Eph 1295-11298 10/3/90

DOCTRINE OF WITNESSING

A. Introduction.

1. Every believer in Jesus Christ is in full-time Christian service. It is not a matter of dedication to full-time service but simply a matter of believing in Christ.

2. There are five categories of full-time Christian service.

a. Christian service related to our spiritual gift. All the spiritual gifts can be involved in witnessing.

b. Christian service related to our royal priesthood. Every believer is a priest, representing himself before God. 1 Pet 2:5,9; Rev 1:6, 5:10. There are three areas of Christian service related to our priesthood: giving, intercessory prayer, and the execution of the protocol plan of God.

c. Christian service related to our royal ambassadorship. Every believer is an ambassador, representing God to a lost and dying world. 2 Cor 5:20; Eph 6:20; Phile 9. Christian service related to our royal ambassadorship includes: witnessing or personal evangelism, missionary function which includes evangelism, spiritual gift function, and administrative activity in many categories of Christian organizations and groups.

d. Christian service related to invisible impact for Christ. This is the ultimate in Christian service because we have a phenomenal testimony to billions of angels as well as those in our periphery.

e. Christian service related to our job. Your function in life is part of your full-time Christian service.

B. Definition and Description.

1. There are three categories of evangelism.

a. Witnessing includes the spiritual gift of evangelism.

b. Witnessing includes the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher.

c. Witnessing includes the function of every believer as a royal ambassador. As a royal ambassador, you have a sphere of Christian service related to witnessing. Your spiritual gift is not an issue in witnessing; for it is the responsibility of every believer.

(1) Acts 1:8, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, in all Judea, and in Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

(2) Eph 6:15, “After you have put the combat boots on your feet with readiness to communicate the Gospel, the peace.”

(3) 2 Cor 5:18, “Now all things are from God who has reconciled Himself to us through Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation.”

(4) 2 Cor 5:20, “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We invite, on behalf of Christ, to become reconciled to God.”

(5) 2 Tim 4:5, “Do the work of an evangelist. Fulfill your ministry.” This applies to every believer, not just the pastor-teacher.

2. The Church Age believer has two areas of responsibility in witnessing for Christ.

a. The witness of the life, 2 Cor 3:3, “Being manifested that you are a letter from Christ, having been served by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tables of stone, but on the tablets of the human heart.”

b. The witness of the lips. Witnessing is the royal family communicating the Gospel to an unbeliever on a personal basis. It is personal evangelism rather than mass evangelism. It is informal, conversational, whereby one individual communicates the Gospel to another individual.

3. The biblical pattern for witnessing is found in 1 Thes 2.

C. The Holy Spirit is the sovereign executive of witnessing.

1. The witness of God the Holy Spirit in evangelism is the doctrine of common grace. The power of God the Holy Spirit in evangelism is the doctrine of efficacious grace. Effectiveness of witnessing depends on the ministry of the Holy Spirit. This is the doctrine of common and efficacious grace, Acts 1:8; 2 Cor 3:3; Jn 16:8-11; 1 Cor 2:14.

a. We communicate the Gospel in our own way. We are totally dependent on the ministry of God the Holy Spirit in common grace. We do not have to beg people to believe in Christ.

b. The Holy Spirit acts as a human spirit so that the unbeliever can comprehend the Gospel issue, 1 Cor 2:14. The Bible information that is communicated is His weapon.

2. Common grace is the Holy Spirit’s ministry in making the Gospel real to the unbeliever.

a. Mankind is born spiritually dead, Rom 5:12ff.

b. The characteristics of spiritual death include:

(1) Total depravity—man’s proclivity toward moral or immoral degeneration.

(2) Total separation from God

. (3) Total helplessness to establish a relationship with God.

