The modern evangelical church has lost so much ground in making the gospel known to the lost. Why? They have answered the question in the title of this post with a resounding "YES." The assumption of many sincere believers is the assumption that I once held years ago. It goes something like this: "C'mon everyone! Sinners don't need to be told they are sinners, they already know that. What they need is to be loved and to hear the good news." This sounds so right on the surface, doesn't it? The problem is that it's assumption is dead wrong. Our MGKM team witnesses to hundreds of people (perhaps thousands) each year. We have a common question for folks, "Do you consider yourself to be a good person?" What do you think 95% of them say? If you guessed, "Yes, I think I'm a good person," you are right. Not only that, they, for the most part, are convinced that God has the same assessment of them! Can you see how dangerous this is for their eternal welfare?
This is why lost people desperately need to hear the law before they hear the gospel. The law is God's instrument that brings the knowledge of sin. This is why, in our evangelism training seminars (contact us if you are interested), we give much instruction on preaching the law of God, as well as the gospel of grace. Consider the following:
John MacArthur noted: "God's grace cannot be faithfully preached to unbelievers until the Law is preached and man's corrupt nature is exposed. It is impossible for a person to fully realize his need for God's grace until he sees how terribly he has failed the standards of God's Law."
Therefore, let us go forth, laying the groundwork of the law of God, so hearts will be hungry to hear the gospel of Christ!