responds for db1 250 words each

Stuart Harrier

Authenticity in Understanding the Gospel and Evangelism

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It is truly bizarre to me how the Christian religious world has managed to water down the gospel and allow so many misconceptions to creep in. Clearly that is a result of the enemy working against the advancement of the gospel and Christ’ church. Fortunately, scripture remains clear on what Christ message to the world is and is not; and that message remains just as relative to our culture today as it did in the early church of Acts. Having a clearly defined understanding of the gospel message directly impacts one’s ability to evangelize to the lost.

To be clear, repentance and surrender are absolutely essential to having a fully committed life for Christ. Understanding that I am a sinner is vital because I must fully repent of my sins, and not just one time I might add. I must be committed to living a life of repentance. Romans explains that all have sinned and are in need of God’s grace. By choosing to repent of our sins, we are actively turning away from the sin and turning to the Lord. This goes hand in hand with surrendering to His will. By turning away from our sin and turning to the Lord, we choose to follow His ways instead of our own ways.

The lifestyle of following Christ comes by being in a personal relationship with Him. Unfortunately, the American church has become confused and made the idea of being a Christian a thing of religious activity. One can gain a personal relationship with Christ when they initially open the door to him by confessing with their mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that God raised Him from the dead, after He died on the cross to pay the debt for our sins. The necessity of what Christ did is made clear in scripture, specifically in Romans 5 and Ephesians 2 where Paul talks about how Jesus paid the penalty for our sins, and that He was the only one who could do this. There is nothing we could ever do to earn our way into relationship with the Father because we are sinners. By raising Jesus from the grave, the Lord showed that He has victory and authority over all things. By admitting that we are broken sinners, in desperate need of Jesus our eternal savior; and believing in Him to be who He says He is, we are born again into the family of God!

Jesus gave us a clear commandment and that is to go and make disciples of all nations. This means sharing the greatest news, that is the news of His death and resurrection for all who believe to be granted eternal life with God the Father, with every living person on the earth. Personally, I was convicted at the realization of how often I have neglected to evangelize to so many non-believers that I meet every single day. I often give myself non-verbal excuses like, “I need to get to this place…” or “I will see them tomorrow..” and without realizing that I have just failed to follow Jesus final commandment, I have gone and committed the sin of omission. I do not want to be another believer that lives my life without sharing the gospel with every single person that I can. I can also surely say that I have, from time to time, fallen into the category of letting the evangelizing be taken care of by the preachers and the missionaries.

I realize that I need to take on a true sense of urgency in sharing the gospel with all non-believers. Evangelism is required by all who follow Christ. It is an essential commandment to keep and obey. If it is not obeyed, the church will continue to decline in America. Evangelism is not a suggestion or a calling on the lives of certain believers. It is a commission to every believer. God has given each of us the equipping we need to share the gospel of Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit.

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John Madison

DB Forum 1 - Essentials and Misconceptions of Evangelism

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                                                                            Essentials of the Gospel Message

The first essential of the Gospel message I believe is understanding sin. People do not know that there is a savior in Jesus, or that they are even in need of one unless they understand the morality given by God, and their sin against God. In the text reading McRae says, “People want to avoid the guilt they feel inside, even if they do not use the term sin.” [1] Letting people know that they have sinned according to God’s standard is essential, once cannot accept Jesus and repent if they do now know/believe they have done anything wrong.

The second essential is repentance. Repentance is essential in evangelism, and in salvation. It is not optional. Regarding repentance being essential, McRae says, “This involves a turning from our own desires to follow Christ's desires. It also involves agreeing with Christ about our sinful condition.” [2] Repentance is true remorse, sorrow, and acknowledgement of sin. Repentance involves admission to this sin and asking forgiveness from God of the sin(s), leading to the turning away from our sinful desires, actions, thoughts and lifestyles, and turning towards and following Jesus.

The last area that I would say is essential is surrender. The textbook reading spoke about the passage of Scripture of even the demons believing that Jesus is Lord, the difference is that followers of Christ must not only believe, but fully surrender. This doesn’t mean asking forgiveness, believing, and then continuing the live according to the desire of our own hearts, but living for God’s will in our lives, following Jesus. McRae says, “Receiving Christ involves surrendering and acknowledging that Jesus is Lord, boss, controller of all. [3]   Surrendering all areas of one’s life is certainly an essential part of the Gospel message we must present.

 

                                                              Impact/Misconceptions of Evangelism

            I would say that one of the first insights from the course material this week that evangelism is everyone’s job. The “Everyday Evangelism” textbook says, “Evangelism is why you are here. You will never be fulfilled until you live for the glory of God. You cannot glorify God unless you live a lifestyle of evangelism. [4] This gives great insight in not only knowing that evangelism is my job, but that I should seek to do it with great joy in my heart. Also understanding that I cannot God to do his part until I have done mine in trying to reach those who are lost that I want to be saved. Another area of reading that impacted my view on evangelism is from the “What Evangelism is NOT” article which says, “Evangelism is not Just Something You Do.” [5] It is not just an action, or box we check, as the article says, “like breathing it should be an involuntary response to naturally share Christ whenever possible. In short, evangelism is the essence of who you are as you walk through daily life.” [6] This insight has changed my view already on evangelism, what it is, and how we should approach it. My misconception of believing that is it a spiritual gift that only some specialize in, as opposed to something that all followers of Christ are commanded to do is very helpful on the misconceptions that I had going into this course.

[1]              McRaney, Will. The Art of Personal Evangelism: Sharing Jesus in a Changing Culture. Nashville, Tenn: Broadman & Holman, 2003. P. 81

[2]              Ibid., P. 92

[3]              Ibid., P. 92

[4]              Earley, Dave & Wheeler, David (2016). Everyday Evangelism (p. 14). B&H Publishing Group. Retrieved from https://app.wordsearchbible.com.

[5]              Earley, Dave, and David Wheeler. Evangelism Is. [Erscheinungsort nicht ermittelbar]: B & H Publishing Group, 2014. .

[6]              Ibid.

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