ENGAGING THE CLOSED MINDED: WHEN TO USE GOSPEL OR LAW OR APOLOGETICS IN EVANGELISM

Part Seven: Biblical Examples of Sharing the Gospel, Using Apologetic Tactics, and Applying Law

We’ve seen that evangelism often entails more than sharing the gospel. It frequently requires apologetic tactics or applying law (explained in the previous blog). This is confirmed by the fact that all three were used by Jesus and the apostle Paul. In this blog article, I will provide examples of these three evangelistic approaches taken directly from Scripture.

Gospel Example: John 4:4-26
In this passage Jesus is talking with the Samaritan woman. This woman had been married five times and was presently living with yet another man (v. 18). How did Jesus deal with her? Did He point out her failure to obey the law? No. She knew she was a sinner (v. 29). Did Jesus use apologetics to defend His messiahship? No. When He claimed to be the Messiah (vs. 26), the woman didn’t challenge it. Instead, Jesus proclaimed Gospel. He offered the woman forgiveness—“living water” (vs. 10, 13-14). Scriptures recount that many of the Samaritans believed because of the woman’s testimony (v.39).

Law Example: Luke 18:18-24
Luke recounts a conversation between Jesus and a rich young ruler. The ruler asked Jesus what he must do to be saved. Jesus tells him he must obey the law. The man claimed that he had done so since his youth. But Jesus points out that the ruler lacked one thing. He was unwilling to forsake his earthly wealth to gain “treasure in heaven” (vs. 22). In other words, he fell short of earning salvation through his own good works. He did not keep all the Law. Jesus was not saying the rich ruler could be saved if he did obey the law. Rather, His evangelistic approach was to help the ruler realize he could not obey all the law; he fell short of salvation through his own efforts. Gospel or apologetics were not needed in his case.

Apologetic Example: In Acts 17:16-34
Here the apostle Paul is in Athens. While waiting for Silas and Timothy to join him, Paul was invited to speak to the Greek philosophers before the Areopagus. Paul’s evangelistic strategy was to apply apologetics. The evidence he mustered included general revelation in nature (v. 24) and quotes from the Greeks’ own poets (v. 28). In other words, Paul appealed to non-biblical evidences to demonstrate that reality of the gospel. In this case, preaching the gospel or applying law, without first using apologetics, would have been ineffective with the Greeks because they were pagans. They had no knowledge of Jesus Christ (v.18) and certainly were not interested in obeying Jewish law. Paul used apologetics to lay the groundwork for a presentation of the gospel in verses 30-31. This is the ultimate goal of all apologetics.

Notice, however, that Jesus included law along with gospel in verse 31. Using law and gospel together is often important in evangelism, as I explained in last week’s blog article (part six).

In next week blog, I’ll provide contemporary examples—modern evangelistic scenarios—for when to share the gospel, use apologetic tactics, or apply law. In subsequent articles, we’ll look at these same approaches to evangelism—but from the opposite perspective. That is, we’ll see when and with whom not to use one or the other of these three approaches to evangelism. ©

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