The Gospel Is Foolishness

The first thing we need to experience the comfort of the Gospel is that we need to be made uncomfortable with our sin. In Romans chapter three we saw that the Law shows us our guilt. When we realize our guilt before a holy God, our mouth will be silenced. We'll cry out: What must we do to be saved?

That's why Paul wrote this: “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is a power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18) 

Why is it foolishness? Unless you see that you're guilty of sin and are deserving of hell, you will not think that the gospel is for you. When you hear that you need to repent of your sins and profess faith in Jesus, you will think that I'm not that bad. There are plenty of people who are worse than me. The gospel of forgiveness in Christ alone will seem like foolishness to us. We think its foolishness because we are not that bad. We can get to heaven because we are better than other people.

But once we see the seriousness of our sin, the law will point us to the power of God for our salvation. Be honest. People will think you're fools if you're pleading for their salvation when they don't know their sin and do not think they are guilty of sin that will send them to hell.

When I first moved to Fort Wayne years ago, I was volunteering with the Prison Fellowship Mentoring program with the Allen County Re-Entry Court. I remember the first time I volunteered with the Re-Entry Court. After the court session, I went to my car to drive back to my church. I started going south on Clinton Street as I was getting my stuff settled in the car. I stopped at the light and turned on my turn signal to go west on Wayne Street.

As I looked up, I saw a homeless guy right there at the corner and he started pointing at me and yelling at me. He yelled out “No, no, no,” while he was waving his arms crazily towards me. I was shocked by his response and I immediately locked my car door. I'm like, man, Fort Wayne is a dangerous place. I cannot believe that a crazy homeless guy is threatening me. The city really needs to take care of this problem. The light turned green and just before I began to go, the homeless guy began to pound on my window and yelled “No, No, No!” I hurriedly drove right by and looked back at him in disbelief. 

I made a right turn (west) and began to drive down Wayne Street and when I looked up, there was a professional lady standing in the middle of the road yelling at me “No, no, no!” I began to think the circus was in town and that Fort Wayne was not the most friendly place to live. I asked myself what in the world is going on? Why is this professional lady doing yelling, screaming, and waving he arms wildly at me? I'm thinking, these two people are so crazy!

At that moment,  I looked behind the lady yelling and frantically waving at me in the middle of the road, and I saw that there were two lines of cars coming east, my way. At that moment I realized that I was driving west on Wayne Street, and Wayne Street is a one-way road going EAST. I finalized realized why the homeless guy and professional lady were yelling at me—I was going the wrong way on a one-way street.

I immediately pulled into the Wells Fargo Bank was able to miss those other cars driving right towards me. I thought those people were fools and were crazy until I saw what they were trying to warn me about.

In the same, until we see our sin, we will think that the Gospel is foolishness to us. It's doesn't make sense when we do not see our sin towards a holy God. But once we see and are convicted of our sin, it is a power of God for salvation in Jesus Christ. We must recognize our sin if we are ever going to repent of them and profess faith in Jesus death and resurrection.

Ray Comfort said it this way: “Biblical evangelism is always, without exception, Law to the proud and grace to the humble. Never will you see Jesus giving the gospel, the good news, the cross, the grace of our God to a proud, arrogant, self-righteous person. With the Law God breaks the hard heart and with the gospel He heals the broken heart.”

The first duty of the Gospel preacher is to declare God's law and show the nature of sin. People must see their sin if they will ever repent of it and trust in Jesus’ death and resurrection for their forgiveness.

Go and Tell Evangelism Seminar is an easy and practical way to equip you to share the gospel with others. This 3-hour interactive seminar will provide you with the tools to “be active in sharing your faith so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.” (Philemon 6)