What is Evangelism ?

[civic]

Definition of Evangelism in the Bible​

It should be clear that the above definitions fall short. So what is evangelism? It is connected in Greek to the word for Gospel. The word for Gospel is euangelion, and the word for evangelism is euangelizo. It simply means to tell someone the Gospel. What is the Gospel? The Gospel is the Good News that Jesus died and rose again for the forgiveness of our sins. That’s it!

Evangelism is using words to communicate the Gospel message to a non-Christian.​

This is a very broad definition of evangelism. This means that evangelism can be ten seconds long, or a five hour conversation; with a friend, or with a stranger; on a bus, in your house, or on a street corner. You can have them read Bible passages themselves, or you can quote or paraphrase them in a conversation. You can emphasize different aspects of how the Gospel saves: you might emphasize how He made us clean through His blood, or how He paid our legal debt, or how He defeated the power of death.

In short, sharing the Gospel does not require a certain method. It only requires that the message be conveyed.

Different Styles, One Gospel​

We see this in the book of Acts: the one Gospel is preached in many different ways. This reflects the definition of evangelism in the Bible: it’s simply communicating the Gospel. In Acts 2, Peter is preaching to Jews, and quotes from the Old Testament many different times. In Acts 17, Paul is preaching to philosophers, and he quotes multiple poets to communicate biblical ideas.

Yet here is the crucial thing:

Even though they preached the Gospel differently, they didn’t preach different Gospels. It was the one Gospel.​

Each has the message of Jesus’ death and resurrection for our salvation:

• Acts 2:23–24 “This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised Him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held by it.” In verse 38, Peter calls for repentance and baptism as a response to the message.
• Acts 17:30–31 “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent, because He has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by a man Whom He has appointed; and of this He has given assurance to all by raising Him from the dead.”

Why Are the Styles Different?​

Your Personality​

Paul and Peter preached different ways because they are different people! Don’t try to share the Gospel like me, your pastor, or anyone else. Learn how to talk about Jesus in a similar style that you talk about other important people in your life.

Your Friend’s Personality and Background​

Not only were Paul and Peter different people, but their audiences were very different. If you were talking to a lady who grew up Catholic in Idaho who is now vaguely spiritual, you would probably talk to her a bit differently than a man from Cuba who has been an ardent atheist his whole life. In the same way, Paul and Peter preached the Gospel differently because the Jews in Acts 2 had a different perspective on life and the world than the philosophers in Acts 17.

Remember that there are no magic words to sharing the Gospel that will make it click for the other person every time. The only “magic words” are the ones that help the other person actually make sense and understand the Gospel! If an analogy from Spider-Man will help your friend, then those are the right words for that person in that context.

Example: Setting the Stage for the Gospel​

Imagine being a Jew in the first century who had never heard about Jesus. One day, some energetic Christians tell you “Jesus died and rose from the dead so you can be forgiven of your sin!” — and then they walk away.

• Question: did they share the Gospel with you?
• Answer: yes.
• Question: did you understand the Gospel?
• Answer: no.

Why not? Because you have no clue who Jesus is, you have no idea why He died, and you have no idea how that impacts your life!

Sometimes we just try to get the one or two sentences about Jesus’ death and resurrection out of our mouths, perhaps so we can pat ourselves on our back and say “See? I shared the Gospel!” And who knows? Maybe that person will come to know who Jesus is through someone else, then the dots will begin to connect. But whenever we can, our goal should be to not only present the Gospel in our evangelism, but also to set the stage for the Gospel to make sense. This involves explaining not only the Gospel, but the context of the Gospel.

The Point: Start Where They Are, Move to the Gospel​

So when you share the Gospel, you want to be doing two things:

First, you want to be gauging where the other person is at. Do they understand who God is? Do they believe God even exists? If not, you should probably spend a good amount of time talking there. What do they think the meaning of life is? What do they know about Jesus? Do they think He was even a real person? Again, if they don’t believe Jesus was a real person, you should talk about it. What good is it if an imaginary person died and rose from the dead?

Second, you want to move to the simple message of the Gospel: that Jesus died and rose again so they can be saved from their sin. How quickly should you move? Are we talking about trying to come up with a clever segue? Absolutely not. You take as long as it takes. Again, the point is not to simply say the Gospel, but for the other person to understand the Gospel.

So go into the world and do the glorious task of evangelism! Tell people the wonderful news about Jesus, with whatever sentences and metaphors and examples best fit you, your friend, and the context of the conversation you get into. e360m.org

hope this helps !!!

