EVANGELISM

Reaching others with the Gospel

by Merle E. Koepke

There are ways to reach those who need the Gospel. The Gospel is the Good News of what God did for us through Jesus Christ. The first good news that should be brought to others is what Jesus did for us on the Cross of Calvary.

On the Cross of Calvary Jesus paid the price for the sins of the world. In 2 Corinthians 5:21 it says, "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." It says "...that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." That indicates that we must do something also. What must we do? We must believe the gospel, which is the good news of all that Jesus did for us.

We have four books in the New Testament called The Gospels, telling us what Jesus did for us. Also, how that Jesus did what He did. When we understand that it was the love of God that brought Jesus into this world, that we can be saved, then we can understand how to present the gospel to those who need to be saved.

The Gospel is for both, those who are not born again and those who are born again. For those who are not born again, if they die in that state, they will end up in hell. Not because they sinned, but because they did not believe on the name of the only begotten Son of God and receive eternal life in Him (John 3:18-20).

For the Christians, even thought Jesus paid the price for their sins, those who continue to live in sin are in danger of losing their salvation. We cannot serve two masters! Romans 6:16 says, "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?"

Therefore, evangelism is more then reaching those who are not born again. It is for bringing back to God those who are going astray, following other gods, or the spirits of this world. Many Christians are following other spirits, especially religious spirits that control their lives in one way or another.

It is the will of God that all people receive God "as their God and their Father" in every area of their lives. Many Christians are still living like the world lives. They try to be good according to their standards, thinking that by doing so they can please God.

God is not pleased by any works of the flesh, anything we do of our own ability. Hebrews 10:38 says, "Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him." If Christians are not living by faith, they are not pleasing God, not matter how many good works they do.

We cannot please God by our good works. Hebrews 11:6 says, "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." The faith that is spoken of in the Bible is "faith in God," not faith in what we can do or accomplish by our own good works.

Evangelism among Christians should be for the purpose of bringing them to a place of "faith in God," not faith in their good works. Also, not how perfect they can make themselves by obeying all the rules and regulations set by some who live by rules and regulations.

True faith always has God at it's center of attention. True faith is always "faith in God," not faith in what people can do. Too many Christians do everything they can think of to get other Christians to support their ministry, and join them in their operations, saying it is God's will.

The Bible does not teach that. God must be the center of our attention, not someone who is trying to build his or her ministry by getting others to do as they say.

True evangelism is bringing people to God, and to Jesus Christ as their LORD and Savior. The word "LORD" means, "highest authority." Savior means "deliverer and protector/deliverance and protection." Only the LORD can be our LORD and Savior, not some religious person who claims to be whatever they claim to be.

How do we reach those who are under the control of other spirits? There are ways available to us today, which are even greater than those of the time of Jesus. Yet, we should not go beyond that which Jesus set for us as an example.

We should not be an offence to anyone, Jew, Christian, or those who are not born again. Therefore, if we are to speak to someone in doing evangelism we must make sure the Holy Spirit is working in that individual. The way to do this is like Jesus did. He first started a conversation with them. Then, after knowing they are receptive to a conversation, Jesus went the next step by addressing them in some form or other.

To the woman at the well, Jesus first asked her, "Give me to drink" (John 4:7) The woman responded to Jesus' request by saying, "How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria?" for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans." (John 4:9).

After Jesus had a conversation going with the woman, He then said to her, "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water" (John 4:10).

Jesus did not offend the woman. Jesus did not condemn the woman. Jesus offered to her the Word of God that could save her and give her eternal life. This is true evangelism, being done by the leading of the Holy Spirit, not by the flesh.

There is another way to do evangelism work today. That is by using the mail systems. In the United States, and many other countries, you can mail information to other individuals of whom you want to reach with the Gospel. By this, they have the choice to either receive it or not. The choice is theirs and usually if it is presented in love, they will receive it. Otherwise, they will simply discard it and will not be offended by what you did, unless you continuously repeat what you are doing over and over and over again.

This can be done by both, Postal Mail services, or by Internet E-mail systems. Either one works, and usually is not offensive to others. Any type of continuously sending the same material to the same individual over and over can become offensive to them.

Those who do evangelism work through the Postal Mail system or the E-mail system will find it very rewarding in their spirit. They will have a peace and joy in their spirit, which can come only by the Holy Spirit working in them and with them. The Postal system is somewhat costly, with the mailing, postage, and etc.

At Hands For Jesus, Inc. we can help a lot of Christians to reach others for Christ by E-mail. On our Web sites, there are a number of books and booklets that can be downloaded and then E-mailed to your friends and whosoever you desire. The best way in E-mailing is to use the PDF files, these they can print or open up in their computer and read them at any time.

There is no cost to you. All the material is free. All a person needs to do is download the materials into their computer then send them to whosoever they desire.

Therefore, it is better to attach them to your E-mail message. By this, they are not easily offended, not knowing what is in the attachment until they open it. Many times, you can forward the material to others by simply clicking on the "forward" icon in your E-mail system, insert the persons E-mail address you wish to forward to and send it. In most cases, this operation is at no cost to you, if you already have Internet access, and an E-mail system set up in your computer.

In today's economy, this is very easily to do, and hundreds of people can receive the Gospel without any cost to you. Besides that, the person receiving your E-mail with the attachment can also forward it to someone they know. This can go from person to person all over the world.

Every person you reach with the Gospel could end up spending eternity with you in heaven. What a joy it will be to meet all those who came to the LORD because you took a little time to E-mail them the good news! Evangelism does not need to be hard, it can, and should be a joy!