“To evangelize is to declare on the authority of God what he has done to save sinners, to warn men of their lost condition, to direct them to repent, and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.” (John Cheesman, The Grace of God in the Gospel [Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1972], 119)
The Authority
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made . . . . And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory. . .” – John 1:1-3, 14
I know of no clearer declaration of the Deity of Christ in all of Scripture than these verses. What did God do to save sinners? God sent His Son to die that we might live! There was no other way to satisfy the just requirements of God’s own Law. There is no other way of salvation! There is no greater authority than the Word made flesh!
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. “ – Jesus
The Declaration
“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word 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 in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. – 1 Cor 15:1-5 (Emphasis mine)
The message we are to declare is quite simple. There are two central points, two things ‘of first importance’: “Christ died for our sins” and “he was raised on the third day”. Both of these facts were “in accordance with the Scriptures” – they fulfilled Old Testament prophesy. Both events, the death and resurrection, were validated. Christ’s dead body was laid in a tomb and he was seen by many – His closest disciples in these passages, with over 500 mentioned elsewhere in Scripture.
This is the Message we are to declare – the message that is the “power of God unto salvation” that Paul was not ashamed of. No matter what else we say, no matter what else we ‘do’ without words, no matter what ‘words’ we wrap around these two truths, they must be at the core of our message or we have failed. Any other message, any other message, that omits these truths, is NOT the gospel.
The Battle Cry 
Ok I’ll start….Jude 3-4 “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before the old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.”
This was written within the first 50 years of the Church’s existence, and Jude the half-brother of Jesus is already having to contend for the faith…amazing to me. The amplified of vs 4 reads “For certain men have crept in stealthily….ungodly persons who pervert the grace of our God into lawlessness and wantonness and immorality, and disown and deny our sole Master and Lord Jesus Christ.”
Then and now..I’d say. Satan has been trying to pervert grace and turn it into lawlessness, wantonness and immorality. We’ve helped him right along. Our human hearts are so easily deceived, and we give into our enthusiasms way too easily. All it is, is truth pushed to the extreme..but is in error which in turn becomes the foundation for other doctrine..heresy.
I know first hand this is the tactic of the enemy. If he can’t hold you back, he’ll push you too far. To the point even of becoming a “minister of light to deceive even the elect”. I’ve been there and never again do I want to lay a stone of falsehood upon a foundation of error. Too soon, the stronghold of doctrine is established and that’s when the nature of the thing really exposes itself. If anyone or anything then challenges that doctrine, every shred of Christlikeness leaves and we begin to fight like dogs to preserve it. Even when Jesus’ own words come against it, we want to cling to it, and start dismissing to the point of denying Jesus…what a hellish spirit of religion.
We say we’re free from the law…of course we are…from it’s condemnation, not it’s obedience.
Again, it’s time for us to wake up to righteousness…and run back to Him. There is no more time for delusions…time to stop being deceived by our own won hearts..and evangelize the true heart of Christ.
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Wow Dan…that was long… sorry 😳
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awwwwwyeeaaaahhh, just fabulous.
The grammar of that first line is so deliberately constructed that to say that it is addressing anything but the Godhead of Christ while yet the distinction of the second person of the trinity is to say that words have no meaning at all.
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Wow Deb, that was powerful. . .:) Are those ‘freedom bells’ I hear ringing in your heart?
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I would say this is the message:
God loves us: “For God so loved the world that he sent His only Son…” (Jn 3:16)
That Jesus is God” “‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I am!'” (Jn 8:38)
All have sinned: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23)
There’s a consequence to sin which is death: “For the wages of sin is death…” (Rom 6:23)
Jesus paid the penalty: “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit” (1 Pet. 3:18)
We must receive the gift: “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (Jn 1:12)
salvation is not by works: “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5)
It’s a free gift we don’t earn it: “a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.” (Gal 2:16)
I might be bleeding into your other Ms, but I think these are all essential parts of the message, and the most important part is that God became flesh in order to save us.
