This book aim to answer the question of compatibility between Man’s responsibility in evangelism and God’s sovereignty. Probably the best book I’ve read on evangelism.
My Notes
Chapter 1: Divine Sovereignty
- We believe God is sovereign when we pray
- We thank God for our conversion because it is His work not ours
- People refuses to make God mysterious, and making God wiser than man. So when the bible teaches that man have responsibility over their own actions they cut out God’s sovereignty.
Chapter 2: Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility
- Antimony: an appearance of incompatibility between two truths
- Light behaves both as particle and as waves. Seemingly incompatible but it’s true
- Paradox: words that seems to make a contradiction, but comprehensible when explained. Used to provoke thought and make things easy to memorize
- If we put the responsibility of successful evangelism on ourselves, then we might go down this slippery slope: instead of being faithful in evangelism we become calculating and pragmatic, and adopt brain washing methods.
- We must hold God’s Sovereignty in saving souls and the Churches’ responsibility in reaching out in equal seriousness
Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility are friends – C. H. Spurgeon
Chapter 3: Evangelism
- Evangelism is to simply communicate the Gospel message, to teach Jesus as Christ the Saviour with the aim to convert the hearer.
- We communicate the message, and God will produce the fruits.
- The Gospel message need to communicate these 4 ingredients:
- Who God is
- Our creator
- What is Sin
- a wrong relationship with God
- Conviction of sin always comes with conviction of particular sin which one needs to repent of
- Conviction of sin also comes with conviction of sinfulness, that one is utterly depraved and requires a new heart
- Who is Christ?
- We must present both Christ the Person and Christ’s Works
- Christ the Person: God Incarnate
- Perfect righteousness, death, resurrection, ascension, and His second coming
- “believe on the Lord Jesus, who died for sin, and now offers Himself as your saviour”
- Faith and Repentance
- Both Faith and Repentance are acts not mere feelings
- Who God is
- What is the motive for evangelism?
- Love for God and concern for His glory
- Love for man and concern for his welfare
- Desire to evangelize should come naturally and spontaneously from believers
- remain courteous when evangelizing
- Method of Evangelism
- Faithful explanation and application of the Gospel of Jesus Christ
- Does the method
- Bring glory to God, instead of the messenger?
- Make the audience think the Gospel is divine, and not some man made idea?
- Appeal primarily to the truth instead of emotion?
- Communicate the need for faith and repentance?
- Communicate the seriousness of the Gospel?
- Make the audience think deeply?
Chapter 4: Divine Sovereignty and Evangelism
- There is God’s will in terms of Law and God’s will in terms of Plan
- God’s sovereignty does not free of man’s responsibility to evangelism because it is God’s Law, we do not know who is elect and do not need to know who is elect. We are simply told to make disciples of all nations
- God uses the means of believer’s evangelism to fulfill His purpose
- God’s sovereignty doesn’t not affect man’s responsibility to the gospel
- God’s sovereignty gives our only hope in success in evangelism
- Not trust in our methods
- We are to be faithful, and God will bring the fruits
- Be bold, be patient, and be prayerful