The Message is Not Ours
As a campus worker with Bible Talks, I have had the privilege of having conversations with a variety of people—primarily students. On Thursdays at campus, we ask students a thought-provoking question to initiate conversations and gradually guide them toward the gospel of Christ. First, we’ve observed that many students hold preconceived ideas about Christianity and Christians, formed through their socialization and surroundings. They often know something about Christianity and, more commonly, something about moralism.
This understanding leads them to believe that Christianity is mainly about having good morals. However, Christianity is not solely about morality, though good morals are often the result. When the message of Jesus Christ is embraced, lives are changed, the fruits of the Spirit are evident, and people live righteously. But this is not the core message. We preach Christ and Him crucified. He is the one who transforms lives.
In the fourth chapter of 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12, particularly verses 3-8, Paul exhorts believers to pursue sexual purity. He explains how believers are to abstain from sexual immorality, which is God’s will (verse 3), and in verse 8, he concludes by saying, “Anyone who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who gives you His Holy Spirit.”
Many students on campus believe that Christianity is about “being a good person,” but they know they fall short. They think they must “be good” before they can become Christians or that they need to abandon certain habits in order to qualify as good Christians. But the first step is realizing that you are not inherently good and cannot achieve goodness on your own. Instead, you must turn to Jesus, the justifier of the unrighteous. With His Spirit dwelling in you, you can live righteously, not perfectly, but rightly.
The purpose of this article is not to explain how you can be saved, but rather to emphasize the source of the message we preach. The call to live righteously comes from God. Just as He called the nation of Israel and set them apart, those who bear His name are called to display the fruits of righteousness and live according to their profession of faith. This calling is impossible if you do not know Christ. It is impossible to live a righteous life without Christ working within you to shape your desires and actions.
The truth is, believers are called to be morally upright. We see this in Paul’s exhortation to Titus and the church in Crete, where those who are called by the name of the Lord are expected to live differently. It is crucial to understand that these are not arbitrary rules devised by Christians who woke up one day and decided to impose regulations on others. Rather, these commandments come from the Creator of heaven and earth, the One who made humanity and calls them to the highest standard of living. These are the commandments of the Lord, not of society, parents, Bible Talks, or Christians. They are from the Lord.
When we preach or share God’s word regarding specific sins, we are not setting the rules; God is. If anyone takes issue with the message, they must take it up with God. After all, who would attack the messenger when the Master stands behind the message? Understanding that we carry God’s message gives us the confidence to speak, knowing we are not imposing anything on others but God is. And He has every right because the earth and everything in it belong to Him. We urge people to make things right with God, to come to the one mediator between God and humanity: Jesus Christ.
