Fourth, The Gospel is for Everyone not only Some
Paul said, "[...] for it [The Gospel] is the power of God to salvation to salvation for anyone who believes. For the Jew first and also for the Greek." Salvation is not a privilege for certain people only, such considered wise or for people of one nation only. Although God decided to bring this message through the Jews, the smallest nation on earth then; therefore, Paul said, "for the Jew first." However, the plan of God was and had always been to bless all the nations of the earth; thus, Paul said, "also for the Greek" because he Greco-Roman empire in the time of Paul dominated and represented the whole world. Thus, "Jew first but also the Greek." God initiated His redemptive plan through the Jews; therefore, Jesus came in the flesh as a Jew but the plan was never to save the Jews only; rather to use the smallest nation to save every other nation. When God first appeared to Abram, who was to become the father of all Jews, He told him, “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Genesis 12:1-3.
Years after, God appeared to Abraham again and tested him by asking to offer his son as a sacrifice. In spite of the request, obeyed God and was about to sacrifice Isaac, but then God Himself intervene calling Abraham to stop, and God provided a ham as substitute for the sacrifice. After all of these things, God told Abraham, “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” Genesis 22:16-18. In saying "in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed", God meant salvation to every person through Christ. Paul makes it clear to us in Galatians 3:15-16 when he says, "Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it. Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ." Do you see the wisdom?! The good news of the gospel is for every single human being, not only for some select group of people, with God there is no partiality. Hence, Jesus said, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," Matthew 28:19.
As Peter, who was a Jew, went about obeying the words of Jesus, he then concluded, “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him." Acts 10:34. Peter uttered these words when God tasked him to take salvation for the first time to a Greek centurion. Peter, a Jew who first believed, was sharing the gospel with a Greek person. Glories to God! The gospel is for anyone who is willing to repent and believe. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, hence, all need a savior and salvation. Do you see the wisdom! Everyone has the opportunity to be saved! God intentionally decided to break the wisdom of the wise, the dispute of the disputers, and the rational of the rationalists like the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers of the time of Paul and certainly of our time also. God declared, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe." I Corinthians 1:19-21. God decided to destroy the wisdom of the wise of this age through the preaching of a simple message. After all salvation is not only for the "wise" or "learned" of this age but as it is written, "for anyone who believes".
The gospel is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes. It's a simple message but certainly is not void of wisdom. The gospel if full of wisdom but not the wisdom of man but a more superior wisdom, the wisdom of God which is Christ. Paul said, "And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." I Corinthians 2:1-8. The gospel reveals a most superior wisdom, not the wisdom of man; therefore, it is simple yet logical and available to anyone who believes, not just to a select few who consider themselves wise. Most importantly, this superior wisdom of the gospel reveals the love of God for all His creation, not only human beings. oh what love! The bible says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16. God, who made the world and everything in it, did not give up on His creation but made a way for their restoration through the saving power of the gospel.
"God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” Acts 17, 24-31. The gospel, which is the power of God for salvation of anyone who believes, so “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Acts 16:31.