Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God
Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God
By: J.I. Packer
[Fulfilling “A book by an author who is deceased now” as part of the 2021 Fall Reading Challenge.— yes, I’m still working on this challenge in 2022… so sue me]
“The sovereignty of God in grace gave Paul hope of success as he preached to deaf ears, and held up Christ before blind eyes, and sought to move stony hearts. His confidence was that where Christ sends the gospel there Christ has his people… due for release at the appointed moment…”
Just like most of J.I. Packer’s books— including Knowing God— this book is timeless.
It is a short and easy to understand book about how the sovereignty of God gives us confidence to do as God commands and preach the good news to all people—evangelize.
I found this book both encouraging and convicting!
Divine Sovereignty
He begins the book by addressing divine sovereignty— the belief that God is in control of everything.
It was interesting how boldly Packer proclaims that all Christians believe in this doctrine though they may not realize it or claim to the contrary.
He directs us to our prayer life as proof that we understand things aren’t in our power, including our own conversion. We recognize who we need to thank for all things!
“How then, do you pray? Do you ask God for your daily bread? Do you thank God for your conversion? Do you pray for the conversion of others? If the answer is ‘no,’ I can only say that I do not think you are yet born again. But if the answer is ‘yes’— well, that proves that, whatever side you may have taken in debates on this question in the past, in your heart you believe in the sovereignty of God no less firmly than anyone else. On our feet we may have arguments about it, but on our knees we are all agreed.”
Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility
The next obvious thing to address is the mystery of how divine sovereignty and human responsibility relate to each other.
One may ask- If God is in control of everything then does that means we don’t have free will? We can do whatever we want because God is making us do whatever we choose.
Packer actually didn’t go into this debate much in this book as I had hoped he would.
But he did discuss it briefly to establish later how we must view evangelism.
These two doctrines— that God is in control of everything and yet we are responsible for our own actions— appears to be a contradiction. The term for this is an “antinomy”: “an [appearance of a] contradiction between conclusions which seem equally logical, reasonable or necessary.”
Some definitions of antinomy include the term ‘paradox’ to describe this occurrence but Packer says it is different than a paradox. A paradox creates a contradiction using words not facts— for example, Paul says he ‘is strong when he is weak.’ It is created not unavoidable.
(He gives another example of an antinomy: We can see that light is made up of waves, but we can also see that light is made up of particles. Science can’t explain this seeming contradiction but the facts are the facts.)
This relationship is one of the mysteries of God that has not been revealed to us. But the Bible clearly teaches both so we rest with these two facts, both divine sovereignty and human responsibility, and need to look at them not as enemies, but as friends.
Packer reiterates:
“Scripture teaches that, as King, he orders and controls all things, human actions among them, in accordance with his own eternal purpose (see Gen 14:8; 50:20; Prov 16:9; 21:1; Mt 10:29; Acts 9:27-28; Rm 9:20-21; Eph 1:11, etc). Scripture also teaches that, as Judge, he holds every man responsible for the choices he makes and the courses of action he pursues (See Mt 25; Rm 2:1-16; Rev 20:11-13, etc)”
“The Creator has told us that he is both a sovereign Lord and a righteous Judge, and that should be enough for us. Why do we hesitate to take his word for it? Can we not trust what he says?”
There is more we could say about this, but he moves on and connects this with evangelism in the last chapter.
What is Evangelism?
Next, he describes what evangelism is. If it is our duty to evangelize, we must understand what that means.
In short, evangelism is simply “preaching the gospel.”
“In a word, the evangelistic message is the gospel of Christ, and him crucified; the message of man’s sin and God’s grace, of human guilt and divine forgiveness, of new birth and new life through the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
He points out that many times churches do a disservice to hearers of their message because they don’t present the full gospel. They may emphasize ‘the good’ without forcing people to reckon with their sin nature and the evil in their own hearts.
We can’t sugarcoat the gospel— if we do not recognize our desperate need of a Savior, we don’t see how amazing Christ’s sacrifice for us really was.
So he breaks down the four essential components of the gospel message.
God- as Creator He has a claim on us, his creations
Sin- we must recognize our relationship with God is broken because of our sin; we must feel the guilt of our sin; and we must feel a conviction and desire to be right with God
Christ- we must present both the person of the historic Jesus and his work on the cross and doctrines of his teachings
Summons to Faith and Repentance- we must present the invitation to both believe and trust in Christ and turn from our sin; the changing of our hearts and minds
He mentions the debate about limited atonement briefly. This is the question: Did Jesus die only for the elect or for everyone? Packer reminds us that this question doesn’t necessarily matter because we don’t know who God’s elect are.
“The gospel is not ‘believe that Christ died for everybody’s sins, and therefore yours,’ any more than it is ‘believe that Christ died only for certain people’s sins, and so perhaps not for yours.’ The gospel is ‘believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for sins, and now offers you himself as your Savior.’ This is the message which we are to take to the world. We have no business to ask them to put faith in any view of the extent of the atonement; our job is to point them to the living Christ, and summon them to trust in him.”
