Basics Series. Evangelism, part 6: The Doctrine of Witnessing

Pastor-Teacher
John Farley

Basics

Tuesday,
October 25, 2011

Evangelism, Part 6:
The Doctrine of Witnessing, Part 1.

The Doctrine of the Gospel

Point 1: What is “the Gospel”?

The Gospel is the “good news” of salvation through Christ, to be received by faith alone, on the basis of His substitutionary death bearing our sins, followed by His burial and resurrection.

The Gospel is the GOOD NEWS concerning the person, death, burial, and resurrection of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
 

 By simply believing this good news, we have eternal life and are declared perfectly righteous forever by God.

pisteuo =
“to believe in to the extent of complete trust and reliance” 

ROM 4:5
But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.
 

Pisteuo is not a special kind of faith, or renouncing your sins, or committing your life to Christ.

At salvation, the issue for our volition is NOT commitment or obedience, but simply TRUST.

Believing in Jesus therefore is the issue of placing your complete trust in, and reliance on, Him and what He did for you on the cross for your salvation.

The simple message of the Gospel of Christ is that the Lord Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and arose from the dead.
 

And if you will only trust in Him by faith, you will be declared perfectly righteous and have eternal life in God’s heaven.
 

The central truth of the Gospel is that God has provided a way of salvation for all mankind (from sin, condemnation, and the death of eternal separation from God in the Lake of Fire) through the free gift of His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.
 

The Gospel is the good news that the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ, died on the cross for the sins of the world as our Substitute.

He died spiritually, meaning He was separated from His Father under judgment as He was bearing our sins on the cross, and then He died physically.

He was buried, and after three days He was raised bodily from the dead, after which He appeared to many witnesses.

The Gospel is also good news because salvation is a gift of God, not something that must be earned.
 

Anyone who simply believes in Christ [trusts in Him completely and exclusively for salvation] has eternal life and is justified [declared perfectly righteous forever] by God the Father.

Point 2: What the Gospel is not.

If satan is to blind the minds of the unbelieving he must do so by addition, not subtraction.

There are savage wolves that put stumbling blocks in the way of the unbeliever trusting in the good news of the Gospel and believing in Christ for salvation.

MAT 23:4
“They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger.”

Stumbling blocks like:

Feeling sorry for your sins

Repenting of all your sins

Making a commitment

Giving your life to Christ

 

Stumbling blocks like:

Changing your life

Making Jesus Lord of your life

Inviting Jesus into your heart

Stumbling blocks like:

Making a public confession

Keeping the Mosaic law

Doing penance

Water baptism

 

Stumbling blocks like:

Giving money

Joining a church

Having an emotional experience

 

These are adding to faith alone in Christ alone.

If it is about something the unbeliever has to DO, it is NOT the Gospel.

The Gospel is the Good News about what the Lord Jesus Christ has ALREADY DONE. 

Grace is free, limitless, unmerited blessing to helpless, undeserving sinners from the loving God …

…the loving God whose righteousness and justice are completely satisfied by the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Salvation by works is rejected by the Word of God.

1. Salvation by verbal or emotional works 

a. Repent and believe.

No one is saved by feeling sorry for his sins. 

Nothing can be added to faith or believing as a condition of salvation.  

The word “repentance” is the Greek noun
metanoia which means a change of mind for the better.
 

It means literally “a turning about”, a mental turning around, a change of attitude, a change of purpose, a change of decision.
 
 

Repenting is used as a synonym for believing when dealing with the mechanics of salvation, as in ACT 17:30, ACT 20:21, ACT 26:20.
 

Salvation repentance is that change of mind that follows perception of the truth of the Gospel.
 

A change in mental attitude about the person and work of Christ equals repentance in connection with salvation.

About 150 passages of Scripture condition salvation upon believing only, such as JOH 3:16, ACT 16:31.

b. Confession of sins.

c. Begging God to save you.

d. Inviting or asking Jesus into your heart. 

In salvation, you don’t give an invitation. You accept an invitation!

e. Acknowledging Christ publicly.

The Gospel is all about Christ:
His person and
His work.
 

The Gospel is NOT:

Probation

An exclusive club

A ritual

Coming clean

The Gospel is NOT:

Cleaning up your act first

A lifetime commitment

An invitation you make

Putting on a show

ROM 1:16
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.

GAL 3:26
For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

PHI 3:9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,