The Presupposition of Evangelism

Almost ten years ago I sat with my bride before a pastor search committee. One of the many good questions asked during that visit was, “what is the minimum a person can believe to be saved?” I believe I answered with the historical content of Paul’s summation of the Gospel: “Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

Since then, when asked a similar question, I’ve even responded with Paul’s earlier words: “…if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).

Occasionally, I’ve even used Peter’s words (they’re on my business cards): “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:39).

I spend my early Thursday mornings at a local coffeehouse reading through Louis Berkhof’s Systematic Theology. We’ve been at it a few years now. I love meeting at a place “off campus” from our congregation’s building. I prefer it, in fact. This last meeting we were working through the chapter on “Faith” for a second week. I began to notice a pattern in Berkhof’s discussion of faith that may have changed my answer to the question, “if saving faith is the acceptance of Christ as He is offered in the gospel, the question naturally arises, ‘How much of the gospel must a man know, in order to be saved?’” (pg. 559).

Read Berkhof’s repeated statements and see the same pattern I saw:

• “The knowledge of faith consists in a positive recognition of the truth, in which man accepts as true whatsoever God says in His Word, and especially what He says respecting the deep depravity of man and the redemption which is in Christ Jesus” (pgs. 558-559).
• “The knowledge of faith is mediated for, and imparted to, us by the testimony of God in His Word, and is accepted by us as certain and reliable on the basis of the veracity of God” (pg. 559).
• “Naturally one who accepts Christ by a true faith, will also be ready and willing to accept God’s testimony as a whole” (560).
• “Its object is the whole divine revelation as contained in the Word of God. Everything that is explicitly taught in Scripture or can be deduced from it by good and necessary inference, belongs to the object of faith in this general sense” (pg. 561).
• “…true faith in the Bible as the Word of God is absolutely necessary” (pg. 562).
• “The ultimate ground on which faith rests, lies in the veracity and faithfulness of God, in connection with the promises of the gospel. But because we have no knowledge of this apart from the Word of God, this can also be, and frequently is, called the ultimate ground of faith” (pgs. 562).

I’m mindful of Billy Graham’s repeated phrase in his evangelistic preaching: “…the Bible says.” Eternally more importantly, reconsider Paul’s words to the Corinthians and hear the same emphasis: “…Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” After his words to the Romans promising salvation for confession and belief in the resurrected Lord, the apostle also says, “faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (10:17). And Peter’s Pentecost sermon is built on passages from Joel 2 and Psalm 16 (and others). The basis of saving faith is the written Word.

If a person does not accept the witness of God in the Scriptures describing the historical fall of humanity into sin (and its personal, individual reality), the consequences of that sin, and God’s remedy for that sin, you will not accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Submission to the authority of and belief in the truthfulness of the Bible are presuppositions to a saving faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I don’t think this necessarily changes our approach to evangelizing the lost, but it is important in our evangelism. Is the message I proclaim “according to the Scriptures”? Am I begging them to believe me, or God in His Word? Am I relying on my ability to argue or convince, or the matchless power of the Bible?

The foundation for the Gospel and the salvation of the lost by that Gospel is ultimately grounded in the proclamation of God in His Word. We would not know our need otherwise. We would not know the Good News otherwise. The Gospel originates outside of me, and is infinitely bigger than I am, and eternally older. I pray I learn to rest in this power and authority in my evangelistic conversations, like those with the owner of the coffeehouse before dawn every Thursday morning.

Shepherding in the Bible Study

“The doctrine of the high mystery of predestination is to be handled with special prudence and care” (1689 Baptist Confession, 3.7).

We started meditating together on Paul’s letter to Titus during last night’s Wednesday night Bible study at our church. The first words, “Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God” (1:1), led us fairly quickly into a discussion which dominated most of the 50 minutes we spent in active discussion.

“The chosen of God.”

This was a group of believers of varying degrees of maturity, age, and relatively small variation on the topic of predestination. As we considered the biblical data from various N.T. sources, I tried to be careful to keep the “cage fighter” in me subdued. This wasn’t a YouTube debate (I’ve actually never watched one and have no interest in doing so). This was a Bible study made up of people I love and respect. People I long to see firmly “established in the faith” (Romans 1:11; 16:25; 2 Corinthians 1:21; Colossians 1:23; 2:7; 1 Thessalonians 3:2,13).

This wasn’t a Sunday morning or evening service, where I speak from a text and don’t take questions during the service. This is Bible study, and there are often questions and discussion points suggested by members of the group. It always reminds me of Paul’s description of the gathering of the Church: “What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. If anyone speaks in a tongue, it should be by two or at the most three, and each in turn, and one must interpret; but if there is no interpreter, he must keep silent in the church; and let him speak to himself and to God. Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others pass judgment. But if a revelation is made to another who is seated, the first one must keep silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be exhorted; and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets; for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints” (1 Corinthians 14:26-33). I used to not like meetings like this. I’ve come to delight in them and see them as a powerful place for the Spirit to work through His Word in and among His people.

