powerful, yet profound message that can change lives—that changed your life and mine.