The word “evangelism” comes from the Greek word euangelion, which means “good news.” Evangelism has been defined as the conscious attempt, through word and deed, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with others, so that they can become disciples of Christ. It is the proclamation of the good news that Jesus, the Son of God, has come not only to save us by His sacrificial death on the cross, but also that we are raised with Him to newness of life, and that by the power of the Holy Spirit we are assured that we will be fully transformed into the image of Christ in the world and throughout eternity. Christ is ruling all things so that the curse of sin will be rolled back through the course of history, and that He will bring all things into submission to the Father.
Too often evangelism is reduced to formulas and techniques that will bring the unbeliever to faith. It is thought of as something that we do to bring sinner to repentance. The reality is that sinners are only brought to faith by the grace of God and His enablement to believe. We, in our work of evangelism, are only the instruments by which God does His work of saving people. Salvation, first to last, is a work of God.
Some people are especially gifted at evangelism – the rest of us stumble about trying to communicate the good news. But what a blessing it is for us to see that, even with our imperfect and awkward presentations of the gospel, God uses us in ways that we could never imagine. People come to faith by the work of the Spirit in their lives – even when we stutter and bumble our way through our presentations of the gospel.
All praise to God for His marvelous grace!
Faith is the evidence that someone has come to salvation. Not the “sinners prayer” (not that there is anything wrong with that). Not necessarily seeing a tearful repentance (although that will sometimes be the way of it). Not walking the aisle or raising your hand in an evangelist service. Not saying just the right words. It is by grace, through faith, that anyone is saved – Grace and faith given by God.
When a person believes the gospel and turns from their former life to live for Jesus – that person has been brought to saving faith. When they are baptized Christ marks them as His special, chosen, holy-one; a child of God.
May God increase our faith to pray for the lost, to proclaim the gospel and to trust Him to use us in the lives of those whom we come into contact with.
