⁸ …but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, ⁹who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, ¹⁰but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel …

The call to be a bold witness for Christ and the gospel, undeterred by the suffering it will bring, arises from the truth of what God has done for us who believe. First, He saved us! From what? From the condemnation of our sin, our judgment, and our eternal separation from God. We want for others what God has given us, namely, salvation.

Second, we are motivated by the truth that He has called us with a holy calling. Salvation restores us to the purpose for which we were created: to give testimony to the glory of God, to reflect His image in us.

This calling, thirdly, is not because of any merit on our part; it is a privilege but not an entitlement. God’s reasons may seem mysterious, but we do know this: our calling has nothing to do with how good or deserving we are. In His grace, God has planned, from eternity past and into eternity future, for believers to be His proclamation of glory and grace. We may never know why He chose us for this purpose, but knowing this is true powerfully motivates us to share Christ with others.

Our Lord Jesus Christ came into this world to give visible evidence of this grace. God has always been gracious to His people; consider how often He forgave or overlooked their sin. By rights, He had many reasons to annihilate them for their rebellion, but He preserved them until Christ arrived. But His grace was not always clearly seen. Now His grace is fully understood through the supreme demonstration of love, by Jesus dying in our place. In so doing He: 1) abolished death, 2) brought spiritual life, and 3) brought immortality to light. What this means is that now, through the message of the gospel, we are no longer spiritually dead, but have new life, and that, eternal life. That is what God has done for us. That is what we want to share with others.

Therefore, we should not be timid witnesses for Christ. The world needs what we have. Our friends, relatives, and work associates may reject us, persecute us, or marginalize us. But when they come to faith in Christ, they too will desire to share that good news with others. That is motivation for evangelism!

Lord, thank You for the great truth we have to share with others.