As you have a discussion on a topic like election/predestination, it’s easy to ignore souls for the sake of establishing just how right you are. But this is the business of souls. And there is careful shepherding to be done in the gathering of souls, even in Bible study.

“The work of pastors being constantly to attend the service of Christ, in his churches, in the ministry of the word and prayer, with watching for their souls, as they that must give an account to Him” (1689 Baptist Confession, 26.10). I assume “watching for their souls” is a reference to Hebrews 13:17, where congregants are commanded, “obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account.” I don’t understand the “work of pastors” described as “the ministry of the word and prayer” and “watching for their souls” to be separate items. The Holy Spirit regularly brings congregants to mind, prompting me, I believe, to pray for them (sometimes at 4 a.m. on Monday mornings). But “watching for their souls” can happen during “the ministry of the word,” even during a Wednesday night Bible study.

“Watching during their souls” during “the ministry of the word” requires that challenging and historically divisive doctrines not be avoided (they’re attested to throughout the Bible, after all), but “handled with special prudence and care.”

We speak the truth, but we do so in love: “…speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him Who is the head, even Christ, from Whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:15,16). Notice the inter-connectedness: “…speaking the truth in love” leads to growth in Christ, which leads to a properly-functioning church (“the whole body”), which leads back to more “growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.” It’s a circular growth to loving speech to growth to loving speech, etc., all in Christ and from Christ. How? Read 4:11-13. Christ-given “apostles, and…prophets, and…evangelists, and…pastors and teachers.”

Shepherding souls in the Bible study. It’s my fleshly pride that wants to conquer all intellects and show them the unparalleled superiority of my Reformed Baptist doctrine. It’s my calling from above, though, to lead them to the Scriptures, encourage their Spirit-given insights into the text, gently correct errors, prayerfully seek words of explanation of difficult ideas witnessed to in the Bible, and to guide the group meditation through a time of Christ-empowered growth and love. The latter is far more to be preferred. I want them to go away longing for more of the Word and having caught a glimpse of its power and beauty.

Shepherding souls in the Bible study. It drives me personally deeper into the Scripture and convicts me anew of the indispensability of prayer in this act of leading the Bible study.

Lord, help me handle the text and all the glorious doctrine that pours out of it “with special prudence and care,” mindful of the beautiful souls you have created and redeemed.

The Law, Prophets, and a Lesson About Gathering

“And you will say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD, “If you will not listen to Me, to walk in My law [תורה] which I have set before you, to listen to the words of My servants the prophets, whom I have been sending to you again and again, but you have not listened; then I will make this house like Shiloh, and this city I will make a curse to all the nations of the earth”’” (Jeremiah 26:4-6).

Ask most people what prophets do, and they will tell you that prophets foretell the future. I have been convinced for a long time that such an understanding of the prophets and biblical prophecy misses a crucial message of the biblical Prophets (and those who echo them in the New Testament). I contend that the Prophets applied the Law of Moses to their audiences in the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit. They communicated using language meant to move hard hearts – powerful language with dramatic imagery and edgy language. Their “future telling,” when it is present at all (not nearly as often as we’ve grown accustomed to think), is merely an application of the curses for covenant violation in the Law (Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28). The Law promised invasion by a foreign army and deportation. The Prophets, in seeing covenant violation among the people, promised this would come. And it did.

Learning one thing revolutionized my reading of the Bible, and that one thing is seeing parallelism.[1] The Hebrew language is not highly technical (like Greek) – the Old Testament writers say one thing several different ways to further illuminate their meaning.

Consider this parallelism:

• “...listen to Me, to walk in My law [תורה] which I have set before you...”
• “...to listen to the words of My servants the prophets, whom I have been sending to you again and again...”

Both of these phrases are introduced with the verb “listen” (שמע), setting up the parallelism as clear as possible for us. Both “law” and “the words of My servants the prophets” are the words of the LORD to His covenant people.

From the standpoint of the doctrine of the Bible, the Law is foundational. The New Testament shows us the Lord Jesus and His apostles continually citing the Law as authoritative teaching. The Prophets of the Old Testament rely on the Law in the same way. There is no fullness to your understanding of later passages of Scripture if you aren’t familiar with what came before. Sadly, most people’s reading of the Prophets leans forward rather than backward. I find the same to be true in most attempts to interpret Revelation.

The LORD, speaking through Jeremiah, places His Law and Prophets in parallelism.

