Tackling Some Issues of Evangelism (Part 2)

⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— ⁹not the result of works, so that no one may boast. --Ephesians 2:8-9

Such commentary is also found in the book of Romans.

It is the foundational lens of the Lutheran tradition.  Our salvation does not hinge upon the works that we do.  Our salvation does not hinge upon living a holy and moral life.  If it did, none of us would accomplish it.  We'd fail for God demands perfection.  We Lutherans know this deep down, and we rejoice in it. 

But I think it also makes us complacent.

I believe that by my own reason or strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him.  But the Holy Spirit has called me through the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, and sanctified and preserved me in the true faith...

Martin Luther penned those words in his Small Catechism under the explanation of the third article of the Apostles' Creed.  It is only the Holy Spirit's action which can bring me or anyone else to faith.  As Lutherans, we know this deep down.

And I think it makes us complacent.

Let the Holy Spirit do the work of evangelism.  I'll be content to sit in my pew on Sunday, put in my donation, sing a few hymns, endure a sermon or two, and leave my faith sitting there in the pew until next Sunday.  The Spirit can blow where it may.  It can bring people to faith without me.

No.  It.  Can't.

But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him?  --Romans 10:14

But isn't that the pastor's job?  (We'll get into that one in much more depth in another post.)

Short answer: no.

Jesus told his followers, not just Peter who He had designated as leader to make disciples.  Jesus told his followers, not just the leaders to be His witnesses.  The Holy Spirit uses us on a daily basis to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.  The Holy Spirit uses our words, our deeds, our facial expressions, our entire being to help others come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

But can't I be content to know I am saved by grace?

Are you really content?  Are you really satisfied in simply knowing that you yourself are saved by this grace?  Are you really satisfied, sitting content in your knowledge and understanding while there is a world outside your door hungering and thirsting for a better worldview?  Are you content to sit in your knowledge that you are saved by grace through faith while others are wondering if there is a God, wondering if that God loves them, wondering if all there is in this life is suffering and heart ache, wondering if anyone anywhere care enough about them?  Are you content to hear that you are saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus, but deaf to the remainder of what Paul says in Ephesians in the very next verse:

¹⁰For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. --Ephesians 2:10

We are made for good works, including the spread of the gospel.  Some of our best witnessing is done without the use of words.  But we must also be ready to use them when the time is ripe. 

If anything, knowing we are saved by grace should not make us content; it should not make us satisfied; it should instill within us a hunger that the rest of the world may know the life changing power of God's love.  It should instill within us a desire to share that peace that passes all understanding with a world that yearns to know it.

Grace leads to evangelism.