Ask Pastor Mike Live

Speaker 1

Pull up a chair and pour yourself a cup of Joe. We're about to hear Pastor Mike Febares address the difference between God's part and our part in sharing the good news with others right here on Focal Point.

And welcome to Focal Point. I'm your host, Dave Drury, and I'm glad to have you with us today. We're sitting down with Pastor Mike Fabarez to answer a listener's question about sharing our faith. That's a topic we've been discussing all week long and something that many of us dread.

Does it have to feel like a sales pitch? What if I lose friends or colleagues? Does it even really matter? To dispel the myths, let's join executive director Jay Wurton right now inside the pastor's study.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Dave. Well, Pastor Mike, today's listener's question is pretty weighty. He writes, I heard that God already knows who or who won't be saved. But if that's true, why does God want us to share the gospel with others?

Speaker 3

Well, in one sense, that's not a weighty question. It's very simple. He tells us to do it, we should do it. That's what he asks us to do. And obviously, part of his sovereign plan is to have us share the gospel.

And it's the means by which he uses people speaking up about the gospel to get people saved. So I do it. There's a mystery to it, obviously. A God who's not only knowing all things, but sovereignly overseeing all things. It leaves us with a real difficult philosophical, theological issue.

But the question of, well, why should I share the gospel? Well, because Christ told us to.

Speaker 2

Clearly, Pastor Mike, this comes under the difficult issue of God's sovereignty and our free will or our responsibility. So how do we interact with that? How do we reconcile those things?

Speaker 3

Yeah, but I don't know that we need to reconcile them. The Bible puts these things side by side. We struggle with trying to put them together, but they're there intelligently laid out before us without any real concern about seeing how our brains can put them together.

It's kind of like saying, let's pray to God because the Bible says we should pray to God. Pray to God? When? Right now. Now, you mean? Yeah, now. In time. Well, how did God get here in time? At this particular point in time, I thought God never had a beginning, and he's outside of time and he's eternal. And if he didn't have a beginning, where was he 10 trillion years ago? And I don't even know if I can believe that. God is here in the now because God didn't have a beginning and it doesn't mathematically work.

I mean, you could get your mind all tweaked on just about anything relating to the omnipotent, omniscient, eternal God. But I'm supposed to pray because God told me to pray. And God says, I'm here, speak to me. And it's the same way with evangelism. God said, open up your mouth. And when people hear the gospel, they'll either respond to it or they won't respond to it. But our responsibility is to get the word out.

And they're not going to turn to God unless they hear the message. And they hear the message. They gotta have somebody give the message. So we do it, and we do it without saying, well, I don't get how this all works. You may not, but much like a lot of people flipping a light switch and not knowing how the light switch makes the lights go on and give me. Explain all the details of electricity to me, we do it.

And you can say, well, there are people that understand how electricity works. I get that. And in heaven, there are people that understand how this all works. And we're going to figure this out one day in terms of how to reconcile free will and sovereignty. But for now, we assume, assert and affirm them both, because the Bible clearly does, and we live with attention somewhere in the back of our minds, the theological, philosophical thinkers among us.

And we go about our faithful obedience to His Word, which in this case is sharing the gospel.

Speaker 2

And clearly in that understanding of God's sovereignty, He's the one that knows who's going to be saved. But certainly we don't.

Speaker 3

Yeah, of course we don't. And that's why I had someone tell me once, why would we share the gospel with someone if the Bible says they're not even able to respond to the gospel without God's infusion of life? And again, my answer was very simple. And these were all doctoral candidates. And I said, because Christ told us to. And they may have thought I was a real simpleton, but I mean, that is the ultimate answer. God has to save people.

As a matter of fact, it's his decisions in saving people that helps me know I'm going to have success from time to time because God has called people to himself and he's going to use my voice. And my speaking. My evangelism, in some cases, is to see people saved. It's like Jesus said, if they hated me, they're going to hate you. If they obeyed my word, they're going to obey your word.

And the point is, sometimes they're going to respond negatively and hate us, and sometimes they're going to respond by responding obediently to the gospel. And so I never know when that is, but God does. I'm going to do what 2nd Corinthians 5 says, and that is persuasively, I hope, because I love people. The love of Christ controls me, and I fear God, and I'm concerned about what will happen if you don't respond.

And so with the fear of God and the love of God and my love for people and my concern for them, if they reject the gospel, I'm going to share it, and I'm going to share it, like Paul said, persuasively persuading people, as though God were making his appeal through us to beg people to be reconciled to God.

Speaker 2

Maybe you could talk a little bit about how God uses people to accomplish what he's trying to do here on earth in relation to evangelism.

Speaker 4

See, well, that's the privilege that we have.