(4) We are born as a dichotomous being, having a body and soul but no human spirit.

c. Spiritual death occurs at the moment of physical birth, when Adam’s original sin is imputed to the genetically formed old sin nature. At the new birth, or regeneration, we become trichotomous, having a body, soul, and human spirit.

d. Because all mankind is in the status of spiritual death from birth, the work of salvation is strictly the work of God, Eph 2:8-9. Mankind is excluded by spiritual death from any work that would save.

e. All three members of the Trinity are involved in the provision of eternal salvation.

(1) God the Father is the author of the plan, Jn 3:16; Rom 5:8.

(2) God the Son became the Savior by becoming true humanity, bearing our sins in His body on the Cross, and being judged by God the Father.

(3) God the Holy Spirit makes the Gospel understandable through common grace and then makes our faith effective through efficacious grace. The unbeliever is spiritually brain dead, and God the Holy Spirit must make Gospel information understandable. The Holy Spirit only makes real that which is actually part of the Gospel, Jn 16:8-11.

3. Efficacious grace is the Spirit’s ministry of taking the spiritually dead unbeliever’s faith and making it effective for salvation.

4. The two ministries of the Holy Spirit in evangelism could be compared to breathing. The inhale is the clarification of the Gospel in common grace; the exhale is God the Holy Spirit making our faith effective for salvation.

5. There are many false issues related to the Gospel.

a. Sin is not an issue in salvation, Col 2:14; Christ is the issue. The Gospel is the only thing pertinent to the unbeliever. Don’t make an issue of anything else.

b. Do not argue; do not beg or persuade anyone to believe. Let the unbeliever make a decision. Avoid false issues such as salvation by works, observing taboos, or any other legalistic standard. Nothing is accomplished toward salvation by persuading the unbeliever he must give up sins, change his behavior pattern, join a church, or be baptized. You don’t try to force a decision for Christ. This is the job of the Holy Spirit. Avoid gimmicks, emotional begging, public invitations, and remember to respect the person’s free will.

c. Whether or not the Bible is actually the Word of God is not the issue. Be flexible when witnessing, don’t limit yourself to one method or system. You cannot superimpose your volition on others.

d. Anything added to faith is dead works, and dead works have no part in salvation. Rom 3:20-28; Gal 2:16

e. 1 Cor 15:3-4 is the Gospel issue. Compare with Eph 2:8-9.

f. Pitfalls in witnessing.

(1) Avoid argumentation. You are to give information, not argue over its validity.

(2) Don’t be sidetracked by false issues such as: is the Bible the Word of God, or what about the people who have never heard?

(3) Deal with the individual alone wherever possible. Witnessing in front of others creates false issues by producing embarrassment, loss of prestige, or heckling.

(4) Avoid getting in a rut by always using the same approach. Flexibility comes with maturity.

(5) Avoid the false concept of having to witness to a certain number of people each day, or that an evangelist must have a large audience. Witnessing is not spirituality. A high IQ is not necessary to witness to those with a high IQ.

(6) Motivation must come from Bible doctrine in the soul, not spiritual bullying, human pressure, or approbation lust.

(7) Avoid bragging about your experiences in witnessing.

(8) Don’t judge other believers for their apparent failure to witness. Apply the privacy of the priesthood.

6. In the function of evangelism, two categories of human non- meritorious volition from the spiritually dead person are involved: hearing the Gospel communicated, and believing in Jesus Christ. Eph 1:13, “In Whom also, when you heard the message of truth, the Gospel of your salvation, in Whom also, when you believed, you were sealed by the Holy Spirit with reference to the promise.”

