WHAT IS TRUE
ABOUT OUR
COMING TO JESUS

What is true about our coming to Know Jesus? What is true is that without the revelation of God through His Word and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, none of us would ever come to the realization that Jesus is the answer to our need. Jeremiah wrote, "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?" (Jer 17:10). Paul tells us that man’s heart, his soul, is darkened and bound by strongholds of the mind (2 Cor 10:3-5). These strongholds of the mind are the presuppositions we hold concerning the world, the cosmos, God and man. These strongholds are also the lies concerning God that Satan plants into our hearts. These strongholds of the mind blind us and keep us from being able to see that Jesus and His work of the cross are the only means of our redemption and restoration of our relationship with God (2 Cor 4:3-4). It is these strongholds of the mind and subconscious which also prevent us from responding with our will to the message of the Gospel. This is why Paul tells us in our original passage in 1 Timothy 2:1-6 to pray for all men.

First, we need to plant the seed of the Word of God in men’s hearts. Why? Because Paul tells us that the Word is the Sword of the Holy Spirit (Eph 6:17) and the writer of Hebrews tells us that

"The word of God is spiritually-alive⁸⁸ and energetically-effective⁸⁹ and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing⁹³ as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the conscious-reasonings⁴¹ and intentions⁴² of the heart." (Heb 4:12).

God’s Word is powerful and able to cut through and expose our false assumptions and lies about God, man and the universe and make us see our need of Jesus as our Savior and Lord. Jesus also tells us that the truth, the Word of God, will free man’s will from bondage to sin to then be free to receive Jesus as Savior and Lord. Jesus said, "You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). This is where you and I come in. This is why you and I need to take the initiative to go out and share the Gospel, the Word of God, with men. We need to plant the seed of God’s Word into the hearts of men.

Second, As Paul admonishes us, we need to pray for the men and woman we share God’s Word with that he will quicken his Word to their hearts and minds to see that what we have shared with them is true and that they need to put their trust in what Jesus did on the cross for their sins and then surrender to Him as Savior and Lord. This all goes back to what we talked about in Section 1 Chapter 2 about the three necessary ingredients for Christian Conversion: First, the Word of God which involves our aggressively sharing the Gospel with men. Second, the work of the Holy Spirit to inspire, quicken and bring to the person’s memory that what we shared, the Word of God, is true. Finally, third, God’s grace to free the will of the individual through the knowledge of the truth to be able to make an intelligent decision to receive or reject Jesus as Savior and Lord.

1. The sharing of the Word.

2. The confirmation of the Holy Spirit.

3. The free will decision of the individual to accept or reject Christ with full acknowledgement and understanding of the truth and consequences of what he is receiving or rejecting.

OUR WEAPONS ARE
NOT OF THE FLESH

We also need to pray for ourselves before we go out and share the Gospel. This is because only Jesus knows what is binding men and keeping them from seeing He is the answer to their life and needs. Before I go out and share the Gospel with men, I pray and ask Jesus to quicken by His Holy Spirit to the heart and mind of the person what is truly in their heart and mind so far as it relates to what is blocking them from seeing that Jesus is the answer to their need and from releasing their faith in Jesus. I then pray that even if they are normally shy, to give them Holy Spirit boldness to share with me what is truly blocking their faith. I then pray that as they do share what is truly blocking their faith that Jesus would quicken to my heart and mind how to properly respond to these strongholds of their minds to tear them down in love so they can release their faith in Jesus and see that He is the answer to their needs. This is what Paul is talking about in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 when he states,

"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful in order to destroy strongholds. We are subverting computations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ."

Our warfare is not of the flesh. What does this mean? It means that Jesus has not called us to save anyone (Psalm 49:7-9). What has he called us to do? To witness and to share our faith with others. What does this mean? It means that we are not called to convince a person that the Gospel is true or do whatever is necessary to get the person to accept Jesus as their Savior and lord. It means that the only thing you and I are called to do is to plant the Word of God into the heart of the individual. This means explaining to the person what it means to be a Christian and how to become one, giving them an opportunity to accept Jesus, but then leaving between them and God how they respond to that information. If you accomplish this in your sharing the Gospel with others you have had a successful time of Evangelism.

Not of the flesh also means not responding to their arguments through our own reasoning minds. Why? Because you do not know if what they are saying is what is truly blocking their faith or just a smoke screen to divert you away from the issue which is their need to receive Jesus as Savior and Lord of their lives. Only Jesus knows what is truly in the heart and mind of a person and what it is that is truly blocking that person from releasing their faith in Him and coming to Him as Savior and Lord.

When we try to save someone by trying to wrestle and argue them into accepting Jesus, we actually only push them farther away. This is because we are not addressing what is truly blocking their faith, but only what we see and hear them say about what is blocking their faith. That is why it is important for you to understand that Evangelism is not Jesus calling us to save anyone, it is Jesus calling you and I to share His love through His death on the cross. Evangelism is explaining to a person what it means to be a Christian and how to become one and then leaving the results of how they respond to that message between them and God. This does not mean, though, that if you believe they are ready to make that decision to not encourage and help them to make that decision. This is very important to do if they are ready. Even if I do not think they are ready I will ask them if they would like to receive Jesus. If they say no I do not argue with them. I then have a conversation with them like the following: