Approved by God
Oct 12, 2025 – 18th Sunday after Pentecost
Psalm 111 and 2 Timothy 2:8-15
By Pastor Jane Shelton
Over the past month as we have read scriptures and talked about stewardship, we have been reminded that in stewardship we are called into action by God to continue spreading the gospel, the same as the disciples and Paul and Timothy. Without the action of those before us to tell us that as God promised, Jesus was a descendant of David and was Christ Jesus who was raised from the dead by God, we would not know the true gospel message.
Like Timothy, it is up to us to continue to carry the message to others, to find ways to share the truth about true life eternal so that all may know Christ and the grace of God.
Very seldom, when you share this good news with someone who doesn’t know who Jesus is, will they step right into that truth. They may have questions. They may even have doubts as to whether the story is true since there are no tangible facts for them to hold on to as proof.
I read in a sentence this week that has stuck with me beyond even remembering for sure where I read it, “One thing we Christians need to stop doing is thinking of non-Christians as our enemies.”
It really is a profound statement that stuck with me, and it caused me to pause and ponder.
As we discussed a few weeks back, we are called to find the lost sheep, and we are called to even love our enemies and pray for them.
We are called to do this because God wants to have a relationship with all of creation, including those who have not yet come to know who God is and the grace he offers.
God indeed made a covenant with David regarding his dynasty and the future Messiah, and when Jesus lived among us, he made it clear that the gospel is for all nations and all people.
Paul proclaimed the gospel to the Jewish nation reiterating Jesus was a descendent of David because it was a covenant made by God with David. It was important to them that the Messiah was a descendent of David. It was their human heritage.
For the Gentiles, that point was less controversial, and they accepted Christ as the Messiah who was raised from the dead, the second part of God’s covenant. This divine revelation was seen as more of a confession and a claim by the Gentiles.
However, for both the Jews and the Gentiles, their belief required faith alone.
We are told if we deny him, he will deny us, although if we are faithless, he remains faithful because he cannot deny himself.
The reign of Christ is eternal, even though it may not be apparent to the world. In God’s time all will acknowledge the reign of Christ. Today there are many in the world that do not know Christ, they don’t know that even now he reigns among us, and he will reign eternally.
When someone is seeking understanding to know who Christ is, we can embrace them and have dialogue with one another without getting angry if they challenge us. If we don’t have an answer at the moment they ask, we can tell them we will get back to them, but we are not to argue with them.
Paul warns that wrangling over words does no good and hurts others that may be listening to the conversation. Instead of arguing, we are to present ourselves as one approved by God. So, what does that mean?
Paul points out we are approved by God whenever we believe in and tell the good news of the gospel, and as a Christian in service to God’s work, we are not ashamed to have a conversation. We are not ashamed to proclaim our Lord as the one who was sent by God to be raised from the dead so that there is victory over death.
Like Jesus, we can have a conversation in stories that are relatable to the person with whom we are having a conversation.
There are many people who are not brought up in a church, and many who never hear the words “God” or “Jesus” mentioned in their homes. They don’t know what it is to pray to God. If you are among those who had or have the privilege of living in a Christian home, imagine how different your life might be if you didn’t know Jesus as Christ the Messiah, the one sent to free you from your burdens and sins.
It is difficult to imagine how our lives would be different without God’s power living in us and through us, and because of this, it makes it hard to relate to others who do not know that experience. How would our lives be different if we didn’t have our church family to support us in our time of need?
When we are reminded by our Psalmist of the great works of God, it’s an amazing list: God’s work is full of honor and majesty; his righteousness endures forever; he is just and gracious and merciful and faithful. God provides our heritage and sends redemption. God is Holy and awesome.
Knowing this, we are to respond in two ways. We praise him with our whole heart, and we fear God so that we can begin to have wisdom. We garner that wisdom by studying the word of God until we have a good understanding of it. The more we practice it, the more wisdom we gain, and the more wisdom is revealed to us by God through our faithfulness.
God’s worthiness to be praised is eternal, and His works, love and mercy have a permanent and lasting impact from generation to generation.
Paul believed that suffering in the name of the gospel was participating in the suffering of Christ so that others may know eternal glory.
If he had hardships and was chained, then that was part of the human sacrifice to spread the gospel because he knew that once the word was out, others would believe, and it was worth enduring the unthinkable horrors.
Paul was committed to making the sacrifices needed to tell any and all about God’s grace and power, and Christ’s resurrection.
Paul repeated over and over, “This is my gospel.” He was approved by God because he proclaimed what we say in communion every month, “We believe in Christ’s death, we proclaim his resurrection, and we await his glorious return.”
We, like Paul, are approved by God and can be unashamed disciples for our Lord. As we continue to spread the gospel, the love and peace of our Lord, we can do so in conversations without getting angry if someone challenges us. Being challenged causes us to dig deeper into God’s word to seek answers we might not know, or to better state and have confidence in what we do know.
When we acknowledge that we are approved by God, we can unchain his word and confidently explain the word of truth without fear and wrangling of words.
To God be the glory!