7. Principles related to the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

a. Common and efficacious grace emphasize the total helplessness of the spiritually dead person to be saved by any system of human works.

b. The spiritually dead person can make a positive decision to hear the Gospel and another positive decision to believe in Christ, but both hearing and believing have no validity in themselves because they originate from a spiritually dead person.

c. Only God the Holy Spirit can make Gospel hearing perspicuous and faith in Christ effective for salvation. God the Holy Spirit is the sovereign executive of witnessing.

d. The functions of the spiritually dead person in hearing the Gospel and in believing in Christ are totally non-meritorious; therefore, these functions are dependent on the Holy Spirit for their validity, and thereby compatible with the grace policy of God.

e. The works of the spiritually dead person have no place in salvation, therefore, the importance of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in evangelism.

f. The ministry of the Holy Spirit in evangelism excludes human merit and works. Consequently, God the Holy Spirit is the sovereign executive of witnessing.

g. The function of the believer in witnessing or any form of evangelism must always be compatible with God’s grace policy. Therefore, the evangelistic message must emphasize faith in Christ for eternal life.

8. Related Scripture.

a. Rom 8:5-6 verifies the fact of spiritual brain death for the unbeliever, “For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh; for the mind set of the flesh is death.”

b. Gen 6:3, “My Spirit shall not convince man forever. In his [man’s] going astray, he is also flesh; nevertheless, his days shall be 120 years [before the flood].”

9. Only the ministry of God the Holy Spirit in common grace can overcome spiritual brain death. Only the ministry of God the Holy Spirit in efficacious grace can make the faith of a spiritually dead person effective for salvation.

a. This means that in all forms of evangelism the believer communicating the Gospel must be accurate.

b. The Holy Spirit cannot perform the ministry of common and efficacious grace where there is inaccuracy in the communication of the Gospel.

10. The ministry of God the Holy Spirit is described in Jn 16:8-9, “When He comes, He will convince the world concerning sin because they do not believe in Me...”

a. Not believing in Jesus Christ is the one sin for which Jesus Christ could not die spiritually on the Cross. The Holy Spirit is convincing of unbelief to those who are spiritually dead. Compare Jn 3:18.

b. Principles.

(1) Condemnation of the unbeliever at the Last Judgment is not based on personal sins but on human righteousness and works, which are not adequate for eternal life. Clarity of witnessing depends on the believer understanding the judgment of human good, Rev 20:12-15. Sins are judged on the cross; human good is judged at the Great White Throne after human history is finished.

(2) Anything the unbeliever adds to faith is dead works from a spiritually dead person.

(3) The works of the spiritually dead person cannot save, Tit 3:5; Eph 2:8-9.

(4) Metabolized doctrine of common and efficacious grace is necessary for effective witnessing.

(5) The believer must not get in the way of the Holy Spirit when witnessing for Christ by begging, arguing, etc. Make the issue clear and get out of the way. It is the ministry of God the Holy Spirit alone that can break through spiritual death.

(6) Ignorance or expression of false doctrine contradicts the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the function of evangelism.

D. Salvation by faith alone in Christ alone is always the major presentation in witnessing.

1. Salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone and has nothing to do with giving up something or trying to make others over into the kind of person you want them to be. In witnessing, people often want the unbeliever to change their habits, their personality, or something else as a part of the Gospel, but this has nothing to do with the Gospel.

2. When you try to work for salvation, you go deeper into debt as far as your relationship with God is concerned, Rom 4:4. It is your faith that receives credit for righteousness.

3. Salvation by keeping the Mosaic Law represents all the systems of salvation by works.

4. Anything the spiritually dead unbeliever can do is not the way of salvation. Unbelievers can give up all sorts of things and still are not saved.

5. When any system of works is added to faith in Christ for salvation, the Holy Spirit will not and does not make that faith effective for salvation.

6. False systems of salvation.

a. Commitment salvation says that you must believe in Christ and commit your life to Him. Faith is receiving a gift from God; it is not making a commitment.

b. Lordship salvation says that you must believe in Christ and make Him the lord of your life. At the moment we believe in Christ, God the Holy Spirit automatically enters us into union with Christ which makes Him our Lord. It is not something we do; God the Holy Spirit does it for us.

c. Morality salvation says that you must believe and be moral in order to be saved. This is legalism. Good deeds of the unbeliever do not provide salvation.

d. Ritual salvation says that you must believe and perform certain religious ritual works, e.g., baptism.

e. Emotional salvation says that you are not saved unless you feel saved; you must believe and have some kind of emotional experience.