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damn those emoticons!
John 8:38
1 Pet. 3:18
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Bad,
The things of “first importance” (not everything there is to say ‘about’ the Gospel, for sure) that Paul preached are two: the death of Christ for our sins and his bodily resurretion – prophesied in scripture and validated by historical fact. 1 Corinthians 15 is perhaps the best treatise on the importance of the resurrection ever written. If Christ had not risen, our faith would be nothing more than any other dead religion.
What must be heard clearly amid all the other scripture verses and ‘words’ we might use in pointing someone who is dead in sin to Christ, is His death for our sins.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” – 1 Corinthians 1:16
“And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling,and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” – 1 Corinthians 2:1-5
Certainly we, as message bearers, must be able to explain what exactly ‘Christ died for our sins’ means, but I will be bold here and suggest that when a heart prepared by the Holy Spirit to ‘hear’ the message that contains ‘the power of God for salvation’, only these few words need be spoken! God has provided the message in the pages of Scripture, God has prepared a heart to hear, all that needs happen is the Message to be ‘delivered’.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at what you say contains the message. Do they, or are they in the ‘supporting cast’, in a manner of speaking.
God loves us: “For God so loved the world that he sent His only Son…” (Jn 3:16) Even in it’s entirety, this verse does not explain WHAT we must believe, only that those who do believe will have eternal life.
That Jesus is God. “‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I am!’” [Jn 8:38] Speaks to the identity of Christ, is a great truth, but does address sin or the Cross.
All have sinned: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23) Mentions the problem of sin, but does not mention the Cross – the’ solution’.
There’s a consequence to sin which is death: “For the wages of sin is death…” (Rom 6:23) In it’s entirety presents the problem of sin and the solution.
Jesus paid the penalty: “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit” [1 Pet. 3:1 8] Presents the problem of sin and the solution.
We must receive the gift: “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (Jn 1:12) Tells us what must to with the message, What does ‘receive’ Him mean?
salvation is not by works: “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5) Tells us why He saved us (His mercy), but doesn’t explain ‘how’ – Christ’s death for our sin.
It’s a free gift we don’t earn it: “a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.” (Gal 2:16) Tells us we are made right with God apart from the Law and soley by our faith in Christ, but doesn’t explain WHY we are justified by faith – that we have believed guess what? Christ died for our sins.
“I think these are all essential parts of the message, and the most important part is that God became flesh in order to save us.” That statement totally misses the point, I am afraid. It’s like having two bookends, but no books on the shelf! Is it true? Yes. Is it the message that needs to ring clear in the heart of those who are dead in their trespasses and sin? No.
So that was the point of this post, not what we think or say the message is, but what Scripture SAYS it is. There are times when we have to ‘get back to basics’ and I think now is the time for the M&M&M’s of evangslism. I am intentionally NOT mentioning all the reasons we need to get back to basics – they are many. I firmly believe that when any true believer ‘captures’ the depth and breadth of the simplest Gospel message, that Christ died for our sins, that which is NOT the gospel becomes immediately apparent.
By the way, thanks for providing an excellent exercise for examining specific scripture against what must be in The Message.
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Morning, 🙂 When I witness to someone, this is the basic process I go through. The Bible says that we are all sinners… Romans 3:23…I explain that this means we have all offended God. We have all broken His law. We are guilty of the sin. Because of this, we are separated from God, Isaiah 59:2, we are dead in our sins, Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:3 and cannot please Him. (Romans 3:10-11). We will suffer damnation, 2 Thess. 1:9, and the only way to escape this judgment is by receiving Christ, by trusting in what Jesus did on the cross…John 14:6, Acts 4:12, 1 Peter 2:24.
Luke 14:38 spoke to me this morning…Jesus said, “For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it?” He tells us to count the cost, and becoming a Christian means the cost can be high…people need to be told that once you commit, God takes it very seriously. I think by focusing again on all aspects of the message is extremely important…that includes the love as well.
