The majority of people in the world will miss the next Christmas. But how can that be? How can anyone miss Christmas, given the amount of advertising, publicity, and promotion the holiday receives each year? Because although many celebrate Christmas every year, most don't know what it's about. In spite of all the media promotion of Christmas, the majority of people will miss it because it has become so obscured.
For those of us who know and love the Lord Jesus Christ, Christmas is a time to focus on His birth. But even we can get caught up in the swirl of activity around Christmastime and can miss it in a practical sense. Satan has so cluttered the Christian concept of Christmas with such needless paraphernalia that its true meaning is easily lost.
A Brief History of Christmas
Most scholars doubt that December 25 th is the true date of Christ's birth. There is no biblical support for it, and some against it. That date was decided upon by the church in Rome in the fourth century. They had a specific reason for doing so.
Many of the earth's earliest inhabitants were sun worshipers because they depended on the sun's yearly course in the heavens. Most people held feasts at the time of the winter solstice (mid-December)--a time when the days were shortest. They built bonfires to give the sun god strength and bring him back to life again. When it became apparent that the days were growing longer, there was great rejoicing.
The fathers of the church in Rome decided to celebrate Christ's birth on the winter solstice. It was their attempt to Christianize the popular pagan celebrations. But they failed to make the people conform. Instead the heathen festivities continued, and we are left with a bizarre marriage of pagan and Christian elements that characterizes our modern celebration of Christmas.
The following examples will give you some idea of how much pagan customs make up what we know as Christmas.
To the Romans the month of December marked the Festival of Saturnalia (Dec. 17-24). One of their most common customs during that festival was giving gifts to one another. As far as we know that is where the idea of exchanging presents came from. The evergreen wreath also derives from the Saturnalia festival, during which homes were decorated with evergreen boughs. The Druids of England gathered sacred mistletoe for their ceremonies and decorated their homes with it. It is believed that the first Christmas tree was instituted by Boniface, an English missionary to Germany in the eighth century. He supposedly replaced sacrifices to the god Odin's sacred oak with a fir tree adorned in tribute to Christ. Certain accounts claim that Martin Luther introduced the Christmas tree lighted with candles.
"Santa Claus" is a contraction of St. Nicholas, a bishop in Asia Minor during the fourth century known for his extraordinary generosity. He was later associated with giving presents at the end of the year. St. Nicholas was adopted by the Netherlands as the patron saint of children. On St. Nicholas eve, the children would leave their shoes filled with hay for the saint's white horse.
No wonder so many people miss Christmas. The simplicity of the birth of Christ is drowned in a sea of traditions, many being pagan in origin. Even worse than that, when Christ was born in Bethlehem , most people of that day missed it. In the following gospel accounts, we will see six ways people missed Christmas, and learn how to avoid making the same mistake ourselves.
Ignorant Preoccupation
Luke 2:7 says, "[Mary] gave birth to her firstborn Son, and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." The first person who missed Christmas was the innkeeper. He was unable to take in Mary and Joseph because he had no room for them. Apparently he was indifferent to their plight--there is no indication from Scripture that he called for any help.
Notice that verse 7 says, "She gave birth to her first-born son." Mary herself gave birth to Jesus. By herself she wrapped Him in cloths. Joseph was there to help, but if he was anything like most young fathers, he would have been of little help. Middle-eastern people are hospitable, kind, and caring. They are not barbaric. They are not the kind of people who would leave a woman alone to have her baby. But in this case, they did. Where were the midwives? You'd think the innkeeper would have known someone who could have helped.
Luke tells us she laid Him in a manger, which is an animal feeding trough. The cloths she wrapped Jesus in were long strips of cloth. Whenever an infant was born, immediately the baby was cleaned. Then the baby's limbs and body would be wrapped in these swaddling cloths and then wrapped in an outer blanket. That was a duty normally carried out by a midwife. But Mary had to do it all herself. Commentator G. Campbell Morgan wrote, "Think of the pathos of it. 'She brought forth;' 'she wrapped Him in swaddling clothes.' It is very beautiful, but oh, the pity of it, the tragedy of it, the loneliness of it; that in that hour of all hours, when womanhood should be surrounded by the tenderest care, she was alone. The method of the writer is very distinct. She with her own hands wrapped the Baby around with those swaddling cloths, and laid Him in the manger. There was no one to do it for her. Again I say, the pity of it, and yet the glory of it to the heart of Mary" (The Gospel According to Luke [Old Tappan, N.J.: Revell, 1931], p. 36).
We don't know anything about the innkeeper because the Bible doesn't say anything about him. Some commentators speculate that Jesus was born in a stable some think He was born in a cave, and others believe he was born in an open courtyard at the inn. One thing we do know: whatever hospitality Mary and Joseph hoped to find, they found none--they were turned away.
Why did the innkeeper miss Christmas? I think the simple answer is preoccupation. He was busy. His inn was full because a census was being held in Bethlehem . The city was bulging with people whose ancestors came from there. Since Bethlehem was the city of David , all those who were in the line of David were there, including Joseph and Mary. The innkeeper wasn't necessarily hostile and unsympathetic; he was just busy.
Many people are like the innkeeper. The chambers of their souls are filled with needless things--with stuff that doesn't matter. As a result, they miss the Christ of God. Our society is filled with the unnecessary, the insignificant, and the meaningless. We spend a fortune to amass things so we can let our children fight over them when we die. And our time is eaten away by the demands our things place on us.
People miss Christ at Christmastime because He is crowded out by a world that dictates what they should think, do, and buy. Like the innkeeper, people today are preoccupied. The innkeeper didn't know anything about the baby Mary gave birth to, and neither do they. They don't know who Christ is and they don't know why He came. Instead, they're ignorantly preoccupied with the mundane and the meaningless. How sad it is that so many people live their lives in pursuit of such, only to wake up one day in eternity without God.
Jealous Fear
In Matthew 2 we meet another man who missed Christmas: "After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem , saying, 'Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east, and have come to worship Him.' And when Herod the king heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.... Then Herod secretly called the magi, and ascertained from them the time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem , and said, 'Go and make careful search for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, that I too may come and worship Him'" (vv. 1-3, 7-8). Herod was the king of the land. He feigned his desire to worship Jesus Christ, but he was fearful because One had been born who was called the King of the Jews. The Greek word translated "troubled" in verse three means "to be agitated" or "stirred up." It carries the idea of total panic. Herod panicked. Why? He was afraid of Jesus--afraid of another king. Let's see why.
Julius Caesar appointed Herod's father, Antipater, to be procurator, or governor, of Judea under the Roman occupation. Antipater then managed to have his son Herod appointed prefect of Galilee . In that office Herod was successful in quelling the Jewish guerrilla bands who continued to fight against their foreign rulers. After fleeing to Egypt when the Parthians invaded Palestine, Herod then went to Rome and in 40 B.C. was declared by Octavian and Antony (with the concurrence of the Roman senate) to be king of the Jews. He invaded Palestine the next year and, after several years of fighting, drove out the Parthians and established his kingdom.
Because he was not Jewish, but Idumean (an Edomite), Herod married Mariamne, heiress to the Jewish Hasmonean house, to make himself more acceptable to the Jews he now ruled. He was a clever and capable warrior, orator, and diplomat. But he also was cruel and merciless. He was incredibly jealous, suspicious, and afraid for his position and power. Fearing a potential threat, he had the high priest Aristobulus, his wife's brother, drowned--after which he provided a magnificent funeral where he pretended to weep. He then had Mariamne herself killed, and then her mother and two of his own sons. Five days before his death (about a year after Jesus was born) he had a third son executed. One of the greatest evidences of his bloodthirstiness and insane cruelty was having the most distinguished citizens of Jerusalem arrested and imprisoned shortly before his death. Because he knew no one would mourn his own death, he gave orders for those prisoners to be executed the moment he died. Thus he guaranteed that there would be mourning in Jerusalem .
That barbaric act was exceeded in cruelty only by his slaughter of "all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its environs, from two years old and under" (Matthew 2:16 ). By that action he hoped to kill any threat to his throne from the One the magi said had been born King of the Jews.
Why did Herod miss Christmas? Jealous fear. Lest you think there are no more Herods in this world, you need only read the daily newspaper. Man is depraved. There are Herods in every society. But there is a greater lesson for all humanity. Many people miss Christmas because of the same kind of fear Herod had. Herod was afraid that someone else would take his throne. Today people are fearful of giving up their own plans, priorities, values, and morals. They don't want to come to Christ because He will cramp their style--He will lay claim on their lives. That means they will have to alter the way they live. The media tells people to do their own thing, master their own fate, and chart their own destiny. The world is full of kings who will not kneel before Jesus Christ, so they miss Christmas just like Herod.
What about you? Have you said no to Jesus Christ because you are afraid of the claim He will lay on you? Do you want to be the lord and master of your life and the king of your little kingdom? That's tragic--His kingdom is so much more glorious!
Prideful Indifference
Once Herod learned from the wise men that a child would be born who would be King of the Jews, he gathered "together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, [and] began to inquire of them where the Christ was to be born. And they said to him, 'In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written by the prophet, "And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the leaders of Judah; for out of you shall come forth a Ruler, who will shepherd My people Israel"'" (Matthew 2:4-6). Herod called in the experts.
The chief priests consisted of the high priest, the captain of the Temple police, and the best of the other priests--those who had great administrative, teaching, and leadership skills. For the most part the chief priests were Sadducees. The scribes were primarily Pharisees. They were the linguists and interpreters who understood the culture and history of the biblical data. Those two groups knew where the Messiah was to be born because they knew Micah had prophesied that " Bethlehem was to be His place of birth (5:2). One thing the Jewish nation had been looking for, and still does to this day, was the Messiah. They had been waiting for a deliverer throughout their history, especially while under Roman oppression. However, these priests and scribes were unwilling to travel the few miles to find out if this baby might be the Messiah.
Why did they miss Christmas? Indifference. They didn't care. They had all the facts, but they didn't need a Messiah. Why? Because they were self-righteous--they saw themselves as perfect keepers of the law. In their minds they were all God could ever ask of them. You could say they were filled with proud indifference because indifference is always a result of pride. There was no room for the Son of God in their system. When the grown child arrived on the scene, they hated and despised Him. So they plotted His murder and screamed for His blood.
Jesus pinpointed their indifference in a stinging rebuke from Matthew 9. "I happened that as He was reclining at [the] table in the house, behold many tax-gatherers and sinners came and joined Jesus and His disciples" (v. 10). Jesus sat down to this meal with people who needed His help: outcasts, tax collectors, traitors, and sinners. "When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, 'Why does your teacher eat with the tax-gatherers and sinners?' But when He heard this, He said, 'It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are ill. But go and learn what this means, "I desire compassion, and not sacrifice," for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners'" (vv. 11-13). When the Pharisees held a feast, they invited self-righteous people. When Jesus held a feast, He welcomed those who knew they were sinners and were desperately aware of their need for a Savior.
Many people today miss Christmas because they don't realize they are sinners. Thus they ignore Christ. They don't show any interest in the Savior because they don't understand their need to be saved. They don't understand that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23)--that sin plummets people into an eternal hell. Consequently they ignore the remedy because they don't even know they have the disease.
Religious Ritual
Luke 2 indicates another group of people who missed Christmas: "in the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields, and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them" (vv. 8-9). The angel proclaimed the birth of Christ, and the shepherds went to Bethlehem to see Him. Verse 20 says, "The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them." Out of all the people in Jerusalem , God singled out shepherds to receive the great news about the birth of Christ.
Shepherds were a despised group of people. They couldn't maintain all the ceremonial washings and activities because they were busy tending to the sheep. Yet no on else from the city came to see the Christ child except these "unclean" shepherds. However, two special people did take note of Him when He was brought into the city. Luke 2:25-26 mentions Simeon--a man who "was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel ; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ." Luke 2:36-38 tells us about Anna, a widow who saw the Messiah in the Temple , and who "continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem " (v. 28).
However, the mass of people in Jerusalem missed Christmas. The birth of Christ took place only a few miles away. It was the fulfillment of all their dreams and hopes--the event that would change the destiny of the world--but they missed it. Why did they miss it? Religion. They were so busy with the rituals of their religion that they missed the reality of His birth. When Jesus asked His disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" (Matthew 16:13), their answer was: "Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets" (v. 14). All the speculations were wrong. Jesus didn't fit into the religious system of His day. And the people knew He didn't after He gave the Sermon on the Mount.
Religion will damn a soul faster than anything if it is anything less than true worship of the true God. A false religious system gives a person a place to hide--a place where he can mask his spirituality. People steeped in various cults talk about God, Christ, and Scripture, but they don't know Christ. They are lost in the midst of religion. So the people of Jerusalem missed Christmas while they were being religious.
Idolatry
The Romans also missed Christmas. Micah's prophecy that the Christ child would be born in Bethlehem was set in motion by a Gentile emperor. Luke 2:1-2 says, "It came about in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria ." The Roman soldiers registered the people and took the census.
Throughout the life of Christ we see the presence of the Romans. Before His death Christ appeared before Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea (John 18:28-40). He was executed by the Romans (Matthew 27:27-36). Roman guards lied about His resurrection, propagating a story to cover up the reality that He rose from the dead (Matthew 28:11-15). They all missed Christmas because of their idolatry: they worshiped their own gods. Christ didn't fit in with them. They worshiped a multitude of gods, and the pinnacle of their worship was emperor worship. So in the midst of their pagan idolatry they missed Christmas.
The world today is full of people who worship their own gods. They don't worship idols like they did at the time of Christ, but we still have idols and gods. Some people worship money. Some people worship sex. Others worship cars, boats, and houses. Some worship power and prestige. Those things are the pagan gods of today--the idols of the twenty-first century. And if that is what you're worshiping, you'll miss Christmas, too. You may receive some presents, eat a big dinner, and enjoy a beautifully decorated pine tree, but you'll miss Christmas.
Over-Familiarity
Perhaps the saddest of all, the people of Nazareth missed Christmas. Luke 2:39-40 says, "When they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth . And the Child continued to grow and became strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him." When Jesus returned to Nazareth , He was unlike any other child in Nazareth . He accompanied His parents to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover when He was twelve years old. He proceeded to confound the doctors of theology in the Temple (Luke 2:41-47). He spent thirty years of His life in Nazareth , yet the residents failed to recognize Him.
Luke 4 unveils the tragedy that took place when Jesus revealed His identity to the Nazarenes: "He came to Nazareth , where he had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book, and found the place where it was written, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.' And He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon Him. And He began to say to them, 'Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.' And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, 'Is this not Joseph's son?' . . . . And He said, 'Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his home town'" (vv. 16-22, 24). The people of Nazareth missed Christmas because of over-familiarity. They knew Jesus as Joseph's son, and they didn't view that as anything special. After Jesus finished speaking in the synagogue, the people "rose up and cast Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, He went His way" (vv. 29-30).
Over-familiarity is a deadly thing. I come across so many people who say they were raised in a Christian environment but are not Christians. Fear grips my heart when I hear that. Over-familiarity strangles conviction. When you've heard something so many times without doing anything about it, such familiarity can breed contempt. Mark 6:6 gives us Christ's own analysis of the people of Nazareth : "He wondered at their unbelief." Matthew 13:58 adds, "He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief." Over-familiarity with Christmas truth can breed a stony heart. You had better respond while your heart is soft, or your heart will become hard and you won't have the opportunity to respond (Proverbs 29:1).
Conclusion
There are many ways to miss Christmas: ignorant preoccupation, ritual, idolatry, and over-familiarity. But behind all those reasons is unbelief. Many people simply refuse to believe in Jesus Christ. The apostle John said, "He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name" (John 1:10-12). If you've been missing the reality of Christmas in your life, know that if you receive the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in His name, Christmas will become real to you. It can happen today; and it's between you and God (2 Corinthians 6:1-2; Romans 10:8-11).
Written by John MacArthur
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Telling People the Truth in Love
A Reformed Approach to Evangelism
by Dr. Kim Riddlebarger
I. A bad rap--Why do the Reformed not evangelize?
Whether justified or not, the Reformed have a bad reputation for not being concerned about evangelism. While there are wonderful exceptions, some of the criticism is certainly valid. Why is this? Some historical background would be useful.
A. A great past--A questionable present
Historically, the Reformed have a great history of evangelism and missions. Indeed, the Christianization of Europe and the New World as a result of the Reformation, with the militant stress upon sola Fide, sola Scriptura, is not to be taken lightly. Contrast the Protestant countries of Canada and the United States, with that of Catholic countries such as Mexico and Brazil.
The first "Great Awaking" with such central figures as Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield was largely based upon historic Reformed distinctives, i.e., Whitefield's famous sermon, "Christ Our Righteousness," and Edward's classic "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." Yet, John Wesley was also an integral part of the First Great Awakening, and the stress upon a "conversion experience," even by Calvinists, such as Whitefield and Edwards, in many ways laid the groundwork for a Second Great Awakening, which largely undid the Calvinistic emphases of the first.