Speaker 3

We get a chance to be used by God to do something God is getting done. And it's like Malachi, chapter one. I often think of that. God's going to get his job done and he's going to have his name honored, and he's going to have people that worship him and have the blessing of worshiping him.

If you don't do it, he's going to get it done one way or another, and he'll move on. You know, my point is, if he says, I'll use people to get people saved, I want to get involved in that chain and say, I want to do that. I want the privilege of doing that.

Because you're right, God could do all this without us, but he gives us the privilege and the opportunity to be a part of the process.

Speaker 2

Well, thank you, Pastor Mike. I know that tension of God's sovereignty and human responsibility is something we need to explore further. So we're going to do that with a message you gave called grappling with God's Choice Choices.

Speaker 4

Let us dig in to Romans, chapter nine. I want to make some very, very simple statements. Simple statements. They're not hard to understand. And then we'll contrast those with three other statements. As we go along, the contrast between those two statements will get harder and harder for us to swallow.

Verses 1 through 3. What is Paul expressing there? Great passion for lost people. Matter of fact, look over at chapter 10. There it is again. He's not only passionate and sorrowful about lost people. In chapter 10, verse 1, he's praying for lost people, brother. My heart's desire, he says, and prayer to God for them is that they might be saved.

So he wants people saved. He's praying that people get saved, and particularly the Jews. And by the way, his ministry in the Book of Acts started with preaching for Jews to get saved. Am I right?

Speaker 3

So he cares, he prays. He.

Speaker 4

And he's given the gospel, right? But his heart is breaking. Why? Because they all turned to Christ? No, because they rejected. So the first thing I understand is that his angst about unsuccessful evangelism in the context of all of this really was an issue that, from God's perspective and from the ultimate perspective, shifts the responsibility off of me as an evangelist.

In other words, let's put it this way. Number one, successful evangelism, okay, does not rely on you. And we'll talk about you in terms of the one who is sharing the gospel. If you go out into your workplace, your neighbors, you talk to them about Christ, your family members, you say, you need to repent of your sins, put your trust in Christ. Christ is the only forgiveness, the only way, way, truth, life. And you're pushing the message of the gospel, and people do not respond. You need to understand this. And this is an important shift in our thinking. The success or failure of that does not rely on you.

And in some ways, that's helpful, is it not? Whew. I'm glad because, you know, I don't know that I'm very good at it. And in some ways, it's a relief to know that. It's not about my articulation. It's not about even my apologetic savvy. It's not about the richness of my understanding of theology. It's about God who causes the response. It's not about me. Now, that's helpful and I think very simple and pastoral.

But let's think about ecclesiology for a minute. Think about how this applies to the church. I mean, I've been to seminaries, I've been to conferences. I sat and had people try to sell me programs and pitch methods and campaigns for the church. And it's all about, here's how they pitch it. If you do this, then people will come to Christ. I mean, that's what they say. I've had people say, you know what? Statistically, all you gotta do is give them a pitch and sell them five times, same pitch five times. Statistically, I don't care if you're selling vacuums or Christ, they're going to come to Christ five times. That's what you got to do. Or, you know, what if we just changed the church around a little bit and got non-Christians to get really comfortable in church?

Speaker 3

Right?

Speaker 4

Headrest, maybe, I don't know, something 3D glasses, and we have everything pitched so that the non-Christians get all those checkboxes checked, then they'll come to Christ. You know, it's not about that. It's not about methods. It's not about programs. So you say, whoo, I'm glad it's not about that. If it's not about that, I don't have to do it. It was kind of scary anyway. And I don't want to be called a Jesus freak at church, so it's probably a good thing.

Okay, it is clear it is not about you. But that does not mean we don't have to evangelize. You have to. You have to evangelize. Have to jot this reference down. Write this down. First Corinthians, chapter 9, verse 16. He says, if I preach the gospel, it gives me no grounds for boasting, for it is of necessity. Right? It is necessity. It is laid upon me as a necessary thing, he says, and woe to me if I don't preach the gospel.

Now, wait a minute. You just told me early in the book, you're nothing. Yeah, I understand that, but it's necessary. And the next verse, he says this. If I do it willingly, see, then I get a reward. My heart's in it. All of a. God will reward that. And if I do it under compulsion, it's not willingly. My heart's just like, oh, I got to do it. He says, it's all right. Bottom line is, it's a stewardship. I got to do it. Got to do it.

What's this got to. But you're not needed. That's the tension. It is the first biblical tension in the discussion about redemption and evangelism and salvation. We need to recognize it doesn't depend on you, but you got to do it.

Number two. Okay, I know the success of our evangelism depends on me. Passion, prayer, preaching. Although I'm told to preach and to pray and to have a passion for lust. So I'm going to do that because it's biblical and it's right and I should. And it's needful that I do that, but it's not needful that I do that, because ultimately, it's not about me. Actually, I'm nothing. It's about God who causes the growth. I get that, but what about the receptor? What about the person I'm sharing with?