He chose us first, and is only His free grace that has made the difference. The faith someone has is not a pre-condition of God’s choice, His choice is the precedent cause of our faith. At least, that’s how I’m understanding it…..
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Good Morning Deb!
You certainly have the message down, as well as some of the ‘supporting cast’! I could probably leave the post that’s ‘waiting in the wings’ completely off stage! It speaks to what we need to be able to explain ‘about’ the core message that ‘Christ died for our sins’. If we can’t explain the length and breadth of those few words, we will not only be unable to bring those to whom we witness to a complete understanding of the gospel message, atheists, agnostics, and your aforementioned wolves in the sheep pen will eat our lunch!
“He chose us first, and is only His free grace that has made the difference. The faith someone has is not a pre-condition of God’s choice, His choice is the precedent cause of our faith.”
That’s what the Book tells us – He chose us so that we would choose Him then brought it to pass.
“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” – John 6:37
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what I’m getting from your commentary, Dan, is that there must be one verse that concisely explains the message in its entirety (whatever that is notwithstanding)? That it’s inappropriate to build a case for the message from multiple verses?
I that what you mean, or what do you mean?
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My wife says that my previous post makes no sense – so feel free to nuke it.
Reading more closely, I caught this statement…
“With that in mind, let’s take a look at what you say contains the message.”
I never said that, Dan. I said, “this is the message”; provided the elements; and according to your wishes provided a scripture as evidence. My intent was not, and is not that each of these verses contain the complete message, but that they are parts of the message. Deb’s method of witnessing seems to walk a similar [roman] road.
So, if you are looking for verses that contain the elements of the gospel, let’s open it up to everyone?
Are there verses that say what is the gospel message apart from this summary of Paul in 1 Cor. 15?
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Your wife would be correct on that one, Bad. I never said ‘there is a single verse that explaing the Gospel message, just like you didn’t ‘say’ that your scripture references ‘contained’ the message. I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt. Anything that we present as ‘the message’ that does not contain the Cross – Christ’s death for our sin, is NOT the message. Without the Cross, the message contains no power to save anyone – and a crossless Christianity is NO Christianity.
I did not ask anywhere for verses people thought contained, in the same passage, the two elements of the message that Paul stated as ‘of first importance’. I merely presented the essential elements of the message itself. That was the whole point – to get the message right – to get the Gospel right.
Deb did not say that the way she witnessed was ‘the message’, as you did and reinforced. The gospel message, as stated in this post, is presented throughout Scripture although maybe not as succinctly as Paul extpressed it. I think that Paul might have thought it necessary to present it as clearly as he did.
How did you get the impression this was NOT open to everyone?
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I’m pretty simple, I will admit. But when I think of the message that is to be preached wouldn’t it make sense to go to the first message preached after the Lord’s ascension into heaven? Peter was quite bold and laid it all out on the day of Pentecost. Isn’t that the message? (Acts 2:14-41)
Yes, Paul put it quite succinctly in the passage (1Cor. 15:1-5) you gave, Dan. It’s almost like the outline and the rest is the commentary, don’tcha think?
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Excellent point, Michelle, and you are not simple.
That Spirit empowered sermon had the core elements of Paul’s message (vv 23,24) and more! After he told the crowd they had the Messiah sent by God murdered, Peter told them to REPENT! That one probably wouldn’t go over in today’s ‘seeker-friendly’ environment.
For this particular post, I am trying to isolate the basic elements of the message that requires repentance as the proper human response to that message, and absolutely necessary for true salvation.
I’m probably the ‘simple’ one here. At least I am applying the ‘keep it simple’ rule! I wrap ‘more’ around the basic message in the next post here.
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Repentance is not just a new testament thing….God has always implored man to repent and walk with Him. The whole reason we were created was to walk with God in HIS Holiness…
Job 11:13-15 “If you would prepare your heart, and stretch out your hands toward Him; if iniquity were in your hand, and you put it far away, and would not let wickedness dwell in your tents; Then surely you could lift up your face without spot….” Zech 1:3 “Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hots: “Return to Me,” says the Lord of Hosts, “and I will return to you…. Job 34:32 “That which I see not teach me? If I have done iniquity, I will do no more.” Psalm 86:11 “Teach me your way, O Lord, I will walk in your truth: unite my heart to fear Your name”. I found this one interesting in saying teach me your way…not ways….anyway..
