INTRODUCITON
The spiritual formation of the believer is essential to their walk with Christ. There are many passages in Scripture that correlate with the principles of the spiritual formation of the believer. Romans 12:1-2 and Ephesians 4:17-20 will be examined. The purpose is to observe both of these passages on the illuminating factor of the spiritual development for the believer.
COMMENTARY OF ROMANS 12:1-2
These two verses of Scripture will be examined in the English Standard Version. The passage is as follows:
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect (ESV).
This passage brings the concept of total transformation in the life of the believer. The word therefore shows that the teaching proceeds verses 1:18-11:36 and is the conclusion of these verses. The Greek verb parakaleō is translated into “I appeal” or “I exhort.” This is a strong verb that refers to a commanding declaration that demands stern obedience. It is quite ordinary for Paul to use it in instruction contexts. The phrase “by the mercies of God” refers to the mercy of God in 11:30-36. It is accurate that the Greek word “oiktirmo,,” which is translated into “mercy,” only occurs in Romans in chapters 9-11, but most scholars believe that “mercy” is a underlining theme of the epistle (Osborne 2004, 319). John Stott said it well when he stated, “…the gospel is precisely God’s mercy to inexcusable and undeserving sinners, in giving His Son to die for them, in justifying them freely by faith, in sending them the life-giving Spirit, and in making them his children (Stott 1994, 320).” The entirety of dedication of the believer to God is based on the entirety of His mercy towards the believer (Osborne 2004, 319).
The ultimate reaction of the believer to this mercy is unconditional capitulation. This imagery is expressed in the phrase “…present your bodies as a living sacrifice….” This metaphor is a prevailing one. It gives the idea of one bringing themselves before the alter of God to be sacrificed. There are other examples in Scripture of sacrificial language being used metaphorically. One example can be found in Psalm 141:2 which states, “the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.” Others can be found in Psalm 50:12, Hebrews 13:15, and 1 Peter 2:5. Robert Daly states that sacrificial language in the New Testament is constantly ethical in nature. In other words, it is meant to be lived out virtually in the daily life of the believer (Daly 1997, 234-235). The overall substance is “your bodies,” which could represent the material body as devoted to God.
There are three facets of our sacrifice to God that is presented. The first is “living” which denotes not only the vibrant character of the sacrifice, but also the spiritual condition of the believer. The second is “holy,” which means that the Christian is entirely committed or set apart from the world. The third is the phrase “…acceptable to God...,” which constructs off of an Old Testament notion of the sacrifice satisfying God. These three facets are crucial to the life of the believer. The Christian must strive at all times to experience the innovative life of the Holy Spirit in order that he or she will be set apart to God to bring him satisfaction.
This sacrifice is the believer’s total being to God is a “…spiritual worship.” In other words, a life of worship is essential to the life of the Christian and must be exhibited in every aspect of their life. Every instant in the life of the believer is an act of serving and rejoicing that God is in their life. This is shown through cooperate worship with other believers and personal worship in solitude with God (Osborne 2004, 320).
Paul transitions for the “what” to the “how” of the Christian life. In verse two he conjures the negative process for presenting oneself to God and then he presents the positive manner. The negative process is given by the phrase “do not be conformed to this world.” The word “conform” conveys a superficial action and the word “transform” is a prevailing action. The believer is not to be ruled by the powers of this world. 1 John 2:15 also expresses this concept; “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him (ESV).” The Christian is to be separate from this world because this is not our true home. The believer is only present on this earth temporarily to glorify God by the spreading of His gospel (Osborne 2004, 321). In correlation to the negative elucidation is the positive resolution, which is interconnected with the phrase “be transformed by the renewal of your mind.” The Greek word “metamorphoō,” which is translated into “transformed,” means to change or change appearance (Swenson 1997). This phrase expresses an intrinsic flaccid logic in which the transforming power of the Holy Spirit penetrates the foundation of one’s being and remolds he or she into a “new creation.” This concept is also revealed in 2 Corinthians 5:17, which states: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” The Holy Spirit changes the lives of believers and enables them to present themselves totally to God. This transpires in the “mind,” which is “renewed” by God. The mind is the center of the battle between the aspiration to serve God and sin. It is apparent that the “mind” is where spiritual growth transpires and the decisions that conclude one’s spiritual direction (Osborne 2004, 322).