Well, let's think of the Israelites that Paul had in view. Verse 4. They are the Israelites, and to them belong the adoption. They understand the concept of being an exclusive nation, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, the promises. To them belongs the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God overall blessed forever. It is not as though the word of God has failed and not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel.

Then he makes all that discussion about the bifurcation and the difference between those that can point to a lineage and those who God's favor rests on. Right? Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Esau. But in the final analysis, verse 15, it wasn't about Esau's passion, it wasn't about Esau's pleading, it wasn't about Esau's wanting. Verse 16. So it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.

Now, I've already said successful evangelism this week in my life does not rely on me as the evangelist. Number two. This becomes a little bit more difficult. It also does not rely on them. How does that work? Because I'm thinking my evangelism will be successful this week if I share the gospel with my neighbor. And he goes, you're right, it's convicting. I'm deciding right now to become a Christian. I repent of my sins, put my trust in Christ, and I say, that's a good decision. I'm thinking then it would be successful evangelism, and it would depend on his response and his decision.

According to this text, it doesn't. According to this text, it's not about his will or his exertion. It's about God according to Scripture. In the end, when it comes to the decision, the decision is not even one that I can say. The whole success of the gospel relies on the receptor. It does not rely or depend on him.

Well, how can that be? Here's how it can be. And here's a biblical statement that unfortunately has fallen out of favor in recent church history, which throughout church history has always been wrestled with. This is a long preceding sentence, but here it comes. It has always, when pressed, when councils get together, when Christians go back to the word of God, it has always been affirmed this way. Are you ready? When it comes to why someone I share the gospel with, it does not rely on them, whether or not they respond yes or no.

Here's why. Because they are in themselves incapable of responding correctly. See, that's where the Bible then begins to say this really relies on God, not on them. I don't know. It's not my experience because there was a day someone shared the gospel with me and I decided to respond to it. I get that and I'm going to affirm that 100%. But the reason you responded, right here's the biblical truth, is because the ability to respond was granted to you.

Why? Because according to scripture, here's how it likes to put it, we are incapable of responding. Why? Because we don't have the ability to respond. Why? Because we don't have the resources to respond. What would be the primary resource? Here it is. First Corinthians, chapter 2. First Corinthians 2 says this about receiving biblical truth. This is First Corinthians 2:12. We've received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit, capital S, who is from God that we might understand the things freely given to us by God.

So God freely gives us stuff to understand, but we can't understand it unless we have the spirit of God to understand it. And if we have the spirit of God to understand it, then we are able. Or we might understand the things, right? In terms of ability or might or power. We now have the power to understand the things that God gives us and we impart this. Now we're entrusted with the message of reconciliation and we're going to get out there and do it.

Speaker 3

No.

Speaker 4

In words not taught by human wisdom. No. These things come from God. That's why our non-Christian friends look at it. This is weird about a good Jewish rabbi coming nailed to a cross, empty tomb. Sure that happened. And then you know about forgiveness and heaven and future and repentance, and it's all crazy. Well, what's the point? It is crazy in your mind because these are truths that come by the Spirit, interpreting these truths to those who are spiritual.

The natural man, verse 14, does not accept the things of the Spirit of God. They are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. Now that changes everything about my view of evangelism. They will never understand the message of substitutionary atonement, of Christ dying in their place, of repentance and faith, opening this relationship up with God because they are incapable of responding. They can't even understand it unless the Spirit of God peels back their natural blindness.

On top of that, in 2 Corinthians 4:4, the spiritual world, the demonic world, is trying to cover the eyes even more. God has to break through all of that and give them the ability to respond. Here's how the Bible likes to say it: Without the Spirit, you are dead. So here's the deal. Because you're dead in your transgressions and sins.

And here's a good phrase from Jesus in John 5. He says it takes the God who raises the dead to give you that ability to hear what I'm saying. I mean, it's two verses. It's 1 John 5. There are so many verses; I can't have you turn to them all. 1 John 5:21 starts the discussion: For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son is going to give life to whomever he will.

Then he ends this by saying, truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and they will hear it and they will live. Now, how is that? Because the Spirit of God is going to give them the ability to respond to that call of God. And you cannot do that on your own.

If you say, well, that doesn't sound quite right, that's because we are in the ebb and flow of church history. We are in the ebb part right now. Unfortunately, the center has been moved in at least 21st-century modern Western Christianity to a place where we think we are at the center, and God is on the circumference waiting to see what we're going to do.

We may say, oh, I believe in that election thing, predestined. All he did was look forward to see what I would do. That doesn't change the scenario. His decision of election was based on your decision. You're basically saying that the God of the universe is predicating his decisions on human decisions, as opposed to what the Bible is now saying.

