~I Timothy 6:20 (ESV)
Why hear the Gospel over and over and over again? Why restate truth we already claim to know? If you are a genuine Christian, you know and believe that Christ died for you sins, and if asked if Christ is your Savior, you would say yes, right? Is that sufficient that you are aware of and believe the Gospel? Isn't it time to move on to other things now that your soul is secured in Heaven?
No.
Paul spent his entire life with the Gospel at the center of his theology. Until his dying breath, he preached the Gospel. Observe these words of Paul from Scripture in his last letters. This was at the same time that he announced to the young pastor, Timothy, that his race was about to conclude: "For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come." (2 Timothy 4:6) So what is his urging to Timothy? What cry would he have echo in Timothy's ears after he departs from this earth?
"Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you." (2 Timothy 1:13-14) "Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal." (2 Timothy 2:8-9a)
Paul would have nothing ring in the ears of Timothy and all Christians who would observe his life than the cross of Christ. If you study his letters of the New Testament (Romans through 2 Timothy), you cannot help but notice that the Gospel is repeated over and over throughout them all and the center of his entire theology. He said in his first letter to the Corinthian church, "For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified" (I Corinthians 2:2). His more-than-passionate cross-centeredness overflows from a grateful heart and a never-dying but ever-present re-reminder of what Christ has done to save sinners.
If the apostle Paul needed to hear the Gospel every day, throughout the day, how much more do we! Let his words RESOUND throughout everything you think and do. Do not become familiar with the cross of Christ! I close with his quote by C.J. Mahaney:
"Keeping the Main Thing [the Gospel] the main thing is a daily necessity. Every day. NO DAYS OFF ALLOWED!"
"Father, thank You for sending Your precious Son to save undeserving sinners like us! As we daily survey the wondrous cross of Christ, we pray that You would deepen our gratefulness and joy in what You have fully accomplished on our behalf in the finished work of Christ on the cross. May we never become familiar with this mystery till our dying breath! Thank you for drawing us closer to Yourself even when we stray. Make Yourself our delight, we pray. Amen."
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