In these posts I've been discussing whether Christians should evangelise their children, and other professing believers. Perhaps "evangelise" is not the best term – we are not to treat covenant children as little pagans, and perhaps if we do so, it may turn out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Likewise, treating fellow church members as unbelievers can be unhelpful, breeding bitterness and suspicion.
But that doesn't mean we don't tell the gospel to these people. Every Christian needs to be constantly reminded of the facts of the gospel (Jesus Christ dying for our sins and rising again to give us new life) as well as the gospel imperative – repent and believe the good news.
Faith and repentance are not merely something we need at the start of our Christian lives – we need to keep on believing and obeying: Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. We can see this when we compare Matthew's and Luke's respective gospels. In Matthew 16:24, Jesus says "If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." But in Luke 9:23 he says "If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." Faith and repentance constitute the entrance into the Christian life, as well as being marks of its continued existence.
So, in both its facts and its imperatives, the gospel is for everyone – old and young, believer and unbeliever, member and non-member. And as Susan reminded us, we should preach the gospel to ourselves, every day.
| ← Previous day | (Calendar) | Next day → |