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Commentary on "Defining Evangelism and Witnessing"
Day 4: Tuesday, April 3, 2012 - The Biblical Evidence
Overview
Today’s lesson points out that the apostles witnessed in spite of obstacles including their lack of formal religious training. It further points out that they regularly emphasized “Jesus as Lord and Christ, salvation through His righteousness, the coming kingdom of God, and the promise of eternal life.” The lesson ends with this:
“However powerful and compelling the testimonies and witness of these first evangelists, these people were constantly referring to the Scriptures. That is, they were using the Bible to interpret their experiences. How well do you know the Bible, and how can you get grounded in it to such an extent that you can use it in your own witnessing?”
Observations
While the point of this lesson sounds insightful or even pious, its essence reveals a profound lack of spiritual understanding. The apostles were not primarily witnessing of their own experiences. They were witnessing about Jesus. Their entire purpose was to tell about Jesus and to establish their testimony in the truth of God’s promises.
Of course they referred to Scripture! The statement that they “were using the Bible to interpret their experiences” is not the story told in the book of Acts. When the apostles preached, they told the story of God beginning with the call of Abraham if speaking with Jews, or beginning with creation if speaking to Gentiles as in Athens (Acts 17:22-34). They were using Scripture to prove that Jesus was the Messiah whom God promised would come!
The lesson’s statement that many people believed and accepted Jesus as their personal Savior “because of the testimonies of believers who had shared their own life-changing experiences and not simply because people had observed miraculous events” again misses the mark. The early Christians were not sharing their own experiences. They were teaching Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. To be sure, there were some experiences they shared by way of illustrating God’s revelation, but their experiences were not the primary “thing” they were sharing.
The witness of the early church was entirely about Scripture and how Jesus was the fulfillment of the promises of God. Knowing Scripture is not an addendum tacked onto our own story for more effectiveness. Rather, knowing Scripture is the way we make our appeal to unbelievers. We cannot know the gospel apart from knowing God’s word, and when we hear and believe, we are born again and sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise (Eph. 1:13-14). We pass from death to life (Jn. 5:24).
We cannot witness effectively unless we know Jesus and are born of His Spirit. It was this indwelling Holy Spirit for whom Jesus told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem. He did not permit them to go out and begin witnessing or evangelizing until they had received the promised Holy Spirit. In other words, Jesus knew they would not have the understanding, clarity, or boldness necessary in order to testify of His new covenant which fulfilled all of the old until they had received the Holy Spirit.
Biblical evidence is not merely a good idea, a nice tool in the tool box of Christian living. Rather, it is the foundation of true witnessing. We cannot know the truth about Jesus without His word. Paul said,
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ (Romans 10:17 ESV).
Our stories will never change anyone. Only meeting the Lord Jesus will change lives. Only when people trust God’s word and believe that Jesus is the One God promised will they be changed, born of the Spirit and made alive in Christ.
Summary
- The apostles did not witness of their own experiences; they witness about Jesus.
- Referring to Scripture was not an effective tool; it was the central point of their testimony showing who Jesus was according to Scripture.
- Sharing our own experiences does not change anyone. Only hearing God’s word and believing in Jesus changes lives.
Copyright 2012 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised April 3, 2012. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Camp Verde, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.
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