The Second Great Awakening, led by Charles Finney, self-consciously moved away from the Calvinistic emphases of the first. In Finney's system, the stress was almost entirely upon a "conversion experience," understood through perfectionistic categories--a dramatic ceasing from sin and a turning from the former way of living. The categories underlying the Great Commission to take the gospel to the nations were no longer those of Biblical Christianity, but were now those of Jacksonian democracy--the rugged American individual could, through an act of the will, accomplish virtually anything to which they put their minds.
This led to the employment of Finney's new measures--protracted revival meetings, the use of entertainment and dramatic preaching stressing the charismatic preacher, revivalist hymnody, all carefully orchestrated to lead to the "altar call," in which one demonstrated one's faith in Christ and desire to cease from sinning by going forward at the preacher's command This, in turn, laid the groundwork for evangelism to take place apart from the sacramental and preaching ministry of the local church--something which historically, Protestants had insisted upon.
Thus the heirs of "Second Great Awakening" style evangelism are seen today in the "crusade evangelism" of Billy Graham and Greg Laurie, and in evangelism techniques such as Campus Crusade's "Four Spiritual Laws." These approaches to evangelism now dominate the evangelical world. For evangelicals, largely ignorant of church history, if evangelistic efforts do not look like what they are used to--large gatherings, noisy, exciting and studded with musicians and Christian celebrities, and stressing a dramatic conversion experience--they don't think that genuine evangelism is taking place. Anything different doesn't feel right! This is very unfortunate.
Therefore, when evangelicals criticize the Reformed for not supporting Billy Graham, or Greg Laurie and the Harvest Crusades, or for not approving of the "Four-Spiritual Laws," they are, in effect, really criticizing the Reformed understanding sin and grace. Criticism of the Reformed by evangelicals is, in this regard, simply a fact of life. And for this the Reformed need not be ashamed. A false gospel must be opposed!
That being said, it is too often the case that Reformed Christians are much more concerned with not repeating the errors of the evangelicals then they are with seeing people come to faith in Christ. In many Reformed circles it is far easier to find a discussion about how and why the evangelicals are wrong, than it is to find a conversation about how we ought to evangelize. Too often, Reformed Christians speak of evangelism as converting an evangelical to the Reformed faith, and not as a non-Christian coming to faith in Christ. It is even harder to find any Reformed Christians, these days, who are actually doing evangelism instead of talking about it or criticizing others for doing it improperly!
There are reasons for this--
B. A cultural, rather than a theological problem
One important reason for this is simply to be found in the history of the Reformed churches, especially that of the continental Reformed Churches. These groups are largely dominated by distinctively ethnic and immigrant cultures, especially in the case of the Dutch and Germans who saw the church and the confessional tradition, in part, as a means of preserving their own culture in the New World. It is vitally important in such groups to preserve the clan, the national heritage and traditions, and outsiders only contribute to what was perceived as an undue Americanization which overturns old ways of thinking and doing.
As English-speakers, the Presbyterians did not have such baggage, and as a result, capitulated to theological liberalism and revivalism much faster. As a result, there are American Presbyterians of virtually every stripe--from theological liberals, to cultural conservatives, to the confessionally orthodox. The Reformed orthodox, on the other hand, tend to be strongly ethnic, and react against the encroachment of liberalism and revivalism through a fortress mentality. The continental Reformed have suffered deeply from repeated church splits, the painful process of Americanization and so on, and as a result, have rarely been enthusiastic about seeing outsiders come into their churches. This is understandable, but tragic. For the theology of the Continental Reformed churches is a theological treasure!
C. Criticism leads to cynicism
But the problem many of us face, as former evangelicals, is that our churches are not dominated by issues of ethnicity and problems of Americanization. As former evangelicals, we have been burned by shoddy and unbiblical theology. Many of us are like angry bears, wounded by years of perfectionistic sanctification, and muddled-headed theology. We are angry at those who taught us and we have every right to be! But it is very easy to react in a rage against what is wrong with evangelicalism, and to become overly cynical in the process. While rightly criticizing evangelical theology and its unbiblical Pelagianism, if we are not careful, we risk becoming critical, rude, proud and obnoxious. When that happens, ironically, we become a stumbling block to non-Christians who need to hear the gospel as well as to those dissatisfied evangelicals seeking a more biblical way of thinking and doing. If not careful, we have nothing good to say about anything or anybody. Too often, we are far more concerned with pointing out the errors of evangelicalism, than we are with seeing men and women come to faith in Christ. This is sin and we must repent of it!
It seems to me that one of the best ways to deal with this, is to make a concerted effort to go back to our own roots as Reformed Christians--the Scriptures and our confessions--and simply ask, what is Biblical evangelism? What are the necessary theological presuppositions we must have in place before we seek to tell others about Christ? How do we go about evangelizing others?
There is a difficult balancing act here. We need to be very clear that Biblical and Reformed evangelism will look much different than the Pelagian-inspired varieties of American evangelicalism. Yet, we as Reformed Christians also need to stop talking about evangelism and starting doing it!
D. Greater clarity and a prayerful desire to do better:
It seems to me that there are several issues about which we must be clear.
1. Let us be very clear about what we believe and why we believe it! We must be self-consciously Reformed without compromise. This means we cannot adopt unbiblical methods of evangelism. We cannot become functional Arminians because we earnestly desire to see people come to faith in Jesus Christ.
2. But as we are self-consciously Reformed, we must do so with great charity, and with an eye to the fact that people are watching us. This is not about winning an argument! It is about wrestling with eternity! This is why Reformed evangelism should be understood as "telling the truth in love."
3. Let us also re-double our efforts to take the Biblical command to make disciples seriously once again. It is our Biblical duty to see to it that Jesus Christ is proclaimed throughout our sphere of influence. It is time to both talk about evangelism and to do evangelism.
4. We also need to make a concerted effort to pray for two things: one is a renewed desire to see men and women come to faith in Jesus Christ, and the other is that God will bless our efforts in doing so.
The presence of non-Christians in our midst, struggling with the claims of Christianity, will do much to keep us from spending our precious time and energy from needlessly criticizing evangelicals. The best way to get out of the overly-critical rut is to get back to the task of evangelizing. Let us candidly face facts. At present, our Biblical and valid criticism of evangelicalism sounds hollow and will not get much of a hearing if we are not putting our own theology into practice. But if we are making a concerted effort to actually engage in biblical evangelism, we will be faithful to our own confessions and theology, and our evangelical critics will be silenced.
II. What is Evangelism?
For many, the very essence of the Christian life is "telling others about Jesus," which, in far too many instances, translates into telling others about ourselves and recounting how Christianity has impacted our own lives. This is evident when we simply ask people to define evangelism, and discover they are very often confused about the relationship between their own testimony and personal experience and that of the Biblical witness to Jesus Christ. This also explains why people are so apt to talk about themselves when trying to covert someone, rather than simply recounting the facts of the gospel. Too many people think the essence of evangelism is personal testimony rather than biblical witness.
According to Will Metzger in his very helpful book, Tell the Truth, there is a clear distinction to be drawn between the Biblical "witness" to Christ and our own "testimony" about our journey to faith. Says Metzger, "the content [of the Biblical witness] is Christ and God, not our journey to faith. Our personal testimony may be included, but witnessing is more than reciting our spiritual autobiography. Specific truths about a specific person are the subject of our proclamation. A message has been committed to us--a word of reconciliation to the world (2 Corinthians 5:19). [1] This is vital to grasp. Evangelism by its very essence is talking about the biblical witness to Christ, and includes a very specific set of Biblical facts.
This means that before we can even talk about telling others about Jesus Christ, we need to be very clear about who Jesus is and understand something of the nature of his saving work. This is why we must be very clear in our own minds about the theological categories and presuppositions which frame our understanding of evangelism, and why it is so important to "get it right, before getting it out."
Thus, our working definition for evangelism is "telling people the truth in love," and we now turn our attention to what it means to "tell people the truth."
III. Coherence and Contingency-- "Truth Before Telling!"
Obviously, the place to begin any discussion of the biblical and theological basis of evangelism is at the beginning--but that is easier said than done. As Francis Schaeffer correctly reminds us, "Christianity begins with the existence of the infinite-personal God, man's creation in God's image and a space-time Fall. [2] Indeed, there are a number of Biblical and theological presuppositions which must be kept clearly in our minds before we begin the task of taking the gospel to those in our own sphere of influence.
Before we turn to specifics, we cannot ignore the fact that the question of a "biblical starting point" for evangelism and apologetics has been hotly debated and frequently discussed by Reformed theologians. As Christians, the question we must face is "do we start with God or do we start with humanity?" Calvin himself opens his famed Institutes of the Christian Religion with the words "nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: The knowledge of God and our ourselves, [3] clearly indicating that in his mind the two are necessarily related and that one certainly leads to the other. The whole evidentialist-presuppositionalist debate about apologetic methodology is indicative of the complexity of the issues involved here.
Rather than digress into a philosophical debate the proper starting point-- "God or man," let me simply "presuppose" what I think is a very workable and common-sense approach to these matters, namely, what is known as the coherence-contingency model, in which it is acknowledged that there is a fixed body of doctrinal truth [coherence] which is then applied to very diverse individual evangelistic situations [contingency]. The fixed body of truth to be presupposed is that data found in the Holy Scriptures as summarized for us in the Reformed confessions, which, in turn, we are to bring to bear in specific evangelistic situations.
Simply stated, in order to tell people the truth in love, we must first know what that truth is! In this sense, coherence, precedes contingency!
IV. Coherence--The Biblical and Theological Presuppositions of Evangelism
If knowing the truth is a prerequisite to "telling it to people in love," this means that one of the best ways to prepare for evangelism is with a study of the Reformed confessions or a basic text in Biblical doctrine. While that is true, it is important to point out that you do not need to be a theologian to engage in evangelism. But you do need a good grasp of basic Biblical doctrines! Let me emphasize as clearly as I possibly can, that time spent studying the confessions will bear great fruit when you begin to witness to others about Jesus Christ.
The following, then, is simply a "bare bones" catalogue of things with which we need to be familiar before we began to look in the Scriptures for models to use in contingent situations.
A. Regarding the God "Who Is There"
1. God is eternal and uncreated--this means that everything that is created was created by God and depends upon him for its existence [creation] and preservation [providence]. This lends great support to apologetic arguments from contingency.
2. God is alone immutable, infinite, simple, omniscient and omnipresent--creation is mutable, finite, composite and necessarily constrained by the limits of time and space. This explains human limitations in terms of both knowing and being.
3. God is utterly transcendent, incomprehensible and hidden to us, unless he chooses to reveal himself through general and special revelation. This means that nothing can be known about God apart from his self-revelation.
4. Creation stems from God's eternal decree--meaning that nothing that now is, is outside of God's will and authority. This means that there is no such thing as "chance" or "fate," or "freewill" in an absolute sense.
5. God is described in the Scriptures as possessing in absolute and infinite measure the attributes of holiness, love, truth, righteousness, mercy, long-suffering, etc. Thus we are creatures possess these attributes in conditional and finite measure. This explains the fact that humanity possesses all of the so-called communicable attributes of God, and that God communicates to us verbally, that is, through the word of God written, the Holy Scriptures.
B. The "Mannishness of Man"--Creation and the Fall
1. God created all things and pronounced them to be "good." Thus Christianity is necessarily incompatible with all forms of dualism between "spirit/matter."
2. The fact of creation validates the importance of ordinary history as God acts in time and space, though he transcends time and space. As we will see, Christianity is necessarily an "historical" religion and its truth claims are anchored in both God's redemptive word and God's redemptive acts.
3. The high point of creation is that God has created man and woman in his image, meaning as Cornelius Van Til has said, that man is like God in every way that a creature can be like God,[4] since we possess all of the so-called communicable attributes of God. This explains things like, human dignity and the Biblical prohibitions against murder [Genesis 9:6] and cursing others [James 3:9], human rationality and why, apart from the curse upon the human race at Babel, "nothing would be impossible for them." For the Christian, man is much more than a mere beast.
4. General revelation, through that which God has made, tells us that he is, that he is eternal, all-powerful and that he will punish sin, which is defined as any infraction of his revealed will in natural revelation and codified in the decalogue. General revelation is intended to provide us with a natural knowledge of God, while special revelation, including both God's redemptive word and redemptive act, reveals to us the plan and purpose of redemption, without which we cannot be saved. Thus any Biblical approach to evangelism will be thoroughly grounded in the Holy Scriptures, the very word of God written.
5. God gave Adam dominion over the earth and gave to him the so-called "cultural mandate" which established the family as the basic unit of human existence with the command to be fruitful and multiply. Adam was to rule and subdue the earth, through the creation of "Godly culture." This demonstrates humanities' need of social structure and culture.
6. Christianity does not presuppose any particular theory of the "age of the earth," but it does demand the existence of the historical Adam. Indeed, Christianity not only presupposes an historical Adam, Christianity presupposes a fallen human race. Adam did indeed plunge the human race into sin and death through his rebellion in the Garden. Thus the many difficult problems faced by the human race come not from defect or limitations inherent in God's "good" creation, but in the corruption of that creation because of human sinfulness.
7. Thus, as Christians, we not only presuppose the dignity of all men and women by virtue of being created in God's image, we take must take equally seriously the effects of the Fall which place humanity under God's curse. This includes:
a. Imputed guilt for Adam's sin extending to the whole of the human race. No one is "innocent" before God.
b. The wages of sin, which is death. Everyone ever born will die.
c. Inherited corruption of the race, which itself eternally punishable and passed on to all of Adam's children by means of natural procreation, leads to actual sin. Thus we are born with a "sinful nature," which makes us naturally hostile to God, unwilling and unable to do his will. This is what Luther speaks of as "being curved in on ourselves," and what Van Til has spoken of as "autonomy."
d. Total depravity, in the sense that sin effects the entire person, physically, mentally and emotionally. There is no part of the Image of God in us that is not tainted, effaced or damaged by human sin. Though the Imago remains, it is as Calvin declared, a frightful deformity.
e. Loss of original righteousness, holiness and knowledge. The Fall did great damage to essential human nature, which can only be restored through regeneration.
f. The noetic effects of sin--a darkened understanding and ability to understand the things of God. As Paul says, we now inevitably suppress the truth about God in unrighteousness.
g. Total inability--because of our sinful orientation, we will not come to God in faith if left to ourselves.
h. We are by nature "children of wrath," enslaved to sinful desires and affections. Our thoughts are evil all the time.
C. The Grace of God in Jesus Christ--Faith and Justification
1. The Scriptures clearly teach that God elects a multitude of Adam's fallen children to be saved, and that he passes over others, leaving them to face the consequences for original and actual sins [cf Canons of Dort, I. 1-5]. Thus the reason any fallen sinners are saved from God's wrath is to be found solely in the goodness of God and not in the natural abilities of the sinner to come to faith.
2. The Scriptures [as well as the Reformed confessions which summarize them] teach that God has connected the divine purpose [end]--the salvation of the elect--to a divinely appointed means, namely, the preaching/teaching and communication of the gospel. This means that God has not only determined who will be saved, but how they will be saved. This means that we are to concern ourselves with God's appointed means--taking the gospel to the ends of the earth--and not with the mystery of who is elect and who is not. Any Reformed approach to evangelism but be based upon these divinely appointed means.
3. The only ground of salvation is the finished work of Jesus Christ--both in his active and passive obedience. In Christ, God satisfies the demands of the law. And in Christ's sacrificial death, God removes the guilt of our sin. The death of Christ is sufficient to save all who come to him, and is intended by God to save the elect. The death of Christ does not make the whole world hypothetically "savable."
4. Faith is not the one work we must do to be saved. Rather, faith is the reception of the saving benefits of Jesus Christ. Faith is not merely assent to the truth of the Christian religion, but is defined as trust in Jesus Christ, who alone can save sinners from the wrath to come. According to B. B. Warfield, "it is solely from its object that faith derives its value....The saving power of faith resides thus not in itself, but in the almighty savior on whom it rests....It is not, strictly speaking, even faith in Christ that saves, but Christ that saves through faith. [5]
5. The Scriptures clearly teach that sinners come to faith in Christ through the means of the gospel--God's elect are effectually called, regenerated and converted, that is, exercise faith in Christ and repentance--only through the power of the Holy Spirit [Ephesians 1:3-14; 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:16]. Thus evangelism, Biblically defined, is the communication of the gospel to non-Christians with the expectation that the Spirit works powerfully through the divinely appointed means--the message of reconciliation [Romans 10:14-17; 2 Corinthians 5:16-6:2].
6. The gospel, narrowly defined, is the saving work of Christ as summarized in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8. Communicating the gospel is communicating the facts of Christ's life, death, burial and resurrection, complete with the gospel imperative to repent and believe.[6] It is through this message that God's creates faith and enables sinners to believe.
This "bare bones" outline constitutes the basic presuppositions about God, creation, man, sin and salvation, that we must have clearly before our minds before we engage in evangelism. This constitutes the "truth" we must tell non-Christians in love.
