The post below is from the site listed at the bottom of the article, and deserves attention. I commented on it at the bottom.

Did the Apostles use ‘God Loves You’ Evangelism?

The list below includes every instance of evangelistic preaching in the book of Acts, a summary of content, and an analysis of emphasis.

1. Pentecost, Acts 2:14-39

Peter notes the manifestations of the Holy Spirit that all had been witnessing, then ties them to the fulfillment of prophecy of Joel about the last days. He then preaches Jesus as the Messiah–attested to by miracles and by the resurrection which was prophesied by David–and the guilt of the crowd for the crucifixion.

The emphasis is on forgiveness of sin by Jesus the Messiah. There is no mention of God’s love or a relationship with Him.

2. Peter at the Gate Beautiful, Acts 3:12-26

After Peter and John healed a man lame from birth, Peter placed the blame for Jesus’ death on the shoulders of the listeners. He then appealed to fulfilled prophecy and told them either to believe and return and thus receive forgiveness and times of refreshing, or be destroyed.

The emphasis is on forgiveness of sin by Jesus the Messiah. There is no mention of God’s love or a relationship with Him.

3. Peter before the High Priest, Acts 4:8-12

Peter attributes the healing of the man lame from birth to Jesus the Messiah, whom the Jews had crucified, but whom God had raised from the dead. He quotes prophecy and says there is no other means of salvation but through Jesus. Peter then refuses to be silent about the Gospel.

The emphasis is on forgiveness of sin by Jesus the Messiah. There is no mention of God’s love or a relationship

with him.

4. Peter’s Defense a Second Time before the Council, Acts 5:29-32

Peter proclaims the resurrected Christ as Prince and Savior who brings forgiveness of sin and gives the gift of the Holy Spirit. He accuses the Council of putting Jesus to death. They are so infuriated they want to kill the Apostles. Instead, on the advice of Gamaliel, the believers are flogged and released.

There is no mention of God’s love or any kind of tender relationship with Him.

5. Stephen’s Defense before the Council, Acts 7:1-60

Stephen recounts the history of the Jews in which they constantly rebel, rejecting God’s deliverer. He accuses the Jews of being stiff-necked, resisting the Holy Spirit just as their forefathers had. He accuses them also of betraying and murdering the Righteous One, the Messiah. They are so filled with rage they murder him.

Emphasis is on the guilt of the Jews. There is no mention of God’s love.

[Note: When God speaks to Saul about his future during the events surrounding Saul’s conversion (Acts 9), there is no mention of an intimate relationship, only that Paul would suffer much for the sake of Christ.]

6. Peter’s Message to the Household of Cornelius, Acts 10:34-43

Peter talks of the ministry of Jesus, His miracles, death on the cross, and resurrection. Peter tells the Gentiles it is his job to solemnly testify that Jesus is the One appointed by God to judge the world, that Jesus’ coming was prophesied, and that belief in Him brings forgiveness of sin.

The emphasis is on Jesus, the prophesied Messiah who either brings judgment or forgives of sin. There is no mention of God’s love.

7. Paul’s Message to the Jews in the Synagogue at Pisidian Antioch, Acts 13:16-41

Paul preaches Jesus as the anticipated Savior, affirmed by John the Baptist, crucified by the Jews, who rose from the dead in fulfillment of prophesy. Paul then proclaims forgiveness of sin and freedom from the Law for all who believe.

Paul proclaims Jesus the prophesied Messiah crucified and resurrected. His emphasis is on forgiveness amidst warning.

8. Paul at the Areopagus in Athens, Acts 17:22-31

Paul discloses the nature of the “unknown God,” One who is responsible for all creation, and in whom we all depend for our very existence. He calls all men to repent, because God has appointed a judge, a man who has risen from the dead.

Emphasis is on the nature of God, and the reality of judgment. There is no mention of relationship or God’s love.

9. Paul’s Defense before the Jews in Jerusalem, Acts 22:1-21

Paul gives his testimony, detailing his persecution of Christians motivated by his zeal toward God, his conversion on the road to Damascus, and how his sins were washed away in Jesus’ name. When he mentions his mission to the Gentiles, however, the Jews protested violently.