COMMENTARY ON EPHESSIANS 4:17-20
The theme of this passage can be seen as the necessity for fundamental change. The English Standard version will be the translation the will be used in the analysis of this verse. It is as follows:
Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!
The vibrancy of Paul’s expressive terminology serves both to elucidate his thoughts and to extract a response from the reader. There is a poignant content to words that are used such as “futility,” “darkened,” “alienated,” “ignorance,” “hardness,” “sensuality,” and “greedy.” When the words are include “thinking” and “understanding” the picture is transparent (Osborne 2004, 111).
The phrase “Now this I say and testify in the Lord…” refers to the exhortation of the believer to walk worthy of their higher calling, which is to garnish the doctrine of our savior Jesus Christ. With this understanding, Paul reminds his audience of what they were before they received the Holy Spirit. In addition, the phrase “that you must no longer walk” can be seen as a turning away of the old and coming into the new life as a believer. The Greek word “peripateō,” which is translated into “walk,” can also be seen as one’s conduct, behavior, or the leading of one’s life (Swenson 1997). The believer is to live a life that is set apart from the “Gentiles.” The Gentiles live “in the futility of their minds.” They are also “darkened in their understanding.” Both in ancient times and today’s society, people who reject God believe that they are progressive. Their “ignorance” is not a lack of instruction. There are many brilliant men and women, but brilliance is a squander and vain in conclusion with the combination with the “hardness of heart” towards the gospel of Jesus Christ (Crossway 2008, 2269).
CONCLUSTION
Spiritual formation is an aspect of the Christian faith. It is a gradual process that will never conclude until we see Christ. It is the duty of the believer to develop their spiritual lives in order to be a more effective believer. These two passages help to reveal the essentiality of the spiritual formation of the believer. The ultimate conclusion of these two passages is that we must remove the “old self” and put on the “new self.”
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Barnes, Albert, and Robert Frew. Notes on the New Testament: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians [to Philemon]. Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Books, 2001.
Crossway Bibles. ESV Study Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton, Ill: Crossway Bibles, 2008.
Daly, R. J. “Is Christianity Sacrificial or Antisacrificial?” Religion 27:231–43. 1997.
Liefeld, Walter L. Ephesians. Downers Grove, Ill: InterVarsity Press, 1997.
Osborne, Grant R. Romans. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2004.
Stott, John R. W. Romans: God’s Good News for the World. The Bible Speaks Today. Illinois: Inter Varsity Press. 1994.
Swanson, J. Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Greek (New Testament) (electronic ed.). (1997). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Saturday, May 21, 2011
THEOLOGY OF MISSIONS
INTRODUCTION
The vast multiplicity of churches on this earth has impacted every aspect of theology, which includes how churches do missions. It also includes how they communicate and articulate the theology of missions. The different aspects of missions can include how the church body selects missionaries to who would be considered a missionary. The underlining question that must be answered is, “What is the foundational mission of the church?” This question has been answered in so many ways. Formulating an answer to this question can be quite difficult because the vast diversity of churches cause an incongruous and opposing goals, which makes everything less apparent. The purpose of this paper is to articulate the theology of missions from a biblical vantage point.
THE CHURCH AND MISSIONS
A question must be asked, “What is the center piece of missions?” The center of missions is the local and universal church. What is the mission given to the church? Jesus gave the church the “great commission” that has been plainly presented in all four Gospels. God gave mankind the responsibility to achieve tasks began in the Garden of Eden, which has been termed as the cultural mandate. One must understand that the great commission is not a substitution for the cultural mandate of humanity. It is a further mission statement for the Christian. Every aspect of the church is included in the mission of God to “go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19, NKJV).” No one is expelled from this command from Jesus Christ. Therefore, in concordance with the theology of missions, the church to its entirety has the conscientiousness to be involved in missions. The mission supplies the fundamental function for all believers in Jesus Christ. Therefore, every Christian should participate in missions, whether by being sent or sending others.