D. As Dr. Lloyd-Jones points out, these theological presuppositions translate into certain fundamental principles for Reformed evangelism:
1. The supreme object of the work of evangelism is to glorify God, not save souls.
2. The only power that can do this work is the Holy Spirit, not our own strength.
3. The one and only medium through which the Spirit works, is the Scriptures; therefore, we "reason out of the Scriptures," like Paul did.
4. These preceding principles give us the true motivation for evangelism--a zeal for God and a love for others.
5. There is a constant danger of heresy through a false zeal and employment of unscriptural methods.[7]
E. A man-centered vs. a God-centered approach to Evangelism[8]
Man-Centered Approach God-Centered Approach
View of God
Point of contact with non-Christians is love (God loves you). Therefore, God's authority is secondary.
Love is God's chief attribute.
God is impotent before the sinner's will.
The persons of the Trinity have different goals in accomplishing and applying salvation.
God is a friend who will help you.
View of God
Point of contact with non-Christians is creation (God made you). Therefore, God has authority over your destiny.
Holiness and love are equally important attributes of God.
God is able to empower the sinner's will.
The persons of the Trinity work in harmony--salvation accomplished for and applied to the same people.
God is a king who will save you.
View of Humanity
Fallen, yet has the ability (or potential) to choose the good.
Seeks truth but lacks correct facts.
Needs love, help and friendship.
Makes mistakes, is imperfect, needs forgiveness.
Needs salvation from the consequences of sin--unhappiness, hell.
Humanity is sick and ignorant.
View of Humanity
Fallen, and will not come to God by own will power.
Mind at enmity with God; none seek God.
Needs new nature (mind, heart, will), regeneration.
Rebels against God, has a sinful nature, needs reconciliation.
Needs salvation from guilt and the power of sin.
Humanity is dead and lost.
View of Christ
Savior from mistakes, selfishness, hell.
He exists for our benefit.
His death was more important than his life.
Emphasizing his priestly office--Savior.
An attitude of submission to Christ's lordship is optional for salvation.
View of Christ
Savior from sin and sinful nature.
He exists to gather a kingdom and receive honor and glory.
His death and his life of obedience equally important.
Emphasizing his priestly, kingly, and prophetic offices.
An attitude of submission to Christ's lordship is necessary for salvation.
View of Response to Christ
Invitation waiting to be accepted now.
Our choice is the basis for salvation--God responds to our decision.
Will give mental assent to truths of gospel--decision.
Appeal is made to the desires of the sinner.
Saved by faith alone--repentance omitted for it is thought of as "works."
Assurance of salvation comes from a counselor using the promises of God and pronouncing the new believer saved.
Sinners have the key in their hands.
View to Response of Christ
Loving command to be obeyed now.
God's choice is the basis for salvation--we respond to God's initiative.
We respond with our whole person (mind, heart, will)--conversion.
Truth is driven home into the conscience of the sinner.
Saved by faith alone--saving faith is always accompanied by repentance.
Assurance of salvation comes from the Holy Spirit applying biblical promises to the conscience and effecting a changed life.
God has the key in his hand.
V. Contingency-- "Telling the Truth in Love"
Now that the basic Biblical and theological presuppositions regarding God, creation, sin and grace have been identified [coherence], we need to move on to a discussion of contingency-- "How, then, do we apply this fixed body of truth in dynamic situations?" "How do we tell non-Christians the truth in love?"
A. The Practice of Pre-Evangelism
As Francis Schaeffer once put it, "prevangelism is no soft option." In his book, The God Who is There,[9] Schaeffer makes the following points about what we may call "pre-evangelism," which is, in a sense, doing the prep work enabling people to understand the Christian gospel. Pre-evangelism is communicating the basic categories people need to understand the claims of Christianity, as well as removing potential intellectual objections. According to Schaeffer:
1. Pre-evangelism entails two-way communication between the Christian and the non-Christian: "If we wish to communicate, then, we must take the time and the trouble to learn our hearer's use of language so that they understand what we intend to convey [p. 130]." Thus pre-evangelism entails understanding what the non-Christian is saying. It means listening to them and then communicating to them in terms they can understand. This is what we call finding and establishing "common ground." [10]
2. Pre-evangelism entails a proper understanding of the meaning of love: "Each person must be dealt with as an individual, not as a case or statistic or machine [p. 130]." "We must remember that the person to whom we are talking, however far from the Christian faith he may be, is an image-bearer of God. He has great value, and our communication with him must be in genuine Love. Love is not an easy thing; it is not just an emotional urge, but an attempt to move over and sit in the other person's place and see how his problems look to him. Love is a genuine concern for the individual....Therefore, to be engaged in personal ´witness' as a duty or because our Christian circle exerts a social pressure on us, is to miss the whole point. The reason we do it is that the person before us is an image-bearer of God, and he is an individual who is unique in the world. This kind of communication is not cheap" [pp. 130-131]. Thus while our motive to evangelize is the glory of God, love for neighbor, ultimately brings God glory.
3. Pre-Evangelism entails getting a non-Christian to see the futility of unbelief and leaving him in the tension between the real world and his own set of beliefs: "Every person we speak to, whether shop girl or university student, has a set of presuppositions, whether he or she has analyzed them or not....But, in fact, no non-Christian can be consistent to the logic of his presuppositions. The reason for this is simply that a man must live in reality, and reality consists of two parts: The external world and its form, and man's ´mannishness,' including his own ´ mannishness.' No matter what a man may believe, he cannot change the reality of what is. As Christianity is the truth of what is there, to deny this, on the basis of another system, is to stray from the real world....Non-Christian presuppositions simply do not fit into what God has made, including what man is. This being so, every man is in a place of tension. Man cannot make his own universe and then live in it" [p. 132].
"Every person is somewhere along the line between the real world and the logical conclusion of his or her non-Christian presuppositions. Every person has the pull of two consistencies, the pulls towards the real world and the pull of the logic of his system....The more logical a man who holds a non-Christian position is to his own presuppositions, the further he is from the real world; and the nearer he is to the real world, the more illogical he is to his own presuppositions" [pp 133-134].
Schaeffer calls the exploiting of this intellectual tension, "taking the roof off" [p. 140], by allowing the weight of these non-Christian presuppositions to come crashing down on the non-Christian. It is like preaching the law--since it exposes a non-Christian's intellectual weakness. Schaeffer cautions us not to exploit this tension any more than is necessary because by destroying a non-Christian's presuppositions, we may leave them in despair. This would be like preaching the law to someone, without preaching the gospel afterwards--leaving them under condemnation with no hope of forgiveness.
4. Prevangelism entails making sure that the non-Christian understands that these issues are about objective facts of history and not subjective feelings or opinions of individuals: "we must make sure that the individual understands that we are talking about real truth, and not about something vaguely religious which seems to work psychologically. We must make sure that he understands that we are talking about real guilt before God, and we are not offering him merely relief for his guilt feelings. We must make sure that he understands that we are talking to him about history, and that the death of Jesus was not just an ideal or a symbol but a fact of time and space. If we are talking to a person who would not understand the term ´space time history' we can say: ´Do you believe that Jesus died in the sense that if you had been there that day, you could have rubbed your finger on the cross and got a splinter in it?' Until he understands the importance of these things, he is not yet ready to become a Christian [p. 139]."
"The invitation to act comes only after an adequate base of knowledge has been given....Knowledge precedes faith" [p. 153-154].
Thus pre-evangelism is vital. It is to be seen as the communication of both the categories and truths that someone needs in order to understand the gospel itself. This is where apologetics enters the picture, as pre-evangelism also entails the removal of intellectual objections [real or imagined] that non-Christians may have to the gospel. Here, the task is preparing the way for the subsequent communication of gospel in terms the non-Christian can understand!
B. Different Evangelistic Contexts
Before we speak of the "how to's" of Evangelism it would be helpful to realize that there are distinctly different evangelistic contexts. Taking a brief look at these different contexts, and analyzing them is important because what may be applicable in one context, may not be to another. There are some evangelistic situations which are more effective than others and in which individual Christians can be every effective.
1. Preaching: Even a quick survey of the Book of Acts demonstrates that the church grew through the proclamation of the word. When those in the audience were Jews, the preaching was from the text of the Old Testament, designed to show how Jesus was the one spoken of in the Old Testament. When Paul preached before pagans, the content for the preaching was adopted accordingly, and tailored for a Gentile audience. This is what I have elsewhere called the "Proclamation--Defense" model.[11]
In our present situation, however, not all sermons lend themselves to the evangelization of non-Christians, and the purpose of worship and the proclamation of the word and administration of the sacraments is for the glory of God and the edification of his people--not evangelism, as the "church growth" types argue. This means that preaching will have a role to play, but perhaps not the sole, nor even the most important role in evangelism, even though truly Biblical evangelism will take place within the context of the ministry of the church.
Today's "crusade evangelism" of American evangelicalism, rightly acknowledges the centrality of the proclamation of the word, but has gutted the word of its content because of Arminian/Semi-Pelagian theological categories. The evangelistic "crusade" is not a churchly function, but a function of an entertainment model now used by the church.
2. Personal conversation--most evangelism takes place within the context of people talking with non-Christian friends and neighbors on an individual basis. Every one has non-Christian friends, family, neighbors and co-workers. Here is where pre-evangelism should ideally take place as non-Christians can be given the basic categories and proper information about Christianity before they are brought to church and sit under the ministry of the word. This is also one of the most effective means of evangelism. The key here is instructing church members so that they can evangelize on their own and is very effective if such people are quickly plugged into a local church for discipleship and catechesis. In this case the personal conversation does not simply lead to the "praying of the sinner's prayer in private," but to the public profession of faith, baptism and membership which takes place in the local church.
3. Hospitality/Small Groups-- many churches provide "non-threatening" opportunities for people to bring non-Christian friends into contact with the gospel through the use of small groups and Bible studies where the basic truths of Christianity can be presented and discussed. Again, these groups can be used with profit, if they are church-sponsored and sanctioned, and if they are give the proper oversight by the local consistory. In too many circles, hospitality groups and home Bible studies replace the centrality of Word and Sacrament on the Lord's day. If they are a means to bring people into the life of a local church, they can be very effective. But the degree to which these groups usurp this role--by becoming an end in themselves--is the degree to which they cause more harm than good. People don't join a particular "group" when they become Christians, rather they are to be baptized into Christ's church.
4. Literature--Let us not forget, that getting the right book, the right information, to someone wrestling with the claims of Christianity is simply vital. Christianity is a religion of the book. Thus it is simply essential the those being evangelized read the Bible, and that they are given basic written instruction. Depending upon the circumstances, there are many good books on virtually every topic with which non-Christians might struggle. Don't forget that the Heidelberg Catechism is a great place for an enquirer to begin. Many, many people have been brought to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ through good Christian literature. Again, they key here, is using literature to supplement these other methods.
VI. "Do's and Don'ts" of Evangelism
1. Be clear about what you believe and why you believe it. Know the Scriptures and know the confessions and catechisms. The more you know about your faith, the easier it is to talk with non-Christians.
2. The essence of evangelism is communicating the correct information about sin and grace, simply and clearly. Talk about the law and the gospel, not about infralapsarianism and divine simplicity! That comes later!
3. Avoid the use of Christian jargon. Speak about real sin, real guilt, real shed blood!
4. Use tact and be charitable! Don't talk about reprobation with someone who has just lost an unbelieving family member. Be kind and courteous! Many non-Christians act and speak out of ignorance, not malice.
5. Be sensitive to someone's past--if they've had a bad experience in church, struggle with a particular sin etc., be understanding and compassionate! Non-Christians hate self-righteousness, and they have a right to do so! Do not soft-peddle the law and the guilt of sin, but make sure they understand that you are a justified sinner, not a self-righteous "know it all," who is here to correct them!
6. Stick with the subject--don't get side-tracked. When the conversation wanders, pull it back to center stage--the law and the gospel.
7. Evangelism is not about winning an argument, but leading people to Christ. Discussions may get heated and intense at time--that's okay. But the purpose of evangelism is not to show why you are right and they are wrong. It is to communicate the truth of the gospel! The message is to be the offence! Not you!
8. When people are apathetic about sin--use the law. When people have doubts or are skeptical--use basic apologetic arguments. When people express guilt for sin--present the gospel.
9. Evangelism is about leading non-Christians to Christ. Convincing Evangelicals that Reformed theology is true, falls under the heading of polemics. Don't confuse the two.
10. Stick with what all Christians hold in common wherever possible. Leave the internecine fighting among Christians aside when talking to non-Christians. A non-Christian will not care much about why the Lutheran view of the Lord's Super is in error, or why Baptists are wrong about infant baptism! That will come during catechesis!
11. Wherever possible, speak about Christianity as factually true-- "Jesus did this," "Jesus said this," "people heard and saw him," etc. Keep away from the subjective line of approach-- "it works for me."
12. Pray for wisdom.
13. Trust in the power of God the Holy Spirit working through the word! Cite texts directly from the Scriptures with attribution. Jesus says, Paul says....Not, "I think," or "it seems to me."
14. Don't rush things. Just because someone is not ready to trust in Christ after one encounter does not mean that effective evangelism has not taken place. Pre-evangelism is equally vital. You may plant, but someone else may have to water!
15. Treat people as objects of concern, not notches in your belt! Establish relationships and friendships whenever possible.
16. Don't forget that a prophet is without honor in his own home. The chances of you leading your own unbelieving family members [or someone close to you] to Christ are remote. Pray for someone else to come and evangelize your family!
17. Don't force things. If people balk, ridicule and otherwise are not interested, back off. Find another time and place. If after repeated attempts to communicate the gospel, and someone still shows an unwillingness to hear what you have to say, "shake the dust off your feet and move on to a new town!"
18. Be willing to get people the resources they need: be willing to provide them with a Bible, the right book to read, and certainly an invitation to attend your church or Bible study, etc.
19. Pray for opportunities to evangelize. Pray for your church--that God would bless the preaching of his word, that he would bring non-Christians into our midst, and that he would bless the church with growth.
20. You don't have to become a practical Arminian to be a faithful evangelist! A Reformed approach to evangelism simply means telling people the truth in love.
[1] Will Metzger, Tell the Truth,(Downers Grove: Intervarsity, 1981), 24.
[2] Francis Schaeffer, The God Who Is There, Vol. 1 The Complete Works of Francis Schaeffer [Westchester: Crossway, 1982), 122.
[3] Calvin, Institutes, I.i.1.
[4] Cornelius Van Til, Defense of the Faith, 14.
[5] B. B. Warfield, "The Biblical Doctrine of Faith," in Biblical Doctrines (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1981), 502-504.
[6] Cf. my article in modernReformation, "For the Sake of the Gospel: Paul's Apologetic Speeches," Vol. 7, No. 2 March/April 1997, 24-31.
[7] D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Presentation of the Gospel, 6-7, and cited in Metzger, Tell the Truth, 26.
[8] The following is taken from Metzger, Tell the Truth, 32-33.
[9] Schaeffer, The God Who Is There, 129-160.
[10] This is not a "neutral" common ground, but simply a place, says Schaeffer, "where you can talk," with the non-Christian [ p. 137]. While there is common ground between a Christian and a non-Christian in terms of communication, there is no such thing as "neutral" common ground, where Christian and non-Christian can meet apart from their presuppositions.
[11] See my essay, "For the Sake of the Gospel: Paul's Apologetic Speeches."
by Dr. Kim Riddlebarger
I. A bad rap--Why do the Reformed not evangelize?
Whether justified or not, the Reformed have a bad reputation for not being concerned about evangelism. While there are wonderful exceptions, some of the criticism is certainly valid. Why is this? Some historical background would be useful.
A. A great past--A questionable present
Historically, the Reformed have a great history of evangelism and missions. Indeed, the Christianization of Europe and the New World as a result of the Reformation, with the militant stress upon sola Fide, sola Scriptura, is not to be taken lightly. Contrast the Protestant countries of Canada and the United States, with that of Catholic countries such as Mexico and Brazil.
The first "Great Awaking" with such central figures as Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield was largely based upon historic Reformed distinctives, i.e., Whitefield's famous sermon, "Christ Our Righteousness," and Edward's classic "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." Yet, John Wesley was also an integral part of the First Great Awakening, and the stress upon a "conversion experience," even by Calvinists, such as Whitefield and Edwards, in many ways laid the groundwork for a Second Great Awakening, which largely undid the Calvinistic emphases of the first.
The Second Great Awakening, led by Charles Finney, self-consciously moved away from the Calvinistic emphases of the first. In Finney's system, the stress was almost entirely upon a "conversion experience," understood through perfectionistic categories--a dramatic ceasing from sin and a turning from the former way of living. The categories underlying the Great Commission to take the gospel to the nations were no longer those of Biblical Christianity, but were now those of Jacksonian democracy--the rugged American individual could, through an act of the will, accomplish virtually anything to which they put their minds.
This led to the employment of Finney's new measures--protracted revival meetings, the use of entertainment and dramatic preaching stressing the charismatic preacher, revivalist hymnody, all carefully orchestrated to lead to the "altar call," in which one demonstrated one's faith in Christ and desire to cease from sinning by going forward at the preacher's command This, in turn, laid the groundwork for evangelism to take place apart from the sacramental and preaching ministry of the local church--something which historically, Protestants had insisted upon.
