Romans

This week at the Institute Chad taught the book of Romans. I loved this week because we got to go through an entire book of the bible in class, which rarely happens. Romans is 16 chapters packed with insight and wisdom! Paul wrote this letter to the Romans in 57 AD on his way back from his 3^rd missionary journey. The central theme of the book can be summed up as the righteousness of God revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. Within it the book can be broken up into seven themes: 1. Not ashamed of the gospel,  2. Condemnation,  3. Justification,  4. Sanctification,  5. Restoration,  6. Application,  7. Conclusion

Not ashamed of the gospel-

Paul, in the first part of Romans, wrote about the power of the gospel and his enthusiasm to tell it to the Romans. In chapter 1 there are two verses that a lot of Christians hear often; Romans 1:16,17 “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. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘But the righteous man shall love by faith.’” These are great verses but too often the only part that stands out anymore is “I am not ashamed of the gospel” and the rest is skimmed over. It shouldn’t be! Why is it that Paul and other Christians are not ashamed of the gospel? Because the gospel is the power of God, it brings salvation to EVERYONE who believes, and it makes known God’s Holy perfection. The gospel is powerful, more than I can comprehend, and that is why we should not be ashamed of it.

Condemnation-

In the next couple of chapters Paul wrote to the Romans about the unrighteousness of both Gentiles and Jews and their need for God’s righteousness. So in contrast to what was just written in v. 17 about the righteousness of God being revealed, now in v. 18 Paul talks about the wrath of God being revealed against all unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth. Righteousness and wrath are both part of God’s character. His wrath against unrighteousness is required for His righteousness.

Paul wrote in Romans 1:19-32 that God has made Himself known to the Gentiles through the creation of the world. But because they didn’t glorify Him God and instead perverted His glory, God, in His wrath, “gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity” (v. 24) and He “gave them over to degrading passions” (v. 26) and He “gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness…” (v. 28) Then in Romans 2:1-3:8 Paul wrote that in the same way the Gentiles are unrighteous, so are the Jews. The Jews were obsessed with their works, thinking that living by the Law and being circumcised made them righteous before God, but Paul wrote in Romans 3:20 “by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight.”  To summarize this section, Paul said that the entire world, both Jews and Gentiles, are unrighteous and will be accountable to God. This would be a very depressing way to end the letter, but luckily Paul immediately goes into writing about justification.

Justification-

The Law is not the source of righteousness but God is. God has now given us a way to obtain righteousness through the faith that Christ came to die for all sins on the cross. There is no partiality between whom God allows to justify. Romans 3:23,24 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.” Anyone who has faith is justified. And having been justified by faith, the result of righteousness is that we have peace with God and we rejoice in hope. And to bring a little encouragement to everything Paul had just written about the unrighteousness of all people, he explains in Romans 5:9 “having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.”

Sanctification-

Paul then goes on to warn that just because we are justified by Christ’s blood we can not use that as an excuse to then go on and keep sinning. We’re now going through a process of sanctification, demonstrating God’s righteousness within us. In doing so we are indentifying with Christ- Romans 6:4 “Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” We are not mastered by sin because we are obedient from the heart to righteousness that is promised to result in sanctification with the outcome of eternal life. That is not to say that we are free from temptation and the ability to sin because we are still human, living in the flesh. But we have now been giving the Holy Spirit. So we either set our mind on the flesh that is death, or we set our mind on the Spirit that is life and peace (Romans 8:6).

Restoration-

In chapters 9-11 Paul wrote about Israel’s acceptance of God’s righteousness through faith. The message of salvation has been the same throughout all time. Paul used a lot of Old Testament scripture to prove to the Jews knew the O.T. well that the same message existed before Christ. Some Jews rejected the gospel but some hearing that God extends grace to Gentiles accepted the message out of jealousy. Paul uses the illustration of an olive tree to explain the body of believers. The root is holy and the branches are Israel, God’s chosen people. The Jews who reject the gospel are broken off and Gentiles who accept the gospel are able to be grafted in. Then Paul praises God for His wisdom and knowledge, His judgments and endless ways.

Application-

After describing the justification, sanctification and restoration of God’s righteousness Paul wrote to the Romans telling them how they should live and apply what they just heard. Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” The word “transformed” means to go through metamorphosis. We should not live the same as we used to. Our mindset should be completely changed because God’s righteousness has been made known to us. And it’s written that we should apply this through our bodies, gifts, life, submission, interaction, unity, personal sacrifice, and authentic worship.

Conclusion-

In conclusion Paul wrote to the Romans in Romans 15:5,6 “Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” And with one accord go where the gospel has not been preached. Then Paul tells of his plan to further take the gospel to the Gentiles and gives glory to God.

