Lesson 2 - When you evangelize, share the whole gospel
(All page numbers reference J.I. Packer’s Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God).

Lesson 1 taught us that the Bible teaches that God is sovereign in salvation and man is responsible to share the gospel. However, when sharing the gospel it is easy to incidentally steer the conversation off-course. It is not difficult to confuse the listener by omitting biblical truth or including weighty theological jargon. Thankfully, Packer outlines four essential ingredients for evangelism that will help keep the evangelist on the right track while sharing the message of faith:

1. The gospel is a message about God. Evangelism becomes less daunting when the Christian realizes what he/she is setting out to do is simply have a conversation about God. If one truly loves God, they ought to have much to talk about. At a minimum, share God’s character, God’s standards, and what God requires of man. For verses that will help you share about God’s character, standards, and requirements see the footnote below.[1]

2. The gospel is a message about sin. Once you share that God’s standard is holiness, the next task is to help the person understand that they do not meet this standard. This is done with a basic question of, “Have you ever sinned before?” They will inevitably confess to some sort of sin, such as lying, stealing, or disobeying their parents. The reality of sin in a person’s life deeply impacts their relationship with God. The tendency for preachers and personal evangelists is to present sin as something that makes a person feel bad about themselves and present Jesus as the one who makes a person feel good about themselves. Packer emphatically warns against making the gospel about satisfying one’s felt needs. Instead, he wisely advises the evangelist to focus on sin as the cause of the disruption in the relationship between God and man; the non-believer’s problem is not his felt needs, but rather his unfavorable standing with God.

   When a person does not meet the standard of holiness and strains their relationship with the Lord, God is enraged. His wrath aims at the target of sin; a target whose bull’s-eye rests on the soul of an unrepentant sinner. With the precision of a skillful archer, God’s wrath will find its mark, unless the relationship is made right. The evangelist must share that on account of man’s sinful nature, he can do nothing to assuage the wrath of God. Instead of feeling gloomy in their conscience, the awareness of sin ought to make a person feel desperate, in need of help. Then, Jesus must be brought into view as the one who removes the target of God’s wrath and places it upon himself.

3. The gospel is a message about Christ. When presenting Jesus, Packer provides two pieces of advice: 1) do not separate the saving work of Jesus from his person, and 2) do not separate the person of Jesus from his saving work. On one hand, an evangelist may be light on doctrine and heavy on the person of Christ, assuming that facts about the life and character of Jesus will attract followers. On the other hand, an evangelist may proclaim great doctrines of atonement and the need for belief, with no discussion of the one who does the atoning and is the object of belief. Packer’s succinct solution: Do not separate the work from the Worker (page 67).

   The presentation of Jesus should include his deity, incarnation, sinless life, death, and resurrection. The discussion should include the concept and benefits of the atonement, including placing one in a right relationship with God. Thus, diverting God’s wrath away from them and onto Christ at the cross. However, the call to salvation is not merely a call to believe in what happened on the cross, but to believe in the One who died on the cross. As it is written, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).

4. The gospel is a summons to faith and repentance. Faith and repentance are the proper responses to the gospel message. Packer describes the essence of salvific faith and repentance for the evangelist:

“Faith and repentance are both acts, and acts of the whole man. Faith is more than just credence; faith is essentially the casting and resting of oneself and one’s confidence on the promises of mercy, which Christ has given to sinners, and on the Christ who gave those promises. Equally, repentance is more than just sorrow for the past; repentance is a change of mind and heart, a new life of denying self and serving the Savior as king in self’s place. Mere credence without trusting, and mere remorse without turning, do not save” (pages 71-72).

Packer believed that the biblical concepts of faith and repentance could be summarized as trusting and turning. He advised that the sharing of the whole gospel requires the evangelist to press upon the heart of the lost person that coming to the Lord in faith and repentance is not characterized by mere emotional response, but by an active, heart-deep response that works its way outward into one’s thoughts and actions. The whole gospel has not been shared until it summons the soul to faith and repentance.

The next time you share the gospel, keep four words in your mind, “God, Sin, Christ, Repent.” These four words should act as an outline that keeps you on the path of sharing the complete gospel message. Join us next time as we add the last piece to sharing the complete gospel through a lesson titled, “Help others count the cost of following Jesus.”

[1]  God’s charcter: Pslam 119:68 (goodness); John 3:16 (love); 2 Cor. 1:3-4 (mercy); 1 Pet. 5:10 (grace); Rom. 12:17-19 (wrath); Deut. 32:4 & 1 Cor. 1:9 (faithfulness).

God’s standards: Lev. 19:2; 1 Pet. 1:15.

God’s requirements of man: Ex. 20:1-21; Mark 12:30-31; Rom. 12:1-2.