 

[Complete]

' I charge thee therefore before God,
and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead
at His appearing and His kingdom;
Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season;
reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine;
but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions,
do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.'
(2Tim. 4:1-5)

Hello @civic,

Philip was an Evangelist (Act 21:8), and Timothy also. Paul, in writing to Timothy, tells him in the verses (above) to:-
- 'Preach the word,'
- 'Reprove, Rebuke and Exhort'
- 'With all longsuffering and doctrine.'
- 'Do the work of an evangelist,'
- 'Make full proof of thy ministry'

Timothy was going to have to stand and withstand, in an atmosphere of disputation, argument and rejection of the truth. Paul himself says that, 'all they which be in Asia have turned away from me' (2 Timothy 1:15). The good news of the gospel that he had preached faithfully throughout his ministry (Romans 1:1-5), had been accepted: but now a new revelation had been given him from His risen Lord, a revelation which had been kept secret since before the foundation of the world, and was not searchable (or confirmable), for it was not the subject of the Old Testament Prophets (see Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians, 2 Timothy & Titus). It was this knowledge, which Timothy had been entrusted with too, by Paul, and so he would suffer the same opposition from among the believing community. So He is warned to rise above the vain disputation of those around Him, and study to shew Himself approved unto God, as one who rightly divided the word of truth.

Thank you
In Christ Jesus
Chris

 

[Complete]

Hello there,

An evangelist preaches to the lost, and makes known the gospel of God concerning His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He points the way to Christ, as the only true and living way to the Father. Through Whom we are to come to seek forgiveness of sins, and peace with God: In the knowledge that Christ has taken upon Himself the penalty for our sins, and died in our place, that we may have our sins forgiven, receive the gift of the righteousness of God in Him , and the hope of eternal life, at the resurrection from the dead.

Thank you
In Christ Jesus
Chris

 

[civic]

Hello there,

An evangelist preaches to the lost, and makes known the gospel of God concerning His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He points the way to Christ, as the only true and living way to the Father. Through Whom we are to come to seek forgiveness of sins, and peace with God: In the knowledge that Christ has taken upon Himself the penalty for our sins, and died in our place, that we may have our sins forgiven, receive the gift of the righteousness of God in Him , and the hope of eternal life, at the resurrection from the dead.

Thank you
In Christ Jesus
Chris

Amen

 

[Diserner]

Two biggest mistake I've seen, are doing it out of guilt, and doing it without any love.

It is not just information we want to spam to people, but to really share the heart.

 

[civic]

Two biggest mistake I've seen, are doing it out of guilt, and doing it without any love.

It is not just information we want to spam to people, but to really share the heart.

ditto

 

[Complete]

Subject Heading:- 'What is Evangelism?'

'For God so loved the world,
that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish,
but have everlasting life.'
(John 3:16 )

Hello there,

I came to know the Lord Jesus Christ as my Saviour, through the ministry of an organisation called, 'Youth For Christ'. The American Evangelist who ministered the word, was himself a proficient artist, and used his art as a means of reaching out and delivering the message to the young people who came along. I was just twelve years of age at the time, and heard the word of God delivered in a manner that I could understand, I heard and believed that all had sinned and come short of the glory of God, and that the wages of sin is death: but that God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life: Through His name (John 20:31). I heard that the Lord Jesus Christ had paid the penalty for my sin, and had died in my place, that I may be declared 'Not Guilty', and be clothed in His righteousness,

The grace by faith salvation that I received (Ephesians 2:8) was in itself God's gift: which was by the faith of Christ, exercised by Him in the laying down of His life for me. It was all of Him, I am His workmanship, and the work that He began in me He will continue to do until the day of Christ.

The seed of faith was sown in my heart, to the glory of God.

Praise His Holy Name!



'This is evangelism'

 

[Complete]

An Evangelist is the sower of the seed through which faith comes.

 

[synergy]

Definition of Evangelism in the Bible​

It should be clear that the above definitions fall short. So what is evangelism? It is connected in Greek to the word for Gospel. The word for Gospel is euangelion, and the word for evangelism is euangelizo. It simply means to tell someone the Gospel. What is the Gospel? The Gospel is the Good News that Jesus died and rose again for the forgiveness of our sins. That’s it!

Evangelism is using words to communicate the Gospel message to a non-Christian.​

This is a very broad definition of evangelism. This means that evangelism can be ten seconds long, or a five hour conversation; with a friend, or with a stranger; on a bus, in your house, or on a street corner. You can have them read Bible passages themselves, or you can quote or paraphrase them in a conversation. You can emphasize different aspects of how the Gospel saves: you might emphasize how He made us clean through His blood, or how He paid our legal debt, or how He defeated the power of death.

In short, sharing the Gospel does not require a certain method. It only requires that the message be conveyed.

Different Styles, One Gospel​

We see this in the book of Acts: the one Gospel is preached in many different ways. This reflects the definition of evangelism in the Bible: it’s simply communicating the Gospel. In Acts 2, Peter is preaching to Jews, and quotes from the Old Testament many different times. In Acts 17, Paul is preaching to philosophers, and he quotes multiple poets to communicate biblical ideas.

Yet here is the crucial thing:

Even though they preached the Gospel differently, they didn’t preach different Gospels. It was the one Gospel.​

Each has the message of Jesus’ death and resurrection for our salvation:

• Acts 2:23–24 “This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised Him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held by it.” In verse 38, Peter calls for repentance and baptism as a response to the message.
• Acts 17:30–31 “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent, because He has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by a man Whom He has appointed; and of this He has given assurance to all by raising Him from the dead.”

