Evangelism is defined as the sharing of good news (gospel). For Christianity, that ‘good news’ concerns the restoration/presentation of our identity in God, and of His in-dwelling presence in all of humanity through Christ Jesus. The purpose of evangelism is to awaken men, women, and children to their position in the living God. The same God who came in the form of Jesus to seek and to save that which was lost, to set the captives free and to destroy the works (the Lie) of the Devil.
Regrettably, the Greek word ‘metanoia’ (change of mind, change of your thinking) is frequently mistranslated, and has become the ‘need for abasement’ (ie repentance), and is often underlined by quoting from Romans 3:23 that “all have sinned and have fallen short of the Glory of God”. As a result, the traditional teaching of the ‘good news’ was, and often still is, preached by many that humanity is not worthy and reprobate. So what is God going to do if we do not measure up? Will we be punished, and if so what is that punishment going to be? This fear of the ‘wrath of God’ is what we have been told is what Jesus ‘saved’ us from. And that the ‘good news’ is ‘you can avoid that punishment if you’………
This perspective then actively promotes that we are to raise our hand, say the sinner’s prayer, surrender our lives to the teachings of the church and take the prescribed classes. All of this being needed before we can be accepted as believers. Even then there is still the nagging question of ‘being good enough’, ‘has God really accepted me’ (Arminius)? Will my salvation be cancelled or nullified if I do not live my life continually according to His commands? Or, am I one of the elect ones, or one of the rejected ones (Calvin)? In other words am I in or out, once saved always saved, or not? There is a great amount of insecurity for a lot of people!
But the real gospel for all humanity is that ‘salvation’ is free as we can read in Eph. 2:8 “For you are saved by Grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift”. The NKJV Eph 4:6 states that “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all”. NKJV Eph 1:3 states clearly, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ”. We are all completely restored, forgiven and accepted by God, and always have been. There is nothing we can do, or add to our restoration. The good news is really underlined in the word ‘Emmanuel’ or ‘God with (and in) us’. This is the news that through Christ at the cross, the barrier of believing that we are not like God (Gen 3:5 ) is cleared away. When Satan approached Eve and Adam, they had the authority to rebuke/reprove Satan, in regard to his deception/lie of ‘becoming like God’. However, Adam and Eve did not rebuke Satan (not subduing their earth) and the result was that their God-given authority of dominion over creation had been usurped by Satan. This dominion was restored to mankind, when Christ at the cross, reconciled and restored man’s memory to the original ‘factory setting’ of their Creator.