It’s always been the standard set by a Holy God. True repentance, changing your mind according to the Bible is to agree with God that you are a lost sinner in the sight of God…
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Wow! Isn’t it amazing how we pick, pick and pick.
We know what the Gospel is. Get out and share it with what understanding you have. The question is are you sharing it?
Thanks bro. I like the post. Very good.
Richard
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rj: Howdy! I just wanted to say that I don’t see it as picking…I see it as caring about accuracy. We have quite the reponsibility as Christ followers to present the correct gospel…I sure as heck don’t want to give account to Him one day for leading people the wrong way…There are subtle things that will keep you from the truth…I know, I was there..
I agree…we need to get off our blessed assurance and share it, as long as the “it” is accurate.
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I wanna say thanks to Bad for his post #5. I just appreciate your use of Scripture and saying things so clearly.
I was thinking over the last couple of days about the fact that many people view the Bible as a book of magical incantations, that one would say the right verse and poof the mountain moves, poof, all these things are added unto you, poof, whatever you are trying to poof. Apart from this being a genie and not God, it makes us the arbiters of that which is proclaimed – as in so many systems, God, on some level, becomes dependent on us that his will be done. This is a miserable middle-management deity.
And yet we are to proclaim the gospel – in matters which talk about the dissemination of the gospel I don’t know of any passages which have anything other than words for proclaim. This fits the word for gospel itself, euaggelion – eu- good, aggelion – news or tidings. Aggelos is greek for messenger or angel. The angel never shows up with the intention of having a conversation, the angel has a proclaimation of some sort to make.
Also interestingly is that in attic greek the term is used often and specifically to refer to a proclaimation of victory – that a messenger or aggelos would show up and tell people that their side won the battle.
The parallels in this are obvious, and explains the biblical idea of its dissemination, that is preaching or proclaiming,
“God won. That’s good news. I am letting you know.”
There certainly is some contextualization necessary in this – the usually improperly used, but still so instructive sermon of Paul’s on Mars Hill shows that in the language and concepts of the culture we proclaim the gospel.
But I think Bad’s point about The Son necessitously being God incarnate, is essential. To make Jesus just a martyr, or an example, though in a tiny way true, greatly misses the point. This victor is indeed God, that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, having humbled himself, taking himself from perfect glory, becoming a servant of the Father, not only that he would save his people but that he would be restored to his perfect state, and exalted perfectly as the King of Kings and as the lamb who was slain.
What makes the news good is the fact that the one who procured the news, the subject of the news, never, ever, ever fails to deliver. When he saves his people, they stay saved, when God gets a person, they stay got. God is not leaving one lost sheep to their own devices. He is going to get them.
Bad quotes well 1 Peter 3:18, which is too often cited as a text indicating something that it doesn’t indicate: that Jesus died for all, but that his people might be saved. I rarely quarrel with the ultra literal NASB or ESV, but here they translate this in a way which, in english, sound like a contingent statement “so that He might bring us to God,” but the NIV is closer, which I believe Bad quotes, “to bring you to God” and the NRSV is best which says, “in order to bring you to God.” The verb is what is called “subjunctive” which most often says, “that thing X might happen” but two things work against such a translation. 1. the preposition hina “that, in order that” makes the subjunctive verb “telic” which means that the verb is not expressing a possibility but, instead, the purpose of the antecedant, which is, “Christ also suffered once for sins”, making the purpose that which, beyond any doubt, comes to pass. To make this a passage of universality in any sense is to misunderstand it greatly.
