We Do Not Preach Ourselves, but Christ as Lord

This is so different from what I hear from so many “ministers of the gospel of Christ” in today’s world. So many of them are preaching themselves and their own agendas and/or what the business models and marketing literature are teaching them that they ought to teach if they want to “draw in large crowds of people from the world” into their gatherings. So many are patterning their teaching after the ways of the world, to attract the world, and to not offend the people of the world who they want in their “churches.”

So many of them are not preaching their sermons, as led by the Spirit of God, but according to what they are being told is going to bring in large crowds of people. And so many of them are not even writing their own sermons, but they are getting them from a collective source, and some (or many) of them are using the same source materials. And so many are now teaching a very diluted “gospel” which makes no requirements for the sinner to die to their sin and to surrender to God in obedience to his commands.

But here are some summaries of three of the apostle Paul’s sermons:

By God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).

For God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, is training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for Jesus’ return. For Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (See Titus 2:11-14; Ephesians 2:8-10)

And this is what it means to let “Light shine out of darkness.” For Light represents Jesus Christ and his gospel message. And it represents all that is pure, holy, and righteous versus all that is wicked, immoral, and sinful. Light is the truth of God’s word taught in its appropriate biblical context. For “the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God” is in the person of Jesus Christ, and it is in the truth of the gospel message taught by Jesus Christ and by his New Testament apostles. And they taught death to sin and obeying God.

And here are some summaries of two of our Lord Jesus Christ’s sermons:

Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

And this is what the Apostle Paul taught, too, all throughout his writings, which came from the Holy Spirit. And he taught that on the day of God’s righteous judgment on humankind, that God will render to each person “according to his deeds.” For those living the life that God has for them, they will reap eternal life with God. But for those who are selfishly ambitious, who do not obey the truth, but who obey unrighteousness, their reward will be to face the wrath of God and his indignation (see Romans 2:5-10).

For Paul did not teach out of his own flesh, and neither should we who are ministers of the gospel of Christ and of our salvation. He fully recognized that the power to do what he did came not from himself, but from God. And so should we. We should be sharing with the people of the world what Jesus and his New Testament apostles taught as the gospel, in full context, not always sharing every single word, but definitely highlighting the critical nature of us dying to sin and obeying our Lord as evidence of biblical faith.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

Should I Not Preach Jesus

Based off 1 Corinthians 9:16-10:13
An Original Work / July 4, 2013
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Woe to me should I not preach Jesus.
I’m compelled to preach the full gospel.
I make myself a slave to ev’ryone
To win their hearts to Christ.
All this I do for my Lord Jesus,
And for the sake of His Name;
Do it for the sake of His gospel,
So that I, its blessings gain.

Scripture notates the sins of others;
Written down for us as examples
To keep us from setting our hearts
On evil as did those of old.
Do not worship other gods of man;
Do not give your hearts to them;
Not partake in immorality.
Do not test your Lord and King.

So, be careful if you think you are
Standing firm in your faith in Jesus.
God has given his word to warn us,
So through faith we will not fall.
No temptation has o’ertaken you
Except what is commonplace.
God is faithful to not let you be
Tempted past what you can bear.
He gives the way of escape.


We Do Not Preach Ourselves, but Christ as Lord
An Original Work / October 25, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

timothyu said:

Jesus taught the Father. we might want to focus on that also.

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Please explain what you mean by that in relation to this passage of Scripture.