STE:Evangelism:  Whose responsibility  by Randy Hillebrand

   In this article I will be presenting our responsibility and the 
Holy Spirit's responsibility in that process.

   As I view Scripture, we as believers have four areas of
responsibility to keep in mind as we are involved in the process of
reconciling the lost to God. Our first area of responsibility is that
of telling others. Matthew 28:18-20, better known as the Great
Commission, is the most commonly used text to make this point. Jesus
here told the eleven, "Go therefore and make disciples...." The
emphasis here is usually on the word "Go," (which could better be
translated "As you are going,") instead of on the words "make
disciples" as it should be. Jesus is not telling all of us that we are
to go, but that we are to make disciples. And making disciples is not a
process that starts after a person accepts Christ, but before he makes
the decision. Disciple making then, starts when we first share who
Jesus is and what He has done for us, up through the persons
conversion. This can be seen in Acts 14:21 when Paul and Barnabas went
to Derbe and preached, "And after they had preached the gospel to that
city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to
Iconium and to Antioch." As is indicated, the disciples were made at
conversion, not after conversion. And of course, after they had been
converted, then the process of seeing them baptized and teaching them
to observe all that Christ commanded starts. So as we are going through
our daily lives, we are to tell people about Jesus and what He has done
for them so that we can make disciples as we have been commanded.
Remember Romans 10:14, "How then shall they call upon Him in whom they
have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not
heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?"

   Our second area of responsibility that we need to remember in this
process is that of using the Word of God. One reason this is important
is because John 5:39 tells us that the Old Testament Scriptures bear
witness of Christ. This of course can be applied to the New Testament
Scriptures as well. Also, Hebrews 4:12 tells us, "For the Word of God
is living, and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and
piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and
marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart." It
does not tell us that our words are living and active, etc., but only
the Word of God. This is important to remember, because God's word is
truth and fault cannot be found with it, even though people may try.
Another point to be made is the importance of Scripture memory. Many
today will not give you the chance to open your Bible, but will listen
to a memorized passage.

   Our third area of responsibility we need to keep in mind and in
practice each and every day is that of living out our faith so that we
may be lights to the world. Philippians 2:14-15 tells us to "do all
things without grumbling or disputing; that you may prove yourselves to
be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst
of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights
in the world." The application I would like to draw from this passage
is this: We as believers need to live our lives above reproach in all
areas before all men so that we can be a light to them. We need to be
different than the world, especially if we are telling them about
Christ and how He changed our lives, as their expectations of us are
going to be higher. They will be watching to see if we are different
and some may even go so far as to put us to the test to verify our
faith. And if we are not living out our faith before them, we have
nothing to validate our message with. Or to put it another way, if our
life is no different than theirs, then what does Jesus have to offer
them?

   Lastly, our fourth area of responsibility and one of the most
important is that of prayer. We are told in Philippians 4:6 to "Be
anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." Of course
evangelism would be included in this, praying for the opportunity to
witness and for the salvation of the lost.

   For most, the above may be a tall order to fill because evangelism
can be an uncomfortable endeavor. But if we put it in perspective,
which I hope to start doing from this point on and in following
articles, it can become a part of everyday life. To see this, I feel
that we need to understand the Holy Spirit's role in evangelism.
Scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit is to bear witness of Christ
(John 15:26), and part of His bearing witness is accomplished through
His work in the process of evangelism. You see, evangelism is not just
our resonsibility, it is that of the Holy Spirit's also as will be
seen. The word for Holy Spirit in the Greek is Paracletos which means,
"one called alongside to help," and that is what He does. This in
itself should be a comforting fact knowing that the Holy Spirit is
right there alongside helping us every step of the way. So, as we are
fulfilling our four areas of responsibility; the Holy Spirit is
alongside of us fulfilling His three areas, which without no one could
ever be saved.

   His first area of responsibility is that of convicting the person we
are witnessing to of their sin. John 16:7-12 tells us that "...He will
convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness and judgment...."
This is important to remember because a person cannot come to Christ
without seeing that he is a sinner and in need of a Savior. So as we
bring the message, the Holy Spirit will convict the person of their
sins so that they will see their need for salvation.

   The second area of responsibility of the Holy Spirit is in that of
conversion. Before a person can be converted, they must be able to
understand the teachings of Scripture. This is seen in I Corinthians
2:14 when Paul said, "But a natural man (unsaved) does not accept the
things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he
cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised." What
Paul is saying here is that the natural man does not and cannot
understand the Word of God without the aid of the Holy Spirit. So as
the Holy Spirit performs this function of removing spiritual blindness
from the unsaved, they now are able understand the truth needed for
salvation and how to receive it. Once this occurs, the person has come
to the point where they can turn from their old ways (repentance) and
accept Christ.

   The third and last area of responsibility of the Holy Spirit in the
area of evangelism is that of regeneration. This occurs at the point
when a person accepts Christ as Savior. Titus 3:5 teels us, "He (Jesus)
saved us, not on the basis of deeds we have done in righteousness, but
according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of
the Holy Spirit." Regeneration is another way of saying that one has
received via the Holy Spirit a new birth. Regeneration as defined by
Unger's Bible Dictionary is, "The spiritual change wrought in man by
the Holy Spirit, by which He becomes the possessor of a new life."
Jesus put it a little differently when He said in John 3:3, "...Truly,
truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the
kingdom of God." Here Jesus is telling Nicodemus about the new birth
and goes on to say that "unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he
cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). Again we see that
regeneration comes by way of the Holy Spirit. It is not something we
can do on our own, but something that is done to us "according to His
mercy" (Titus 3:5). So without the work of the Holy Spirit, one cannot
become regenerated.

   As you can see, evangelism is not something that is totally our
responsibility. It is not something that depends totally on us in that
if we do not do or say the exact, precise thing a person will not come
to Christ. Yes, we do have the responsibility of telling others, using
God's Word in doing so, living out our faith, and praying about
evangelism; but on the other hand, the Holy Spirit does have the
greatest portion of the responsibility. And His areas of responsibility
are comforting facts that we can lean on when evangelizing because He
convicts of sin, He brings them to the point of conversion and He
regenerates them. That makes our job so much easier.

   Copyright 1989 by Randy Hillebrand You are allowed to reproduce this
article only in its entirety and without additions or deletions.