Holy Spirit

Of the three persons of the trinity the Holy Spirit seems to be the one that is most misunderstood, under-taught, and under-acknowledged in the church. But the bible tells us so much about the Spirit and seeing that the Holy Spirit is what lives inside of every believer, it’s interesting that we don’t discuss it more. Before this year at the Institute I really didn’t know much about the Holy Spirit at all, but as of now the Holy Spirit is the most intriguing person of the trinity and I’m overwhelmed by the work of the Spirit and of the power that each Christian has because we have God abiding in us!

This week the Holy Spirit was our topic, taught by Peter Deison, a pastor in Dallas, Texas. We were loaded with information about the deity and person of the Spirit, the work of the Spirit, the fruits of the Spirit, the filling of the Spirit, and our battle between our flesh and the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit acts in many ways but a couple points that really stood out to me were the ways in which the Spirit empowers believers in wisdom and understand of scripture and how He guides believers to do the will of God.

If a passage from the bible is read to a believer and an unbeliever, their takeaway will be very different. 1 Corinthians 2:12-16 says, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For who has know the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.”

When we have the Spirit He will lead us to do the will of God by inspiring us and overseeing our circumstances in life. Philippians 2:12,13 “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”  But we have to be obedient to God’s commands and we have to continually choose to “walk in the Spirit.”

It is so important for believers to understand that we have God abiding in us and working in our lives to guide us in the will of the Lord. The Spirit of God in us is able to do great things in our lives if we allow Him to. There is a battle now going on in all believers because we live in flesh but also in Spirit. It is possible to quench the Spirit and refuse to live the life He has for us, but we should choose every day to follow the Spirit of God who has a bigger and better plan for our lives. A great passage the speaks to this is Galatians 5:16-24 which says, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

The way of the Holy Spirit is the only way that we can fully experience God and be led to accomplish the will of God! The more I study the Holy Spirit the more I realize what an incredibly powerful gift we as believers have been given to the glory of God!

The Acts of the Apostles

This weeks subject was one that I had been looking forward to for awhile. The establishment of the church and missionary journeys of the early church is so important for believers to have knowledge of but isn’t something that I had ever studied or even heard much about before this year. Mitch Maher came and spoke to our class again this semester and for three days we went through the book of Acts.

In 28 chapters Luke outlined the establishment of the church and the spread of the gospel from Jerusalem to the whole world within about 65 years. Peter did a lot of the work establishing the church in Jerusalem and Paul was a major figure in taking the gospel to different parts of the world as far as Rome. The best way to study the book of Acts is to break it up according to the progress reports of the missions that Luke wrote of…

BIRTH OF THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM

Luke started off by recalling Jesus commanding his apostles not to leave Jerusalem until the power of the Holy Spirit came upon them. On the day of Pentecost when all the apostles were together “a noise like a violent rushing wind” came from heaven and the Holy Spirit filled them. They began baptizing in the name of Jesus Christ the people who received the word of God.

Progress report: “And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.” Acts 2:47

EXPANSION OF CHURCH IN JERUSALEM

As the church expanded a godly community was living and sharing all things together. Peter and the apostles continued to perform healings. The church started facing persecution, moral compromise, and distractions but more and more people were becoming believers.

Progress report: “The word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.”  Acts 6:7

Extension of the church to Judea & Samaria

Stephen preached to the Jews but was persecuted to arrest and later death. Persecution was so bad that Philip had to escape Jerusalem and began spreading the gospel outside of Jerusalem to half-breed Samaritans. Saul, a major player in the persecution of Christians, was miraculously converted on his way to Damascus and began preaching the gospel to Gentiles!

Progress report: “So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.”  Acts 9:31

Extension of the church to Antioch

The gospel is taken to Antioch to be preached to the Gentiles. It’s there that Peter emphasizes the message that the gift of the Holy Spirit was for all people. God does not show partiality toward Jews or Gentiles.

Progress report: “But the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.”  Acts 12:24

Extension of the church to Asia Minor

Paul took a missionary journey to Asia Minor where he preached the gospel and gave encouragement to the disciples to persevere through a lot of tribulations. At the end of his journey he returned to Antioch.

Progress report: “So the churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were increasing in number daily.”  Acts 16:5

Extension of the church to Aegean Area

Paul took another missionary journey and in the middle of it he got a vision to go even further west and spread the gospel to Macedonia. He then also went to Greece and Ephesus before returning again to Antioch.

Progress report: “So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing.”  Acts 19:20

Extension of the church to Rome

Paul felt like he was being called to spread the gospel all the way in Rome. He journeyed there and was hit with persecution harder than ever before. He was imprisoned twice in Rome and in 62 AD was beheaded in Rome. But with all the persecution he knew his mission and purpose and made an incredible impact for the kingdom of God!

