# Must the message of salvation be preached...



## Michael (Mar 5, 2009)

...*every* time a pastor takes to the pulpit? For instance, if a pastor is preaching an expository sermon on a portion of scripture that does not explicitly outline the means of salvation for a sinner, must he tie that in at some point in order to faithfully fulfill his duty for that Lord's Day?


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## PresbyDane (Mar 5, 2009)

Yes


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## historyb (Mar 5, 2009)

I say No myself


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## Kim G (Mar 5, 2009)

I think it depends what you mean by "preach the gospel." I don't know that a pastor has to mention the gospel in-depth from beginning to end, or else you'd be preaching the gospel of Romans for every sermon.

On the other hand, the gospel is so pervasive and its application so broad that I think a pastor would be hard-pressed to keep from mentioning some aspect of the gospel. In a message on worry or fear, guilt, keeping the faith once delivered, loving your spouse--whatever the message may be, elements of the gospel can't help but be mentioned. Everyone needs the gospel--both those who have already repented and put faith in Christ as well as those who have not.


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## SolaScriptura (Mar 5, 2009)

I think what you mean, is "Must a pastor turn every sermon into an evangelistic outreach message?" If that is what you mean, then NO. He doesn't have to do that.


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## MLCOPE2 (Mar 5, 2009)

Absolutely. Any message that doesn't involve an exhortation toward transformation (sorry to get all Jesse Jackson on you) isn't a sermon it's a lecture. Therefore, even in exhorting the elect to transformation you are preaching a message of salvation, because only after regeneration can any transformation take place.

Not only that but I would have to ask what purpose any message would have if it doesn't point to Christ.

That is not to say that every message must be evangelistic. I don't believe that at all. However I do believe that even when the gospel is not preached it should be evident that it is the driving force behind every sermon.


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## The Deeps (Mar 5, 2009)

Every passage has it! We just need to find How are we are ignoring it?


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## Edward (Mar 5, 2009)

The question certainly isn't very clear. I agree with both KimG (yes) and Sola Scriptura (No). 

I would think that to some extent, it depends upon the spiritual maturity of the congregation. Do they still need milk, or do they need meat?


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## Theognome (Mar 5, 2009)

On Sunday, it is the saints that are gathering. Yes, the saints need the Gospel, but they may need meat as well as milk. I do agree with the yes and no answer; and a pastor that treats the pulpit in a purely evangelical manner is, in my opinion, not focusing on the flock at hand. Evangelize at every turn, but on Sunday, preach to the brethren, not the unconverted. We do need to hear and be reminded of our first love, yes- but we must also grow in Christ as well.

Theognome


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## Scottish Lass (Mar 5, 2009)

While the saints are gathering on the Lord's Day, there are often unconverted mixed in among them for various reasons. Sometimes the unconverted are known to the preacher, sometimes they are not. I voted yes--not in the sense of a pure evangelism call every time, but that there are elements of Christ and His covenant that apply to every message.


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## Dearly Bought (Mar 5, 2009)

Yes. A sinful wretch like myself needs to hear the Gospel every Lord's Day. A minister must never leave his congregation with a message of Law alone.

However, I also would add that I'm not promoting the usual "evangelistic" style of contemporary evangelicalism. I'm thinking more along the lines of vibrant redemptive-historical preaching that recognizes the natural directions of each text toward Christ instead of forcing Jesus into it with brute force.

I also might add two things that ensure this regular pattern of Gospel preaching:

Weekly administration of the Lord's Supper
A liturgy of Law, Gospel, Confession of Sins, and Declaration of Pardon


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## The Deeps (Mar 5, 2009)

As a Christian you should always have the Hope of the resurrection or redemption in your message.

*"Moral imperatives always grow out of redemptive indicatives"*

We don't ever want a Jew or a Muslim to say AMEN to our message do we? The only difference between us and them is grace. Every Sunday should be finding Christ and Christ cannot ever be separated from the gospel can he?



> if a pastor is preaching an expository sermon on a portion of scripture that does not explicitly outline the means of salvation for a sinner, must he tie that in at some point in order to faithfully fulfill his duty for that Lord's Day?



Jesus is Salvation. 



Luke 24:27 Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

-----Added 3/5/2009 at 11:44:20 EST-----

Cheers to you Bryan you put it more eloquent than I.


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## cih1355 (Mar 5, 2009)

Suppose that a preacher is going to preach a series of sermons on the entire book of Galatians. When he preaches on that part of Galatians that discusses walking in the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit, he could say something like, "The fruit of the Spirit is something that the Holy Spirit produces in the hearts of believers. If you are not a Christian, the Holy Spirit is not producing His fruit in your life. In addition, you cannot make yourself produce the fruit of the Spirit in your own life. If you are not a Christian, you are walking after the flesh. Your life is not characterized by holy living. If you are not a believer in Christ, God commands you to repent of your sin and to trust in Christ alone for your salvation.".


