Biblical Vocabulary for Evangelism

What is Evangelism?

Evangelism is the first step toward fulfilling the Great Commission.

1. Matthew 28:19-20 is the all-inclusive Great Commission – “make disciples” (Matthew 28:19).
2. The main verb is to “make disciples” supported by three participles (go, baptize, teach).
3. Mark, Luke, John, and Acts stress the evangelistic facet of the Great Commission.
4. Mark 16:15 tells us what to do when we go – go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
5. Every believer is to go but all are not sent into a cross-cultural situation. We may go across the ocean or across the back fence to share our faith (try the grocery store, gas station, gym, ball field).

Evangelism involves telling the gospel to lost people who haven’t transferred their trust in Christ alone as their Lord and Savior.

1. The word preaching (euangelizo) literally means “to bring or to announce good news, to gospelize.” (Acts 8:4, 12, 25, 35, 40, 10:36, 11:20, 13:32, 14:7, 15, 21, 15:35, 16:10, 17:18).
2. Evangelism involves information and an invitation. It more than sharing historical facts about the death and resurrection of Christ. It involves inviting them to repent of their sin and transfer their trust in Christ alone as their Lord and Savior.
3. J. I. Packer tells us that evangelism is not just preaching the gospel, it is not simply a matter of teaching, and instructing, and imparting information to the mind. Evangelism must include the endeavor to elicit a response to the truth taught. It is communication with a view to conversion. It is a matter, not merely of informing, but also of inviting.
4. We cannot evangelize without God’s Word (Romans 10:13-15, Ephesians 1:13-14, 6:19-20).
5. Saint Francis of Assisi said to “preach the gospel at all times and if necessary, use words.” While it may sound good, it may be similar to, “feed starving children, and if necessary, use food.”
6. We can model the Christian life, be filled with Joy, have a sincere faith, serve like nobody’s business, but until the gospel is shared, no one will get saved.
7. The verbs of evangelism require words to be spoken: preach, proclaim, herald (Matthew 24:14, Mark 13:10, 14:9, 16:15, Luke 8:1, 9:2, 24:27, Acts 8:5, 19:13, 28:31, Romans 10:14-15, 1 Corinthians 1:23, 15:11-12, 2 Corinthians 1:19, 4:5, 11:4, Galatians 2:2, Philippians 1:15, Colossians 1:23, 1 Thessalonians 2:9, 1 Timothy 3:16, 2 Timothy 4:2).

Evangelism is a process.

1. Salvation happens when a repentant sinner transfers trust on Christ alone as Lord and Savior, but evangelism is a process that starts with planting the seed, watering it, and patiently waiting for the harvest.
2. Faith comes by hearing God’s Word (Romans 10:17).
3. One plants, one waters, and God causes growth (1 Corinthians 3:5-8).
4. The fields are ripe for the harvest, some sow, others reap (John 4:35-38).
5. If we reap during an evangelistic encounter, we can be sure that someone else did the sowing before we showed up. We might plant many and someone else will reap the harvest down the road.

What’s the difference between evangelism and outreach?

1. Some people use the words anonymously, but most don’t. Some confuse gospelizing people with acts of compassion like food pantry, operation inasmuch, disaster relief, winter shelter, adopt-a-block, Thanksgiving baskets).
2. Jesus said his mission and purpose was to seek and save the lost (Matthew 20:28, Mark 1:38, 10:45, Luke 4:43, 9:55, 19:10). Meeting physical needs is fine but our mission is to address spiritual needs.
3. When we s to build common ground with lost friends, serving them in some practical way, we are doing pre-evangelism. They are evangelized until we share the gospel with them. Providing temporal relief is a good thing but our purpose is to provide eternal relief.
4. Don’t confuse doing good works with evangelism; good works point to Jesus (Matthew 5:13, Ephesians 2:10, 1 Peter 2:11-12, Titus 3:1).
5. Good works allow us to live out what we believe, to be a living gospel, but remember that the gospel has not been shared if we don’t speak it.
6. Don’t confuse the gospel with causes that we embrace (humans, right, world, hunger, pro-life, social justice). These are not the gospel. The evidence of the gospel lies in the vertical relationship more than the horizontal relationship. The gospel deal with how mankind can be made right with God.
7. The church must fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:15) in a Great Commandment way (Matthew 22:36-40, Mark 12:30-31). Don’t confuse the eternal mission with temporal relief. We desire for mankind to escape the coming wrath of God (Romans 5:9). People come to Christ on his terms, not our own terms. The church must address our neediness and our fallenness.
8. Building a house for the homeless or feeding at a soup kitchen is rewarding because it is concrete and tangible. You can measure the progress. Measuring progress in a spiritual realm is more difficult; it’s three steps forward and two steps back. The one who is saved will willingly go public, submit to believer’s baptism, repent of sin, desire to live differently — which is all easier to see in the physical realm.
9. Christians don’t settle for temporal relief when we can offer eternal relief (Luke 9:59-60). Jesus told this guy to let spiritually dead people bury physically dead people, and you go proclaim the gospel. Spiritually dead people make good morticians. They can make a dead person look alive, but only Christians can share the Words of Life and the transforming power of the gospel. Why settle for a make-up artist when you can do heart surgery?