As we studied Acts I kept being amazed at how quickly the gospel spread. Another thing that struck me was how effective the missionary journeys were. Even with imprisonment, martyrs, and harsh persecution the apostles never strayed from their mission. Peter gave a sermon in Jerusalem and 3,000 people became believers that day! Paul is one of my favorite people written about in the Bible. His story of conversion and powerful advance of the gospel in his lifetime is both inspiring and convicting. Jesus commanded His people to make disciples and that is still our command today.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19,20

The Return of the Prodigal Son

Return of the Prodigal Son, Guercino, 1619

The Prodigal Son is my favorite parable in the Bible. It's interesting to read it from the perspective of the father, son, brother, and servant. I love this story and it's picture of God's overwhelming forgiveness and love for the lost!

"And He said, 'A man had two sons. 

The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.' So he divided his wealth between them. 

And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living.

Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him.

But when he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men."'

So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, 'Father I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly bring out the best robe and put in on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.' And they began to celebrate.

And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.' But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. But he answered and said to his father, 'Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; but when this son of your came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.'

And he said to him, 'Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.'"

Trinity

After a great couple of weeks off for Christmas break we didn’t waste any time at the Institute getting back into class mode as we studied one of the greatest mysteries of Christianity: the Trinity! For three days Glenn Kreider discussed Trinitarianism and while I learned so much of what has been revealed about the Trinity I am now even more in awe of the mystery of the Trinity!

There are so many analogies that Christians use to try describing the Trinity but in reality there is nothing like the Trinity. There is one God. The Father is God. The Son is God. The Spirit is God. The three are united and equal but each has some functions or roles that are unique. God is eternally triune but is progressively revealing Himself to us throughout time. God has chosen to reveal himself to us in history through scripture, the world, and the incarnation of Christ.

In the Bible God makes Himself known through the Spirit, through actual texts of scripture, through prophets and the Son. Hebrews 1:1,2 says, “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in the Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.” Psalm 19:1 speaks of how God is revealing Himself through the world: “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.” And up until Christ came to earth the scriptures of the Old Testament hinted at the plurality of God but only became clear when Jesus became human and lived among humanity. Philippians 2:6-8 says, “although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be asserted, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

While on earth Jesus spent time performing miracles and proclaiming Himself to be Lord both fully human and divine. Christ reveals to man the truth of who God is in what was and still is often thought to be a contradiction because He taught both monotheism and plurality. Jesus taught that there is only one God. John 5:44 “’How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?’” But while still holding onto that truth He also distinguished Himself from the Father and Spirit. John 10:17,18 describes the Father and Son as different: “’For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.’” Jesus also speaks of the Spirit not being the Father or the Son when He says in John 15:26, “’When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me.’”

God is the triune Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We only know who God is as revealed to us up to this point in time. The trinity is hard to grasp but I’m ok with that. He’s all knowing and I am not. He has all understanding and I do not. That’s what makes me human and Him God. The Trinity is a mystery to me. By reason of evidence I accept what God has chosen to reveal to humanity about Himself, and I accept what God hasn’t chosen to reveal yet about Himself by faith.

ALL Scripture is inspired by God

 

“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” -2 Timothy 3:16,17

This past week at the Institute Debbie Jo White and Blake Holmes taught on Daniel and the Old Testament prophecies. As we walked through the prophetical books of the Old Testament, that most Christians pass over, it was good to remember that ALL scripture is inspired by God and good for equipping.

Of the 39 books of the Old Testament 17 of those are prophetical books;

Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.

12 were written pre-exile, 2 were written during exile, and 3 were written post-exile. Many were written to Judah but a few were written to Israel (Amos, Hosea), Assyria (Judah, Nahum) and Edom (Obediah) All the prophecies emphasis their own day, captivity and return, the first coming of Christ, and the millennial reign. And the theme of all the books are repentance and restoration through the future hope of the coming Messiah.

It was cool to read some of the prophecies that will come to fulfillment in the future and read some prophecies that have already been fulfilled and recorded in Scripture. Micah prophesied that Christ would come from Bethlehem about 700 years before Christ was born! Throughout our study two of my favorite books we looked at were Hosea and Micah.

Hosea wrote the book of Hosea to Israel before they were conquered by Assyria. He told the story of his faithfulness to an unfaithful wife and compared it to Israel’s unfaithfulness and God’s faithfulness. Hosea 3:1 “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go again, love a woman who is loved by her husband, yet an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods.” But God shows grace when to those who turn from their sin and return to Him. Hosea 6:1-3 “Come, let us return to the Lord. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, that we may live before Him. So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; and He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain watering the earth.”

So many times I am like Israel but God is faithful. This book is a great reminder to return to the faithful Lord!