REACHING THE WORLD
The next aspect that must be evaluated is to see if there is a geographical or cultural constraint to the mission of the church. When studying the commission of Jesus Christ in the Gospels, one must conclude that Christ had a global mission. In Mark 16:15 he states, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature (NKJV).” In addition, in Acts1:8 it states, “…and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (NKJV).” The church must have fervor about reaching the unreached people of this world. Johannes Verkuyl points out that the God of Abraham has always been troubled with the world. “God chose Israel in preparation for the complete unwrapping and disclosure of His universal intentions.” There are abundant references to “the earth” and “the nations” that lead to the conclusion that the church’s purpose is to reach the whole world. When studying God’s Word to its entirety, one must conclude that the theological connotation of the scriptures about God’s love and Christ’s death for the sins of the world point to the global degree of the mission. The Church is called to reach the unreached with the Gospel. Anything less than this is outside the will of God. Johnston said it very well when he stated, “Our aim should be at minimum a church for every people.” The question is whether the church is living up to this statement.
THE MISSION UNTIL HIS RETURN
A question that must be answered is when did the mission begin? It began in the Garden of Eden when God promised that the seed of Eve would defeat Satan (Genesis 3:15). This is the first proclamation of the Gospel, which is often referred to as the “protoevangelium.” The line of Seth, which is one of the sons of Adam and Eve, would produce a king that the entire world would be blessed by. This king is Jesus Christ. In Genesis the gospel has not been preached to all the world. The world has not been blessed with the King’s existence on the earth. In concordance, the mission must continue until the King returns as promised. Just as missions was the priority and heartbeat of Paul, so should it be for the church today.
THE CHARGE OF THE MISSION
It is of great importance to understand what the mission is and its correlation to the church. Roy Zuck has described the mission of Israel well. He states: "The theology of the Old Testament finds focus in great measure in the nation Israel, the covenant people of Yahweh, whom He elected, redeemed, and commissioned to serve Him among the nations of the earth. As a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Ex 19:46), it was Israel’s task to model the dominion of God over His creation and to mediate His saving grace to fallen and alienated humanity." He describes the cultural mandate and something similar in many respects to the great commission in Israel’s mission. Israel failed the mission given by God and as a result was scatted among the nations (Dt 4:27, Am 9:9). As a result of this failure, God sent His Son. Jesus Christ came to complete the task in accordance to the Father. Jesus described His mission in Luke 19:10, which states: “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” In John 17:4 it states, “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.” Jesus accomplished the will of the Father to glorify the Father. In correspondence, the church glorifies God through the harvesting of new believers. Paul received his mission form Jesus to be the primary missionary to the Gentiles. Galatians 1:16 and Acts 26:28 communicate Paul’s missionary mission of preaching the Gospel. Paul preached that faith comes by the Word of God. As a result, he was dedicated to the preaching of the Gospel (Romans 10:17). Paul understood that the Gospel is “…the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes (Romans 1:16 NKJV)…” The primary mission of the church is to the preaching of the Gospel. Dr. Yohannan, who is the founder of Gospel for Asia, reveals the preaching of the Gospel as the essential mission of any missionary. Those that are sent by God have a mission to take the Gospel to the unreached and to be a buffer in order that others come to faith in Jesus Chist Studying Paul’s methodology of missions provides a working model for any missionary. When observing his methods one can conclude that he preached, disciple, planted churches, and mentored church leaders. Glasser adds that “Paul felt that only through the deliberate multiplication of vast numbers of new congregations would it be possible to evangelize his generation.” One must take into consideration that Paul was not preoccupied by social exertion. The degree that a missionary must engage him or herself in social gospel tasks cannot be clearly defined, but these tasks must be parallel with the preaching of the Gospel and discipleship. In Mark 8:36 it states, “For what will is profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul.” If a missionary spends more effort in providing for the poor and less time preaching the Word of God, then they are missing the underlining purpose of the church and their purpose for being sent. Jesus Christ had a heart for the poor; therefore, all believers should have a heart for the poor. The missionary should not ignore the needs that around them, but it should not replace the mission of sharing the Word of God.