And that is: No, no, no. Our decision to respond is based on his decision to impart life. And that's a different arrangement, right? It puts God in the center, but that's exactly how it ought to be because it is the campaign of the entire Bible. My successful evangelism this week does not depend on me, and it does not depend on them.

Well, I'm glad to know they're all dead drones, and it's good to know they're not responsible. Then here's the antinomy, the conundrum, the paradox, whatever you want to call it, the tension in the Scriptures. Though they are incapable of responding on their own when I present the Gospel to them, that does not mean that they are not responsible.

Okay, now that one's going to go down harder. You mean to tell me God is going to hold them responsible for rejecting Christ even though you're telling me they're incapable of embracing Christ? That's exactly what I'm telling you. You know why I'm telling you that? Because that's exactly what the Bible teaches.

Dead people will only choose to be their own king and collect their own pantheon of gods. Only regenerate people embrace the true God and follow Jesus Christ. Only regenerate people that God chooses to put his mercy and compassion on. Well, then they can't be held responsible. They are held responsible.

Example: Acts 18, Verse 5. When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.

Speaker 3

Right?

Speaker 4

You catch that? He's preaching and he's in the arena of the Jews telling them about the Messiah and that Jesus was actually the Messiah. And when verse 6, Acts 18, 6, they opposed and reviled him, he said, well, that's all right. You're not capable of deciding this anyway. No big deal. Sure, God won't hold you responsible. No, no, no. He shakes out his garments and he says, your blood be on your own heads. I'm innocent. From now on, I'll go to the Gentiles.

That is a hard tension, but the tension is that they are responsible for every time these people reject the gospel of Jesus Christ and in God's sovereignty, it in no way alleviates human responsibility. And that is a tension that you and I are going to need to work with throughout the rest of our Christian life. Obvious. To see where this is going. If it doesn't rely on us and it doesn't rely on them, there's only one other party in this whole thing. It must rely on God.

But let's not write it down that way. Number three on your outline. Let's write it down this way. This is the toughest one of all. God is making decisions and electing based on his free and unfettered liberty, his will. He hardens whom he wishes. He gives mercy to whom he wishes. Therefore, this, let's use this word, it is decided by God. The success of my evangelism is decided by God. God decides that.

John, chapter six. The words of Jesus Christ himself. Look carefully at the way he words these statements. I mean, the whole book of John is so filled with such dark, clear statements about this being all about God's decision, that our decisions are predicated on his decisions and not the other way around. John 6, verse 44. No one you see that can come to me. Jesus speaking red letters, right? Unless the Father who sent me draws him.

Go to John 10. Probably the best statement in all the book of John. I think miss this. John 10:24. Let's start there. The Jews gathered around him and said, how long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly, right? I mean, they're Jews. They want to know if you're the Christ we won't embrace. We're going to sign up for this. Jesus answered them. I told you and you did not believe. Not only that I did all these miracles, the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness about me.

But underline it. You do not believe because you are not part of my flock. Wow. Think about that. Turn it around. That's what we usually do with it. You're not a part of my flock because you did not believe. It's not what it says. You do not believe because you're not a part of my flock. We will usually say in our minds, you're not a part of God's flock because you didn't believe. Right? You did not believe because you are not a part of my flock.

God has designated a group of people that he calls here his flock. And every single one of them will respond to the call of the Gospel. Maybe not on the first call, but they will respond. Paul took several calls, but eventually he did respond. Why? Verse 27. Because my sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life. They will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

Sounds like God's got this all figured out. He does. In your neighborhood, he's got it figured out. At your workplace, he's got it figured out. He's figured it out before the foundation of the world.

Speaker 1

Well, that's the good news about the good news. Closing the deal is up to God. You're listening to Focal Point with Pastor Mike Fabarez, and you can hear the complete, unedited version of this message when you go to focalpointradio.org. Just look for the message titled "Grappling with God's Choices."

You know, it's hard to know how to talk about God with non-Christian friends and colleagues. That's why Focal Point is here each day with relevant and accurate Bible teaching, with frank open discussions on topics like this one. We're stretching you to know what you believe and be bold about taking the walk of faith. And it's only possible because committed folks like you step up each week to help cover the cost of programming. You know Pastor Mike doesn't generate any income from Focal Point. It's actually your ministry that you put on the air. And through your giving, you're reaching people all across the country on over 800 radio stations. And the numbers keep climbing.

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Well, I'm Dave Drouy wishing you a restful weekend ahead. Pastor Mike Fabarez returns next week with a month-long focus on marriage and the family. Join us Monday for more power-packed expository teaching on Focal Point. Today's program was produced and sponsored by Focal Point Ministries.

Speaker 4

Sam.