2003 Shepherd's Conference, A Ministry of Grace Community Church 818.909.5530. © 2003 All Rights Reserved. Grace Community Church. A CD, MP3, or tape cassette copy of this session can be obtained by going to www.shepherdsconference.org
The Way of Salvation
(Handout and Study Notes)
God-Centered vs. Man-Centered Evangelism
Clay Miller
Associate Pastor, Outreach Ministries
There are four Walls of Truth surrounding biblical evangelism.
1) God-Centered
2) Theology-Driven
3) Discipleship-Oriented
4) Time-Redeeming
Gen 1:1; John 1:1; Matt 1; Luke 1; Mark 1
Two Theological Foundations of God-Centered Evangelism:
1) Evangelism is primarily for the Glory of God and
2) Salvation is entirely a Work of God
Eph 2:1
Rom 5:6
Rom 8:8
Ps 115:5
Ps 115:6
Jer 13:23
Jon 2:9
1. Belief is a gift (Phil 1:29)
2. Faith is a gift (Eph 2:8-9)
3. Repentance is a gift (2 Tim 2:25; cf. Acts 5:31; 11:18)
“Classic theology has erred in its insistence that theology be ‘God-centered,’ not ‘man-centered.’”
– Robert Schuler, Self-Esteem—The New Reformation, 64.
II. Theology-Driven (vis-à-vis Method-Driven)
Gal 3:2, 5 à Rom 10:17
“The form of the message will vary in each case. But the content must always drive home the reality of God’s holiness and the sinner’s helpless condition. Then it points sinners to Christ as a sovereign but merciful Lord who has purchased full atonement for all who will turn to Him in faith.”
– John MacArthur, Faith Works, 195.
Evangelism and salvation DO come by the Word of God.
Heb 4:12
1 Thess 2:13
Acts 17:11
Evangelism and salvation DO NOT come by:
· Cleverness (1 Cor 1:17)
· Persuasive Words of Wisdom (1 Cor 2:4-5; cf. 2 Cor 10:10; 11:6)
· Methods
“We must recognize the different types of persons, and we must learn to discriminate between them. There is nothing so pathetic or so unscriptural as a mechanical way of testifying to others. There are some Christians who are guilty of that. They witness and testify, but they do it in a thoroughly mechanical way. They never really consider the person with whom they are dealing; they never try to assess the person, or to discover exactly what his position is. They fail completely to implement this exhortation. They present the truth in exactly the same way to all and sundry. Quite apart from the fact that their testifying is generally quite useless, and that the only thing they achieve is a great feeling of self-righteousness, it is utterly unscriptural” (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, Vol. 2, 187).
· Reasoning
· Marketing
· Ecumenical Efforts
· Testimony
· Experience
· Deception
· Reductionism
“Evangelists today are making the dreadful miscalculation that sinners know who God is. They all center upon the man’s eternal fortunes and utterly ignore the question, ‘Who is God?’ The sinners thus treated, never realize the gravity of their plight. They don’t know whom they have offended. This is tragic” (Walter Chantry, Today’s Gospel: Authentic or Synthetic?, 28).
“It [the gospel] is not a message that can be capsulized, abridged, and shrink-wrapped, then offered as a generic remedy for every kind of sinner” (MacArthur, 194).
III. Discipleship-Oriented (vis-à-vis Decision-Oriented)
Decisionism
“[The gospel] does not call for a mere decision of the mind, but a surrender of the heart, mind, and will—the whole person—to Christ.”
– MacArthur, 194.
Easy-Believism
“Believing isn’t easy. It isn’t even hard. It is impossible in human terms.”
– MacArthur, 199.
“Christ knew nothing of the man-made, twentieth-century suggestion that taking Jesus as Lord is optional.”
– Chantry, 59.
2 Cor 7:10
Assurance
“How many souls have been led to vain confidence by a man-made, evangelistic formula? How many are sent home from evangelistic services with calm, who should have gone away grieved and disturbed as the ruler? How many unsaved children have been given assurance by the teachers of Bible classes, so that they have ceased to seek God for salvation?”
– Chantry, 76.
Evangelizing Children
IV. Time-Redeeming
A. Urgency
Heb 9:27
Heb 10:31
Col 4:5
B. Authority
Hag 2:4-5
Philem 8
Prayer
Sanctification – 1 Pet 3:15
Suggested Reading:
Joseph Alleine – Sure Guide to Heaven (nee Alleine’s Alarm)
J. I. Packer – Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God
Walter Chantry – Today’s Gospel: Authentic or Synthetic?
John MacArthur – The Gospel According to Jesus
Will Metzger – To Tell the Truth
Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "Shepherd's Conference Collection" by:
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