CONCLUSTION
The underling purpose of missions is the furtherance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Preaching the gospel, discipleship, baptizing, and church planting are the responsibility of the believer, either directly or indirectly. Jesus Christ gave the mission to the developing church after His resurrection and it must carry on until His return. Christ stated in Matthew 24:14 that the “…gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come (NKJV).” The church is the cornerstone is seeing the nations reached for the glory of God.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Alexander, T. Desmond “Genesis Notes,” ESV Study Bible. Wheaton, Crossway Bibles, 2008.
Corwin, Gary R. Gary B. McGee, and A. Scott Moreau, Introducing World Missions: A Biblical, Historical and Practical Survey. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2009.
Glasser, Arthur F. “The Apostle Paul and the Missionary Task,” in Perspectives on the World Christian Movement 4th Edition, ed. Ralph Winters and Steven C. Hawthorne 149-154. Pasadena: William Carey Library, 2009.
Johnstone, Patrick. “Covering the Globe,” in Perspectives on the World Christian Movement 4th Edition, ed. Ralph Winters and Steven C. Hawthorne 551. Pasadena: William Carey Library, 2009.
Piper, John. “Let the Nations Be Glad,” in Perspectives on the World Christian Movement 4th Edition, ed. Ralph Winters and Steven C. Hawthorne 64. Pasadena: William Carey Library, 2009.
Verkuyl, Johannes. “The Biblical Foundation for the Worldwide Missions Mandate,” in Perspectives on the World Christian Movement 4th Edition, ed. Ralph Winters and Steven C. Hawthorne 62. Pasadena: William Carey Library, 2009.
Weber, Stuart K. Matthew Holman New Testament Commentary. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000.
Yohanna, K.P. Come, Let’s Reach the World. Carrolton, TX: GFA Books, 2004.
Zuck, Roy B. A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament, Chicago: Moody Press, 1991.
The vast multiplicity of churches on this earth has impacted every aspect of theology, which includes how churches do missions. It also includes how they communicate and articulate the theology of missions. The different aspects of missions can include how the church body selects missionaries to who would be considered a missionary. The underlining question that must be answered is, “What is the foundational mission of the church?” This question has been answered in so many ways. Formulating an answer to this question can be quite difficult because the vast diversity of churches cause an incongruous and opposing goals, which makes everything less apparent. The purpose of this paper is to articulate the theology of missions from a biblical vantage point.
THE CHURCH AND MISSIONS
A question must be asked, “What is the center piece of missions?” The center of missions is the local and universal church. What is the mission given to the church? Jesus gave the church the “great commission” that has been plainly presented in all four Gospels. God gave mankind the responsibility to achieve tasks began in the Garden of Eden, which has been termed as the cultural mandate. One must understand that the great commission is not a substitution for the cultural mandate of humanity. It is a further mission statement for the Christian. Every aspect of the church is included in the mission of God to “go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19, NKJV).” No one is expelled from this command from Jesus Christ. Therefore, in concordance with the theology of missions, the church to its entirety has the conscientiousness to be involved in missions. The mission supplies the fundamental function for all believers in Jesus Christ. Therefore, every Christian should participate in missions, whether by being sent or sending others.
REACHING THE WORLD
The next aspect that must be evaluated is to see if there is a geographical or cultural constraint to the mission of the church. When studying the commission of Jesus Christ in the Gospels, one must conclude that Christ had a global mission. In Mark 16:15 he states, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature (NKJV).” In addition, in Acts1:8 it states, “…and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (NKJV).” The church must have fervor about reaching the unreached people of this world. Johannes Verkuyl points out that the God of Abraham has always been troubled with the world. “God chose Israel in preparation for the complete unwrapping and disclosure of His universal intentions.” There are abundant references to “the earth” and “the nations” that lead to the conclusion that the church’s purpose is to reach the whole world. When studying God’s Word to its entirety, one must conclude that the theological connotation of the scriptures about God’s love and Christ’s death for the sins of the world point to the global degree of the mission. The Church is called to reach the unreached with the Gospel. Anything less than this is outside the will of God. Johnston said it very well when he stated, “Our aim should be at minimum a church for every people.” The question is whether the church is living up to this statement.
