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I explained in the Part One that everyone who seeks eternal salvation in Christ Jesus must hear a particular word. Not only must people hear this word, but they must also understand it and have it in their hearts and mouths (Romans 10:8).
It is the word of faith, the word of reconciliation, the word of His grace, the word of righteousness, the word of truth, the gospel of salvation. It must clearly be heard and properly understood by everyone for eternal salvation.
Paul preached this word to the people of Ephesus, leading many to believe in Christ Jesus for their eternal salvation (Ephesians 1:13).
In this part, we want to continue by examining how an angel told Cornelius that Peter would declare to him a word by which he and his household would be saved.
“And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter; he will declare to you A MESSAGE BY WHICH YOU WILL BE SAVED, you and all your household” (Acts 11:13-14).
Clearly, Peter preached the message about the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ to Cornelius, leading to the salvation of his household.
Yes, there is a word that ministers must boldly and clearly preach and teach for people to hear and be saved. It is a message about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is called the Word of truth, the gospel of salvation.
People must hear this word with their ears, understand it with their hearts and make a confession of it with their mouths for their eternal salvation.
The Philippian jailer also became a Christian as recorded in Acts chapter 16 after hearing the same word about the Jesus Christ.
“And the jailer called for lights and rushed, trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, ‘Sirs, WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?’ And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16:29- 31).
The jailer had seen the mighty power of the Lord and wanted to become a Christian, so he asked the apostles what he must do. The apostles told him to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for him to be saved.
But there was something else the apostles did to the jailer before he could believe in Jesus and confess Him his Lord and Saviour. They first preached the Word of truth, the gospel of salvation to him.
“And they SPOKE THE WORD OF THE LORD to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family” (Acts 16:32-33).
If you read Acts 16:30-33 carefully you can see that the jailer took the apostles to his house for hours of deeper discussions the same night. It was obvious that the jailer asked about how to become a child of God through Christ Jesus.
It is unfortunate that today, motivational and prosperity preaching has taken over the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Pastors who preach these motivational and prosperity messages do so in the hope of making people rich.
They want to inspire people to be out of poverty. It is not a sin to help people to have money. We must be wealthy to live meaningful lives and also give to the Church for the propagation of the gospel across nations and continents.
But evidences abound that prosperity and motivational preaching rather make the preachers richer than the congregants.
Moreover, we do know that the blessing of material prosperity is promised to believers who seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33).
God’s Word, commandments and decrees are constant and unchanging. Pastors should not turn them upside down and expect them to work.
By James Quansah
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