Thus the heirs of "Second Great Awakening" style evangelism are seen today in the "crusade evangelism" of Billy Graham and Greg Laurie, and in evangelism techniques such as Campus Crusade's "Four Spiritual Laws." These approaches to evangelism now dominate the evangelical world. For evangelicals, largely ignorant of church history, if evangelistic efforts do not look like what they are used to--large gatherings, noisy, exciting and studded with musicians and Christian celebrities, and stressing a dramatic conversion experience--they don't think that genuine evangelism is taking place. Anything different doesn't feel right! This is very unfortunate.
Therefore, when evangelicals criticize the Reformed for not supporting Billy Graham, or Greg Laurie and the Harvest Crusades, or for not approving of the "Four-Spiritual Laws," they are, in effect, really criticizing the Reformed understanding sin and grace. Criticism of the Reformed by evangelicals is, in this regard, simply a fact of life. And for this the Reformed need not be ashamed. A false gospel must be opposed!
That being said, it is too often the case that Reformed Christians are much more concerned with not repeating the errors of the evangelicals then they are with seeing people come to faith in Christ. In many Reformed circles it is far easier to find a discussion about how and why the evangelicals are wrong, than it is to find a conversation about how we ought to evangelize. Too often, Reformed Christians speak of evangelism as converting an evangelical to the Reformed faith, and not as a non-Christian coming to faith in Christ. It is even harder to find any Reformed Christians, these days, who are actually doing evangelism instead of talking about it or criticizing others for doing it improperly!
There are reasons for this--
B. A cultural, rather than a theological problem
One important reason for this is simply to be found in the history of the Reformed churches, especially that of the continental Reformed Churches. These groups are largely dominated by distinctively ethnic and immigrant cultures, especially in the case of the Dutch and Germans who saw the church and the confessional tradition, in part, as a means of preserving their own culture in the New World. It is vitally important in such groups to preserve the clan, the national heritage and traditions, and outsiders only contribute to what was perceived as an undue Americanization which overturns old ways of thinking and doing.
As English-speakers, the Presbyterians did not have such baggage, and as a result, capitulated to theological liberalism and revivalism much faster. As a result, there are American Presbyterians of virtually every stripe--from theological liberals, to cultural conservatives, to the confessionally orthodox. The Reformed orthodox, on the other hand, tend to be strongly ethnic, and react against the encroachment of liberalism and revivalism through a fortress mentality. The continental Reformed have suffered deeply from repeated church splits, the painful process of Americanization and so on, and as a result, have rarely been enthusiastic about seeing outsiders come into their churches. This is understandable, but tragic. For the theology of the Continental Reformed churches is a theological treasure!
C. Criticism leads to cynicism
But the problem many of us face, as former evangelicals, is that our churches are not dominated by issues of ethnicity and problems of Americanization. As former evangelicals, we have been burned by shoddy and unbiblical theology. Many of us are like angry bears, wounded by years of perfectionistic sanctification, and muddled-headed theology. We are angry at those who taught us and we have every right to be! But it is very easy to react in a rage against what is wrong with evangelicalism, and to become overly cynical in the process. While rightly criticizing evangelical theology and its unbiblical Pelagianism, if we are not careful, we risk becoming critical, rude, proud and obnoxious. When that happens, ironically, we become a stumbling block to non-Christians who need to hear the gospel as well as to those dissatisfied evangelicals seeking a more biblical way of thinking and doing. If not careful, we have nothing good to say about anything or anybody. Too often, we are far more concerned with pointing out the errors of evangelicalism, than we are with seeing men and women come to faith in Christ. This is sin and we must repent of it!
It seems to me that one of the best ways to deal with this, is to make a concerted effort to go back to our own roots as Reformed Christians--the Scriptures and our confessions--and simply ask, what is Biblical evangelism? What are the necessary theological presuppositions we must have in place before we seek to tell others about Christ? How do we go about evangelizing others?
There is a difficult balancing act here. We need to be very clear that Biblical and Reformed evangelism will look much different than the Pelagian-inspired varieties of American evangelicalism. Yet, we as Reformed Christians also need to stop talking about evangelism and starting doing it!
D. Greater clarity and a prayerful desire to do better:
It seems to me that there are several issues about which we must be clear.
1. Let us be very clear about what we believe and why we believe it! We must be self-consciously Reformed without compromise. This means we cannot adopt unbiblical methods of evangelism. We cannot become functional Arminians because we earnestly desire to see people come to faith in Jesus Christ.
2. But as we are self-consciously Reformed, we must do so with great charity, and with an eye to the fact that people are watching us. This is not about winning an argument! It is about wrestling with eternity! This is why Reformed evangelism should be understood as "telling the truth in love."
3. Let us also re-double our efforts to take the Biblical command to make disciples seriously once again. It is our Biblical duty to see to it that Jesus Christ is proclaimed throughout our sphere of influence. It is time to both talk about evangelism and to do evangelism.
4. We also need to make a concerted effort to pray for two things: one is a renewed desire to see men and women come to faith in Jesus Christ, and the other is that God will bless our efforts in doing so.
The presence of non-Christians in our midst, struggling with the claims of Christianity, will do much to keep us from spending our precious time and energy from needlessly criticizing evangelicals. The best way to get out of the overly-critical rut is to get back to the task of evangelizing. Let us candidly face facts. At present, our Biblical and valid criticism of evangelicalism sounds hollow and will not get much of a hearing if we are not putting our own theology into practice. But if we are making a concerted effort to actually engage in biblical evangelism, we will be faithful to our own confessions and theology, and our evangelical critics will be silenced.
II. What is Evangelism?
For many, the very essence of the Christian life is "telling others about Jesus," which, in far too many instances, translates into telling others about ourselves and recounting how Christianity has impacted our own lives. This is evident when we simply ask people to define evangelism, and discover they are very often confused about the relationship between their own testimony and personal experience and that of the Biblical witness to Jesus Christ. This also explains why people are so apt to talk about themselves when trying to covert someone, rather than simply recounting the facts of the gospel. Too many people think the essence of evangelism is personal testimony rather than biblical witness.
According to Will Metzger in his very helpful book, Tell the Truth, there is a clear distinction to be drawn between the Biblical "witness" to Christ and our own "testimony" about our journey to faith. Says Metzger, "the content [of the Biblical witness] is Christ and God, not our journey to faith. Our personal testimony may be included, but witnessing is more than reciting our spiritual autobiography. Specific truths about a specific person are the subject of our proclamation. A message has been committed to us--a word of reconciliation to the world (2 Corinthians 5:19). [1] This is vital to grasp. Evangelism by its very essence is talking about the biblical witness to Christ, and includes a very specific set of Biblical facts.
This means that before we can even talk about telling others about Jesus Christ, we need to be very clear about who Jesus is and understand something of the nature of his saving work. This is why we must be very clear in our own minds about the theological categories and presuppositions which frame our understanding of evangelism, and why it is so important to "get it right, before getting it out."
Thus, our working definition for evangelism is "telling people the truth in love," and we now turn our attention to what it means to "tell people the truth."
III. Coherence and Contingency-- "Truth Before Telling!"
Obviously, the place to begin any discussion of the biblical and theological basis of evangelism is at the beginning--but that is easier said than done. As Francis Schaeffer correctly reminds us, "Christianity begins with the existence of the infinite-personal God, man's creation in God's image and a space-time Fall. [2] Indeed, there are a number of Biblical and theological presuppositions which must be kept clearly in our minds before we begin the task of taking the gospel to those in our own sphere of influence.
Before we turn to specifics, we cannot ignore the fact that the question of a "biblical starting point" for evangelism and apologetics has been hotly debated and frequently discussed by Reformed theologians. As Christians, the question we must face is "do we start with God or do we start with humanity?" Calvin himself opens his famed Institutes of the Christian Religion with the words "nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: The knowledge of God and our ourselves, [3] clearly indicating that in his mind the two are necessarily related and that one certainly leads to the other. The whole evidentialist-presuppositionalist debate about apologetic methodology is indicative of the complexity of the issues involved here.
Rather than digress into a philosophical debate the proper starting point-- "God or man," let me simply "presuppose" what I think is a very workable and common-sense approach to these matters, namely, what is known as the coherence-contingency model, in which it is acknowledged that there is a fixed body of doctrinal truth [coherence] which is then applied to very diverse individual evangelistic situations [contingency]. The fixed body of truth to be presupposed is that data found in the Holy Scriptures as summarized for us in the Reformed confessions, which, in turn, we are to bring to bear in specific evangelistic situations.
Simply stated, in order to tell people the truth in love, we must first know what that truth is! In this sense, coherence, precedes contingency!
IV. Coherence--The Biblical and Theological Presuppositions of Evangelism
If knowing the truth is a prerequisite to "telling it to people in love," this means that one of the best ways to prepare for evangelism is with a study of the Reformed confessions or a basic text in Biblical doctrine. While that is true, it is important to point out that you do not need to be a theologian to engage in evangelism. But you do need a good grasp of basic Biblical doctrines! Let me emphasize as clearly as I possibly can, that time spent studying the confessions will bear great fruit when you begin to witness to others about Jesus Christ.
The following, then, is simply a "bare bones" catalogue of things with which we need to be familiar before we began to look in the Scriptures for models to use in contingent situations.
A. Regarding the God "Who Is There"
1. God is eternal and uncreated--this means that everything that is created was created by God and depends upon him for its existence [creation] and preservation [providence]. This lends great support to apologetic arguments from contingency.
2. God is alone immutable, infinite, simple, omniscient and omnipresent--creation is mutable, finite, composite and necessarily constrained by the limits of time and space. This explains human limitations in terms of both knowing and being.
3. God is utterly transcendent, incomprehensible and hidden to us, unless he chooses to reveal himself through general and special revelation. This means that nothing can be known about God apart from his self-revelation.
4. Creation stems from God's eternal decree--meaning that nothing that now is, is outside of God's will and authority. This means that there is no such thing as "chance" or "fate," or "freewill" in an absolute sense.
5. God is described in the Scriptures as possessing in absolute and infinite measure the attributes of holiness, love, truth, righteousness, mercy, long-suffering, etc. Thus we are creatures possess these attributes in conditional and finite measure. This explains the fact that humanity possesses all of the so-called communicable attributes of God, and that God communicates to us verbally, that is, through the word of God written, the Holy Scriptures.
B. The "Mannishness of Man"--Creation and the Fall
1. God created all things and pronounced them to be "good." Thus Christianity is necessarily incompatible with all forms of dualism between "spirit/matter."
2. The fact of creation validates the importance of ordinary history as God acts in time and space, though he transcends time and space. As we will see, Christianity is necessarily an "historical" religion and its truth claims are anchored in both God's redemptive word and God's redemptive acts.
3. The high point of creation is that God has created man and woman in his image, meaning as Cornelius Van Til has said, that man is like God in every way that a creature can be like God,[4] since we possess all of the so-called communicable attributes of God. This explains things like, human dignity and the Biblical prohibitions against murder [Genesis 9:6] and cursing others [James 3:9], human rationality and why, apart from the curse upon the human race at Babel, "nothing would be impossible for them." For the Christian, man is much more than a mere beast.
4. General revelation, through that which God has made, tells us that he is, that he is eternal, all-powerful and that he will punish sin, which is defined as any infraction of his revealed will in natural revelation and codified in the decalogue. General revelation is intended to provide us with a natural knowledge of God, while special revelation, including both God's redemptive word and redemptive act, reveals to us the plan and purpose of redemption, without which we cannot be saved. Thus any Biblical approach to evangelism will be thoroughly grounded in the Holy Scriptures, the very word of God written.
5. God gave Adam dominion over the earth and gave to him the so-called "cultural mandate" which established the family as the basic unit of human existence with the command to be fruitful and multiply. Adam was to rule and subdue the earth, through the creation of "Godly culture." This demonstrates humanities' need of social structure and culture.
6. Christianity does not presuppose any particular theory of the "age of the earth," but it does demand the existence of the historical Adam. Indeed, Christianity not only presupposes an historical Adam, Christianity presupposes a fallen human race. Adam did indeed plunge the human race into sin and death through his rebellion in the Garden. Thus the many difficult problems faced by the human race come not from defect or limitations inherent in God's "good" creation, but in the corruption of that creation because of human sinfulness.
7. Thus, as Christians, we not only presuppose the dignity of all men and women by virtue of being created in God's image, we take must take equally seriously the effects of the Fall which place humanity under God's curse. This includes:
a. Imputed guilt for Adam's sin extending to the whole of the human race. No one is "innocent" before God.
b. The wages of sin, which is death. Everyone ever born will die.
c. Inherited corruption of the race, which itself eternally punishable and passed on to all of Adam's children by means of natural procreation, leads to actual sin. Thus we are born with a "sinful nature," which makes us naturally hostile to God, unwilling and unable to do his will. This is what Luther speaks of as "being curved in on ourselves," and what Van Til has spoken of as "autonomy."
d. Total depravity, in the sense that sin effects the entire person, physically, mentally and emotionally. There is no part of the Image of God in us that is not tainted, effaced or damaged by human sin. Though the Imago remains, it is as Calvin declared, a frightful deformity.
e. Loss of original righteousness, holiness and knowledge. The Fall did great damage to essential human nature, which can only be restored through regeneration.
f. The noetic effects of sin--a darkened understanding and ability to understand the things of God. As Paul says, we now inevitably suppress the truth about God in unrighteousness.
g. Total inability--because of our sinful orientation, we will not come to God in faith if left to ourselves.
h. We are by nature "children of wrath," enslaved to sinful desires and affections. Our thoughts are evil all the time.
C. The Grace of God in Jesus Christ--Faith and Justification
1. The Scriptures clearly teach that God elects a multitude of Adam's fallen children to be saved, and that he passes over others, leaving them to face the consequences for original and actual sins [cf Canons of Dort, I. 1-5]. Thus the reason any fallen sinners are saved from God's wrath is to be found solely in the goodness of God and not in the natural abilities of the sinner to come to faith.
2. The Scriptures [as well as the Reformed confessions which summarize them] teach that God has connected the divine purpose [end]--the salvation of the elect--to a divinely appointed means, namely, the preaching/teaching and communication of the gospel. This means that God has not only determined who will be saved, but how they will be saved. This means that we are to concern ourselves with God's appointed means--taking the gospel to the ends of the earth--and not with the mystery of who is elect and who is not. Any Reformed approach to evangelism but be based upon these divinely appointed means.
3. The only ground of salvation is the finished work of Jesus Christ--both in his active and passive obedience. In Christ, God satisfies the demands of the law. And in Christ's sacrificial death, God removes the guilt of our sin. The death of Christ is sufficient to save all who come to him, and is intended by God to save the elect. The death of Christ does not make the whole world hypothetically "savable."
4. Faith is not the one work we must do to be saved. Rather, faith is the reception of the saving benefits of Jesus Christ. Faith is not merely assent to the truth of the Christian religion, but is defined as trust in Jesus Christ, who alone can save sinners from the wrath to come. According to B. B. Warfield, "it is solely from its object that faith derives its value....The saving power of faith resides thus not in itself, but in the almighty savior on whom it rests....It is not, strictly speaking, even faith in Christ that saves, but Christ that saves through faith. [5]
5. The Scriptures clearly teach that sinners come to faith in Christ through the means of the gospel--God's elect are effectually called, regenerated and converted, that is, exercise faith in Christ and repentance--only through the power of the Holy Spirit [Ephesians 1:3-14; 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:16]. Thus evangelism, Biblically defined, is the communication of the gospel to non-Christians with the expectation that the Spirit works powerfully through the divinely appointed means--the message of reconciliation [Romans 10:14-17; 2 Corinthians 5:16-6:2].
6. The gospel, narrowly defined, is the saving work of Christ as summarized in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8. Communicating the gospel is communicating the facts of Christ's life, death, burial and resurrection, complete with the gospel imperative to repent and believe.[6] It is through this message that God's creates faith and enables sinners to believe.
This "bare bones" outline constitutes the basic presuppositions about God, creation, man, sin and salvation, that we must have clearly before our minds before we engage in evangelism. This constitutes the "truth" we must tell non-Christians in love.
D. As Dr. Lloyd-Jones points out, these theological presuppositions translate into certain fundamental principles for Reformed evangelism:
1. The supreme object of the work of evangelism is to glorify God, not save souls.
2. The only power that can do this work is the Holy Spirit, not our own strength.
3. The one and only medium through which the Spirit works, is the Scriptures; therefore, we "reason out of the Scriptures," like Paul did.
4. These preceding principles give us the true motivation for evangelism--a zeal for God and a love for others.
5. There is a constant danger of heresy through a false zeal and employment of unscriptural methods.[7]
E. A man-centered vs. a God-centered approach to Evangelism[8]
Man-Centered Approach God-Centered Approach
View of God
Point of contact with non-Christians is love (God loves you). Therefore, God's authority is secondary.
Love is God's chief attribute.
God is impotent before the sinner's will.
The persons of the Trinity have different goals in accomplishing and applying salvation.