Why Are the Styles Different?​

Your Personality​

Paul and Peter preached different ways because they are different people! Don’t try to share the Gospel like me, your pastor, or anyone else. Learn how to talk about Jesus in a similar style that you talk about other important people in your life.

Your Friend’s Personality and Background​

Not only were Paul and Peter different people, but their audiences were very different. If you were talking to a lady who grew up Catholic in Idaho who is now vaguely spiritual, you would probably talk to her a bit differently than a man from Cuba who has been an ardent atheist his whole life. In the same way, Paul and Peter preached the Gospel differently because the Jews in Acts 2 had a different perspective on life and the world than the philosophers in Acts 17.

Remember that there are no magic words to sharing the Gospel that will make it click for the other person every time. The only “magic words” are the ones that help the other person actually make sense and understand the Gospel! If an analogy from Spider-Man will help your friend, then those are the right words for that person in that context.

Example: Setting the Stage for the Gospel​

Imagine being a Jew in the first century who had never heard about Jesus. One day, some energetic Christians tell you “Jesus died and rose from the dead so you can be forgiven of your sin!” — and then they walk away.

• Question: did they share the Gospel with you?
• Answer: yes.
• Question: did you understand the Gospel?
• Answer: no.

Why not? Because you have no clue who Jesus is, you have no idea why He died, and you have no idea how that impacts your life!

Sometimes we just try to get the one or two sentences about Jesus’ death and resurrection out of our mouths, perhaps so we can pat ourselves on our back and say “See? I shared the Gospel!” And who knows? Maybe that person will come to know who Jesus is through someone else, then the dots will begin to connect. But whenever we can, our goal should be to not only present the Gospel in our evangelism, but also to set the stage for the Gospel to make sense. This involves explaining not only the Gospel, but the context of the Gospel.

The Point: Start Where They Are, Move to the Gospel​

So when you share the Gospel, you want to be doing two things:

First, you want to be gauging where the other person is at. Do they understand who God is? Do they believe God even exists? If not, you should probably spend a good amount of time talking there. What do they think the meaning of life is? What do they know about Jesus? Do they think He was even a real person? Again, if they don’t believe Jesus was a real person, you should talk about it. What good is it if an imaginary person died and rose from the dead?

Second, you want to move to the simple message of the Gospel: that Jesus died and rose again so they can be saved from their sin. How quickly should you move? Are we talking about trying to come up with a clever segue? Absolutely not. You take as long as it takes. Again, the point is not to simply say the Gospel, but for the other person to understand the Gospel.

So go into the world and do the glorious task of evangelism! Tell people the wonderful news about Jesus, with whatever sentences and metaphors and examples best fit you, your friend, and the context of the conversation you get into. e360m.org

hope this helps !!!

When you consider that's one's Justification, Election onto Salvation, Predestination, Sonship, Adoption, God's Knowledge of them, Conformity to the Image of Christ, etc... all start at one's belief in Christ then it becomes very much incumbent on us to spread the word, in a suitable and respectful manner of course.

 

[civic]

When you consider that's one's Justification, Salvation, Predestination, Sonship, Adoption, God's Knowledge of them, Conformity to the Image of Christ, etc... all start at one's belief in Christ then it becomes very much incumbent on us to spread the word, in a suitable and respectful manner of course.

Absolutely if God does it all beforehand by regeneration first He doesn’t need us to share the gospel with anyone. In the other system it’s the cart before the horse.

 

[Complete]

Hello there,

Someone closely related to me who has not yet acknowledged the Lord Jesus Christ as His Saviour, has for many years been aggravated by the constant attempts by one person particularly from within the Christian community to 'save' him. Insisting on each and every occasion of meeting bringing the conversation around to the need for salvation, or to sermonise in some way or another. It used to take the form of the question, 'are you there yet?' which only served to aggravate and create resistance, instead of the intended conviction. So, yes, care should be taken not to take it upon ourselves to do the work of the Holy Spirit. For only He knows the heart.

 

[civic]

Hello there,

Someone closely related to me who has not yet acknowledged the Lord Jesus Christ as His Saviour, has for many years been aggravated by the constant attempts by one person particularly from within the Christian community to 'save' him. Insisting on each and every occasion of meeting bringing the conversation around to the need for salvation, or to sermonise in some way or another. It used to take the form of the question, 'are you there yet?' which only served to aggravate and create resistance, instead of the intended conviction. So, yes, care should be taken not to take it upon ourselves to do the work of the Holy Spirit. For only He knows the heart.

I have found God brings people to you and they ask questions that open the door for the gospel and to share your own testimony with them how God changed your life and the difference He has made in your life. I’ve seen no less than a couple dozen people come to the Lord in my life this way. Pushing Jesus down people’s throats is not going to lead anyone to Him it’s a big turn off with them.