The most convicting part of this book for me was just reflecting on my attitude towards evangelism. I have no problem sharing the gospel in my book reviews and the writings on my blogs, but do I verbally share the gospel message with friends?
There are always reasons not to talk about the gospel. My biggest hang-ups are fear of rejection or just assuming that no one wants to hear about it from me because I feel like people are tired of hearing things from Christians. I don’t want to be seen as a pushy Christian trying to force my beliefs on others.
So I felt convicted that I am ignoring a command of the Lord to go into all nations and make disciples. I felt convicted that the most important way we can love our neighbor is to share the Good News and I don’t know if I do that. To offer them the Savior that they need whether they know it or not.
“We should not look for excuses for wriggling out of our obligation when occasion offers to talk to others about the Lord Jesus Christ. If we find ourselves shrinking from this responsibility and trying to evade it, we need to face ourselves with the fact that in this we are yielding to sin and Satan. If (as is usual) it is the fear of being thought odd or ridiculous, or of losing popularity in certain circles, that holds us back, we need to ask ourselves in the presence of God: Ought these things to stop us from loving our neighbor?”
The ‘method’ of evangelism will look different for everyone. We are not all preachers or missionaries. Packer is not a proponent of ‘evangelistic meetings’ or indiscriminately handing out tracts. It is clear that he views evangelism in the context of friendships and deep relationships with people whom we care about. Sharing the gospel with respect to who they are and where they are at spiritually. There is no one ‘right way’ to evangelize as long as you present the four essential components.
Divine Sovereignty and Evangelism
So, then, how do these two things relate?
The main point of this book.
People may say- If God is sovereign over all then what is the point of evangelism, he’s just going to save who he is going to save.
Or they might say- If it is urgent that we go evangelize and share the gospel then God must not be sovereign for it is up to us to go save people.
Both of these are false.
Packer shows us how God’s sovereignty gives us confidence in evangelism!
God saves his elect. Therefore we know that our efforts to evangelize are never in vain. There will be people who will hear his Word and repent.
“We should not be held back by the thought that if they are not elect, they will not believe us, and our efforts to convert them will fail. That is true; but it is none of our business and should make no difference to our action… The nonelect in this world are faceless men as far as we are concerned. We know that they exist, but we do not and cannot know who they are… Our calling as Christians is not to love God’s elect, and them only, but to love our neighbor, irrespective of whether he is elect or not.”
The Bible (and Packer) is clear that it is not up to us to save people. Only God can change hearts. God has chosen the act of evangelism as a vehicle for his grace but it is only by His Spirit at work in people’s lives that results in heart change. No well-crafted argument or barrage of truths can save someone.
This is freeing. It is not our failure if someone does not believe. God will save who he will save when he chooses to save them. We are simply to be obedient to present the gospel and pray for those who are unsaved. He has called us to it so we must do it.
We glorify God when we obey his command to evangelize. We glorify him by preaching him and his works. And we should do it joyfully because we desire to love our neighbors and to see them rescued from their sin!
Another common objection: It is often uncomfortable to think that God would choose not to save someone. How is that fair or loving?
But as we’ve already touched on, the responsibility is on the person whether they reject or accept God’s invitation when they hear it. Essentially, if people are going to hell, God is giving them over to what they want.
“The last judgment will abundantly prove that it is not the want of God’s election, so much as laziness, the love of sin, unbelief, and unwillingness to come to Christ, which ruins the souls that are lost. God gives people what they choose, not the opposite of what they choose.”
God’s invitation is for everyone! If you desire to trust in Jesus and be saved from your sin and spend eternity worshiping God, you can! Repent and believe! The Bible is clear: All who call on his name will be saved. Anyone who comes to Jesus will not be turned away. The invitation is open. God desires all to come to him!
And if someone does not desire this, why should they be upset that they are not given it? God gives them over to what they choose.
We do not want our friends and family to go to hell. So there is indeed urgency for evangelism, fervency in prayer, boldness to declare the gospel message.
“We are to preach, because without knowledge of the gospel no man can be saved. We are to pray, because only the sovereign Holy Spirit in us and in men’s hearts can make our preaching effective to men’s salvation, and God will not send his Spirit where there is no prayer.”
Conclusion
Indeed, there are mysteries in these doctrines. We don’t get to know everything! The mysteries may make you uncomfortable but we don’t need to apologize for God or take it upon ourselves to make him more ‘comprehensible’ or ‘palatable’ or ‘culturally acceptable’ than what he has revealed to us in his Word.
“Who are you, O man, to talk back to God?” (Romans 9:19)
As his creations, we trust our Creator. And we obey his commands.
All these things and more, Packer has brilliantly laid out in this 122-page book. It is a book every Christian should read. Written like a friend to a friend Packer has grace and compassion in relating these hard doctrines and veers away from debates, focusing instead on the essentials and what they mean for us in obeying God’s word.
As always, I love Packer’s books and recommend his writing to everyone!
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