Now we need to proceed further and consider how the gospel of God is preached. It is preached by the sent ones. The sent ones are the apostles (1:5) separated for this purpose. Not all the believers are apostles, but, in a sense, all the believers are sent by the Lord for the gospel preaching.
This gospel is preached in spirit (1:9). Note that the word spirit here begins with a small letter, thereby indicating that it does not refer to the Holy Spirit. All Christians believe that we must be in the Holy Spirit in order to preach the gospel. However, I never heard anyone tell us that we must be in our spirit. But Paul says that we need to be in our spirit. Preaching the gospel depends on our spirit. Paul said that he served God in the spirit in the gospel of His Son. When we preach the gospel, we should not employ any gimmicks; we should exercise our spirit.
Why is it only in the book of Romans that Paul says he serves God in his spirit? Because in this book he argues with the religious people who invariably are in something other than the spirit—in letters, in forms, or in doctrines. In the book of Romans Paul argues that whatever we do toward God must be done in our spirit, that whatever we are must be in spirit, and that whatever we have must be in spirit. In chapter 2, verse 29, he says that the genuine people of God must be in spirit, that true circumcision is not outward in the flesh but in the spirit. In chapter 7, verse 6, he says that we must serve God in newness of spirit. Paul refers to our human spirit eleven times in the book of Romans. The last instance is found in chapter 12, verse 11 where he says that we must be burning in spirit. Preaching the gospel of God is absolutely a matter of our spirit.
For the preaching of the gospel we need much prayer (1:9). We need to pray for souls and to pray for the gospel. In preaching the gospel, prayer is more needful than any kind of effort. If we are prayerless, we will be fruitless in the gospel preaching.
Thirdly, we must preach the gospel with eagerness (1:13-15). If we mean business with the Lord in this matter of gospel preaching, we must exercise these three things: in spirit, by prayer, and with eagerness. Gimmicks and techniques will not be effective. We all need to exercise our spirit to touch people, to pray, and to be ready with eagerness. If the gospel does not inspire you, it will never inspire others. If the gospel cannot convince you, it will never convince others. If you yourself do not weep with the gospel, no one else will repent. If you weep, others will weep in repentance. Once I read a biography of a brother who was prevailing in the gospel. He did not preach very much. However, when he stood up he wept in front of all the people. After a period of weeping before them, tears of repentance came down from the eyes of the people. That was preaching the gospel with eagerness.
The gospel of God is received by the called ones (1:6-7). What do these called ones do? They believe. Therefore, the gospel is received by the called ones and the believing ones. We are the called ones and the believing ones. To be called is to be called out; to believe is to believe into.
Romans gives us the example of Abraham. Abraham was called by God out of the created race. The created race had fallen into many things other than God and had become hopeless as far as God was concerned. God gave up that race, calling out of it a man named Abraham. So, Abraham became the father of the called race, a race that was not created by God, but a race that was called out by God. We have been called out of everything other than God: out of the old creation, the world, the human race, and ourselves. We have been called out of good things and out of bad things, out of everything that is not God Himself. Therefore, to be called is to come out of anything that is not God Himself.
After we were called, we believed. To believe means to believe into. To believe Jesus does not simply mean to believe that there is a Jesus. To believe Jesus means to believe into Jesus; to believe God is to believe into God. Believing requires us to admit that we are hopeless and helpless and that we can do nothing to please God. We need to forget ourselves and terminate ourselves, terminating all that we are, have, and do. This is believing. On the negative side, believing means to terminate all that we are, all that we have, and all that we can do. On the positive side, it means to take God as our everything, to put ourselves into God, trusting in what He has done for us, in what He can do for us, and what He will do for us. In other words, believing is simply terminating ourselves and putting ourselves into the full trust of God. This believing is reckoned before God as righteousness and binds God to save us.
The gospel is received by the people who have been called out of everything other than God and who have believed into the Triune God, terminating what they are, have, and do, and trusting in God for what He has done, can do, and will do. If, as such a person, you receive the gospel of God, you will confess, “I am finished. It is no more I, but Christ Who lives in me. I do not need to do anything, for He has done everything, and He will do everything for me. All that I have, all that I am, and all that I can do has been terminated by my believing into Him. Now, He is my everything.” This is the kind of person who receives the gospel of God.