KEEP YOUR "HOPE OF SALVATION" BRIGHT!

Sharing the Hope of Salvation

Quoting the prophet Joel, Paul wrote: "Everyone who calls on the name Jehovah will be saved." Then he added: "However, how will they call on him in whom they have not put faith? How, in turn, will they put faith in in of whom they have not heard? How, in turn, will they hear without someone to preach?" A few verses later, Paul points out that faith does not come spontaneously; rather, it "follows the thing heard," that is, "the word about Christ." -Romans 10:13, 14, 17; Joel 2:32.

Who will bring "the word about Christ" To the nations? Jesus assigned that work to his disciples -those who have already been taught that word." (Matthew 24:14; 28:19, 20; John 17:20) When we engage in the Kingdom preaching and disciple -making work, we are doing just what the apostle Paul write about, this time quoting Isaiah: "How comely are the feet of those who declare the good news of good things!" Even if many do not accept the good news, we bring, our feet are still "comely" to Jehovah. -Romans 10:15; Isaiah 52:7.

Fulfilling this commission serves two important purposes. First, the good news must be preached so that God's name will be magnified and those who want salvation will know where to turn. Paul understood this aspect of the commission. He stated: "In fact, Jehovah has laid commandment upon us in these words, 'I have appointed you as a light of nations, for you to be a salvation to the extremity of the earth.' " Hence, as disciples of Christ, each of us must have a share in taking the message of salvation to the people. -Acts 13:47; Isaiah 49:6.

Second, the preaching of the good news lays the foundation for God's righteous judgment. About the judgment, Jesus said: "When the Son of man arrives in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit down on his glorious throne. and all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats." Though the judging and separating will be done "when the Son of man arrives in is glory," the preaching work is providing people today with the opportunity to recognize Christ's spiritual brothers and thus to work in support of them for their own eternal salvation. -Matthew 25:31-46.

Next time:Maintain "the Full Assurance of the Hope"