7.12.08

God's Sovereignty in Evangelism

Head on over to the Truth Matters blog to read some excellent excerpts from When Grace Comes Home. (Parts 1, 2, and 3)

Here's a portion on how the sovereignty of God relates to sharing the gospel:

"One looks to God and not human ingenuity. One is not tempted to make the gospel more palatable to worldlings...One knows that the unregenerate heart is hard. One knows that it cannot understand what we’re saying (1 Cor. 2:14). What are we to do then? Proclaim the gospel. It is the power of God. It is ‘living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword.’ (Heb. 4:12) One can trust God to work through His appointed means without manipulating the audience or the message. God encourages the Apostle Paul to continue in Corinth saying, ‘I have many people in this city’ (Acts 18:10). They were not yet converted, but they would be. The gospel itself would be the means of digging them out. I believe the same is true for us today. We don’t need to use psychological pressure. It doesn’t work anyway. We don’t need to tone down the message. We would weaken its effectiveness by doing so. What we need to do is depend upon the God-appointed means and get out of the way."

(Original photo - the fields are ripe!)

3 comments:

Edie said...

"What we need to do is depend upon the God-appointed means and get out of the way."

This is SO true and SO hard sometimes. I needed this reminder today. Thanks Stephanie!

Anonymous said...

After our conversation yesterday, this is a very good topic choice for your post. Thanks again for the challenge.

It reminded me of a verse.
"How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?" Romans 10:14

Stephanie said...

You're welcome Edie!

Kendra, thanks for your comment and for that verse. I just found those excerpts last night and I don't think it was an accident! I'll continue to pray and look forward to our possible plans for evangelism in the new year! :)