Emphasis is on Paul’s personal encounter with Christ, his own forgiveness from sin, and his subsequent mission. There is no offer of personal relationship with God or mention of God’s love.

10. Paul’s Defense before the Sanhedrin, Acts 23:1-6

Paul says he is on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead. There is no mention of the love of God.

11. Paul’s Defense before the governor, Felix, Acts 24:10-21

Paul establishes his innocence regarding the Jews’ charges, then affirms the Law and the Prophets and the general resurrection of both righteous and wicked, a belief for which he says he is on trial.

There is no mention of God’s love or even of forgiveness.

12. Paul before Felix and Drusilla, Acts 24:24-25

Paul speaks of righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come which frightens Felix who then sends Paul away. There is no mention of God’s love or of a personal relationship with Him.

13. Paul’s Defense before the Agrippa, Acts 26:1-29

Paul gives his testimony, noting the importance of the resurrection. He tells of the commission Jesus had given him, proclaiming the Gospel with a goal of deliverance from Satanic darkness to receiving forgiveness and an inheritance from God. Paul claims his message is the same as the prophets regarding the Messiah’s suffering and resurrection.

Emphasis is on the resurrection of Christ, prophetic fulfillment and forgiveness, and Paul’s responsibility to preach the Gospel. There is no mention of love or a relationship with God.

1999 Gregory Koukl. Reproduction permitted for non-commercial use only.
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I don’t think the author is saying is that we cannot/should not speak of God’s love when we share the gospel, but it is intended to show the primary emphasis of the Apostles’ evangelism efforts. Of course God loves us, the greatest expression of that love is His death in our place on the cross of Calvary! When Paul deemed it necessary to clarify the gospel message to the church in Corinth, this is what he told them:

“Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.” (1 Cor 15: 1-6)

That God loves us in inherent in the death of His Son for our sins. When the realization of sin dawns upon the person whose heart has been awakened by the Holy Spirit, and that person is told that God sent His Son to die for his/her sin, the love of God FLOODS the heart without a single word spoken! To speak only of God’s love thinking that we do the drawing instead of God (John 6:44), and to omit the ‘sin’ issue is to leave out one of the two main points of the message (Christ death and resurrection) on our behalf.

I don’t know about you, but I get tired of always hearing about process where I work as a government contractor. “Process” seems to have taken over everything! It’s not like when I was running a communications shop in the Army, or even when I was the Operations Sergeant Major in the Battalion Headquarters. At least then ‘process’ was about more effectively getting the job done. Sometimes that meant figuring out to do more with the same or fewer people. Sometimes it was learning to accomplish the mission with the resources that were available. If the ‘process’ worked, it ended up as part of somebody’s SOP (Standard Operating Procedure). These days it seems the ‘process’ is the mission! I sit next to a ‘process engineer’ and sometimes, when I overhear his side of phone conversations, I feel his pain!

Well, guess what? God is into ‘process’! Check this out:

“For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How are they to call on one they have not believed in? And how are they to believe in one they have not heard of? And how are they to hear without someone preaching to them? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How timely is the arrival of those who proclaim the good news^.”[1]  But not all have obeyed the good news, for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”^[2] Consequently faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the preached word of Christ. Romans 10:14-17 (NET)

That looks like a ‘process’ to me! Just in case you missed it, let’s identify the process ‘steps’.

· Call on the name of the Lord and you will be saved. (The end state.)

· Before you can call on the name of the Lord you have to believe.

· Before you can believe you have to hear.

· Before you can hear there needs to be a ‘preacher’

· Before there’s a ‘preacher’, there is a ‘sending’

If it didn’t before, does it look like a process now?

Where I work, my Process Engineer (PE) buddy keeps track of all the written processes we use and helps develop new processes when they are needed. He also ensures people are actually following the established processes.

The Apostle Paul, who wrote the letter to the Romans, is reminding Christians in Rome of the process, like my buddy at work does. You might also see Paul as one of the ‘sent preachers’, since after his conversion he dedicated his life to preaching the gospel, at times while working a regular job (tent making). Now the process ‘developer’ – that’s another story. In fact, you’ve probably already figured out that God is the originator of the process – the grand architect.