Micah is another book that I really liked learning about. Micah wrote to Judah before they were taken captive by Babylon. The book tells of the Lord’s indictment of the nation of Israel and tells what the Lord requires from His people. This is a question that Christians today wonder about and we took some time going through different verses that say what the Lord desires from us:

Micah 6:6-8 “With what shall I come to the Lord and bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, with yearling calves? Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams, in ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

Matthew 9:13 “’But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.’”

Psalm 51:16,17 “For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”

God doesn’t care about burnt offerings or acts without the heart behind it and He wants His people to love like He does.

Through the Old Testament prophets I have understood more of God’s mighty power and wrath coinciding with His incredible love and mercy for mankind. This week really got me interested in reading the Old Testament prophets that I probably would have otherwise skipped over. There is knowledge to gain from all scripture, prophets included.

Evangelizing!

“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’”

Matthew 28:18-20

This past week at the Institute we studied the topic of Evangelism. It was an incredible week of learning and I was challenged a lot as we looked further into Scripture about God’s call for Christians to share the gospel and what that requires.

Afshin Ziafat, a predominate and sought out Muslim-converted Christian speaker, spoke on Wednesday about a side of Christianity that most churches in America don’t preach- suffering and persecution. Someone told the class a metaphor saying, “If you saw someone walking blindfolded toward the edge of a cliff wouldn’t we grab them and pull them far away? So why is it that we don’t say anything to the friend, co-worker, or stranger who hasn’t heard the gospel?”

We’re afraid of rejection, afraid of persecution, and afraid of suffering. We like the parts of the Bible that make us feel good, we obey the commands that come easy for us, and we live out our faith when it’s most convenient for us and fits our busy schedules. We are refusing to accept the entirety of being a follower of Christ. We pay no mind to Jesus’ words that persecution will come as a result of following Him (Matthew 5, 10, Luke 21). We somehow forget that Jesus’ radical teachings put him against the worst persecution and lead Him to death on a cross! Paul wrote in Romans 8:16-18 that as fellow heirs with Christ we suffer with Him. But “we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him” knowing that this time on earth can’t even be compared to the glory of heaven!

The gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes! (Romans 1:16) Jesus’ death and resurrection that allows me to now be reconciled with Him is what gives me hope and joy and purpose in life. So if I, a proclaiming follower of Christ, am not suffering for the sake of the gospel, then what is it that I’m doing? If the gospel is the greatest message I’ve ever heard why do I not share it more? Why do I not want more people to know it?

Afshin gave us a better picture of what Christians in other parts of the world face because of their faith. Over in Iran, where Christianity is illegal, friends of his this very day are being harshly imprisoned after being caught sharing the gospel! They are risking everything to spread the power of the gospel. They have grasped Matthew 16:24,25 that says, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”

Well the day after Afshin spoke, Thursday, we were asked to step out of our comfort zone (and for many of us it was definitely uncomfortable at times) and go into the Branson community with the intention of sharing the gospel. There are many different methods Christians have come up with to share the gospel: Door-to-Door and Street Evangelism, Tracts, Soularium Cards, Romans Road, Four Spiritual Laws, The Bridge Method, Relational Evangelism, and Media Evangelism to name a few.

I went to Walgreens and Books-A-Million to evangelize relationally. My whole perspective on the day changed. Everywhere I went I was much more aware of the people around me and more engaged in the conversations we had. I cared more about what people were saying and when I went into a conversation with the hopes of sharing the gospel my questions to them were different. I would try to ask questions that could transition easily into questions about faith. At Walgreens there were a few ladies getting Christmas cards made in the photo center and I was surprised by how excited they were to just talk to someone about their family and what Christmas means to them. The ladies I talked to at Walgreens were all Christians and it was encouraging to just have a conversation with other believers. At Books-A-Million I had a good conversation with a lady working there who helped me find the book “The Cost of Discipleship” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. She said she wasn’t a believer but had thought about it before. It’s interesting how willing unbelievers are to listen to your beliefs when you are genuinely interesting in listening to what they have to say. She’s still skeptical of Christianity but maybe she’s thinking more about it after our conversation.

I think evangelism has hurt the Church a lot because people go evangelize with the soul purpose of converting someone right then and there and it seems so forces and there’s a “holier than thou” attitude that’s obviously repulsive to unbelievers. There is not much willingness to listen, or care for the person- just get the message out there and go! But God is a relational God, He is patient, and deeply cares for the lost. Those are important for the church to remember when evangelizing. We’re supposed to spread the gospel and love and let God work.

Two verses that have been sticking out to me are-

2 Corinthians 5:20 “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

Matthew 16:24,25 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.’”

What I took away from this week on evangelism is that nothing I say or do will make an impact on the world without the Holy Spirit at work. But as a follower of Christ I have a responsibility to take part in the great commission and be willing to face whatever good or bad comes of it for Christ’s sake.