Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God
Author: J. I. Packer
Written: 1961 (2008)
“In prayer, you ask for things and give thanks for things. Why? because you recognize that God is the author and source of all the good that you have had already, and all the good that you hope for in the future.”
Hello Ordinary Readers,
In Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, J.I. Packer helps us wrestle with how divine sovereignty and human responsibility are both true. This book really helped me understand more fully how both are needed when it comes to sharing the gospel. Many will lean one way or the other and if you lean solely on human responsibility then you begin to make the results based on man and not the work of God. If you lean on divine sovereignty solely you are inclined to not share the gospel, therefore, being disobedient to the Word of the Lord.
Packer gives us a good aim for evangelism which is that of Paul, to persuade or convert hearers of the gospel to Christ. But I think Packe rightly walks the line of while that the aim of our success is not based on the results but on the act of sharing the gospel. Packer leans on God’s sovereignty to change the hearts through the means of our words.
I really do think every Christian should read this book. It can be a quick read, but also you can slow down and really dive into parts of it. It is a good book for starting a conversation about how these two doctrines interact with each other.
Happy Reading!
Quotes
“They are not content to let the two truths live side by side, as they do in the Scriptures, but jump to the conclusion that, in order to uphold the biblical truth of human responsibility, they are bound to reject the equally biblical and equally true doctrine of divine sovereignty, and to explain away the great number of texts that teach it.”
“Our evangelistic work is the instrument that he uses for this purpose, but the power that saves is not in the instrument: it is in the hand of the One who uses the instrument.”
“Christ’s command means that we all should be devoting all our resources of ingenuity and enterprise to the task of making the gospel known in every possible way to every possible person.”
“For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living (Rom 14:9). There is no evangelism where this specific message is not declared.”
“The results of preaching depend, not on the wishes and intention sof men, but on the will of God Almighty.”
“Pauls ultimate aim in evangelism was to convert his hearers to faith in 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.”
“The sovereignty of God in grace gives us our only hope of success in evangelism.”
“You and I cannot make sinners repent and believe in Christ by our words alone; but God works faith and repentance in men’s hearts by his Holy Spirit.”