Evangelism, Part 7
The Joy of Sharing the Good News
In biblical evangelism, both God and his people have a fundamental role. We can engage in evangelism but unless the Holy Spirit regenerates hearts and make sinners willing to believe, the outward call to come to Christ remains ineffectual. The Lord is the one who makes the preaching of the gospel effective and so we leave the results to him. Nevertheless, our role is essential given the nature of God’s plan.
The Lord could have had his angels declare the gospel in the sky every day in every language tailored to every geographical location on earth, but he didn’t. He could have chosen to impress the truth of the gospel immediately upon the mind of every human being he created but he didn’t. In the execution of his decree, particularly in the work of providence, it has pleased the Lord to use means or secondary causes. He determined this is what would bring him maximum glory; to have redeemed sinners joyfully announce the good news of salvation having experienced its power and freedom themselves.
Often it is asked, “If God is sovereign, why pray? Why evangelize?” In a collection of lectures entitled, Evangelical Theology, A.A. Hodge answers these questions with uncommon wit and wisdom. He rightly notes that Christians who believe in God’s sovereignty don’t seem to have a dilemma when it comes to other areas of life where “means” are employed all the time:
“If the spiritual destiny of all people is fixed and certain, why evangelize, why pray? If God has eternally decreed that you should live, what is the use of your breathing? If God has eternally decreed that you should talk, what is the use of your opening your mouth? If God has eternally decreed that you should reap a crop, what is the use of your sowing the seed? If God has eternally decreed that your stomach should contain food, what is the use of your eating? In order to educate us, God demands that we should use the means, or go without the ends, which depend upon them. There are plenty of fools who make the transcendental nature of eternity and of the relation of the eternal life of God to the time–life of man an excuse for neglecting prayer. But of all the many fools in the United States, there is not one absurd enough to make the same eternal decree an excuse for not chewing his food or for not voluntarily inflating his lungs.”
We cannot use God’s sovereignty as an excuse to forfeit prayer or evangelism for the simple reason the Lord has commanded us to do both. While we maintain God’s sovereignty and human responsibility are biblically compatible, we cannot grasp exactly how that is. Moses reminds us of our limitations: “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” Deuteronomy 29:29. Bottom line: we pray and evangelize because God tells us to and imparts these desires which are not to be suppressed but nurtured through the means of grace. What a high honor and privilege it is to partner with the living God in the work of his kingdom.
Prayer
E.M. Bounds said, “Before we talk to men about God we should talk to God about men.” The Bible teaches that God uses the prayers of his people to accomplish the salvation of the lost.
Ephesians 6:18-20 — “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.
Colossians 4:2-4 — “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison — that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.”
1 Timothy 2:1-4 — “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Evangelism
In concert with prayer, God uses the proclamation of the gospel as an effective means of saving the lost as noted in the passages below. In addition to the key text of Romans 10:13-15, which I quoted in Sunday’s sermon, consider the following passages.
Romans 1:16 — “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
1 Corinthians 1:23-24 — “but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
2 Corinthians 5:20 — “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”
2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 — “But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Titus 1:1 — “Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness.”
What are the implications of divine sovereignty on evangelism?
Rather than making us passive or indifferent, J.I. Packer argues it should make us bold, patient, and prayerful. Yes, the success of the gospel depends on the outworking of God’s eternal decree but that also includes the preaching of the gospel and the prayers of Christians he ordained as means to accomplish his ends.
God has commanded his children to earnestly pray and enthusiastically proclaim the good news to all people everywhere. While the Great Commission is given to the church corporately, we each have a responsibility personally. Not everyone is going to be a “prayer warrior” or an “evangelist” but every Christian should count it a privilege to be used of God to bring about the salvation of his elect through Spirit-empowered prayer and faithful gospel proclamation.