What undergirds this passages as a declaration of unfailing purpose, not that of a possibility, is Peter’s opening,
“To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood”
Peter seems to be writing to diaspora Jewish Christians who would know Old Testament “chosen” language, that if God choses you for something, he does not fail. Some would use “foreknowledge” to try and get out of this, but that won’t do. Foreknowledge, in biblical statements of it, preceeds chosing, as it does here (Rom 8:29-30). And chosing preceeds creation (Eph 1:4-5). Are we to understand that God knew how people would react to the gospel, and THEN created both those who would and wouldn’t respond? This does not solve the problem for the person struggling with this idea, it only moves the question back.
This view also makes God subject to his creation in a way which he is not. It is unfathomable that God would “look into the future” (what else can I say, the whole thing is beyond my comprehension) and see a future which is unfavorable to his mind, and then make it anyway. To the person who sees foreknowledge as a buttress against election, at the very least God saw in the future those who would believe and those who would not –
and then made them both, anyway.
The reason it is good news is because God never fails, Jesus is God, and if the person who hears the Gospel has ears to hear, then they are chosen in Christ and will begin their life as a son or daughter of God.
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Some comments here and it’s clear that you all know the ‘core message’ and MORE! Now would be a great time to reveal why I get to spun up about the ‘bare bones’ message and was even sounded critical in some of my replies. My ONLY intent was to get to the bottom line message. There is a lot more to be said when we share the Gospel in the course of pointing someone to Christ. The great scripture passages provided here that are part of that only serve to show that.
The reason for this post is because of what I have heard in recent times used to ‘attract’ people to Christ that contain some truth but not the ‘unattractive’ parts of the gospel message:
“God loves you so much He can’t imagine heaven without you. . .”
“Jesus loves you so much He would rather die than live without you. . .”
“God hugs us with our sin. . .”
“Jesus died for your dreams. . .”
“Jesus accepted you a long time ago even with your sin. . .”
“To reject Jesus is against your human nature. . .”
“The core of Christianity is that God is passionate about His relationship with you.”
All of those came from visible, popular, and respected evangelicals. They were spoken to mixed ‘audiences’ of believers and unbelievers alike. There are more examples I am sure.
I trust that gives you all a clearer picture of where I am coming from. You will see the same ‘mindset’ in the next few posts here.
Keep your observations and comments coming and pray earnestly that those who have been deceived into thinking that ‘Christ died for our sins’ should stay in the background or need not be part of the message we share.
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rj, howdy back at ya!
Everyone else, meet rj. He is very much involved in street ministry, where the the message absolutely has to be simple and to the point.
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“where the the message absolutely has to be simple and to the point.”
I learned this from my weekend under the bridge….completely understand. Happy Monday! 🙂
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And again, the point of this post was to emphasize what we must have somewhere in the ‘message’ we present to those who do not know the Savior. I heard one the crew over at the White Horse Inn say once that we need to get to the point in the first 20 seconds. Interesting….
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“Anything that we present as ‘the message’ that does not contain the Cross – Christ’s death for our sin, is NOT the message.”
Since we’re trying to get “it” right, what is the scriptural basis for this assertion?
Also, it seems that there is an assumption of what is evangelism and that we are to participate in “it”.
Seems reasonable – again, where are these scriptural imperatives?
Thanks for any input you may provide!
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If you are looking for specific scripture passages that say specifically that “Anything that we present as ‘the message’ that does not contain the Cross – Christ’s death for our sin, is NOT the message.” I don’t have any at hand.
That the gospel message focuses on the Cross of Christ and His death for our sins is a crimson thread running from Genesis to Revelation.
Concerning the last bit, please define the scriptural imperatives of which you speak….thanks…..
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I agree that Jesus’ death on the cross is central to the gospel message. Not only a thread running through the Bible, but the Bible itself is the gospel – all of it, really.
I daresay that if there isn’t a specific scripture that says “anything that we present as the message…” then all the assertions you have been making are really your opinion?
Not disagreeing on importance, mind you, just your word choice.
