The New Testament book of Revelation depicts a glorious scene: “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb” (Rev. 7:9 NIV). This depiction of what is to come, to me, is reminiscent of a scene in the early Christian church that is recorded in Acts chapter 2. It was the day of Pentecost. Following Jesus’s death, resurrection, and ascension to heaven, the apostles of Jesus had been filled with the Holy Spirit and given the ability to speak other languages, such that “Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene” (Acts 2:9–10) all heard the apostles declaring the wonders of the Lord in their own languages. Both scenes (and many others) illustrate the radically inclusive nature of the Gospel and affirm that the salvation of the Lord is available to men and women from every nationality, race, ethnicity, creed, and tongue. These are vivid word pictures of the truth declared by the Apostle Paul in Romans 10:13: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” There is no greater model or illustration of inclusion than the cross of Jesus Christ.

The radically inclusive cross of Jesus welcomed these sinners to faith in Jesus by offering forgiveness for their sins and providing salvation. Jesus invited them as sinners to come to Himself, just as He invited me as a sinner to believe in Him. But the invitation to faith in Jesus is not an invitation to remain in sin. God’s love for us is not affirmation of our sin. The radical inclusion and invitation of the cross is for the sinner but not for our sin. To believe otherwise is to either misunderstand or reject the truth of the Gospel.

As we are baptized into faith in Jesus, the power of sin in our lives is broken and we are freed to live new lives as new creatures. The Apostle Paul declared in Romans 6:6–7, “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.” Radically, Christian inclusion invites men, women, and children of every age, nationality, race, ethnicity, and tongue to leave our sin, our desperation and our brokenness at the foot of the cross, place our faith and trust in Jesus and be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirt.