From the introduction: Always and everywhere the servants of Christ are under orders to evangelize, and I hope that what I shall say now will act as an incentive to this task.
From chapter one: I do not intend to spend any time at all proving to you the general truth that God is sovereign in His world. There is no need; for I know that, if you are a Christian, you believe this already. How do I know that? Because I know that, if you are a Christian, you pray; and the recognition of God's sovereignty is the basis of your prayers.
Sadly I don't think an author could get away with saying what Packer says in the opening of chapter one. It may have been safe to say this at one point--that all Christians, or should that be "Christians" believed in the sovereignty of God. But can it still be said? God's sovereignty--not just his sovereignty over election, mind you--is a doctrine that is being attacked more and more. Packer illustrates several "obvious" reasons why/how every Christian believes in God's sovereignty: a) they pray b) they are thankful and grateful to God for their own conversion c) they pray for the conversion of others.
"You do not attribute your repenting and believing to your own wisdom, or prudence, or sound judgment, or good sense...you do not pat yourself on the back for having been at length mastered by the insistent Christ. You would never dream of dividing the credit for your salvation between God and yourself. You have never for one moment supposed that the decisive contribution to your salvation was yours and not God's. You have never told God that, while you are grateful for the means and opportunities of grace that He gave you, you realize that you have to thank, not Him, but yourself for the fact that you responded to His call...and every other Christian in the world does the same." (12, 13)But I have heard people talk thus and probably so have you. Bad theology makes me sad and mad at the same time. "Free Will Song."
But I am getting distracted. Evangelism and The Sovereignty of God is divided into four chapters. The first chapter is "Divine Sovereignty." The second chapter is "Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility." The third chapter is "Evangelism." The fourth and final chapter is "Divine Sovereignty and Evangelism."
I've already mentioned what the first chapter about--every believer believes that God is sovereign.
The second chapter is important. In this chapter, he presents two views, both straight from Scripture. These beliefs are a) God is King and b) God is Judge.
"Scripture teaches that as King, He orders and controls all things, human actions among them, in accordance with His own eternal purpose." (22)
"Scripture also teaches that, as Judge, He holds every man responsible for the choices he makes and the courses of action he pursues." (22)After establishing that the Bible clearly says that God is Sovereign and that humans are responsible to God, he focuses on two extreme reactions. One extreme, he notes, is to focus so exclusively on human responsibility that you essentially forget that God is sovereign even in election. When this happens, it is oh-so-easy to focus on methods and techniques and to put all the pressure on the evangelist, or the preacher.
If we forget that only God can give faith, we shall start to think that the making of converts depends, in the last analysis, not on God, but on us, and that the decisive factor is the way in which we evangelize. And this line of thought, consistently followed through, will lead us far astray. (27)
It is not right when we regard ourselves as responsible for securing converts, and look to our own enterprise and techniques to accomplish what only God can accomplish. To do that is to intrude ourselves into the office of the Holy Ghost, and to exalt ourselves as the agents of the new birth. (29)The second extreme is to focus so exclusively on God's sovereignty that you forget that God calls men and women to evangelize, that we are in fact the instruments God uses. The gospel must be proclaimed and shared. God uses us as his messengers. We give voice to the good news. We're part of God's plan. We have the privilege to be a part of his plan.
The third chapter is perhaps the MOST important chapter of all. It is dedicated to evangelism. It seeks to answer four questions:
- What is evangelism?
How, then should evangelism be defined? The New Testament answer is very simple. According to the New Testament, evangelism is just preaching the gospel, the evangel. It is a work of communication in which Christians make themselves mouthpieces for God's message of mercy to sinners. Anyone who faithfully delivers that message, under whatever circumstances, in a large meeting, in a small meeting, from a pulpit, or in a private conversation, is evangelizing. (41)
Evangelizing, therefore, is not simply a matter of teaching, and instructing, and imparting information to the mind. There is more to it than that. Evangelizing includes the endeavor to elicit a response to the truth taught. It is communication with a view to conversion. (50)
As love to our neighbor suggests and demands that we evangelize, so the command to evangelize is a specific application of the command to love others for Christ's sake, and must be fulfilled as such. (52)
- What is the evangelistic message?
The four essential ingredients
1) The gospel is a message about God. (58)
2) The gospel is a message about sin. (59)
3) The gospel is a message about Christ (63)
4) The gospel is a summons to faith and repentance (70)
- What is the motive for evangelizing?
The two motives of evangelizing:
1) Love for God and desire to be obedient (73)
2) Love for others and desire to see them saved (75)
- By what means and methods should evangelism be practiced?
The fourth chapter focuses on God's sovereignty AND evangelism. How will a person's conviction that God is sovereign affect the way they evangelize?! Does it make a difference? Should it make a difference?
The belief that God is sovereign in grace does not affect
1) the necessity of evangelism (97)
2) the urgency of evangelism (98)
3) the genuineness of the gospel invitations (100)
4) the truth of the gospel promises (100)
5) the responsibility of the the sinner for his reaction to the gospel (105)
The belief that God is sovereign in grace DOES affect
1) our hope, "it gives us our only hope of success in evangelism" (106)
2) our boldness, "it should make us bold" (118)
3) our patience, "this confidence should make us patient" (119)
4) our prayerfulness, "this confidence should make us prayerful" (122)
The third and fourth chapters are the strongest and best, perhaps. But the whole book is well worth reading. One of the highlights, for me, was his making a distinction between personal evangelism and impersonal evangelism (81-82). He also writes of the three true signs of conviction (62-63).
The book is practical, relevant, and enthusiastic.
I think I've read this one three times now--once before I started blogging, once in 2014, and in January 2019.
© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible
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