Lausanne World Pulse – The Verbal Proclamation of the Gospel

By Rev. Dr. Nii Amoo Darku

“I am under obligation both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. Thus, for my part I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:14-16)

The gospel indeed is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe. The power of the blood of Jesus to deal with sin is demonstrated in the preaching of the gospel. The power of the death of Jesus to save lost humanity so as to live victoriously in him (2 Corinthians 5:14-15) is clearly manifested in the gospel. In the resurrection of Jesus Christ the power to live triumphantly is made obvious and desired by all (Philippians 3:10).

Need to Hear the Gospel
God could have chosen to save lost humanity by any means; however, he chose to save us by the power of the gospel preached to the sinner. However, those who would benefit from the gospel and be affected by its power must first hear the message.

God could have chosen to save lost humanity by any means; however, he chose to save us by the power of the gospel preached to the sinner.

By his mercy and lovingkindness, God decided to save the inhabitants of Nineveh who deserved to perish in their iniquities. God appointed a preacher to share his word; however, Jonah believed Nineveh did not deserve mercy, but punishment. Who can blame Jonah for thinking that way when other prophets had spoken ill of Nineveh and its moral corruption (see Nahum 3:1 and Zephaniah 2:15)? Jonah was to go to Nineveh “and cry against it,” a phrase which biblical scholars understand as preaching or proclaiming the intentions of God. Indeed, Jonah receives a direct command: “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you” (Jonah 3:1-2).

Ezekiel seems to suggest there is a consequence for not verbalizing God’s word to warn the wicked to turn from their ways. As an appointed watchman of God, just like any preacher today, Ezekiel was instructed, “Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, warn them for me. When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked ways that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand” (Ezekiel 3:17-18).

As if to illustrate the need to verbally proclaim the gospel for it to have an effect on its hearers, Ezekiel (Ezekiel 37:1-10) finds himself in the Spirit of the Lord and brought down to a valley of dry bones. To Ezekiel’s amusement and great surprise, God asks him if he thinks the dry bones could live, to which he replied, “O Lord God, you know.” God uses this opportunity to emphasize the importance of verbalizing the good news to hopeless situations to make them come alive. God tells Ezekiel to “prophesy over these bones, and say to them, ‘O bones, hear the word of the Lord.’”

As Ezekiel prophesizes, amusement gives way to amazement as rattling bones come together, sinews become attached, and flesh and skin grow. In God’s great sense of humor, he leaves the dry bones-turned-corpses without breath. Then, the Lord calls Ezekiel to prophesy for the breath to come from the four winds and breathe on the slain so that they come to life. We can almost picture the prophet now girding his loins and, with great expectation and confidence, prophesying to the breath resulting in the once dry bones becoming an exceedingly great army.

Rev. Dr. Nii Amoo Darku is vice president of the Ghana Baptist Convention and senior pastor of Bethel Baptist Church, Dansoman in Accra. He is deputy international team leader/national team leader of African Enterprise.