The only part of the process not specifically mentioned in the above passage from Romans is the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the person who has NOT yet called on the name of the Lord for salvation. In order for any person to call on the Lord, that person needs to have come to the point of realizing his/her condition of being lost and helpless, without a hope in the world of being saved through human effort. Some would say that this is the ‘drawing’ by the Father to the Son that Jesus spoke of in John 6:44 and the ‘enabling’ spoken of in John 6:65.

When that ‘drawing’ happens in the heart of the one who is needy and the gospel is ‘preached’ there is a supernatural combining of the realization of one’s ‘lost’ condition and the hearing of the word that results in calling out to the Lord and the saving of a soul for eternity!

This amazing process that brings such sweet relief on the day of our salvation even “honors” the human will by turning the human heart, which is totally dead and unable to choose anything but sin (Romans 3: 10-18), toward God, so that our decision for Christ is out of our own ‘freed’ will. We choose Christ because we desire him. We desire him because God has given us mercy and placed the necessary desire within us.

You could say God ‘owns’ the process, using the terms of the workplace. All three persons of the Trinity act in unity to miraculously create the new birth in Christ! The Father is the master architect, the Son suffered, died and was resurrected to make it possible, and the Holy Spirit operates at both ends; preparing the heart of that one lost in sin and prompting someone to share the gospel (read ‘sends the preacher’).

So what does all this process ‘stuff’ have to do with the ‘The Great Privilege’? Let me answer that with a couple of other questions:

Did God have to develop a ‘process’ to save anyone? No! Isn’t He God? Yes! After all, didn’t he confront Paul on the road to Damascus without human intervention? Yes! God can save ANY ONE, ANY TIME, ANY WAY He wants! At stake are the eternal souls of men and women and God decides to use a method to save them that involves using regular, ordinary people as ‘process agents’.

Consider the original twelve disciples. Among those Jesus chose were some fisherman, an IRS agent and at least one political activist. None of them had any sort of higher education. There wasn’t a learned religious leader, popular speaker, or finely dressed rich guy among the lot. Peter denied him, they argued about who was the greatest, and when he went to the Cross, all but one (John) disappeared from the scene. Why these guys?

About all I can say to that is that He is GOD and it’s HIS choice. The Apostle Paul, speaking to Christians at Corinth provides a better answer:

“Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things–and the things that are not–to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.” ^[3]

There are probably other reasons why He chooses to use bumbling believers as ‘process agents’, but for the moment, it’s enough that He chose the method – ‘designed the process’.

That’s where ‘Privilege’ enters the picture. God doesn’t need people to save anyone – you, me or anyone else. It’s our Great Privilege to take the good news to the world around us. If He prompts me to share that news and I refuse, He’ll send another. If that one refuses, He’ll send another. The mission WILL be accomplished, with or without me. God WILL send a man or woman obedient to the call and souls WILL be saved according to HIS plan! As one pair of evangelical writers said so well:

“The Spirit of God uses the Word of God through men and women of God to make the message about the Son of God available to all who want to know the truth. There is no limit to the creative ways God can use to bring about this process.” – from “I’m Glad You Asked” – Ken Boa and Larry Moody

Reader, listen closely. Do you remember when you first embraced your Savior? Did not something happen inside you to cause you to desire God? Did you not somehow ‘hear’ the good news of salvation in Christ and then call out to Him for that precious gift? Are you saved, to your eternal benefit and His everlasting glory?

If so, the one who saved you now ‘sends’ you into the world to share the greatest news mankind can will ever know! That’s not my opinion. Hear some of the last words of Jesus as He prayed earnestly to the Father on behalf of his closest disciples, those 12 ordinary men, shortly before He went to the cross of Calvary.

“But now I am coming to you, and I am saying these things in the world, so they may experience my joy completed in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.  I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but that you keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to the world just as I do not belong to the world. Set them apart in the truth; your word is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world.” John 17:13-18 (NET)

Do you desire to be called? Are you prepared to go when called? Will you share the Great Privilege?

I leave you with the question and pray that the answer is a resounding YES – that like the prophet of old, you will hear the voice of the Lord saying , “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And you will say, “Here am I. Send me!”^[4]

^[1] Isaiah 52:7

^[2] Isaiah 53:1

^[3] 1 Corinthians 1:26-29

^[4] Isaiah 6:8

Posted 8 March 2008