2 Corinthians 4:2: The Message We Proclaim

“But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:2

How do we reach the world for Christ? How do we reach our neighbors for Christ? How do we reach our friends for Christ? Though many tactics, classes, and philosophies exist, if they do not consist of the following, they all fail. You see, an effective effort to reach others to Christ cannot effectively stand without a true presentation of the Gospel.

In the context of the letter of 2 Corinthians, Paul was under attack. Many of the Corinthians accused him of being a false teacher, thus Paul had to make a defense of his righteousness among them. He defends himself in a variety of ways in this letter, but here in chapter 4, he speaks of his clear presentation of the Gospel. Although many had perverted the Gospel, "tampering" (literally "diluting") the Gospel to fit their own agenda, Paul proclaimed "the open statement of truth." By his honest and willful proclamation of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, Paul was commended in the sight of God. Likewise, so will God commend us if we preach the Gospel openly, honestly, and without hesitation or alteration.

Yet, what is this Gospel in which we proclaim? If you have a couple minutes of spare time, let me encourage you to attempt to write out the entirety of the Gospel in one sentence. Dear child of God, can you accurately articulate the Gospel which saved you? If you cannot, how will you ever be able to share it with others?

I once heard a preacher say that the best, most succinct Gospel presentation in all of scripture can be found in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, which says this:

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures...

This passage clearly portrays for us the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Firstly, it reminds us that the Gospel saves. The Gospel is the truth of God which redeems us from our sin and saves us from eternal condemnation. Yet what is this great truth? How are we saved? That Christ died for our sins. He did not die a vain death; he died a death for the sins of those who would believe in him so that all might be reconciled to God. Yet, he also rose again in accordance with the scriptures, proving that death had no dominion over him, nor on us since we are one with him by faith (Rom. 6). Through repentance and belief in this Gospel (Mark 1:15), men are truly saved.

The Gospel, by its very nature, is simplistic and unchangeable. It tells of this very truth: that Jesus, the true Son of God, came to earth and lived the perfect life and died the perfect death, absorbing the wrath of God, that all who call upon his name will be saved (Rom. 10:13). This is the Gospel which Paul proclaimed, the Gospel which he did not attempt to improve upon, because he could not improve upon it. There is nothing greater than the story of the Gospel, and it is a story we ought to proclaim to all we know that we might be commended in the sight of God, for His glory alone.

Let me encourage you today: who will you share the Gospel with this week? Through my last couple of months in school, I have been convicted more and more each day how I hold inside the Good News of my Lord Jesus Christ. Heaven and Hell are real places, and all will spend eternity in one or the other. Every man and woman that you see on the street will either spend eternity in the presence of God or away from the presence of God, and the only thing that can rescue one from eternal hell is the Gospel. And that is what we proclaim. Let us go and proclaim it today, without altering it, that God's mission might advance throughout all the earth.