False prophets do not speak the words of the LORD (applying His Law), but speak their own words. “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into futility; they speak a vision of their own imagination, not from the mouth of the LORD” (23:16). “‘Behold, I am against the prophets,’ declares the LORD, ‘who use their tongues and declare, “The Lord declares”’” (23:31).

Prophecy is the Spirit-empowered application of the Law to the lives of God’s people with the goal of moving them to repentance from their sin before the Lord. I would use this definition for most of New Testament “prophecy,” as well (especially as described in Romans 12:6; 1 Corinthians 12,14; Ephesians 4:11). We would put it under the category “preaching” these days, though the Bible seems to have parsed the categories of prophetic preaching of the Law for conviction, evangelistic preaching of the Gospel for the giving of grace (to believers and non-believers), and the teaching/explanation of the Bible. We need all of these in our spiritual diet continually.

The “Prophets” of the Old Testament are inerrant and inspired, and serve as models/examples for preachers in the Church. We are, as part of our calling, preach the commands of God, leaning on the Holy Spirit’s help, to move the people of God to repentance and obedience...and we are to do this without abandoning the giving of the grace of the Gospel or the explanation of the meaning and theology of the text.

It is foolish to believe we can accomplish this in a 15-minute talk filled with anecdotes and stories. It is woefully naive to believe attending the gathering of the Church for one hour a week can adequately fill the God-intended purpose of teachers/preachers in the Church. Does your Church have an evening service, a mid-week Bible study, other small groups that study the Word? Are you a part? These are the means by which God speaks His Word to His people through the power of His Holy Spirit.

We need to be convicted unto repentance and obedience, fed grace unto communion with God in Christ, and trained in the nature, character, ways, and thoughts of God through the explanation of His Word. This cannot happen without giving time to the corporate times in the Word. Commit and get involved. It’s not a matter of not having enough time...you’re reading this, aren’t you? If you’re reading this, you’re probably reading a lot of other stuff online. How many hours of online time are you spending a week compared to gathering with Spirit-filled believers to get into God’s Word together? We fool ourselves by complaining there’s not enough time.

He has given the Law and Prophets, the Gospel and Apostles. We need this more than anything else, and He has purposed that we receive and grow in His Word together.

Let’s get to it.

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[1] This book was helpful when I was first learning this principle.

Looking to Jesus with the Cowboys

Bible study down in Hachita this evening. They came in tired, dusty, spurs jingling, with horses still saddled in trailers outside, but they still came. And we looked at Jesus together: “‘Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.’ Then I saw a Lamb that looked as if it had been slaughtered, but it was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the sevenfold Spirit of God that is sent out into every part of the earth” (Revelation 5:5,6, N.L.T.).

• He is King of kings, final Inheritor and Fulfillment to all of God’s promises to David in the Scriptures.
• He is Victor, mighty Conqueror of all the enemies of God.
• He is alone is worthy. Not me. Not you. He alone. Not self-esteem, but the infinitely more satisfying Christ-esteem.
• He is the final and only-adequate sacrificial “Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). He still bears the physical reminders, the scars of this sacrifice as a forever-memorial (as in John 20:24-29, for He “looked as if” He “had been slaughtered,” even though He was alive and “standing”).
• He is the center of heaven’s attention, adoration, and eternal reverence.
• He has complete and utter power (“seven horns”). There is none more powerful.
• He is the giver of the complete (“sevenfold,” an allusion to Isaiah 11:2) Spirit of God, given to “everyone believing” in Jesus (John 7:39), regardless of “tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9).

He is Jesus. See Him in the Word. Repent, believing in Him alone for your salvation, joy, love, peace, and eternal life.

NM-9

The Ridge Line of Faithful Teaching

“Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene” (2 Timothy 2:14-17).

Ah, this is what my pastor would (only partially jesting) call “the razorblade edge of doom.” On one side, the “ruin of the hearers” (2:14). On the other side, quick-spreading gangrenous talk that results in “further ungodliness” (2:16,17). Between these two disastrous drop-offs, on a narrow ridgeline above the clouds, is the only Way for the preacher/teacher of the Word. This Way requires diligence, work, and accuracy (2:15). This Way is before the very face of God, Who brings those on this Way under a “stricter judgment” (James 3:1). Yet this is THE Way. There is no other. So, despite the sometimes ferocious winds, precarious footing, and temptation to take a path down to easier trails, Paul urges us to stay on the ridgeline. To glory.

So, if you’re preparing to teach the Word tonight, or if you’re planning on attending Bible study, pray. Pray to the Father Who is the Source of “grace, mercy, and peace” (1:2), the Son Who is the Mediator and conduit of that strengthening grace (2:1), and the Holy Spirit Who enables us to guard this matchless treasure of truth (1:14). And get to work walking this high, narrow Way.