The Message Of The Cross Gets To Rome - Part I
March 2023
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“For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God.” — I Corinthians 1:17-18
“Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.” — Acts 23:11
Just a few days before the ascension of Christ and Pentecost, Jesus charged His disciples: “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
ROME
Some scholars believe that the phrase “uttermost part of the earth” was speaking of Rome. In the first century, Rome was the largest city in the world with more than half a million inhabitants. It seems logical to me that Christ intended for the gospel to be preached in Jerusalem, Judaea, Samaria, all of the Middle East, Asia Minor, Europe, North Africa, and finally all the way to Rome—the Imperial City.
At that time, Rome was the largest and most wealthy city in the world. Many political and governmental leaders lived in Rome. Multiplied thousands of Roman soldiers lived there guarding the capital city. From about 60 BC to AD 330, the emperors of Rome all lived there, issuing their edicts and making their political appointments for the entire Roman world.
New Testament scholars believe that Paul wrote the famous book of Romans in about AD 56 while he was in Corinth, Greece. Paul writes in Romans 15:23, “having a great desire these many years to come unto you. Whensoever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you: for I trust to see you in my journey.”
Later on, while in Ephesus, Luke records, “After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome” (Acts 19:21).
After completing his third missionary journey, Paul is arrested in Jerusalem and, while under arrest, Luke records these actual words from Christ to Paul: “Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome” (Acts 23:11). The great apostle Paul knew that the citizens of Rome needed to hear the message of Christ and the cross. He was convinced that whenever and wherever Christ and the cross was preached, the power of God would be manifested and lives would be saved, delivered, healed, sanctified, and chains of sin would be broken.
THE NECESSITY AND CENTRALITY OF THE CROSS
Christ Himself taught His disciples, “And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me” (Matt. 10:38).
Luke 9:23 says, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”
In I Corinthians 1:18 Paul writes, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.”
Notice that Paul couples the doctrine of the cross with the reality of the power of the Holy Spirit. Mainstream liberal Christianity ignores or no longer believes in the power of the cross, the resurrection, Pentecost, or the second coming. Consequently, they have very little evidence of Holy Spirit conviction in their preaching or in their pastoral ministry.
When you study, carefully, the gospels and the writings of the apostles, you have to admit that the true gospel story—the new covenant teaching of Christ and the apostles—hinges on the central truth of Christ dying for our sins on the tree. The message of the cross is the linchpin of all New Testament theology.
Often in his writings, Paul highlighted the centrality of the cross and the resurrection. Paul longed to preach Christ and Him crucified in Rome. The attitudes and behaviors of life that continue to steal, kill, and destroy good people is properly labeled as sin in the Scriptures. And we know that sin leads to death. So what can we preach that will deal powerfully with the sin problem?
Galatians 1:4 speaks of the death of Christ and says, “Who gave himself for our sins.”
I John 1:7 says, “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” And I John 2:2 reads, “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
The great struggle of all people in this world is directly related to what one church father called “the world, the flesh and the devil.” The world attempts to lead us astray. The flesh is bent toward evil. The devil and his demonic powers constantly attempt to cause us to make bad decisions just like Eve and Adam in the garden of Eden. The message of Christ and the cross alone deals with the power and influence of Satan, the world, and the flesh. Sincere faith in the cross and in the power of the Holy Spirit produces a changed life and a victorious life.
The Lord’s Supper underscores the centrality of the cross. The ordinance of holy communion, also called the Lord’s Supper, has been practiced in the Christian church for more than two thousand years. The classic Scripture taught by pastors thousands of times is what Paul wrote in I Corinthians 11:23-34.
This article will continue in the next issue of The Evangelist.
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