What’s the difference between evangelism and witnessing?

1. The word witness is actually the same as martyr, one who bear witness, one who can testify what he has seen, heard, or know.
2. The apostles were commanded to be witnesses (Luke 24:48, John 15:27, Acts 1:8).
3. There were many eyewitnesses of the resurrection (these ten post-resurrection appearances).
   1. Mary Magdalen (Mark 16:9-11, John 20:11-18).
   2. The women (Matthew 28:9-10).
   3. The two on the Emmaus Road (Mark 16:12-13, Luke 24:13-32).
   4. Peter (Luke 24:33-35, 1 Corinthians 15:5a).
   5. The ten disciples (Mark 16:14, Luke 24, 36-43, John 20:19-25).
   6. The eleven disciples (John 20:26-31, 1 Corinthians 15:5).
   7. The seven disciples fishing (John 21:1-23).
   8. More than 500 gathered in Galilee (Matthew 28:16-20, Mark 16:15-18, 1 Corinthians 15:6).
   9. James, the brother of Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:7).
   10. The disciples in Jerusalem (Luke 24:44-49, Acts 1:6-8).
4. Luke records the historical importance of eyewitness testimony in apostolic preaching (Acts 1:3, 2:32, 3:15, 4:33, 5:30, 32, 10:38-42, 13:28-30, 1 Corinthians 15:6, 14-17).
5. Josh McDowell tells us that the followers of Jesus could not have faced torture and death unless they were convinced of the resurrection. The unity of their message and the course of the conduct was amazing. if they were deceivers, it’s hard to explain why one of them didn’t break under pressure.
6. We can witness to what has happened in our lives but we cannot be eye-witnesses like the apostles.
7. Here is the difference: when we witness, we share OUR story (our testimony). When we evangelize, we share HIS Story (the gospel).

Who did evangelism in the early church?

1. At the beginning, the apostles were in Jerusalem, but they were scattered under the persecution of the day. When the church scattered, as they went, they evangelized (Acts 8:1, 4).
2. We cannot keep the task of evangelism in the hands of trained professionals, it is the task for followers of Jesus. You cannot cop out just because you have never been to seminary. This attitude is the greatest tragedy of the church. The results are devastating to the mission of the church. Just reflect on the damage done by this shift in responsibility from believers to the elders/pastors.
3. No one has to be called or gifted to do evangelism since we are commanded to do it as followers of Jesus (Mark 16:15).

Isn’t evangelism the job of the evangelists?

1. We tend to stereotype evangelists (three-piece suit, sweating as he preaches about hell, fire, and brimstone during an evangelistic crusade. But the New Testament teaches that an evangelist equips church members to do evangelism (Ephesians 4:11-12). Shepherd don’t have sheep; sheep have sheep.
2. The word equip means to outfit or prepare God’s people for the work of service. We gather as the church to be equipped. We scatter to evangelize.
3. Paul tells us to do the work of an evangelist (2 Timothy 4:5).
4. The word preaching (euangelizo) literally means “to bring or to announce good news, to gospelize.” (Acts 8:4, 12, 25, 35, 40, 10:36, 11:20, 13:32, 14:7, 15, 21, 15:35, 16:10, 17:18).

