What must I do to be saved? Paul and Silas respond to their jailer, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). The gospel is simple enough to be carried on one breath.

Now, to be sure, to “believe in the Lord Jesus” is shorthand for believe in the person and work of Jesus Christ on the cross, in His death and resurrection, in His sacrifice and redemption. The gospel is not believe in God. The gospel is believe in Jesus as the only Savior of the world and way to God.

Paul does not tack on to the gospel presented to the jailer. There’s no belief in Jesus plus belief in something else. There’s no believe in Jesus plus do this. There is certainly more to come for the jailer once he has come to believe. There will be much he will need to learn, understand, repent from, and apply later on. But all in a matter of course and time. First things first, believe in Jesus. Put your trust in Him.

Paul was adamant elsewhere about not putting unnecessary obstacles in the gospel’s way. Meat sacrificed to idols? Business dealings with unbelievers? Jewish practices and Gentile believers? Being a husband of one wife? Not being a drunkard? Tithing and giving? Welcoming the widow and fatherless? Being hospitable? Spiritual gifts? And so on. All of these would become key to following Christ. But none were prerequisites for becoming a Christian and disciple of Jesus.

Paul would encourage us as Christians to be aware of putting intended or unintended obstacles in the way of the gospel. In other words, the clarity and simplicity of the gospel takes priority over all other passions, missions, and concerns we have. It doesn’t rule them out, but it does rule how we pursue, navigate, and address them all.

The gospel changes everything, yet the gospel is not everything. If I claim to be a disciple of Jesus, my first and utmost calling is to preach the good news of Jesus Christ. “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” All other issues, as important as they are, are secondary to the gospel. So if the secondary things are hindering or replacing the first things in my life, then I need to put them back where they belong, under Christ.

If you make any issue (seem) more important than the gospel, you distract from it. This applies to marriage, family, life, work, money, sexuality, gender, character, immigration,…. Yes, righteous anger is necessary. But, remember, no one was more righteously angry than Jesus when He called out the Pharisees for burdening people with heavy, unnecessary religious rules.

Many younger couples now attending Elim Grace are either non-believers or have left Christianity and church years ago. They are returning for reasons that, to be honest, are a mystery to me. They express that “suddenly” they felt like they needed to start going to church or to come back to church. That they wanted “God” to be a part of their children’s lives. The “suddenly” feels like “the wind” — “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8)

If the Spirit has “suddenly” blown on their hearts and led them to Elim Grace of all places, then what they need first and foremost is the gospel. The gospel of God “concerning his son,” Jesus (Romans 1:1-3). To hear it preached and to see it lived out.

Let the children come to me, said Jesus. We all start there in our faith and knowledge of Jesus. We cannot hinder the “children” from coming, those who need to hear the simple gospel. In fact, Jesus has strong words for those who hinder or oppose the children from coming to Him.

But after that, in the course of time, we can continue with “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.” (1 Corinthians 13:11) We cannot remain as children, but should grow up and call each other up into adulthood or maturity in Christ. So there are issues we should as Christians all think critically and Biblically about. And there are “tenets of faith” in God’s Kingdom that we should as citizens of heaven all prioritize over the “tenets of faith” in any party, organization, circle or group. And there are the character traits and fruit of the Spirit that we should all as disciples of Jesus imitate and be known for by all.

In many ways, regarding many things, the children in faith, in a knowledge of Christ, and in their familiarity of the Scriptures “don’t know any better”. That’s not an excuse, that’s just the reality of where they are. But the mature in Christ do know better. Therefore, they must (1) let the children come to Jesus, and (2) provide faithful role models who will with truth, humility, patience and love, say, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”” (1 Corinthians 11:1)

So, once more, before all is said and done, preach the gospel. And after all is said and done, preach the gospel. Let’s remove any and all unnecessary distractions or obstacles.