Focal Point

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

Welcome to Focal Point. I'm your host, Dave Drury, and I'm glad to have you with us today. For the next half hour, we'll sit down with Pastor Mike Fabarez to answer a listener's question about sharing our faith. It's something many Christians struggle with as they interact with coworkers and friends who may not know Christ. Sometimes the very thought brings stress. Does sharing the gospel have to feel like a sales transaction? Well, to dispel that fear, let's join executive director J. Worten right now inside the pastor's study. J?

J. Worten: 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?"

Pastor Mike Fabarez: 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. Obviously, part of his sovereign plan is to have us share the gospel. 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 leaves us with a real difficult philosophical, theological issue. But the question of why should I share the gospel? Well, because Christ told us to.

J. Worten: 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?

Pastor Mike Fabarez: 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? I don't even know if I can believe that God is here in the now because God didn't have a beginning. That doesn't mathematically work.

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. God says, "I'm here, speak to me." It's the same way with evangelism. God said open up your mouth. When people hear the gospel, they'll either respond to it or they won't respond to it. Our responsibility is to get the word out. They're not going to turn to God unless they hear the message. To hear the message, they've got to have somebody give the message. So, we do it.

We do it without saying, "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 having to explain all the details of electricity to me, we do it. You can say there are people that understand how electricity works. I get that. In heaven, there are people that understand how this all works. We're going to figure this out one day in terms of how to reconcile free will and sovereignty. For now, we assert and affirm them both because the Bible clearly does. We live with the tension 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.

J. Worten: 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.

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Of course, we don't. 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? My answer was very simple. These were all doctoral candidates, and I said, "Because Christ told us to." They may have thought I was a real simpleton, but 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. He's going to use my voice and my speaking, my evangelism in some cases 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.

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. I never know when that is, but God does. I'm going to do what 2 Corinthians 5 says, and that is persuasively. I hope because I love people, and the love of Christ controls me. I fear God and I'm concerned about what will happen if you don't respond. 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. 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.

J. Worten: 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.

Pastor Mike Fabarez: See, well, that's the privilege that we have. We get a chance to be used by God to do something God is getting done. It's like Malachi chapter 1. I often think of that. God's going to get his job done. He's going to have his name honored. He's going to have people that worship him and have the blessing of worshipping him. If you don't do it, he's going to get it done one way or another and he'll move on.

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.

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

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Let us dig in to Romans chapter 9. I want to make some very simple statements. Simple statements that are not hard to understand. 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. "Brothers, 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, in particular, the Jews. By the way, his ministry in the book of Acts started with preaching for Jews to get saved. Am I right? So he cares, he prays, and he's given the gospel. Right?

But his heart is breaking. Why? Because they all turn 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 does not rely on you. We'll talk about you in terms of the one who is sharing the gospel.

If you go out into your workplace or your neighbors, you talk to them about Christ, your family members, and 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. This is an important shift in our thinking. The success or failure of that does not rely on you. In some ways, that's helpful. Is it not? I'm glad because I don't know that I'm very good at it.

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 very simple and pastoral. But let's think about ecclesiology for a minute. Think about how this applies to the church.

I've been to seminaries. I've been to conferences. I've sat and had people try to sell me programs and pitch methods and campaigns for the church. It's all about, "If you do this, then people will come to Christ." That's what they say. I've had people say, "You know what? Statistically, all you got to 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 change the church around a little bit and got non-Christians to get really comfortable in church. Headrests 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."

It's not about that. It's not about methods. It's not about programs. So you say, "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 in church. So it's probably a good thing." 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.

Jot this reference down. Write this down. 1 Corinthians chapter 9 verse 16. He says, "If I preach the gospel, it gives me no grounds for boasting. For it is of necessity. 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."

Wait a minute. You just told me earlier in the book you're nothing. Yeah, I understand that, but it's necessary. The next verse he says, "If I do it willingly, then I get a reward. My heart's in an off-beat, God will reward that." He says, "And if I do it under compulsion, it's not willingly, my heart's just like 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, 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 doesn't depend on me. Passion, prayer, preaching, although I'm told to preach and to pray and to have a passion for lost. 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 belong the patriarchs and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever." It is not as though the word of God has failed. 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. Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Esau. But in the final analysis, verse 15, it wasn't about Esau's passion, wasn't about Esau's pleading, 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. How can that be? Here's how it can be.

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-proceeding 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 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, 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: 1 Corinthians chapter 2.

1 Corinthians chapter 2 says this about receiving biblical truth. This is 1 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 then if we have the Spirit of God to understand it, then we are able or we might understand the things 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. No, in words not taught by human wisdom. No, these things come from God. That's why our non-Christian friends look at us and go, "This is weird about a Jewish rabbi being nailed to a cross, empty tomb. Sure, that happened. And then, about forgiveness and heaven and future and repentance and wow, 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, he 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 because they can't even understand it unless the Spirit of God peels back their natural blindness.

And on top of that, 2 Corinthians 4:4, and the spiritual world, the demonic world's trying to even cover the eyes even more, and 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 John 5:21. He 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." And then he ends this and he says, "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're saying, "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. And unfortunately, the center has been moved in 21st-century modern Western American 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. And we may say, "Oh, I believe in that election thing," but all he did was look forward to see what I would do. It 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's now saying. And that is: no, no, our decision to respond is based on his decision to impart life.

That's a different arrangement. 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.

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. 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. 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, 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. Obviously 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, and 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, let's use this word: It is decided by God. The success of my evangelism is decided by God. God decides that.

John chapter 6, 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 stark, 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 6:44: "No one," you see that? "No one 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. Don't miss this. John 10:24. Let's start there. The Jews gather 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 want to embrace, we want to sign up for this." Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you did not believe." Not only that, he did all these miracles in front of them. "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 a 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. That'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.

Dave Drury: What freedom there is in joyfully sharing Jesus because closing the deal is up to God. Today's message was part of our regular Ask Pastor Mike segment, and you're listening to Focal Point. To find more content or share what you're hearing with friends and family, just go online to focalpointradio.org.

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And don't forget about this month's featured resource. It's The Journals of Jim Elliot, edited by Elisabeth Elliot. Most of what gets published is written for an audience. Well, this wasn't. These were Elliot's private pages, and what you find there is a man pressing hard after God in the quiet before the world ever knew his name. The faith on display here isn't tidy or packaged. It's honest, searching, and utterly serious. Request your copy of The Journals of Jim Elliot when you make a donation today at focalpointradio.org or by calling 888-320-5885.

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And one more thing. Pastor Mike sets off September 19th through the 26th on a fall cruise along the New England and Canadian coastline with stops in Boston, Halifax, and Quebec City. Cabins are filling up, so lock yours in today at focalpointradio.org. I'm Dave Drury. We'll see you next time for more from Pastor Mike Fabarez right here on Focal Point.

Today's program was produced and sponsored by Focal Point Ministries.