God is a friend who will help you.
View of God
Point of contact with non-Christians is creation (God made you). Therefore, God has authority over your destiny.
Holiness and love are equally important attributes of God.
God is able to empower the sinner's will.
The persons of the Trinity work in harmony--salvation accomplished for and applied to the same people.
God is a king who will save you.
View of Humanity
Fallen, yet has the ability (or potential) to choose the good.
Seeks truth but lacks correct facts.
Needs love, help and friendship.
Makes mistakes, is imperfect, needs forgiveness.
Needs salvation from the consequences of sin--unhappiness, hell.
Humanity is sick and ignorant.
View of Humanity
Fallen, and will not come to God by own will power.
Mind at enmity with God; none seek God.
Needs new nature (mind, heart, will), regeneration.
Rebels against God, has a sinful nature, needs reconciliation.
Needs salvation from guilt and the power of sin.
Humanity is dead and lost.
View of Christ
Savior from mistakes, selfishness, hell.
He exists for our benefit.
His death was more important than his life.
Emphasizing his priestly office--Savior.
An attitude of submission to Christ's lordship is optional for salvation.
View of Christ
Savior from sin and sinful nature.
He exists to gather a kingdom and receive honor and glory.
His death and his life of obedience equally important.
Emphasizing his priestly, kingly, and prophetic offices.
An attitude of submission to Christ's lordship is necessary for salvation.
View of Response to Christ
Invitation waiting to be accepted now.
Our choice is the basis for salvation--God responds to our decision.
Will give mental assent to truths of gospel--decision.
Appeal is made to the desires of the sinner.
Saved by faith alone--repentance omitted for it is thought of as "works."
Assurance of salvation comes from a counselor using the promises of God and pronouncing the new believer saved.
Sinners have the key in their hands.
View to Response of Christ
Loving command to be obeyed now.
God's choice is the basis for salvation--we respond to God's initiative.
We respond with our whole person (mind, heart, will)--conversion.
Truth is driven home into the conscience of the sinner.
Saved by faith alone--saving faith is always accompanied by repentance.
Assurance of salvation comes from the Holy Spirit applying biblical promises to the conscience and effecting a changed life.
God has the key in his hand.
V. Contingency-- "Telling the Truth in Love"
Now that the basic Biblical and theological presuppositions regarding God, creation, sin and grace have been identified [coherence], we need to move on to a discussion of contingency-- "How, then, do we apply this fixed body of truth in dynamic situations?" "How do we tell non-Christians the truth in love?"
A. The Practice of Pre-Evangelism
As Francis Schaeffer once put it, "prevangelism is no soft option." In his book, The God Who is There,[9] Schaeffer makes the following points about what we may call "pre-evangelism," which is, in a sense, doing the prep work enabling people to understand the Christian gospel. Pre-evangelism is communicating the basic categories people need to understand the claims of Christianity, as well as removing potential intellectual objections. According to Schaeffer:
1. Pre-evangelism entails two-way communication between the Christian and the non-Christian: "If we wish to communicate, then, we must take the time and the trouble to learn our hearer's use of language so that they understand what we intend to convey [p. 130]." Thus pre-evangelism entails understanding what the non-Christian is saying. It means listening to them and then communicating to them in terms they can understand. This is what we call finding and establishing "common ground." [10]
2. Pre-evangelism entails a proper understanding of the meaning of love: "Each person must be dealt with as an individual, not as a case or statistic or machine [p. 130]." "We must remember that the person to whom we are talking, however far from the Christian faith he may be, is an image-bearer of God. He has great value, and our communication with him must be in genuine Love. Love is not an easy thing; it is not just an emotional urge, but an attempt to move over and sit in the other person's place and see how his problems look to him. Love is a genuine concern for the individual....Therefore, to be engaged in personal ´witness' as a duty or because our Christian circle exerts a social pressure on us, is to miss the whole point. The reason we do it is that the person before us is an image-bearer of God, and he is an individual who is unique in the world. This kind of communication is not cheap" [pp. 130-131]. Thus while our motive to evangelize is the glory of God, love for neighbor, ultimately brings God glory.
3. Pre-Evangelism entails getting a non-Christian to see the futility of unbelief and leaving him in the tension between the real world and his own set of beliefs: "Every person we speak to, whether shop girl or university student, has a set of presuppositions, whether he or she has analyzed them or not....But, in fact, no non-Christian can be consistent to the logic of his presuppositions. The reason for this is simply that a man must live in reality, and reality consists of two parts: The external world and its form, and man's ´mannishness,' including his own ´ mannishness.' No matter what a man may believe, he cannot change the reality of what is. As Christianity is the truth of what is there, to deny this, on the basis of another system, is to stray from the real world....Non-Christian presuppositions simply do not fit into what God has made, including what man is. This being so, every man is in a place of tension. Man cannot make his own universe and then live in it" [p. 132].
"Every person is somewhere along the line between the real world and the logical conclusion of his or her non-Christian presuppositions. Every person has the pull of two consistencies, the pulls towards the real world and the pull of the logic of his system....The more logical a man who holds a non-Christian position is to his own presuppositions, the further he is from the real world; and the nearer he is to the real world, the more illogical he is to his own presuppositions" [pp 133-134].
Schaeffer calls the exploiting of this intellectual tension, "taking the roof off" [p. 140], by allowing the weight of these non-Christian presuppositions to come crashing down on the non-Christian. It is like preaching the law--since it exposes a non-Christian's intellectual weakness. Schaeffer cautions us not to exploit this tension any more than is necessary because by destroying a non-Christian's presuppositions, we may leave them in despair. This would be like preaching the law to someone, without preaching the gospel afterwards--leaving them under condemnation with no hope of forgiveness.
4. Prevangelism entails making sure that the non-Christian understands that these issues are about objective facts of history and not subjective feelings or opinions of individuals: "we must make sure that the individual understands that we are talking about real truth, and not about something vaguely religious which seems to work psychologically. We must make sure that he understands that we are talking about real guilt before God, and we are not offering him merely relief for his guilt feelings. We must make sure that he understands that we are talking to him about history, and that the death of Jesus was not just an ideal or a symbol but a fact of time and space. If we are talking to a person who would not understand the term ´space time history' we can say: ´Do you believe that Jesus died in the sense that if you had been there that day, you could have rubbed your finger on the cross and got a splinter in it?' Until he understands the importance of these things, he is not yet ready to become a Christian [p. 139]."
"The invitation to act comes only after an adequate base of knowledge has been given....Knowledge precedes faith" [p. 153-154].
Thus pre-evangelism is vital. It is to be seen as the communication of both the categories and truths that someone needs in order to understand the gospel itself. This is where apologetics enters the picture, as pre-evangelism also entails the removal of intellectual objections [real or imagined] that non-Christians may have to the gospel. Here, the task is preparing the way for the subsequent communication of gospel in terms the non-Christian can understand!
B. Different Evangelistic Contexts
Before we speak of the "how to's" of Evangelism it would be helpful to realize that there are distinctly different evangelistic contexts. Taking a brief look at these different contexts, and analyzing them is important because what may be applicable in one context, may not be to another. There are some evangelistic situations which are more effective than others and in which individual Christians can be every effective.
1. Preaching: Even a quick survey of the Book of Acts demonstrates that the church grew through the proclamation of the word. When those in the audience were Jews, the preaching was from the text of the Old Testament, designed to show how Jesus was the one spoken of in the Old Testament. When Paul preached before pagans, the content for the preaching was adopted accordingly, and tailored for a Gentile audience. This is what I have elsewhere called the "Proclamation--Defense" model.[11]
In our present situation, however, not all sermons lend themselves to the evangelization of non-Christians, and the purpose of worship and the proclamation of the word and administration of the sacraments is for the glory of God and the edification of his people--not evangelism, as the "church growth" types argue. This means that preaching will have a role to play, but perhaps not the sole, nor even the most important role in evangelism, even though truly Biblical evangelism will take place within the context of the ministry of the church.
Today's "crusade evangelism" of American evangelicalism, rightly acknowledges the centrality of the proclamation of the word, but has gutted the word of its content because of Arminian/Semi-Pelagian theological categories. The evangelistic "crusade" is not a churchly function, but a function of an entertainment model now used by the church.
2. Personal conversation--most evangelism takes place within the context of people talking with non-Christian friends and neighbors on an individual basis. Every one has non-Christian friends, family, neighbors and co-workers. Here is where pre-evangelism should ideally take place as non-Christians can be given the basic categories and proper information about Christianity before they are brought to church and sit under the ministry of the word. This is also one of the most effective means of evangelism. The key here is instructing church members so that they can evangelize on their own and is very effective if such people are quickly plugged into a local church for discipleship and catechesis. In this case the personal conversation does not simply lead to the "praying of the sinner's prayer in private," but to the public profession of faith, baptism and membership which takes place in the local church.
3. Hospitality/Small Groups-- many churches provide "non-threatening" opportunities for people to bring non-Christian friends into contact with the gospel through the use of small groups and Bible studies where the basic truths of Christianity can be presented and discussed. Again, these groups can be used with profit, if they are church-sponsored and sanctioned, and if they are give the proper oversight by the local consistory. In too many circles, hospitality groups and home Bible studies replace the centrality of Word and Sacrament on the Lord's day. If they are a means to bring people into the life of a local church, they can be very effective. But the degree to which these groups usurp this role--by becoming an end in themselves--is the degree to which they cause more harm than good. People don't join a particular "group" when they become Christians, rather they are to be baptized into Christ's church.
4. Literature--Let us not forget, that getting the right book, the right information, to someone wrestling with the claims of Christianity is simply vital. Christianity is a religion of the book. Thus it is simply essential the those being evangelized read the Bible, and that they are given basic written instruction. Depending upon the circumstances, there are many good books on virtually every topic with which non-Christians might struggle. Don't forget that the Heidelberg Catechism is a great place for an enquirer to begin. Many, many people have been brought to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ through good Christian literature. Again, they key here, is using literature to supplement these other methods.
VI. "Do's and Don'ts" of Evangelism
1. Be clear about what you believe and why you believe it. Know the Scriptures and know the confessions and catechisms. The more you know about your faith, the easier it is to talk with non-Christians.
2. The essence of evangelism is communicating the correct information about sin and grace, simply and clearly. Talk about the law and the gospel, not about infralapsarianism and divine simplicity! That comes later!
3. Avoid the use of Christian jargon. Speak about real sin, real guilt, real shed blood!
4. Use tact and be charitable! Don't talk about reprobation with someone who has just lost an unbelieving family member. Be kind and courteous! Many non-Christians act and speak out of ignorance, not malice.
5. Be sensitive to someone's past--if they've had a bad experience in church, struggle with a particular sin etc., be understanding and compassionate! Non-Christians hate self-righteousness, and they have a right to do so! Do not soft-peddle the law and the guilt of sin, but make sure they understand that you are a justified sinner, not a self-righteous "know it all," who is here to correct them!
6. Stick with the subject--don't get side-tracked. When the conversation wanders, pull it back to center stage--the law and the gospel.
7. Evangelism is not about winning an argument, but leading people to Christ. Discussions may get heated and intense at time--that's okay. But the purpose of evangelism is not to show why you are right and they are wrong. It is to communicate the truth of the gospel! The message is to be the offence! Not you!
8. When people are apathetic about sin--use the law. When people have doubts or are skeptical--use basic apologetic arguments. When people express guilt for sin--present the gospel.
9. Evangelism is about leading non-Christians to Christ. Convincing Evangelicals that Reformed theology is true, falls under the heading of polemics. Don't confuse the two.
10. Stick with what all Christians hold in common wherever possible. Leave the internecine fighting among Christians aside when talking to non-Christians. A non-Christian will not care much about why the Lutheran view of the Lord's Super is in error, or why Baptists are wrong about infant baptism! That will come during catechesis!
11. Wherever possible, speak about Christianity as factually true-- "Jesus did this," "Jesus said this," "people heard and saw him," etc. Keep away from the subjective line of approach-- "it works for me."
12. Pray for wisdom.
13. Trust in the power of God the Holy Spirit working through the word! Cite texts directly from the Scriptures with attribution. Jesus says, Paul says....Not, "I think," or "it seems to me."
14. Don't rush things. Just because someone is not ready to trust in Christ after one encounter does not mean that effective evangelism has not taken place. Pre-evangelism is equally vital. You may plant, but someone else may have to water!
15. Treat people as objects of concern, not notches in your belt! Establish relationships and friendships whenever possible.
16. Don't forget that a prophet is without honor in his own home. The chances of you leading your own unbelieving family members [or someone close to you] to Christ are remote. Pray for someone else to come and evangelize your family!
17. Don't force things. If people balk, ridicule and otherwise are not interested, back off. Find another time and place. If after repeated attempts to communicate the gospel, and someone still shows an unwillingness to hear what you have to say, "shake the dust off your feet and move on to a new town!"
18. Be willing to get people the resources they need: be willing to provide them with a Bible, the right book to read, and certainly an invitation to attend your church or Bible study, etc.
19. Pray for opportunities to evangelize. Pray for your church--that God would bless the preaching of his word, that he would bring non-Christians into our midst, and that he would bless the church with growth.
20. You don't have to become a practical Arminian to be a faithful evangelist! A Reformed approach to evangelism simply means telling people the truth in love.
[1] Will Metzger, Tell the Truth,(Downers Grove: Intervarsity, 1981), 24.
[2] Francis Schaeffer, The God Who Is There, Vol. 1 The Complete Works of Francis Schaeffer [Westchester: Crossway, 1982), 122.
[3] Calvin, Institutes, I.i.1.
[4] Cornelius Van Til, Defense of the Faith, 14.
[5] B. B. Warfield, "The Biblical Doctrine of Faith," in Biblical Doctrines (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1981), 502-504.
[6] Cf. my article in modernReformation, "For the Sake of the Gospel: Paul's Apologetic Speeches," Vol. 7, No. 2 March/April 1997, 24-31.
[7] D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Presentation of the Gospel, 6-7, and cited in Metzger, Tell the Truth, 26.
[8] The following is taken from Metzger, Tell the Truth, 32-33.
[9] Schaeffer, The God Who Is There, 129-160.
[10] This is not a "neutral" common ground, but simply a place, says Schaeffer, "where you can talk," with the non-Christian [ p. 137]. While there is common ground between a Christian and a non-Christian in terms of communication, there is no such thing as "neutral" common ground, where Christian and non-Christian can meet apart from their presuppositions.
[11] See my essay, "For the Sake of the Gospel: Paul's Apologetic Speeches."
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Heaven
1. Heaven is Our Eternal Home.
Heaven is real. it is not wishful thinking, a never-never land of childish dreams. In fact, Heaven is more real than Earth. Heaven is the eternal destiny and final resting place of all true Christians. It is sometimes described as a home (2 Cor. 5). It is home sweet home. There's no place like this home. We will be gathered together with the rest of our spiritual family, to live forever in our Father's home. We belong there because we are in the family. See John 14:2.
2. There is No Pain in Heaven.
There will be no physical, mental or emotional pain in Heaven. There will be no sorrow or tears there. There will be no regrets. Nobody will miss Earth. There will be no sad memories. There will be no worries. There will be no fatigue or fear, or any other negative emotion. All pain is in Hell, where there is no pleasure. Also, there will be no death in Heaven - only eternal life.
3. There is Full Pleasure in Heaven.
Heaven is the place of exquisite pleasures of all sorts. There will be perfect peace there. There will be overflowing joy. There will be rest from all tiring work. Even work in Heaven will be pleasurable. The internal spiritual pleasures will far outweigh the external physical pleasures of Heaven, great as they may be. "In thy presence is fullness of joy, at your right hand are pleasures forevermore" (Psa. 16:11). Earth is mixed with pain and pleasure. Earth is the closest that we will ever get to Hell. Pain will be only a distant memory in Heaven, and even the memory will not cause pain. It is irreligious to ask if there will be pleasurable things like baseball in Heaven. God Himself will be the source of Heaven's pleasure. We will truly enjoy God to the fullest, even to overflowing. It is pure and perfect joy.
4. Heaven is a Place of Holiness.
There is no sin in Heaven. That alone would make it a wonderful place. All sin is left outside. Christians are made sinless, not only legally but experientially. There will never be a "Fall Number 2". We will be made holy and pure and impeccable. The holiness of God will be revealed there and will transform everything and everyone there into living conduits of His holiness. Heaven is alive and pulsating with holiness.
5. We Will Receive Rewards in Heaven.
Just as there are degrees of punishment in Hell, so there are degrees of rewards in Heaven. This does not include salvation, which is by grace alone. But Christ will give rewards to all of us according to how we obeyed on Earth. They will be gauged by factors such as how much we sacrificed, how much we suffered, how we followed the will of the Lord as we knew it, etc. Some will have more than others (Apostles, prophets, martyrs, missionaries, etc). Some will have few because they lived only a short time after their conversions, like the dying thief. Others will receive large rewards because they were converted young and lived a long life of faithful service. But those with fewest will not envy those with more, for all are perfectly happy.