(1) Emotion is not the criterion for any spiritual experience. Emotion sins are the basis for garbage in the subconscious of the soul.

(2) The Greek word METANOEO, which is mistranslated “repent” in the English, means to change your mind about something. You are not commanded to feel sorry for your past sins and failures. The Greek word METAMELOMAI, which mean to regret something, is used only of those who are believers.

(3) Acts 20:21, “solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.” Repentance toward God is a change of mind about God which does not save you; it is the faith in Christ which saves.

f. Psychological salvation says that you must believe and perform some sort of body demonstration, such as raising your hand, walking to the front of the congregation in church, weeping tears at the altar.

g. Salvation by works includes not even mentioning faith in Christ as necessary for salvation.

h. Salvation by inviting Christ into your life or heart is a distortion of Rev 3:20 which is an invitation for believers to rebound, not for unbelievers to believe in Christ. The spiritually dead do not invite Christ anywhere—into his heart or into his life. You are not saved by inviting Christ anywhere. Jer 17:9 says that the heart is more deceitful than anything else and desperately wicked. This invitation bypasses faith.

7. Scripture.

a. 1 Jn 5:11-13, “And this is the deposition that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; He who does not have the Son of God does not have life. But these are written to you who believe in the person of the Son of God in order that you may know that you have eternal life.”

b. Jn 6:40, “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

c. Jn 6:44, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.”

d. Jn 6:47, “Truly, truly, I say to you that he who believes has eternal life.”

e. Jn 3:18, 36, “He who believes on the Son has eternal life; he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

f. Phil 3:9, “That we may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of our own, but that which is through faith in Jesus Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.”

g. Rom 4:5, “But to him who does not work for salvation, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith receives credit for righteousness.”

D. The Challenge of Witnessing for Jesus Christ.

1. The believer’s ability to witness for Christ is based on his perception of Bible doctrine. In the communication of the Gospel, the believer must be filled with the Spirit and accurate in his presentation. In witnessing for Christ, the believer must make the issue clear, and the issue is always the person of Christ, not sin and not trying to add something to faith for salvation.

2. Pertinent Bible doctrine is the weapon in witnessing.

a. The pertinent content of the Bible for witnessing are the passages which declare the way of salvation, the passages which deal with the person of Christ.

b. No unbeliever accepts the Bible as the Word of God. No one believes the Bible is the Word of God until he is saved. Fire the weapon at that unbeliever and let the Holy Spirit make the issue real to them.

c. “The Gospel is the power of God with reference to salvation.”

1 Cor 1:18; Heb 4:12; Eph 6:17.

d. The Bible is the absolute norm for truth, 2 Pet 1:12-21.

e. The source of the Gospel is the Bible, Lk 16:28-31; 1 Cor 15:3-4.

f. The Bible is the mind of Christ, 1 Cor 2:16.

g. Therefore the Bible is divine power, Heb 4:12.

h. The Bible never returns void, Isa 55:11.

i. The Bible endures forever, Lk 21:33; 1 Pet 1:25. Therefore, the Bible is the proper weapon to use in witnessing.

3. The mental attitude of the believer in witnessing.

a. The mental attitude is one of being a debtor, as far as witnessing for Christ. We owe a debt to a lost and dying world, Rom 1:14, “I am a debtor both to the Gentiles and the barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.” Witnessing is what you do from your own motivation as a part of your own priesthood without being pushed by others. Witnessing is not an ego trip. Your intake of doctrine should cause you to realize that you owe a debt that you will be paying all of your life.

b. The believer must have the mental attitude of readiness to witness for Christ, Rom 1:15, “Thus, for my part, I am ready to proclaim the Gospel to you also who are in Rome.” You should be ready at any time in a conversation to present the Gospel to anyone.

c. The believer must not be ashamed to witness for Christ, Rom 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile.”