What is the message of evangelism? – the Gospel

1. The gospel is NOT…
   1. A different or distorted gospel (Galatians 1:6-9, 2:16, 2 Corinthians 11:4)
   2. Vines says that Galatians 1:8-9 literally means, let him be accursed or condemned, like saying to hell with him. Paul uses the strongest language possible to denote the seriousness of distorting the gospel.
2. False gospels that are distorted:
   1. Baptismal regeneration: that water baptism bring salvation. Infant baptism saves the child and they are reborn. Paul tells us that Christ did not send him to baptize but to preach the gospel (1 Corinthians 1:17). If water baptism had redemptive significance, Paul would never be happy that he did not baptize more Corinthians (1 Corinthians 1:14-16).
   2. Prosperity gospel: the good news is that if you accept Jesus you will be healthy and wealthy.
   3. Sacramental gospel: the Lord affirms that baptism is necessary for salvation (Catholic Catechism, VI, the necessity of baptism, 1257).
   4. Works gospel: any gospel that says you can earn, deserve, or merit heaven through your own good deeds is a heresy (2 Peter 2:1, Ephesians 2:8-9, 2 Timothy 1:9, Titus 3:5).
3. The gospel IS…
   1. Biblical (1 Corinthians 15:1-8). Of first importance.
   2. Christological – about Christ and all the statements about HIM or HE.
   3. Scriptural – according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
      1. Died (Isaiah 53:5, Acts 8:30-35, Matthew 16:21, 17:22, 20:18-19, 26:2, 27:31, 35, Mark 15:20, 24-25, 16:6, Luke 9:22, 23:33, 24:46, John 19:16, 18, 20, 23, Acts 2:23,-24, 29, 3:15, 4:10, 5:30, 13:28-29, Romans 5:6, 8, 10, 6:6-7, 10, 1 Corinthians 2:2, 8, 15:3, Galatians 2:21, Philippians 2:8, 1 Thessalonians 4:14, 5:10, Hebrews 2:9-10, 12, 1 Peter 3:18, Revelation 5:9).
      2. Raised (Psalm 16:10, Acts 2:27, 13:35, Matthew 16:21, 17:23, 20:19, 26:32, Luke 9:22, 24:46, John 2:19-22, 21:14, Acts 2:24-28, 3:15, 4:10, 5:30, 10:40, 13:30, 33-37, 17:18, Romans 4:24-25, 8:11, 34, 10:9, 1 Corinthians 14:4, 12-17, 2 Corinthians 4:14, 5:15, Galatians 1:1, Ephesians 1:20, 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 4:14, 1 Peter 1:21).
   4. Theological – he died for our sins, which are an affront to God’s holiness and cuts us off from him.
   5. Historical – he appeared to many people after he rose from the dead.
   6. Personal – the gospel was preached to YOU, YOU received, YOU stand, YOU are saved, YOU believed, delivered to YOU, Christ died for OUR SINS (1 Corinthians 15:1-2, John 1:12, Romans 5:17).
      1. Preached = to tell the good news to you (euangelisanmen humin)
      2. Received = receive + believe = become a child of God (ho kai parelabon). Hand-me-down faith is no good until you make it your own (Matthew 3:7-10). Beware of universalism that teaches the well-being of all people, and the universality of the redemption of Christ. Jesus taught that those who reject him will die in their sin (John 8:21), be the object of God wrath (John 3:36, Romans 5:9), and will be cast into eternal punishment (Matthew 25:41, 46, Luke 12:4-5, 2 Thessalonians 1:7=8, Revelation 21:8). Paul taught that while sin and death is imputed to every person, the free gift of salvation must be personally received (Romans 5:15-17).
      3. Stand = means to be established and continuing firm in faith, like a tree well rooted (en ho kai estekate).
      4. Save = (sozo) from the consequences of sins (Matthew 1:21) and his wrath (Romans 5:9). See also Acts 2:21, 40, 47, 11:14, 15:1, 11, 16:30-31, Romans 1:16, 5:9-10, 10:9-10, 13, 1 Corinthians 1:18, 15:2, Ephesians 1:13, 2:5, 8, 1 Thessalonians 2:16, 2 Thessalonians 2:10, 1 Timothy 1:15, 2 Timothy 1:9, 2:10, Titus 3:5).
      5. Hold fast = examine yourself to see whether you are of the faith; a possessor and not merely a professor.
      6. Believed = we must have to acknowledge the balance between assurance and presumption. True believers give evidence they are saved by continuing in the faith (John 15:1-11). True faith produces fruit. Fake faith has not commitment (John 6:66). Some have shallow faith (Matthew 7:13-14). Some have faith similar to the demons (James 2:19).
      7. In vain = there is an assumption that true faith will elicit a faith response (Mark 1:15, 16:16, John 1:12, 3:15-16, 18, 36, 5:24, 6:29, 35, 40, 7:38, 11:25-26, 12:36, 46, 20:30-31, Acts 8:37, 10:43, 13:39, 15:7, 9, 11, 16:30-31, 20:21, Romans 1:16, 3:22, 28, 4:4-5, 5:1, 9:33, 10:9-11, 14, 1 Corinthians 1:21, 15:2, Galatians 2:16, 3:2, 6-13, 22, 24, 26, Ephesians 1:13, 2:8, Philippians 1:27, 3:9, 1 Timothy 1:16, Hebrews 6:1, 1 Peter 2:6-7, 1 John 5:1, 5, 10, 13).
      8. Repentance = the flip side of faith, they go together (Mark 1:15, Luke 15:7, 10, 24:47, Acts 2:38, 3:19, 5:31, 11:18, 17:30, 20:21, 26:20, 1 Thessalonians 1:9, 2 Timothy 2:25, 2 Peter 3:9).
4. On judgment day, everyone will be held accountable for what they did with the gospel. It will determine their eternal destiny. Romans 2:16 says, “on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.”