6. We Will Meet Other Christians.
We will meet the rest of the family, from Adam onwards. We will meet Old Testament believers, New Testament saints, great Christians from church history. We will be reunited with dear relatives and friends. We will meet those who witnessed to us briefly and never saw us again. We will meet our converted spouses, though we will not be married to them any more. We will recognize each other, even in our perfected bodies. We will share happy memories and testimonies of God's grace. We will see all those in heaven, including the holy angels. But we will also be able to view those in Hell. This will not frighten or worry us, however. Rather, it will cause us to thank God for saving us, and glorify God as He righteously punishes them. See Rev. 19:1-4.
7. Christ and His Bride Will Be United in Heavenly Marriage.
We were betrothed in election and engaged in conversion. One day the greatest of all marriages will happen. Each of us will be married to Christ and enjoy a full and perfect union with Him. But the Bride also consists of all true Christians, so this union will be between all them and us and with our beloved Jesus. It is spiritual, not physical. Sex will not be physical. The union will be far greater. It will produce a progeny of glory and bliss and eternal love. It will, of course, be permanent and indissoluable. We will know Christ deeper and deeper into all eternity.
8. We Will See God.
God is presently invisible and hidden. In Heaven, He will reveal Himself visibly to us. We will see Him with our very eyes. This is called the Beatific Vision. See Matt. 5:8, I Cor.13:12, I John 3:2. "And they shall see His face" (Rev. 22:4). We will also see God spiritually and mentally. We will understand more of what He had not revealed, and will understand more and more into all eternity, but will never understand everything about God. We will gaze upon our precious Savior in all His beauty and grace and glory. We will look at God looking at us, eye to eye, heart to heart, with nothing to block the vision. Even one glimpse of that glory would be worth spending a million years in Hell. And we will see God forever and ever.
9. We Will Love and Be Loved by God Forever.
God elected us so as to show us the glory of His grace (Eph. 1). We will receive this love in Heaven. Heaven is a world of love, an ocean without shore or bottom, in which we will swim and bathe forever. Romans 9:23 says that God elected and saved us so that we would become vessels of mercy - containers of His love and goodness and grace. He will fill us to overflowing, and increase our capacity so we may receive more. In turn, we will love Him for first loving us. He will never stop loving us, and we will never stop loving Him.
10. God's Glory Will Be Revealed.
The ultimate purpose for which God created all things is to display His glory. He does this at last in Heaven (in Hell in another way). He will reveal the beauty of His glory in all it’s splendor and radiance, transforming everything and everyone there into living mirrors that reflect glory to everyone else and back to God. He will reveal the glory of all He is, in His many attributes, like bright light in all its wondrous colors. We will be overwhelmed in awe. We will respond in love, humility, and worship. We will adore God forever. His being and glory are infinite, so He will be increasingly revealed forever and ever. And thus will be fulfilled God's plan of the ages.
Heaven is real. it is not wishful thinking, a never-never land of childish dreams. In fact, Heaven is more real than Earth. Heaven is the eternal destiny and final resting place of all true Christians. It is sometimes described as a home (2 Cor. 5). It is home sweet home. There's no place like this home. We will be gathered together with the rest of our spiritual family, to live forever in our Father's home. We belong there because we are in the family. See John 14:2.
2. There is No Pain in Heaven.
There will be no physical, mental or emotional pain in Heaven. There will be no sorrow or tears there. There will be no regrets. Nobody will miss Earth. There will be no sad memories. There will be no worries. There will be no fatigue or fear, or any other negative emotion. All pain is in Hell, where there is no pleasure. Also, there will be no death in Heaven - only eternal life.
3. There is Full Pleasure in Heaven.
Heaven is the place of exquisite pleasures of all sorts. There will be perfect peace there. There will be overflowing joy. There will be rest from all tiring work. Even work in Heaven will be pleasurable. The internal spiritual pleasures will far outweigh the external physical pleasures of Heaven, great as they may be. "In thy presence is fullness of joy, at your right hand are pleasures forevermore" (Psa. 16:11). Earth is mixed with pain and pleasure. Earth is the closest that we will ever get to Hell. Pain will be only a distant memory in Heaven, and even the memory will not cause pain. It is irreligious to ask if there will be pleasurable things like baseball in Heaven. God Himself will be the source of Heaven's pleasure. We will truly enjoy God to the fullest, even to overflowing. It is pure and perfect joy.
4. Heaven is a Place of Holiness.
There is no sin in Heaven. That alone would make it a wonderful place. All sin is left outside. Christians are made sinless, not only legally but experientially. There will never be a "Fall Number 2". We will be made holy and pure and impeccable. The holiness of God will be revealed there and will transform everything and everyone there into living conduits of His holiness. Heaven is alive and pulsating with holiness.
5. We Will Receive Rewards in Heaven.
Just as there are degrees of punishment in Hell, so there are degrees of rewards in Heaven. This does not include salvation, which is by grace alone. But Christ will give rewards to all of us according to how we obeyed on Earth. They will be gauged by factors such as how much we sacrificed, how much we suffered, how we followed the will of the Lord as we knew it, etc. Some will have more than others (Apostles, prophets, martyrs, missionaries, etc). Some will have few because they lived only a short time after their conversions, like the dying thief. Others will receive large rewards because they were converted young and lived a long life of faithful service. But those with fewest will not envy those with more, for all are perfectly happy.
6. We Will Meet Other Christians.
We will meet the rest of the family, from Adam onwards. We will meet Old Testament believers, New Testament saints, great Christians from church history. We will be reunited with dear relatives and friends. We will meet those who witnessed to us briefly and never saw us again. We will meet our converted spouses, though we will not be married to them any more. We will recognize each other, even in our perfected bodies. We will share happy memories and testimonies of God's grace. We will see all those in heaven, including the holy angels. But we will also be able to view those in Hell. This will not frighten or worry us, however. Rather, it will cause us to thank God for saving us, and glorify God as He righteously punishes them. See Rev. 19:1-4.
7. Christ and His Bride Will Be United in Heavenly Marriage.
We were betrothed in election and engaged in conversion. One day the greatest of all marriages will happen. Each of us will be married to Christ and enjoy a full and perfect union with Him. But the Bride also consists of all true Christians, so this union will be between all them and us and with our beloved Jesus. It is spiritual, not physical. Sex will not be physical. The union will be far greater. It will produce a progeny of glory and bliss and eternal love. It will, of course, be permanent and indissoluable. We will know Christ deeper and deeper into all eternity.
8. We Will See God.
God is presently invisible and hidden. In Heaven, He will reveal Himself visibly to us. We will see Him with our very eyes. This is called the Beatific Vision. See Matt. 5:8, I Cor.13:12, I John 3:2. "And they shall see His face" (Rev. 22:4). We will also see God spiritually and mentally. We will understand more of what He had not revealed, and will understand more and more into all eternity, but will never understand everything about God. We will gaze upon our precious Savior in all His beauty and grace and glory. We will look at God looking at us, eye to eye, heart to heart, with nothing to block the vision. Even one glimpse of that glory would be worth spending a million years in Hell. And we will see God forever and ever.
9. We Will Love and Be Loved by God Forever.
God elected us so as to show us the glory of His grace (Eph. 1). We will receive this love in Heaven. Heaven is a world of love, an ocean without shore or bottom, in which we will swim and bathe forever. Romans 9:23 says that God elected and saved us so that we would become vessels of mercy - containers of His love and goodness and grace. He will fill us to overflowing, and increase our capacity so we may receive more. In turn, we will love Him for first loving us. He will never stop loving us, and we will never stop loving Him.
10. God's Glory Will Be Revealed.
The ultimate purpose for which God created all things is to display His glory. He does this at last in Heaven (in Hell in another way). He will reveal the beauty of His glory in all it’s splendor and radiance, transforming everything and everyone there into living mirrors that reflect glory to everyone else and back to God. He will reveal the glory of all He is, in His many attributes, like bright light in all its wondrous colors. We will be overwhelmed in awe. We will respond in love, humility, and worship. We will adore God forever. His being and glory are infinite, so He will be increasingly revealed forever and ever. And thus will be fulfilled God's plan of the ages.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Death
1. All of Us Will Die.
Death is an important and serious subject. It ought not to be ignored or laughed at. Everyone will die sooner or later. Some die young, some old. Some by accidents, some by illness. Death is no respecter of persons. Only 2 people entered this world in an unusual way (Adam and Eve), and only 2 people left it without dying (Enoch and Elijah). Even Mary and the Apostles all died. only Christians who are alive at the time of the Second Coming will escape death. The genealogies in Genesis frequently say, "So-and-so lived so many years and he died." People have devised all sorts of ways to avoid death; none have been successful.
2. Death is the Result of Sin.
"The wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). We earned death. We have a death penalty on us. "The soul that sins shall die" (Ezek. 18:4). God told Adam that he would die if he sinned. If Adam had never sinned, he never would have died. Through him, sin and death entered the world (Rom. 5:10). Even Christians die, for we still have Original Sin in us. Sin brings death like conception brings life (James 1:15).
3. The Soul Leaves the Body at Death.
There are a variety of ways in which scientists and doctors have tried to define death. The most popular is that death is when all brain waves totally cease. That may be the best biological answer. But there is a more important definition. According to the Bible, death occurs when the soul leaves the body. "The body without the spirit is dead" (James 2:26). Jesus died by voluntarily yielding His spirit into the Father's hands (Luke 23:46). The body is either buried or cremated, but will turn to dust; while the spirit returns to face God (Eccl.12:7). The soul enters at conception and leaves at death.
4. There is No Reincarnation or Second Chance.
There are many false ideas about what happens at death and after death. The Bible alone is our only sure guide. One of the most popular errors about death is that it opens the door to a new life via reincarnation. The idea comes from Hinduism and Buddhism, not the Bible. Heb. 9:27 says that it is appointed for us once to die, and then Judgement Day follows. Our doom is sealed at death. There is no second chance after death. Sinners do not get to hear the Gospel in the next world, nor are they sent back here for another shot at being a good person. God has occasionally raised a person from the dead, but even they later died.
5. Death is Both an Enemy and a Friend.
Death comes as either an enemy or a friend, depending on whether that person is ready to meet God. I Cor. 15:26 calls death an "enemy". It is not friendly. It was not a part of the original Creation. Sinners may mock death, but when it arrives they will be terrified. The Death Angel will be sent by God to strike sinners dead at their appointed time. He will take no excuses or bribes; his errand is always accomplished. on the other hand, God sends angels to usher the souls of dying Christians to Heaven (Luke 16:22). All pain is past; only pleasure awaits us. In this sense, death is a friend to believers. Thomas Goodwin the Puritan said before he died, "He whom I feared as an enemy has come as a beloved friend." Psa. 116:15 says, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints."
6. The Souls of the Dead Are Conscious.
There are many false ideas about what happens after death. One is that the souls of the dead cease to exist. That is the Devil's lie. Another false notion is that souls are alive, but are unconscious. This is the theory called Soul-Sleep. It, too, is wrong. The souls of both saints and sinners are wide awake. The metaphor of sleep is applied to their bodies, not their spirits. Their bodies "sleep" in the grave, in the sense that they will one day be awakened at their future resurrection. The story of the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16 clearly tells us that both Christians and non-Christians are wide awake and fully conscious after death. This is the mysterious realm of the Intermediate State, which is that place and period between individual death and final destiny.
7. Believers Go Immediately to Paradise.
The very moment a believer in Christ dies, his soul goes to be with Christ. The dying thief went to Paradise (Luke 23:43). Sometimes this place is called Abraham's Bosom (Luke 16:22) or the Third Heaven (2 Cor. 12:2,4). It is Heaven as it is now, not the New Heaven that is yet future. It is perfect bliss and peace, for we are with God. The Bible says that we go to be "with the Lord" when we die (2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23). Their bodies are still back on Earth, their souls in glory.
8. There is No Purgatory .
The Catholic Church teaches that believers first go to a place of preparation called Purgatory. It is a place of fire and torment in which sins are burned out of us to purge us of all Original Sin and its taint. People supposedly stay there for varying lengths of time, some running into the thousands of years. But all make it to Heaven, and so Purgatory is said to be a blessing. But none of this is taught in the Bible. Christians go immediately to be with Christ - is Christ in Purgatory? We go to immediate happiness - is there joy in torment? All sin and its effects are left in our bodies. Our souls are immediately freed from the presence of sin and we are made perfect in a moment (Heb. 12:23). Only the blood of Christ cleanses from sin.
9. Unbelievers Immediately Go to Hades.
Those who die in their sins go straight to Hades. This is the present state of Hell, not the future form called Gehenna. Sinners are there in their souls, not their bodies, which are still on Earth. Hades is a place of firey torment. But it is temporary, not permanent. It is the holding place for sinners until they go before God at the Last Judgement. This does not mean that their final doom is uncertain. No one in Hades will ever make it to Heaven, nor will anyone in Paradise make it to eternal Hell. The intermediate States match the final ends.
10. We Should Be Prepared to Die.
Since death is inevitable and can come at any time, it is vitally important that we all be ready to die. But because death leads us to God and judgement, sinners have devised many alternative theories. One popular one today is the nonsense of "out of body experiences", in which a person supposedly dies, sees a bright light, has great peace, then re-enters his body, never to fear death again. It is a lie of the Devil. Death is a rude awakening to reality. Believers need to get their houses in order, too. And we need to warn unbelievers of their doom and tell them the only way to escape the penalty for sin. We need to invite them to go to Heaven with us.
Death is an important and serious subject. It ought not to be ignored or laughed at. Everyone will die sooner or later. Some die young, some old. Some by accidents, some by illness. Death is no respecter of persons. Only 2 people entered this world in an unusual way (Adam and Eve), and only 2 people left it without dying (Enoch and Elijah). Even Mary and the Apostles all died. only Christians who are alive at the time of the Second Coming will escape death. The genealogies in Genesis frequently say, "So-and-so lived so many years and he died." People have devised all sorts of ways to avoid death; none have been successful.
2. Death is the Result of Sin.
"The wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). We earned death. We have a death penalty on us. "The soul that sins shall die" (Ezek. 18:4). God told Adam that he would die if he sinned. If Adam had never sinned, he never would have died. Through him, sin and death entered the world (Rom. 5:10). Even Christians die, for we still have Original Sin in us. Sin brings death like conception brings life (James 1:15).
3. The Soul Leaves the Body at Death.
There are a variety of ways in which scientists and doctors have tried to define death. The most popular is that death is when all brain waves totally cease. That may be the best biological answer. But there is a more important definition. According to the Bible, death occurs when the soul leaves the body. "The body without the spirit is dead" (James 2:26). Jesus died by voluntarily yielding His spirit into the Father's hands (Luke 23:46). The body is either buried or cremated, but will turn to dust; while the spirit returns to face God (Eccl.12:7). The soul enters at conception and leaves at death.
4. There is No Reincarnation or Second Chance.
There are many false ideas about what happens at death and after death. The Bible alone is our only sure guide. One of the most popular errors about death is that it opens the door to a new life via reincarnation. The idea comes from Hinduism and Buddhism, not the Bible. Heb. 9:27 says that it is appointed for us once to die, and then Judgement Day follows. Our doom is sealed at death. There is no second chance after death. Sinners do not get to hear the Gospel in the next world, nor are they sent back here for another shot at being a good person. God has occasionally raised a person from the dead, but even they later died.
5. Death is Both an Enemy and a Friend.
Death comes as either an enemy or a friend, depending on whether that person is ready to meet God. I Cor. 15:26 calls death an "enemy". It is not friendly. It was not a part of the original Creation. Sinners may mock death, but when it arrives they will be terrified. The Death Angel will be sent by God to strike sinners dead at their appointed time. He will take no excuses or bribes; his errand is always accomplished. on the other hand, God sends angels to usher the souls of dying Christians to Heaven (Luke 16:22). All pain is past; only pleasure awaits us. In this sense, death is a friend to believers. Thomas Goodwin the Puritan said before he died, "He whom I feared as an enemy has come as a beloved friend." Psa. 116:15 says, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints."
6. The Souls of the Dead Are Conscious.
There are many false ideas about what happens after death. One is that the souls of the dead cease to exist. That is the Devil's lie. Another false notion is that souls are alive, but are unconscious. This is the theory called Soul-Sleep. It, too, is wrong. The souls of both saints and sinners are wide awake. The metaphor of sleep is applied to their bodies, not their spirits. Their bodies "sleep" in the grave, in the sense that they will one day be awakened at their future resurrection. The story of the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16 clearly tells us that both Christians and non-Christians are wide awake and fully conscious after death. This is the mysterious realm of the Intermediate State, which is that place and period between individual death and final destiny.
7. Believers Go Immediately to Paradise.
The very moment a believer in Christ dies, his soul goes to be with Christ. The dying thief went to Paradise (Luke 23:43). Sometimes this place is called Abraham's Bosom (Luke 16:22) or the Third Heaven (2 Cor. 12:2,4). It is Heaven as it is now, not the New Heaven that is yet future. It is perfect bliss and peace, for we are with God. The Bible says that we go to be "with the Lord" when we die (2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23). Their bodies are still back on Earth, their souls in glory.
