A Pattern for Evangelism

Tonight I preached about evangelism from Matthew 23:23.  Within this verse Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for tithing mint, anise, and cumin without teaching the need for judgment, mercy, and faith.  Jesus is therefore showing the need to teach the principles, which will in themselves show people the necessity of the finer points of application.  I believe the three points Jesus highlights are the three points we should teach when conducting evangelism today.

Judgment  - That there is coming a judgment day in which righteous judgment will occur (John 5:25-30), and none can escape.  That this day of judgment will be faced immediately after death (Hebrews 9:27), and that all face eternal punishment because of their sin (Romans 3:10-12, 23).

Mercy - That God in His love does not desire people to be lost (2 Peter 3:9), and therefore He sent His Son to be the Savior of mankind (John 3:16).  That God has made it possible for us to be saved despite the fact that we were His enemies (Romans 5:6-10).  Finally, that we did not deserve salvation, but God in His mercy made it possible for us to be cleansed and saved because He is merciful (Titus 3:3-7). That mercy can only be found inside of Christ.

Faith - That there is only one Lord and one avenue of faith by which to access mercy through Him (Ephesians 4:4-6). That the Gospel contains the message of faith which those who are justified live by (Romans 1:16-17).   That we must be obedient because of our belief in Christ.  That salvation is only possible because of God's mercy and grace which require us to walk in good works (Ephesians 2:7-10).  That one comes to God in faith by belief (Mark 16:16), repentance (Acts 2:38), confession (Romans 10:9-10), and baptism (Galatians 3:26-27).  That we then continually must prove ourselves to be in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5).

Perhaps in evangelism we have often in the past made the message of evangelism too complicated by trying to correct hundreds of false teachings and show every application as we go instead of simply presenting judgment, mercy, and faith.  Perhaps at other times we have made evangelism too difficult because we assume people already understand judgment and mercy and try to discuss salvation without laying the foundation of truth about judgment and mercy.  In the end, though, the message of evangelism contains just three points - judgment, mercy, and faith.