Some Evangelism Essentials

Some Evangelism Essentials

Theme: In evangelism, the Holy Spirit uses the Gospel shared by Believers.  

The “good news” of Jesus Christ is the message that the Son of God, died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day, offering eternal life to all who believe. It is a “grace” gift and is not earned by religious efforts. Such salvation is rooted in faith, repentance, and obedience to the gospel. Evangelism involves our presence as we win a hearing, our proclamation as we share the gospel message, and our persuasion as we convince others to place their trust in Christ.

The gospel certainly is the “power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (Romans 1:16), which God uses alongside the Holy Spirit to open repentant sinners’ hearts, rather than relying solely on human education, eloquence, or persuasion. The Holy Spirit is the driver of evangelism in that he brings about conviction (Jn. 16:8; 3:18; Rom. 3:23), conversion (Eph. 2:1; Jn. 3:3), and guidance into truth. Without His divine work, the sinner would never appreciate the gospel message nor become convinced of the simple message of salvation through Christ. While it is true the believer must witness and proclaim Christ, the work of saving a sinner—conversion—belongs to the Spirit of God using the gospel.

The ministry of evangelism is carried out through people as Paul stated in Romans 10:14, “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?” Believers are ordained as active instruments, in God’s hands for evangelism, tasked with sharing the message of reconciliation to make disciples. As ambassadors for Christ, we are responsible for sharing our faith in daily life, guided by the Holy Spirit, while relying on the power of the gospel itself to save, not just our personal talents, skills, or abilities. It is our responsibility to take the life-giving message to the lost encouraging them to turn to Christ in faith. As personal workers we may not be called to full time ministry, but we are called to win souls to Christ. The specific call of evangelism is for the specialist in gospel preaching and witnessing, but all believers are commissioned to proclaim the gospel on a person-to-person basis (Matt. 24:18-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-48). People are important to this effort. It takes saved people to win other people to Christ.

People are essential to evangelism while certain approaches, methods, and techniques are incidental. In the grand scope of God’s redemptive plan, people are the central conduits for the task of promoting the gospel. This viewpoint means that while practices (such as special programs, events, or approaches) are not fundamentally wrong, they are secondary to the foundation of the message itself and the work of the Holy Spirit through believers. Furthermore, evangelism should be an organic, spontaneous overflow of a believer’s life, rather than a fixed, mechanical, or overly managed program. God has no other means of sharing the hope of salvation through Christ except through born-again people. God primarily uses people as messengers of salvation and not merely techniques to communicate the gospel. With many modern methods there is pressure to get an immediate decision, in contrast true evangelism often involves a process of fostering the right conditions in the soul of a potential convert rather than a single event. The gospel message has been watered down, streamlined, rendered non-offensive, and sanitized to make it more palatable to the modern sensibilities. Also, different methods work for different personalities, and sticking to one “formula” can hinder individual, God-given motivations, gifts, and strengths. Method will vary with people and times, but the Holy Spirit uses the gospel of Christ proclaimed by believers as a standard.

Our function is to focus on the steps a person takes in becoming a believer. We must use our spiritual gifts, personality, and abilities to accomplish the task of evangelism–to bring people to the point of a decision for Christ. We are to share the gospel in such a way the unsaved can understand and are enabled to respond to Christ—we create an environment of receptivity and responsiveness to the message. Ultimately, Christ is really trusted for salvation, and this is a new beginning to an extraordinary journey of faith for the new believer. This is far more important than merely counting another pressurized ‘conversion’ at the end of a special event.