8. There is No Purgatory .
The Catholic Church teaches that believers first go to a place of preparation called Purgatory. It is a place of fire and torment in which sins are burned out of us to purge us of all Original Sin and its taint. People supposedly stay there for varying lengths of time, some running into the thousands of years. But all make it to Heaven, and so Purgatory is said to be a blessing. But none of this is taught in the Bible. Christians go immediately to be with Christ - is Christ in Purgatory? We go to immediate happiness - is there joy in torment? All sin and its effects are left in our bodies. Our souls are immediately freed from the presence of sin and we are made perfect in a moment (Heb. 12:23). Only the blood of Christ cleanses from sin.
9. Unbelievers Immediately Go to Hades.
Those who die in their sins go straight to Hades. This is the present state of Hell, not the future form called Gehenna. Sinners are there in their souls, not their bodies, which are still on Earth. Hades is a place of firey torment. But it is temporary, not permanent. It is the holding place for sinners until they go before God at the Last Judgement. This does not mean that their final doom is uncertain. No one in Hades will ever make it to Heaven, nor will anyone in Paradise make it to eternal Hell. The intermediate States match the final ends.
10. We Should Be Prepared to Die.
Since death is inevitable and can come at any time, it is vitally important that we all be ready to die. But because death leads us to God and judgement, sinners have devised many alternative theories. One popular one today is the nonsense of "out of body experiences", in which a person supposedly dies, sees a bright light, has great peace, then re-enters his body, never to fear death again. It is a lie of the Devil. Death is a rude awakening to reality. Believers need to get their houses in order, too. And we need to warn unbelievers of their doom and tell them the only way to escape the penalty for sin. We need to invite them to go to Heaven with us.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Future Events
1. Good and Evil Will Continue.
God foreordained the future and knows what will happen. He has revealed some of these events to us in advance. The Parable of the Weeds in Matthew 13 tells us that weeds will grow in the field with the wheat until the harvest. That is, there will be unbelievers and believers in the world until the end. Some Christians optimistically think that Christianity will be so successful that there will be virtually no unbelievers left when Christ returns. Others think the opposite - there will be almost no Christians left. The truth is that both will continue.
2. There Will Be a Great Revival of Jews Coming to Christ.
Romans 11 describes a significant aspect of how the world will continue until the Second Coming. God promised that many of Abraham's descendants would be blessed and through them the whole world would be blessed. The primary fulfillment of this is through Christ (Gal.3). Then there is the way in which the Church fulfills this as the spiritual children of Abraham. There is yet a third way this will be fulfilled. One day, God will stir up large numbers of Jews to a kind of jealousy as they reclaim Jesus as their Messiah. Many, perhaps most, Jews will become Christians. In turn, this will stir up the Gentiles at large to come to Christ in large numbers. This has not yet happened, but must happen before Christ returns. In this way, the Abrahamic Covenant is fulfilled through Christ and the New Covenant. Israel will not be specially blessed merely because of race, but by faith in Christ.
3. There Will Be a Time of Great Persecution.
Various texts predict that persecution will continue to the end. We have seen periods of greater and lesser persecution. Many scholars interpret some of these texts as predicting a time of Great Tribulation, in which Christians are severely persecuted right before the end. Much of the question revolves around Matt.24. Some think this refers to the seige of Jerusalem in 70 AD; others see it as all future; still others as both; and yet others as symbolic of church history in general. The best answer is that there was great tribulation for Israel in 70 AD. There has been recurring tribulation for the church throughout history. But there will yet come a time of one last major tribulation right before the end.
4. Antichrist Will Be Revealed.
Christ said many false prophets and false messiahs would come. 2 Thess. 2 predicts a special one called the Man of Sin. I John 2:18 says there will be one main Antichrist and many lesser antichrists. Some would identify this person with the Beast of Rev. 13 and other figures. Others say he is not an individual but a system, like the Papacy. It would seem that he is the Satanic counterpart of Christ: a sort of incarnation of Satan. Much of the world will follow him in his assault on God's people, but he is doomed to be defeated by Christ at the Second Coming.
5. Christ Will Remove Christians from the World.
Right before He returns to Earth, Jesus will take living Christians to Heaven without dying, like Enoch and Elijah. We call this the Rapture. See I Thess.4, I Cor. 15, John 14. It is an instantaneous transformation and glorification. Some think this will happen 7 years before Christ returns (i.e., before a future 7-year Tribulation), but that would mean 2 Second Comings. Christ does this immediately before He comes.
6. Dead Christians Will Be Raised from the Dead.
Moments before He takes living Christians from the Earth, Christ will raise up all dead believers, including OT believers. They receive new bodies that are perfect, immortal and without sin. Their resurrection and the Rapture of living saints both happen in a split-second. Just as angels assist in our deaths, so they will assist in this great event as they announce His coming and come with Him. No Christian will be left out, regardless of whether he was buried, cremated or eaten by lions. We will enter eternity with those new bodies. We will not marry or procreate, nor feel pain or death in them. They will be like the perfect body in which the Lord Jesus was raised. I Cor. 15 describes this.
7. Christ Will Rule on Earth for 1000 Years.
Rev. 20 is the classic place in the Bible on this. While some Christians think this period is symbolic of church history at large, or maybe the great revival of Jews and Gentiles toward the end, the plain meaning of the text is straightforward. Christ returns, defeats His enemies, reigns personally with His people for 1000 years, then defeats an enemy uprising, followed by the resurrection of the lost and the Last Judgement. The key is the two separate resurrections. The resurrection of Christians (the First Resurrection) is explicitly said to be separate from the resurrection of unbelievers by 1000 years. Since both are future events, the conclusion is that the interval is also future.
8. Unbelievers Will Be Raised from the Dead.
John 5:25, Dan. 12:2, Rev. 20 and other passages say that all people will be raised up one day, including unbelievers. Those who die in their sins will be taken out of Hades, reunited with their bodies, and stay in those bodies forever in Hell. Their bodies will be different than those of Christians. Their bodies will be corruptible, filled with pain and ugliness, always dying but never ceasing to exist. They used their bodies for sinful pleasure, therefore it is fitting that they pay for those sins by physical torment. None will be excluded.
9. All Will Appear Before the Last Judgement.
After the Millenium, all people will have been raised and will appear before God. Everyone who has ever lived will be there. All history has been recorded and will be replayed as evidence. Believers will be exonerated, not because they are innocent, but because their names are in the Book of Life: elected, redeemed, saved. They will receive extra rewards according to how they served Christ. Unbelievers, however, will be damned. Their names are not in the Book of Life. They have no excuse or escape, no second chance or higher appeal. Before they are executed, they will be forced to bow before the Lord Jesus and confess that He is Lord after all. Then they will be sent to Hell forever. The Last Judgement is predicted over and over in Scripture, such as in Matt. 25 and Rev. 20. Christ will be the Judge, Jury and Executioner.
10. God Will Refashion the Universe.
Immediately after the Last Judgement, God will cleanse the universe of the effects of sin. The curse on Creation will be lifted. It will be a sort of cosmic resurrection. 2 Peter 3 describes it like a great meltdown, after which it will be re-molded into something even greater. Rev. 21 and Isa. 66 describe it as "New Heavens and New Earth". Other texts call it the "reconciliation of all things". It is the last main event in time as such, and the beginning of the eternal state. The glory of God will shine through this Creation as never before.
God foreordained the future and knows what will happen. He has revealed some of these events to us in advance. The Parable of the Weeds in Matthew 13 tells us that weeds will grow in the field with the wheat until the harvest. That is, there will be unbelievers and believers in the world until the end. Some Christians optimistically think that Christianity will be so successful that there will be virtually no unbelievers left when Christ returns. Others think the opposite - there will be almost no Christians left. The truth is that both will continue.
2. There Will Be a Great Revival of Jews Coming to Christ.
Romans 11 describes a significant aspect of how the world will continue until the Second Coming. God promised that many of Abraham's descendants would be blessed and through them the whole world would be blessed. The primary fulfillment of this is through Christ (Gal.3). Then there is the way in which the Church fulfills this as the spiritual children of Abraham. There is yet a third way this will be fulfilled. One day, God will stir up large numbers of Jews to a kind of jealousy as they reclaim Jesus as their Messiah. Many, perhaps most, Jews will become Christians. In turn, this will stir up the Gentiles at large to come to Christ in large numbers. This has not yet happened, but must happen before Christ returns. In this way, the Abrahamic Covenant is fulfilled through Christ and the New Covenant. Israel will not be specially blessed merely because of race, but by faith in Christ.
3. There Will Be a Time of Great Persecution.
Various texts predict that persecution will continue to the end. We have seen periods of greater and lesser persecution. Many scholars interpret some of these texts as predicting a time of Great Tribulation, in which Christians are severely persecuted right before the end. Much of the question revolves around Matt.24. Some think this refers to the seige of Jerusalem in 70 AD; others see it as all future; still others as both; and yet others as symbolic of church history in general. The best answer is that there was great tribulation for Israel in 70 AD. There has been recurring tribulation for the church throughout history. But there will yet come a time of one last major tribulation right before the end.
4. Antichrist Will Be Revealed.
Christ said many false prophets and false messiahs would come. 2 Thess. 2 predicts a special one called the Man of Sin. I John 2:18 says there will be one main Antichrist and many lesser antichrists. Some would identify this person with the Beast of Rev. 13 and other figures. Others say he is not an individual but a system, like the Papacy. It would seem that he is the Satanic counterpart of Christ: a sort of incarnation of Satan. Much of the world will follow him in his assault on God's people, but he is doomed to be defeated by Christ at the Second Coming.
5. Christ Will Remove Christians from the World.
Right before He returns to Earth, Jesus will take living Christians to Heaven without dying, like Enoch and Elijah. We call this the Rapture. See I Thess.4, I Cor. 15, John 14. It is an instantaneous transformation and glorification. Some think this will happen 7 years before Christ returns (i.e., before a future 7-year Tribulation), but that would mean 2 Second Comings. Christ does this immediately before He comes.
6. Dead Christians Will Be Raised from the Dead.
Moments before He takes living Christians from the Earth, Christ will raise up all dead believers, including OT believers. They receive new bodies that are perfect, immortal and without sin. Their resurrection and the Rapture of living saints both happen in a split-second. Just as angels assist in our deaths, so they will assist in this great event as they announce His coming and come with Him. No Christian will be left out, regardless of whether he was buried, cremated or eaten by lions. We will enter eternity with those new bodies. We will not marry or procreate, nor feel pain or death in them. They will be like the perfect body in which the Lord Jesus was raised. I Cor. 15 describes this.
7. Christ Will Rule on Earth for 1000 Years.
Rev. 20 is the classic place in the Bible on this. While some Christians think this period is symbolic of church history at large, or maybe the great revival of Jews and Gentiles toward the end, the plain meaning of the text is straightforward. Christ returns, defeats His enemies, reigns personally with His people for 1000 years, then defeats an enemy uprising, followed by the resurrection of the lost and the Last Judgement. The key is the two separate resurrections. The resurrection of Christians (the First Resurrection) is explicitly said to be separate from the resurrection of unbelievers by 1000 years. Since both are future events, the conclusion is that the interval is also future.
8. Unbelievers Will Be Raised from the Dead.
John 5:25, Dan. 12:2, Rev. 20 and other passages say that all people will be raised up one day, including unbelievers. Those who die in their sins will be taken out of Hades, reunited with their bodies, and stay in those bodies forever in Hell. Their bodies will be different than those of Christians. Their bodies will be corruptible, filled with pain and ugliness, always dying but never ceasing to exist. They used their bodies for sinful pleasure, therefore it is fitting that they pay for those sins by physical torment. None will be excluded.
9. All Will Appear Before the Last Judgement.
After the Millenium, all people will have been raised and will appear before God. Everyone who has ever lived will be there. All history has been recorded and will be replayed as evidence. Believers will be exonerated, not because they are innocent, but because their names are in the Book of Life: elected, redeemed, saved. They will receive extra rewards according to how they served Christ. Unbelievers, however, will be damned. Their names are not in the Book of Life. They have no excuse or escape, no second chance or higher appeal. Before they are executed, they will be forced to bow before the Lord Jesus and confess that He is Lord after all. Then they will be sent to Hell forever. The Last Judgement is predicted over and over in Scripture, such as in Matt. 25 and Rev. 20. Christ will be the Judge, Jury and Executioner.
10. God Will Refashion the Universe.
Immediately after the Last Judgement, God will cleanse the universe of the effects of sin. The curse on Creation will be lifted. It will be a sort of cosmic resurrection. 2 Peter 3 describes it like a great meltdown, after which it will be re-molded into something even greater. Rev. 21 and Isa. 66 describe it as "New Heavens and New Earth". Other texts call it the "reconciliation of all things". It is the last main event in time as such, and the beginning of the eternal state. The glory of God will shine through this Creation as never before.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Spiritual Growth
1. The New Birth Is the Start of the Christian Life.
Regeneration is the end of the old life, but the beginning of the new life. It is the door out of one and the door into another. I Pet. 2:2 says we are like "newborn babes" who need to be fed and grow. A baby needs feeding, teaching, cleaning, exercise, love, etc. No one can live the Christian life until he first gets born again. Then he begins the wonderful lifelong adventure of following and serving Jesus Christ.
2. The Bible Feeds and Strengthens Us.
A baby needs food - milk. The Bible is that milk. It is the food and nourishment and refreshment that we need to grow as Christians. The more we eat, the more we grow (and the less we eat, the less we grow). It is the means of grace - the way in which God continues to supply us with grace. It is compared to milk, bread, meat, honey. It is sometimes hard to digest, other times very sweet. Feeding on the Word takes the same stages as physical eating. We bite into it by reading it. We chew it by studying it. We swallow it by believing it. We digest it by understanding it. We incorporate it by obeying it.
3. We Follow Christ by Faith.
We were saved by faith; we continue to follow by faith (Col.2:6-7). We continue in the way we started. We walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). We believe the promises of God, not trust our own feelings. It is as simple as, "Trust and obey, for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus, than to trust and obey." We follow as His disciples, which means students, learners, pupils. We ought to sit at His feet and learn from Him. That takes faith. It does not happen overnight. It is a school of discipleship from which no one ever graduates until death. Faith is the primary means by which we follow, so we need to exercise our faith, strengthen it, pray for more.
4. We Are Saved to Serve.
We were once slaves of sin and Satan; now we are slaves of righteousness. We are slaves of Christ. Not slaves who wish to be free, but willing slaves. We serve Christ as our Master. He purchased us, and we belong to Him and not to ourselves. Therefore, we ought to serve Him and not ourselves. He wants us to serve Him by serving other people, too. All this involves sacrifice - putting Christ first, others second, ourselves last. It is also a duty. A slave has the duty to serve his Master. We have the duty of serving our Lord Jesus Christ. It is not always easy, but it is always right.
5. We Serve Christ Out of Gratitude.
God wants us to obey Him. The Christian is like the Israelites after God delivered them from Egypt. They were grateful and wanted to express it. It was as if God said, "If you want to show how grateful you are, then here's how you can show it. Don't have any other gods, don't take my name in vain, etc." We ought to be grateful for all the great blessings, which God has given to us for free. With this in mind, the Christian life should be one of joyful gratitude, not dour drudgery. This gives vitality to duty. It is a privilege to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. We sometimes forget and thus become ungrateful. That's why God told us to celebrate the Lord's Supper regularly, to remember His great love at the cross, lest we forget and be ungrateful. When we remember, our faith is renewed and our gratitude increased.
6. God Equips Each of Us with a Spiritual Gift.
The members of the Body build each other up (I Cor. 12). This is done by the spiritual gifts which God gives to all Christians (I Cor. 12, Rom. 12). These are not natural talents, which all have, though God uses those also. Spiritual gifts are the special abilities God gives us to serve Him and other Christians. They are tools, not toys. We need to discover what our own gift is by checking the lists and examples in the Bible, discerning if we have one of them, then study how to use it properly - and then use it!
7. We Fight Against Satan.
The warfare with God is over when we are reconciled to Him, but this begins the warfare with Satan. Better to have God with us against Satan than Satan with us against God. The Christian life is not one of ease and fun, but of struggle against temptation and fighting with Satan. Eph. 6 is the classic chapter on spiritual warfare. God supplies the armor to defend against Satan's attacks. We are not alone in this fight; every Christian is in the war. And God fights for us, too.
8. Christians Face Trials.
Christians struggle against temptation, and also against trials and tribulations. We suffer persecution from friends and family. We suffer afflictions of all sorts. This comes with being a Christian, and only makes us stronger. It is a sure sign that we are on the right side. It purifies us and tests our faith. There is also a great blessing in the midst of persecution, if we stand for Christ against all odds. Though we sometimes fail the tests and trials, God does not forsake us. We are down, but not out. God picks us up and keeps us going. The Christians life is not a bed of roses, but of thorns and tears. But it is worth it all. There is an exquisite joy of being in the fire.