4. Witnessing is the responsibility of all believers, Acts 1:8; 2 Tim 4:5; Eph 6:15, 20.

a. The witness of the life is legitimate, 2 Cor 3:3, 6:3, as is the witness of the lips, 2 Cor 5:14-21, 6:2.

b. Knowledge of pertinent doctrine is absolutely essential for effective witnessing, because the believer must witness in the power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit. He must make the issue clear and exclude human salesmanship. He must understand redemption, reconciliation, propitiation, imputation, justification and positional sanctification, 2 Cor 5:17-21; Eph 2:14-17.

c. A believer’s ability to witness depends on:

(1) His ability to emphasize the Gospel, especially reconciliation, plus the judgment of all sins past, present, and future.

(2) Correct and accurate information with regard to the principles of Bible doctrine, e.g., grace, 1 Cor 1:18; Heb 4:12.

(3) Being stabilized, that is, sure of eternal security, Rom 8:38-39; 1 Pet 1:4-5.

d. The witnessing of the royal priest is the extension of his ambassadorship, 2 Cor 5:18-21, “Now all these things are from God who has reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God by means of Christ was reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their sins to them, and He deposited in us the doctrine of reconciliation. We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We invite you, on behalf of Christ, to become reconciled to God. He [God the Father] caused Him [God the Son] who knew no sin to be made sin as a substitute for us in order that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

5. Summery.

a. The prerequisite for witnessing is knowledge of doctrine pertinent to evangelism.

b. Effectiveness depends on the ministry of the Holy Spirit. A good public relations image is no substitute for the filling of the Holy Spirit. Human rapport doesn’t bring a person to Christ.

c. Responsibility for witnessing belongs to the all believers.

d. The dynamics of witnessing depend on the believers mental attitude related to his spiritual growth.

(1) Rom 1:14, “I am debtor.”

(2) Rom 1:15, “I am ready...”

(3) Rom 1:16, “I am not ashamed...”

e. Areas of witnessing include the believer’s life and lips; both are necessary.

(1) The testimony of the life, 2 Cor 3:3, “You are a letter from Christ, having been served by us; therefore, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tables of stone but on the tablets of the human heart.”

(2) The testimony of the lips, 2 Cor 5:14-21.

f. The challenge to witnessing comes from the doctrine of unlimited atonement.

g. The reward for witnessing is included in the believer’s eternal rewards. 1 Cor 3:11-16.

6. Witnessing is a part of Christian service. Out of the five categories of Christian service, several are pertinent to witnessing.

a. Witnessing is related to the function of your spiritual gift.

b. Witnessing is related to your royal priesthood—your intercessory prayer. You should pray for people to have the opportunity to hear the message and be able to respond without fear of reprisal, Rom 10:1, “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them [Jewish unbelievers] is for their salvation.”

c. Witnessing is related to your royal ambassadorship. As an ambassador, you are responsible and have the privilege to proclaim the Gospel.

d. Witnessing is related to the laws of divine establishment. Your job or profession is a part of your full-time Christian service.

e. Witnessing is related to your invisible impact for Christ as a part of your Christian service.

7. Principles

. a. Clarity of witnessing demands that the believer understand the judgment of Christ on the cross.

b. Clarity of witnessing demands that the believer understand the judgment of human good. We do not evangelize in the energy of the flesh just as we are not saved by human works. Witnessing is dependence on the Gospel—God’s Word—and the power of God—the filling of the Holy Spirit.

c. The unbeliever’s human good is the basis for indictment at the Last Judgment, Rev 20:12-15.

d. The only thing that had to be judged at the Cross were the sins of the world, so that anyone who believes in Christ should not perish but have eternal life.

e. Accuracy and clarity of witnessing depend on the believer’s metabolization of doctrine pertinent to the Gospel.

f. The dynamics of witnessing depend on accuracy of human communication and the dynamics come from the God the Holy Spirit.