Oh, the question about evangelism – I ask, because I’ve had ‘discussions’ with others that think the whole emphasis on evangelism has been blown out of proportion in our current christian culture. The emphasis is on our being a witness and on disciple making – this being the language of the great commission and Jesus’ final words (matt 28:28-30, acts 1:8).
I scored highest on evangelism when I took a ‘spiritual gifts’ test – so I’m definitely a believer in evangelism. The point this guy was making that it doesn’t end with evangelism; that evangelism is just a preliminary phase of a larger discipleship ‘program’.
By Scriptural imperatives I am asking if you’re aware of any verses that state that it is our responsibility to evangelize, or is that a term that has been derived over time – like ‘trinity’ – to describe something that is “clear” in scripture, but not spelled out in a specific verse. I can’t think of any verses offhand, so was wondering if you had any…
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Bad,
It feels like we are going around in circles again, so I’m not going into a detailed response. This was about the esential elements of the gospel – that was the focus.
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“I daresay that if there isn’t a specific scripture that says “anything that we present as the message…” then all the assertions you have been making are really your opinion?”
This is not very well thought out. When the gospel is explained or elucidated at all the message which Dan is has been presenting is the only message, that is, the only opinion being expressed here is your own, and once again, not very substantively. There isn’t another message. The burden is upon you to present these other messages which you seem to hint are out there somewhere.
“Not disagreeing on importance, mind you, just your word choice”
More word games. Great.
“I scored highest on evangelism when I took a ’spiritual gifts’ test”
You have got to be kidding me. Who cares? A spiritual gifts test? Wow, you really ARE highly qualified.
“The emphasis is on our being a witness and on disciple making – this being the language of the great commission and Jesus’ final words (matt 28:28-30, acts 1:8).”
You are not able to defend this statement on its own, and certainly not in oppostion to evangelism. You are not able.
“By Scriptural imperatives I am asking if you’re aware of any verses that state that it is our responsibility to evangelize”
There is no Christianity apart from the spreading of the gospel. Getting the message right is of the highest importance, and getting the message wrong is of the greatest offense in what is probably the earliest book in the New Testament, Galatians. That’s imperative. How does one teach another to obey Christ without the gospel first as in the great commission? How about 2 Timothy 4:1-2? Is that for Timothy only? That you can’t see the imperative nature of the proclamation of the accurate gospel is throughout the New Testament makes me wonder if you have read it. Not being sarcastic, really mean it.
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Sorry if it came across as talking in circles. Perhaps the title of this post should have been “The Essential Elements of the Gospel” instead of “Evangelism: The Message.”
There is no use of “evangelism” in scripture, but there are three instances of “evangelist”:
Acts 21:8
“Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven.”
Ephesians 4:11
“It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,”
2 Timothy 4:5
“But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.”
In Ephesians it seems like not everyone is called to be an evangelist; yet all of us are called to be witnesses (acts 1:8). That seems to imply that there is a difference.
Maybe this could be picked up on another thread?
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You are once again trying to move the target. There are many uses of evangel, good news, gospel, you remember, the thing we are talking about? The message? The euaggelion? Remember? This wasn’t about message-ers or message-ism, it was about message. Stop changing the subject.
It comes across as talking in circles because that’s what it is and that’s what you do.
Look up uses of the gospel, good news, message. You can do it.
“That seems to imply that there is a difference.”
This is getting more silly by the second. It implies no such thing. You cannot defend that either. But please, please try.
“Maybe this could be picked up on another thread?”
Mr. Bad, you can’t keep you head in the game with one thread. I am not sure what makes you think that two threads would improve your already opaque reasoning and poor exegesis.
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Bad,
Why don’t you ask the question/take up the subject of evangelism/evangelist/the ‘office of evangelist, or whatever it is that draws you back to it at your blog? It seems to be an important issue to you. Only you know exactly what that is. And you would be free to take it anywhere you want it to go in ‘your house’.
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Dan,
I’ll do that. Please feel free to drop by!
Once I post it, would it be alright to put a referrer link here (I don’t know the lingo yet)?
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Sure.
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