9. The Christian Life is a Lifelong Walk.
The Bible frequently compares the Christian life with a walk. It is not a stroll, but a march. It is a hike, the long walk of a pilgrim (we are pilgrims with a destination, not hobos without a home). It is a step-by-step walk, a daily life of obedience. We may stumble in this walk, but we get right back up and keep going. We are to run this race set before us. It is a long distance marathon, not a short sprint. One of the great Christian books on this theme is "Pilgrim's Progress" by John Bunyan. It begins in the City of Despair and ends in Heaven.
10. We Look Back at the Cross and Forward to the Crown.
It is good to look back and remember our former life, but not yearn for it. It is also important to look back in faith to the cross. This reminds us of why we are on this road to begin with, for sometimes we forget. And it is also important to look forward to the end of the trail. Backwards in faith, forward in hope. Our walk is not in vain. It has a goal, a destination. That is Heaven, where we will receive the crown. There are rewards for obedience, which serves as added incentive to obey and serve all the more. When we arrive at the end of the road, we will be met by our blessed Savior. In the meantime, Jesus walks with us every step of the way, strengthening and encouraging us and keeping us on the straight and narrow path.
Regeneration is the end of the old life, but the beginning of the new life. It is the door out of one and the door into another. I Pet. 2:2 says we are like "newborn babes" who need to be fed and grow. A baby needs feeding, teaching, cleaning, exercise, love, etc. No one can live the Christian life until he first gets born again. Then he begins the wonderful lifelong adventure of following and serving Jesus Christ.
2. The Bible Feeds and Strengthens Us.
A baby needs food - milk. The Bible is that milk. It is the food and nourishment and refreshment that we need to grow as Christians. The more we eat, the more we grow (and the less we eat, the less we grow). It is the means of grace - the way in which God continues to supply us with grace. It is compared to milk, bread, meat, honey. It is sometimes hard to digest, other times very sweet. Feeding on the Word takes the same stages as physical eating. We bite into it by reading it. We chew it by studying it. We swallow it by believing it. We digest it by understanding it. We incorporate it by obeying it.
3. We Follow Christ by Faith.
We were saved by faith; we continue to follow by faith (Col.2:6-7). We continue in the way we started. We walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). We believe the promises of God, not trust our own feelings. It is as simple as, "Trust and obey, for there's no other way, to be happy in Jesus, than to trust and obey." We follow as His disciples, which means students, learners, pupils. We ought to sit at His feet and learn from Him. That takes faith. It does not happen overnight. It is a school of discipleship from which no one ever graduates until death. Faith is the primary means by which we follow, so we need to exercise our faith, strengthen it, pray for more.
4. We Are Saved to Serve.
We were once slaves of sin and Satan; now we are slaves of righteousness. We are slaves of Christ. Not slaves who wish to be free, but willing slaves. We serve Christ as our Master. He purchased us, and we belong to Him and not to ourselves. Therefore, we ought to serve Him and not ourselves. He wants us to serve Him by serving other people, too. All this involves sacrifice - putting Christ first, others second, ourselves last. It is also a duty. A slave has the duty to serve his Master. We have the duty of serving our Lord Jesus Christ. It is not always easy, but it is always right.
5. We Serve Christ Out of Gratitude.
God wants us to obey Him. The Christian is like the Israelites after God delivered them from Egypt. They were grateful and wanted to express it. It was as if God said, "If you want to show how grateful you are, then here's how you can show it. Don't have any other gods, don't take my name in vain, etc." We ought to be grateful for all the great blessings, which God has given to us for free. With this in mind, the Christian life should be one of joyful gratitude, not dour drudgery. This gives vitality to duty. It is a privilege to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. We sometimes forget and thus become ungrateful. That's why God told us to celebrate the Lord's Supper regularly, to remember His great love at the cross, lest we forget and be ungrateful. When we remember, our faith is renewed and our gratitude increased.
6. God Equips Each of Us with a Spiritual Gift.
The members of the Body build each other up (I Cor. 12). This is done by the spiritual gifts which God gives to all Christians (I Cor. 12, Rom. 12). These are not natural talents, which all have, though God uses those also. Spiritual gifts are the special abilities God gives us to serve Him and other Christians. They are tools, not toys. We need to discover what our own gift is by checking the lists and examples in the Bible, discerning if we have one of them, then study how to use it properly - and then use it!
7. We Fight Against Satan.
The warfare with God is over when we are reconciled to Him, but this begins the warfare with Satan. Better to have God with us against Satan than Satan with us against God. The Christian life is not one of ease and fun, but of struggle against temptation and fighting with Satan. Eph. 6 is the classic chapter on spiritual warfare. God supplies the armor to defend against Satan's attacks. We are not alone in this fight; every Christian is in the war. And God fights for us, too.
8. Christians Face Trials.
Christians struggle against temptation, and also against trials and tribulations. We suffer persecution from friends and family. We suffer afflictions of all sorts. This comes with being a Christian, and only makes us stronger. It is a sure sign that we are on the right side. It purifies us and tests our faith. There is also a great blessing in the midst of persecution, if we stand for Christ against all odds. Though we sometimes fail the tests and trials, God does not forsake us. We are down, but not out. God picks us up and keeps us going. The Christians life is not a bed of roses, but of thorns and tears. But it is worth it all. There is an exquisite joy of being in the fire.
9. The Christian Life is a Lifelong Walk.
The Bible frequently compares the Christian life with a walk. It is not a stroll, but a march. It is a hike, the long walk of a pilgrim (we are pilgrims with a destination, not hobos without a home). It is a step-by-step walk, a daily life of obedience. We may stumble in this walk, but we get right back up and keep going. We are to run this race set before us. It is a long distance marathon, not a short sprint. One of the great Christian books on this theme is "Pilgrim's Progress" by John Bunyan. It begins in the City of Despair and ends in Heaven.
10. We Look Back at the Cross and Forward to the Crown.
It is good to look back and remember our former life, but not yearn for it. It is also important to look back in faith to the cross. This reminds us of why we are on this road to begin with, for sometimes we forget. And it is also important to look forward to the end of the trail. Backwards in faith, forward in hope. Our walk is not in vain. It has a goal, a destination. That is Heaven, where we will receive the crown. There are rewards for obedience, which serves as added incentive to obey and serve all the more. When we arrive at the end of the road, we will be met by our blessed Savior. In the meantime, Jesus walks with us every step of the way, strengthening and encouraging us and keeping us on the straight and narrow path.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
The Benefits of Salvation
1. We Are Saved.
Salvation is the general term that the Bible uses to describe the miracle of grace God performs for us. It is the greatest event in our life. It has three main aspects or stages: past, present and future (cf. 2 Cor. 1:10). We were saved at a point in the past. This is when we were born again, believed, repented of sin, and were justified. It happens only once (born again, not born again and again and again). It is perfect and complete. We were rescued from danger, delivered from harm. Now we are saved and safe. Second, we are being saved in the present. Christ's blood keeps us safe from the wrath of God and He daily rescues us from Satan. Third, we will be saved in the future, at death and at the Judgement Day. These three stages are inseparable.
2. The Holy Spirit Indwells Us.
The Spirit enters the believer at the moment of regeneration and never leaves. He enters our whole being, even our body. It is the heavenly counterpart to being demon-possessed. He fills us. Romans 8 is the great chapter on the indwelling of the Spirit. Also, this is the miracle of the baptism of the Spirit, misunderstood by Pentecostals. The Spirit comes into us, with the result that He is in us. At the same moment, he puts us into Himself, with the result that we are in the Spirit. He in us, we in Him. It is not a second experience, but part of salvation. From there, we are to walk in the Spirit, go on being filled with the Spirit, etc.
3. The Christian Knows God.
Every person knows that God exists (Rom. 1), but only the Christian knows God personally. This is true knowledge. It is a heart-to-heart personal relationship. It is part of having eternal life (John 17:3). God granted us this privilege (Matt. 11:27). We know Him because He first knew us (I Cor. 8:3, Gal. 4:9). It is a personal, deep and intimate knowledge. We are friends. We are also lovers. And we grow in this knowledge deeper and deeper (Phil. 3:8, 10).
4. We are United to Christ.
This is similar to the union of the Holy Spirit. We are put into Christ's Body (I Cor. 12), with the result that we are "in Christ". At the same moment, Christ is put into us and is in us. In one sense, we were united with Him in the eternal Covenant, but we were united with Him in our experience when we were saved. We are united to Him and draw life from Him, and cannot do anything without Him (John 15). We are also united with Him in spiritual espousals. We are engaged to be His bride. One day, this will be consummated at the great heavenly marriage.
5. We are Adopted into God's Family
Once we were children of the Devil. God took us out of that family and made us His own children. Now God is our Father, other believers are our brothers and sisters, and Christ is our elder brother. Being His children, we are also His heirs. We can now call God "our Father in Heaven". Adoption is not the same as regeneration. Regeneration affects our nature; adoption affects our relationship. Regeneration precedes faith, which precedes adoption. But it happens in a moment, with no interval or exception. So, we are doubly God's children.
6. We Are Reconciled to God.
This is a great benefit of salvation that we often overlook. 2 Cor. 5 is the great chapter on it. We were once God's enemies; now we are His friends. We are reconciled. It is more than a truce; it is the end of hostilities. The war is over. We have peace with God. We were once against God and God against us. Now He is for us and with us, and we with Him. Properly speaking, it is we that are reconciled to God, not God to us. We apologize, not He. Yet, on His part, the righteous enmity was removed when His wrath was appeased when Christ died for us.
7. We Are No Longer Under Wrath.
We were once sinners under the wrath of God - condemned, doomed, facing judgement. All that has changed. We will never be judged. God is not angry with us, but smiles on us in Fatherly love. God saved us from several things: sin, Satan, death, Hell. But most importantly, He saved us from His own wrath. God saved us from God. Lost sinners are still under His wrath (John 3:36). But not us. As fierce as His wrath was against us then, so intense is His love for us now.
8. We Are Cleansed From Sin.
Our sins were filthy and disgusting. Even our religious acts were filthy rags. But God changed all that. He cleansed us (I Cor. 6:11). He washed away the black guilt by the blood of Christ. We were baptized in the blood of the Lamb. Our sins were drowned in the Red Sea of His blood. Only Christ's blood, not the waters of baptism, can cleanse us in this way, for water cannot touch the soul. In one sense, we are already totally cleansed. In another, we need daily cleansing for the regular sins we commit (see John 13). This does not mean we get saved all over again. It only means that we need fresh applications of the blood of Christ (I John l:7).
9. We Are Transferred From Satan's Kingdom.
Col. 1:13 says that God transferred us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. Christ, not Satan, is now our King. We defected from Satan's evil empire, became traitors to his wicked regime, and now are God's spies engaged in espionage and commandoes involved in sabotage. We have been rescued from Satan's claws; he cannot ever have us again. We are on another team, part of another body, have different allegiances. We were once for Satan and against God; now we are against Satan and for God (Matt. 6:24). If God is for us, who can be against us?
10. We Cannot Lose Our Salvation.
One of the great glories of salvation is that it is permanent. It has a ratchet-effect. Once saved, always saved. It is not because of our own selves, or even our own faith. It is ultimately dependent on God, for it was He that saved us in the first place. If it depended on us, none of us would get saved or stay saved. God elected us to salvation (Rom. 8:29-30) and completes what He started (Phil. 1:6). He has sworn to preserve, keep and guard us forever (Psa. 37:28, 66:9, 97:10, 145:14, 20, I Tim. 1:12). He keeps us by His omnipotent hand (1 Pet. 1:5), keeps us safe from Satan (I John 5:18, John 17:11, 12, 15), and seals us with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13, 4:30). The saints in Heaven are happier, but not more secure, than we are. Simply put, God loves His people too much to let them go. He holds us firmly and lovingly in His arms of love, from which no one can snatch us out (John 10:28).
Salvation is the general term that the Bible uses to describe the miracle of grace God performs for us. It is the greatest event in our life. It has three main aspects or stages: past, present and future (cf. 2 Cor. 1:10). We were saved at a point in the past. This is when we were born again, believed, repented of sin, and were justified. It happens only once (born again, not born again and again and again). It is perfect and complete. We were rescued from danger, delivered from harm. Now we are saved and safe. Second, we are being saved in the present. Christ's blood keeps us safe from the wrath of God and He daily rescues us from Satan. Third, we will be saved in the future, at death and at the Judgement Day. These three stages are inseparable.
2. The Holy Spirit Indwells Us.
The Spirit enters the believer at the moment of regeneration and never leaves. He enters our whole being, even our body. It is the heavenly counterpart to being demon-possessed. He fills us. Romans 8 is the great chapter on the indwelling of the Spirit. Also, this is the miracle of the baptism of the Spirit, misunderstood by Pentecostals. The Spirit comes into us, with the result that He is in us. At the same moment, he puts us into Himself, with the result that we are in the Spirit. He in us, we in Him. It is not a second experience, but part of salvation. From there, we are to walk in the Spirit, go on being filled with the Spirit, etc.
3. The Christian Knows God.
Every person knows that God exists (Rom. 1), but only the Christian knows God personally. This is true knowledge. It is a heart-to-heart personal relationship. It is part of having eternal life (John 17:3). God granted us this privilege (Matt. 11:27). We know Him because He first knew us (I Cor. 8:3, Gal. 4:9). It is a personal, deep and intimate knowledge. We are friends. We are also lovers. And we grow in this knowledge deeper and deeper (Phil. 3:8, 10).
4. We are United to Christ.
This is similar to the union of the Holy Spirit. We are put into Christ's Body (I Cor. 12), with the result that we are "in Christ". At the same moment, Christ is put into us and is in us. In one sense, we were united with Him in the eternal Covenant, but we were united with Him in our experience when we were saved. We are united to Him and draw life from Him, and cannot do anything without Him (John 15). We are also united with Him in spiritual espousals. We are engaged to be His bride. One day, this will be consummated at the great heavenly marriage.
5. We are Adopted into God's Family
Once we were children of the Devil. God took us out of that family and made us His own children. Now God is our Father, other believers are our brothers and sisters, and Christ is our elder brother. Being His children, we are also His heirs. We can now call God "our Father in Heaven". Adoption is not the same as regeneration. Regeneration affects our nature; adoption affects our relationship. Regeneration precedes faith, which precedes adoption. But it happens in a moment, with no interval or exception. So, we are doubly God's children.
6. We Are Reconciled to God.
This is a great benefit of salvation that we often overlook. 2 Cor. 5 is the great chapter on it. We were once God's enemies; now we are His friends. We are reconciled. It is more than a truce; it is the end of hostilities. The war is over. We have peace with God. We were once against God and God against us. Now He is for us and with us, and we with Him. Properly speaking, it is we that are reconciled to God, not God to us. We apologize, not He. Yet, on His part, the righteous enmity was removed when His wrath was appeased when Christ died for us.
7. We Are No Longer Under Wrath.
We were once sinners under the wrath of God - condemned, doomed, facing judgement. All that has changed. We will never be judged. God is not angry with us, but smiles on us in Fatherly love. God saved us from several things: sin, Satan, death, Hell. But most importantly, He saved us from His own wrath. God saved us from God. Lost sinners are still under His wrath (John 3:36). But not us. As fierce as His wrath was against us then, so intense is His love for us now.
8. We Are Cleansed From Sin.
Our sins were filthy and disgusting. Even our religious acts were filthy rags. But God changed all that. He cleansed us (I Cor. 6:11). He washed away the black guilt by the blood of Christ. We were baptized in the blood of the Lamb. Our sins were drowned in the Red Sea of His blood. Only Christ's blood, not the waters of baptism, can cleanse us in this way, for water cannot touch the soul. In one sense, we are already totally cleansed. In another, we need daily cleansing for the regular sins we commit (see John 13). This does not mean we get saved all over again. It only means that we need fresh applications of the blood of Christ (I John l:7).
9. We Are Transferred From Satan's Kingdom.
Col. 1:13 says that God transferred us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. Christ, not Satan, is now our King. We defected from Satan's evil empire, became traitors to his wicked regime, and now are God's spies engaged in espionage and commandoes involved in sabotage. We have been rescued from Satan's claws; he cannot ever have us again. We are on another team, part of another body, have different allegiances. We were once for Satan and against God; now we are against Satan and for God (Matt. 6:24). If God is for us, who can be against us?
10. We Cannot Lose Our Salvation.
One of the great glories of salvation is that it is permanent. It has a ratchet-effect. Once saved, always saved. It is not because of our own selves, or even our own faith. It is ultimately dependent on God, for it was He that saved us in the first place. If it depended on us, none of us would get saved or stay saved. God elected us to salvation (Rom. 8:29-30) and completes what He started (Phil. 1:6). He has sworn to preserve, keep and guard us forever (Psa. 37:28, 66:9, 97:10, 145:14, 20, I Tim. 1:12). He keeps us by His omnipotent hand (1 Pet. 1:5), keeps us safe from Satan (I John 5:18, John 17:11, 12, 15), and seals us with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13, 4:30). The saints in Heaven are happier, but not more secure, than we are. Simply put, God loves His people too much to let them go. He holds us firmly and lovingly in His arms of love, from which no one can snatch us out (John 10:28).
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