E. Common Sense in Witnessing.

1. Most believers are lacking in common sense because of a lack of postsalvation epistemological rehabilitation. There is also a great lack of common sense in the field of witnessing.

2. Some of the common sense principles in witnessing are as follows.

a. You should always stay with the subject of the Gospel when witnessing. It is easy to get off the subject of the Gospel because of all the questions the unbeliever will ask that are not a part of the subject.

b. Do not try to get an unbeliever to live the Christian life or meet the standards of the protocol plan of God before he or she is born again. Do not try to superimpose Christian standards on unbelievers. Do not try to get unbelievers to give up something. Do not make an issue of the Christian way of life or commitment or lordship or baptism or joining a church or giving money. Never put the cart before the horse.

c. Provide doctrinal facts so that the unbeliever can make a decision. Provide information about the work of Christ; make it simple; make it in your own language in your own way.

d. Make the issue clear. Sin and changing your life is not the issue. The issue is believing in Jesus Christ.

e. Therefore, do not add to the Gospel. Nothing is accomplished toward salvation by persuading the believer to give up his sins, to improve his personality, to feel sorry for his sins, to join the church, to give money.

f. Do not try to force a decision for faith in Christ; this is the ministry of God the Holy Spirit.

g. Remember that divine institution number one is freedom of volition. This includes the right of privacy in making a decision for Christ. It is not necessary to make a public decision. Always make evangelism a private issue between God and the individual.

h. Provide Gospel information but leave the results in the hands of God the Holy Spirit. The Gospel must persuade the spiritually dead person to believe in Christ, nothing else. The persuasion must come from the content of the Gospel; it does not come from salesmanship, begging, or emotional coercion.

3. Other principles related to common sense in witnessing.

a. Avoid argumentation when witnessing. You are not trying to win a debate. You are to provide information, not argue over the validity of that information.

b. Do not be sidetracked by false issues, such as, “What about people who have never heard the Gospel?”

c. If possible, always deal with the person alone. Witnessing in front of other people creates a false issue—the unbeliever may think that he is losing prestige by hearing the Gospel in front of others.

d. Avoid getting into a rut and using the same approach in every witnessing circumstance. No two people are alike and often must be approached differently.

e. Avoid legalistic pressure that you must speak to a certain number of unbelievers each day about Christ or you are not spiritual.

f. Witnessing for Christ is not spirituality, it is the result of spirituality. Witnessing for Christ is a production skill which results from the three spiritual skills: the filling of the Spirit, cognition of the Gospel, and execution of the protocol plan of God.

g. Therefore, spiritual skills must precede production skills for the performance of divine good in witnessing. This means that motivation for witnessing must come from metabolized doctrine, circulating by means of the Spirit, in the seven compartments of the stream of consciousness of the right lobe of the soul. Motivation must not come from approbation or power lust.

(1) Avoid bragging about your witnessing experiences.

(2) Do not judge other believers for their apparent failure to witness.

(3) Prov 11:30, “The production of integrity is a tree of life, and he who is wise wins souls.”

h. Human I.Q. is not an issue in witnessing.

i. Cognizance of the unbeliever’s religion, philosophy, culture, hang-ups, or prejudice is not necessary for witnessing. You have to understand the Gospel.

j. Human popularity, attractiveness, or rapport will not bring the unbeliever to Christ.

F. The Analogy to Witnessing, Mt 4:19, “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.”

1. You must have a desire to fish. You must be motivated spiritually. Consistency in learning doctrine determines both your motivation and effectiveness.

2. You must be equipped to fish. You must know the Gospel.

3. You must go where the fish are located.

4. You must use the right bait (doctrines) and be flexible.

5. Fishermen stay out of sight. You never make an issue of yourself.

6. You must be patient. Present the Gospel and if you get negative signals, get out of there.

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