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## Jimmy the Greek (Mar 6, 2009)

I answered, Yes. It's not as if it is hard to do or ever out of place. It can be accomplished in the closing prayer if nowhere else.



. . . now the alter call, that's something else.


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## kvanlaan (Mar 6, 2009)

I think it has to be in there somewhere to an extent. Every congregation has unsaved amongst them. This is from an old post of mine on another thread:



> I was just reading "Puritan Reformed Spirituality" and in it, it has a very nice section on Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen, who used some concepts put forward by Verschuir's writings to classify his congregation (sterk - strong, bekommerde - concerned, letterwyse - letter-learned, and onkunde - ignorant) to make sure that he was getting through to all that sat in church. Now that's the sort of 'felt needs' preaching that I can get on board with.


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## Classical Presbyterian (Mar 6, 2009)

I answered yes. We can be creative in _how_ we present it. I agree with Gomarus on that. The WCF would seem to agree:
*
Chapter XV. Of Repentance unto Life*

Section I.–Repentance unto life is an evangelical grace, the doctrine whereof is to be preached by every minister of the gospel, as well as that of faith in Christ.


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## raekwon (Mar 6, 2009)

Like others have said, it depends on what one means by "the message of salvation". Unfortunately, that phrase is largely recognized to mean something like "every head bowed, every eye closed . . . raise your hand if you want to let Christ into your heart".

Anyway, I would say "yes" . . . every sermon should, in one way or another, point toward Christ and call the hearers to repentance and faith in him.


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## JonathanHunt (Mar 6, 2009)

I had to say no because of the way I am reading it (i.e. does every sermon have to be evangelistic - no).

However, does every sermon I preach contain mention of Christ, of Calvary, and of the need for salvation? I hope so. You might say that a sermon containing those things IS evangelistic - I disagree - too many people say they preach 'evangelistic' sermons by preaching to believers and tacking a two minute appeal on to the end.


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## jwithnell (Mar 6, 2009)

I've known extremely gifted pastors/preachers who have come down on opposites sides of this issue. One would not get in the pulpit without outlining salvation at least once. Others take the position that they are preaching to the church -- to the visible body of Christ. Certainly people should be warned to examine the position in Christ, particularly when the text calls for it. But every week? No. 

I wouldn't be able (or want to ) argue with any of these guys,


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## A5pointer (Mar 6, 2009)

I think the questions assumes a dichotomy that may not be there. The salvation message is always present in all texts when they are viewed in their context of adding to the redemptive story.


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## ColdSilverMoon (Mar 6, 2009)

I would say yes, because it seems that every passage ultimately points to Christ in some way. I don't mean every clause in every sentence, but the grand themes of Scriptures are always Christ-centered. So, I believe a preacher should relay the Gospel message, but it doesn't necessarily have to be evangelistic, as others have pointed out.


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## Michael (Mar 6, 2009)

This was not in any way intended to be a trick question. I've actually heard a good deal on the matter recently and thought that I would appeal for comments from everyone here on the PB.

It's actually a very plain question/statement. For those who may have simply read the title to the poll, here is how it was explained in the initial post...



Ezekiel16 said:


> For instance, if a pastor is preaching an expository sermon on a portion of scripture that does not explicitly outline the means of salvation for a sinner, must he tie that in at some point in order to faithfully fulfill his duty for that Lord's Day?



There are some that believe this should happen without fail, that every message preached on the Lord's Day should be centered upon or at least touch upon the need for or means by which the sinner is to be saved. There are others who don't necessarily feel that that is a prerequisite to every single sermon.

Without a doubt there are a number of variables that can come into play here but that is partly why I've asked the question. A church may have a mere 15 members who bear fruit and the pastor feels comfortable that all are children of God. In this position a he may feel that it is "already understood" in everything else that he is preaching about. Another pastor may suggest otherwise, taking every advantage to share the urgency of salvation, even to a handful of thriving believers. Yet another may have a flock of 1500 members and the vast majority might simply be going through the motions. Regardless, should there be a blanket expectation that salvation be articulated without fail every single Sunday?

If so, why and by what precedent?

If not, why and by what precedent?


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## tdowns (Mar 6, 2009)

*I always thought:*

Law and Gospel were to be present...so yes!


