The Gospel is Not "Inclusive"

I've been working through Romans of late, Paul's epistle to a group of people he didn't know. So he penned this letter to inform them of the Gospel (Rom 1:16-17) so they could have a solid basis for moving forward in their Christian walk. Keeping that purpose in mind, I've found that the Gospel that Paul offers to the Romans is much bigger than "Believe and be saved." It is, in fact, huge.

Paul begins this letter with a bold declaration that he was not ashamed of the Gospel (Rom 1:16). That might sound odd to us, but it shouldn't. How many of us are ashamed of the Gospel? Why? Well, included in "the Gospel" -- the good news -- is a whole lot of bad news (Rom 1:18-3:20). That's not pleasant. We don't want to tell people "Claiming to be wise, they became fools" (Rom 1:22), the litany of evils we do (Rom 1:28-32), the certainty of God's judgment (Rom 2:2), the fact that there is none righteous (Rom 3:10), one who seeks for God (Rom 3:11), or even one who does good (Rom 3:12). We really don't want to tell them they have earned God's wrath (Rom 1:18). Then there's this whole "we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law" thing (Rom 3:28). At first blush that seems wonderful, but it runs absolutely contrary to all standard thinking about what it takes to be justified. You earn it, don't you? Of course you do! People are pretty sure they're okay with God because, "I'm not as bad as most." Every other religion on the planet teaches that you earn heaven and here we are, Gospel in hand, telling them it is a gift accepted by faith.

It only gets worse from there. "So, you're saying that if someone doesn't believe, they don't get this gift?" Yes, that's what we're saying. That's what we're saying because that's what it says. So in a world driven by "inclusion," we are suggesting an exclusive salvation. If we are to be Christians, we have to follow Christ who said, "No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6). We're forced to agree that "there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). The Gospel is truly grand and generous, but it is not inclusive. It includes everyone who comes by faith, regardless of origin, status, gender, or anything else (Gal 3:28), but excludes those who don't believe ... regardless of origin, status, gender, or anything else. And exclusion is the cardinal sin of our day.

There are plenty of voices out there to warn us away from the Gospel. That kind of exclusivity is evil. That kind of salvation is foolishness (1 Cor 1:23). The cross is folly to those who are perishing (1 Cor 1:18). So, like Paul, we present it and let it lie where it falls. We present it as clearly and completely as we can, sure, but it will take a miracle for anyone to accept it. Fortunately, the Author of the Gospel is a Miracle Worker, and in that we have hope.