God gave them over

In conjunction with our first article, we need to understand that God will not make mankind follow Him. Our Father has given us more than enough evidence to prove His He does exist, meaning we are without excuse (Rom. 1:20). Still, our Creator leaves the choice in our hands via freewill. If people want to reject Him, so be it.

Having said that, consider Romans 1:28: “even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting.”  This explains why so many think the gospel message is foolish. Those who reject His word are professing to be wise, but they are fools (Rom. 1:22). The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God (I Cor. 1:27).

So what happens when someone develops a debased mind? The most dangerous result is that they become convinced that certain falsehoods are truth. For example, some are convinced that demon possession exists today. As Paul mentioned to the Roman brethren, people convinced themselves that sexual immorality was okay (Rom. 1:26-27). This is the result of a natural progression that starts when someone changes the true and living God into idols made by the hands of men (Rom. 1:23).

If someone develops a debased mind, can they break free of this and come back to the Lord? Yes! This is why we are redeemed by the blood of Christ (Eph. 1:7). It means we are brought back. The fact that we all have sinned (Rom. 3:23) means we all chose to reject God and instead do what we wanted. Those who choose to obey the gospel change their minds – that is what repentance means. We then put off that old man and put on the new man in baptism (Acts 2:38; Rom. 6:3-7). The debased mind has been put aside for a pure one.

Knowing all of this help encourage us to spread the good news. Let us never think that certain people are “made evil” or that the devil has taken away their free will to the degree that they cannot come back to the Lord. Those who do not obey are those who do not want to – it is as simple as that.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Chuck                              

Motivated but not wasteful

     When Jesus sent out His disciples in what is often referred to as “the limited commission” (Matt. 10), He clearly told them to shake the dust of their feet and move on if people did not receive their words (verse 14). There are some valuable lessons to learn from this.

Do not focus on those who do not want it

 It is so easy to lose our desire to tell others the good news because so many people do not want it. But our Lord does not want us to focus on those who reject it. If we do, we are no longer working for Him. Though Jesus knew that many would reject Him (Matt. 7:13-14), He still came and made salvation available to everyone. Christ did this because He does not want any to perish (II Pet. 3:9). We must remember that because Jesus made salvation available to everyone, everyone needs to hear the gospel message. Do not neglect sharing the word with those who may be interested because you wasted time with someone who clearly did not want it.

Do not force people to listen

Some religious radicals believe their “god” wants them to kill those who reject him. Christ wants us to love all people (Matt. 22:39).  We demonstrate that love by offering the lifesaving message. If people reject it, we move on and hope that the seed we planted will grow in the future. It is not our place to get angry or give ultimatums. Our weapons are not carnal (II Cor. 10:4). We carry the sword of the spirit, which is the soul-saving word of God (Eph. 6:17; Rom. 1:16).

Do not forget to move on

Consider our original passage.  Jesus told his followers to shake the dust off their feet as they departed. In other words, they were to leave and continue teaching. God’s people never stop teaching because there are many more doors of opportunity. One neighbor says no, but there are others. One coworker says no, but there are others. The key is to not grow weary in well-doing (Gal. 6:9).

This bulletin points out two facts. You either need to obey the gospel or need to share it. May we all do what is needed to follow Christ!

                                                                                                                                                                                                     Chuck