Such was the apostle Paul’s love for the souls of his fellow countrymen that he wrote, “For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh” (Romans 9:3). He was convicted that if Jesus could save him, “the worst of sinners,” Jesus could save them too.
This too is our starting point in our desire to save the lost. Every Christian wakes daily to the beautiful, but the sobering reality that they are living proof of Jesus’ successful mission to seek and save that which is lost.
Though fear course through your veins, and the devil tempts you to doubt, you can share the joys of your salvation with complete conviction—Jesus saves!
There is a terrifying disconnect between the man who refuses to believe and the blessings of salvation. A disconnect that we must lament from the depth of our hearts. We must ever remember that that could have been us. We owe nothing to our own goodness or ingenuity; “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).
It is this gift that keeps us from sitting down in our pews and forgetting about the lost beyond our walls. Heaven came down to save us—share it!
Paul shared the Gospel with King Agrippa. Instead of embracing its power to save, he replied to Paul, “In a short time you will persuade me to become a Christian” (Acts 26:28). Paul’s response was consistent with the ambition that he had made his own:
Paul replied, “Short time or long—I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains” (Acts 26:29).
John Staiger
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