By Evangelism we mean three things: 1) The Nature of Jesus Christ, 2) The Salvation Work of Jesus Christ, and 3) Jesus’ commission to the Church to seek and to save the lost by drawing men to Himself and make men His disciples (Matt 28:19-20).

The Apostle John wrote in 1 John 4:1-3

"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; and this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world."

Jesus said in Matthew 24:35, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall not pass away." The Bible given to us is eternal truth. Because it is the above stated position concerning Jesus’ person and nature given to us from the Bible will never become old fashion or change.

The Bible does not stop here though. The Bible tells us that God did not create us to spend our lives just trying to be good enough or do enough good works to be accepted by Him. This is because He has a purpose and plan for each of our lives individually. Because He does, He sent His only Son Jesus Christ to pay sin’s penalty for us on the cross. Romans 5:8-9 states,

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him."

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:21 "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him;" and Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2:24 "And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed." Jesus did this so we would not spend our lives on earth seeking ways to be saved, but instead focus on His Lordship: the purpose and plan that He has for our lives.

The Bible teaches us that Jesus’ death and shed blood on the cross paid the total debt of our sins past, present and future, so that there is nothing that we can add to His perfect work of redemption (Heb 10:10, 12, 14). Jesus’ substitutionary death on the cross in our place is a completed work. All we can do is come naked before the cross and receive this free gift of God’s redemption for us by faith, Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast." There is no other way you can receive this free gift of salvation from God (1 John 5:11-12) except by faith. Everything in the Christian walk in His relationship with God is received by faith and through faith alone. The Apostle Peter and Paul testify:

"‘Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.’ While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listen-ing to the message." (Acts 10:43-44)

"And God, who knows-the-heart, bore witness to them, giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. . . . But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are." (Acts 15:8-11)

Romans 10:9-10 "That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." (Romans 10:9-10)

Jesus died on the cross for our sins so that we would return to Him and receive the purpose and plan that He has for us. Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:10 "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." The writer of Hebrews testifies in Hebrews 9:14 "How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" This is part of what it means to confess Jesus as Lord. it does not mean doing anything. It means, first, after confessing and repent-ing of ones sins, to accept by faith Jesus work of salvation for us through His death and shed blood on the cross and then waiting before Him to show us by His Holy Spirit the will and plan that He has for us and then choosing with our will to walk in it. Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My load is light."

Jesus said in Matthew 24:35 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall not pass away." The Bible given to us is eternal truth. Because it is the above stated position concerning the redemptive work of Jesus Christ as described in the Bible will never become old fashion or change.

"All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. GO THEREFORE and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to ob-serve all that I commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Paul writes in Ephesians 4:11-12,

"And He [Jesus] gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ."

Jesus did not call ministers to primarily minister. He called them to train and equip Laymen to do evangelistic work and minister. I believe my first and primary calling as a Pastor is to train and equip the congregation to do evangelism and minister to the community. That is why I have trained laymen in evangelism for 38 years. It is also why since 1979 I have written several books including a Basic and Advanced Textbook on Evangelism to this end.

Our training program in Evangelism is a lot more than just How To! Evan-gelism involves all that we are and in all that we do, therefore our Evan-gelism Training Program beside involving a how to also talks about Evan-gelism in the home, on the job and on the streets. It teaches the difference between what I call aggressive, passive and pulpit evangelism. The pro-gram involves a lot more which is explained completely in this book in Chapter 11 titled, "Evangelism, Discipleship, Apologetics & Spiritual War-fare."

Because this is the primary calling of all ministers, it is our conviction that membership classes are to be training classes in Evangelism, Disciple-ship, Apologetics, Spiritual Warfare and Counseling with Church doctrines and beliefs built in. Becoming a member of our church means that the per-son takes the calling of the Pastor and the Church seriously which is to train and equip him or her to share the Gospel in their community and the world and to serve their Church and community. By the time a person finishes the Basic School of Evangelism Program, he or she will be ready to serve the Church and do Evangelism on the field. Becoming a member means being ready to serve, minister and evangelize.

Jesus said in Matthew 24:35 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall not pass away." The Bible given to us is eternal truth. Be-cause it is the above stated position concerning the redemptive work of Jesus Christ as described in the Bible will never become old fashion or change.

For more information on our convictions concerning Evangelism, please see the following books:

• Evangelism: The Time Is Now! New Testament

• Why All Christians Need Training In Evangelism⁴⁴⁸ is a book which explains what my two textbooks on Evangelism are all about and how they provide excellent training in Evangelism. Includes student evaluations of the basic and advanced programs (See Chapter 10 of this book).

• Why A Lyaman’s Evangelism Program Is Not An Option⁴⁴⁴ is written for Pastors talking about the importance of Layman Evangelism, how to set up a program of evangelism in the church and expounds on Ezekiel Chapter 34.

• How to Bring a Person to Saving Faith in Jesus Christ⁴⁷³ is a book which explains to a believer how to bring a person to saving faith in Jesus Christ, what is involved; why Jesus’ salvation for our sins is received through faith alone; and the value of using What Is Eternal Life? in evangelism.

• Evangelism: The Time Is Now!,⁴¹³ Basic Textbook on Evangelism covering Foundations in Evangelism, what the Gospel is and how to communicate it to others, the importance of prayer before evange-lism, the debt of our salvation in Jesus, what discipleship is and how to disciple a new Christian, Why regularly weekly Evangelism is im-portant and ethics in approaching Evangelism, cites fourteen case examples of evangelism on the field, Basic apologetics on why we believe the Bible is the Word of God, the absolute reality of Heaven and Hell and how to stay faithful and involved in the battle of Evan-gelism through out one’s life.

• Relationship With Jesus The Key To Effective Ministry,⁴⁴⁶ Advanced Textbook on Evangelism covering Advanced principles of Evangelism, Counseling and Discernment covering all aspects of life. A holistic approach to Evangelism. It also covers extensively what it means to be Filled, Walk and be Baptized in the Holy Spirit, the gifts and manifestation of the Holy Spirit and how to use and apply these gifts in ministry.

• Evangelism: The Time Is Now!,⁴¹³ the fourth in our discipleship training series, a book encouraging Christians on the importance of getting involved in Evangelism.

• How To Be An Effective Witness On The Job,⁴⁴⁷ which talks about the three kinds of Evangelism there are and focuses primarily on what I call on the job or in the neighborhood Evangelism.