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## A5pointer (Mar 6, 2009)

Ezekiel16 said:


> This was not in any way intended to be a trick question. I've actually heard a good deal on the matter recently and thought that I would appeal for comments from everyone here on the PB.
> 
> It's actually a very plain question/statement. For those who may have simply read the title to the poll, here is how it was explained in the initial post...
> 
> ...



As some have suggested we should not view the preaching of the Gospel as an event whose only use and aim is conversion of the lost. It is most appropriate to preach it to the people of God. We need to "remember" what God has done. I have been teaching through Exodus and am struck by how often Israel is prescribed rituals and activities whose main function is rememberance of the Exodus. We like Israel need to practice this pattern of "remembrance" through gospel preaching.


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## nicnap (Mar 6, 2009)

And Esau was an hairy man...jk.


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## Knoxienne (Mar 6, 2009)

I like the story told to us by a pastor who visited a college to preach there. He was told by the authorities there to preach on "God's Role of Women in the Church". The pastor was disappointed, because since there were so many unbelievers there, he was planning on giving it to them with both barrels - the sovereignty of God, sin, salvation, the evils of unbelief - all the biggies. However, when he was done, the Lord used that sermon on women's role in the church to convert two professors at that college. 

On every page of the Bible we see the principle of the necessity of turning away from our ways which lead to death and looking to God for salvation. in my opinion, there really isn't a way to "not" preach a salvation sermon unless you're coming from the worldview of a religion which teaches salvation by man's own efforts.


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## David Heesen (Mar 6, 2009)

Tacking on John 3:16 and giving an "altar call" has become a standard way for preachers to think they've fulfilled their "gospel duty." Better to weave the Gospel and Christ into nearly every message. God has promised to bless His word to do what He pleases it to accomplish. He can use an obscure verse to speak to a heart that may be hardened to a constant barrage of "Romans road" presentations.


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## Pergamum (Mar 7, 2009)

Here's an answer from the perspective of tribal work:


Most tribal missionaries use some sort of oral bible storying or chronological Bible storying to teach locals the Gospel. 

They start in Genesis and sin and the Flood and make their way slowly to Christ over several weeks. Thereis a build up and an angst over what to do with sin and how to overcome the sin problem until, finally, the birth and life and death of Christ is taught. 


The locals, who had firmly been rooted in sin, when the Substitute makes an appearance are all to ready to receive this one.

However, this means that Christ crucified is not preached from Day One, but the Creation, Fall, etc is preached first for many weeks even.


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## Rich Koster (Mar 7, 2009)

SolaScriptura said:


> I think what you mean, is "Must a pastor turn every sermon into an evangelistic outreach message?" If that is what you mean, then NO. He doesn't have to do that.


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## QueenEsther (Mar 8, 2009)

I just thought I'd add this quote.


"A sermon without Christ as its beginning, middle, and end is a mistake in conception and a crime in execution."
-Charles Spurgeon


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## OPC'n (Mar 8, 2009)

The Gospel is what it's all about! I don't know what else you would talk about.


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## Scottish Lass (Mar 8, 2009)

I still say yes even to your example of 15 that bear fruit. When you write the sermon, you don't know if the next Lord's Day will bring you 17.


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## Quickened (Mar 8, 2009)

At first i was tempted to say "no" but i believe it was the way i was reading the question. The more i think about it the more i see it as unavoidable. When we look at and discuss scripture it will turn into practical application. We might think about how a particular portion might apply to us and in turn how we can apply it to our walk. Or we may think about what we can learn from a scenario and how that would apply.

When i dwell on ...


2Ti 3:16 said:


> All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,


I cant help but think that everything is pointing to Christ and His work on the cross. If we are learning about one man's story in the OT/NT then we see his obiedence or disobedience, his trials and struggles, what he learned and what we can glean but overall we are looking at a gigantic history book of which God is the absolute center.

The more i think about it the more it seems like we would have to go out of our way not to preach the message of salvation. 

just my


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## Michael (Mar 8, 2009)

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone for their responses. They are much appreciated.


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## KMK (Mar 8, 2009)

Gordon Taylor in the Winter 2009 Update from ARBCA:



> I believe that our preaching as Reformed Baptist preachers needs to consistently be accompanied with a gospel call. I am not suggesting that every sermon from every text _must_ have a gospel call, but I am suggesting that pleading with sinners must be the norm and not the exception in our preaching. (Italics mine)


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## charliejunfan (Mar 9, 2009)

I chose Yes because I think everything should be tied to Christ, the congregation needs to know how each portion fits into the Covenant of Redemption in Christ.

I do not think that every sunday a pastor must yell at the congregation to repent and so on George Whitfield style(although if one is convicted they should )


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