Basics Series. The Doctrine of Witnessing, part 5.

Evangelism, Part 8:
The Doctrine of Witnessing, Part 5.

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.

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.

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

The Doctrine of Witnessing (Evangelism)

TIT 2:11
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,  

The gospel is the Good News - the message we are here to announce to people, the prescription, the solution.

Evangelism or witnessing consists of the work of the ambassador leading up to the announcement, the announcement itself, and the work that follows once a person has believed.
 

The work of the evangelist has its own set of principles that come from the Bible.
 

Witnessing

Preparing for Good News

Presenting the Good News

Inviting to believe

Helping the new believer

Protocol for ambassadors

One good way to pick up the essentials of witnessing is to observe great evangelists at work.

evangelism = the preaching, proclaiming, or making known by an open declaration - the gospel.
 
 

Witnessing

Preparing for Good News

Presenting the Good News

Inviting to believe

Helping the new believer

Protocol for ambassadors

Witnessing is part of the believer’s ambassadorship.

An ambassador is a high-ranking minister of state, often a member of royalty or nobility, who is sent to a foreign country to represent his sovereign on official business.
 
 

We receive our instructions in written form - the Scriptures, particularly the New Testament epistles.

Our effectiveness depends on understanding our mission, and that requires proper motivation, preparation, and knowledge.

Principles of Witnessing

1. The responsibility of witnessing belongs to every believer.

2. The basic knowledge of witnessing involves the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ and His accomplishments on the Cross.
 

3. The challenge of witnessing comes from the doctrine of the unlimited atonement, 1JO 2:2 - Christ died for all mankind.

When God gave His Son Jesus Christ, He gave Him to the entire world- to every human being.

1TI 4:10
For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.

The blood of Christ, which refers to His substitutionary spiritual death on the cross, provided redemption, propitiation, and reconciliation for every fallen human being. 

The only question that remains is whether a man is satisfied with the sacrifice that completely satisfies God.

4. The method of witnessing is enhanced by your positive mental attitude related to your spiritual growth or maturity.
 

2PE 3:18
but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
 

5. Confidence in witnessing comes from your own assurance of eternal security, JOH 5:24; JOH 10:28.