“Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles. I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. ” (Romans 1:13-15)

For whom is the gospel designed?

To whom should we preach the gospel?

The answer to these questions is not the same.

The gospel is designed to instruct and comfort those who have already been born again and therefore have the faith to receive it. Those dead in their sins find the gospel to be foolish. Therefore, it is not intended for their instruction or the means by which they are born again.

Since, we cannot know beyond a doubt who is a child of God and who is not, we are to preach to all sorts of people. This portion of the Roman letter tells us to whom we should preach.

Paul says he has a debt to preach to Greeks (Gentiles from Greece) and to Barbarians (this is what Greeks called everyone else, including Jews). Therefore, we are to preach to people regardless of their nationality, skin-color, or any other man-made differentiation.

Paul said he was also supposed to preach to those who knew the law and those that didn’t. This means there is no prerequisite to hear the gospel in church. There is not children’s church, Sunday school, or primer class that is needed before a person is ready to learn from the preacher.

The gospel is intended for children of God in every kindred, tongue, people, and nation. It should be preached in a way where the scholar and the young and faith can rejoice in its message together.