THE MISSION UNTIL HIS RETURN
A question that must be answered is when did the mission begin? It began in the Garden of Eden when God promised that the seed of Eve would defeat Satan (Genesis 3:15). This is the first proclamation of the Gospel, which is often referred to as the “protoevangelium.” The line of Seth, which is one of the sons of Adam and Eve, would produce a king that the entire world would be blessed by. This king is Jesus Christ. In Genesis the gospel has not been preached to all the world. The world has not been blessed with the King’s existence on the earth. In concordance, the mission must continue until the King returns as promised. Just as missions was the priority and heartbeat of Paul, so should it be for the church today.
THE CHARGE OF THE MISSION
It is of great importance to understand what the mission is and its correlation to the church. Roy Zuck has described the mission of Israel well. He states: "The theology of the Old Testament finds focus in great measure in the nation Israel, the covenant people of Yahweh, whom He elected, redeemed, and commissioned to serve Him among the nations of the earth. As a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Ex 19:46), it was Israel’s task to model the dominion of God over His creation and to mediate His saving grace to fallen and alienated humanity." He describes the cultural mandate and something similar in many respects to the great commission in Israel’s mission. Israel failed the mission given by God and as a result was scatted among the nations (Dt 4:27, Am 9:9). As a result of this failure, God sent His Son. Jesus Christ came to complete the task in accordance to the Father. Jesus described His mission in Luke 19:10, which states: “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” In John 17:4 it states, “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.” Jesus accomplished the will of the Father to glorify the Father. In correspondence, the church glorifies God through the harvesting of new believers. Paul received his mission form Jesus to be the primary missionary to the Gentiles. Galatians 1:16 and Acts 26:28 communicate Paul’s missionary mission of preaching the Gospel. Paul preached that faith comes by the Word of God. As a result, he was dedicated to the preaching of the Gospel (Romans 10:17). Paul understood that the Gospel is “…the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes (Romans 1:16 NKJV)…” The primary mission of the church is to the preaching of the Gospel. Dr. Yohannan, who is the founder of Gospel for Asia, reveals the preaching of the Gospel as the essential mission of any missionary. Those that are sent by God have a mission to take the Gospel to the unreached and to be a buffer in order that others come to faith in Jesus Chist Studying Paul’s methodology of missions provides a working model for any missionary. When observing his methods one can conclude that he preached, disciple, planted churches, and mentored church leaders. Glasser adds that “Paul felt that only through the deliberate multiplication of vast numbers of new congregations would it be possible to evangelize his generation.” One must take into consideration that Paul was not preoccupied by social exertion. The degree that a missionary must engage him or herself in social gospel tasks cannot be clearly defined, but these tasks must be parallel with the preaching of the Gospel and discipleship. In Mark 8:36 it states, “For what will is profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul.” If a missionary spends more effort in providing for the poor and less time preaching the Word of God, then they are missing the underlining purpose of the church and their purpose for being sent. Jesus Christ had a heart for the poor; therefore, all believers should have a heart for the poor. The missionary should not ignore the needs that around them, but it should not replace the mission of sharing the Word of God.
CONCLUSTION
The underling purpose of missions is the furtherance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Preaching the gospel, discipleship, baptizing, and church planting are the responsibility of the believer, either directly or indirectly. Jesus Christ gave the mission to the developing church after His resurrection and it must carry on until His return. Christ stated in Matthew 24:14 that the “…gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come (NKJV).” The church is the cornerstone is seeing the nations reached for the glory of God.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Alexander, T. Desmond “Genesis Notes,” ESV Study Bible. Wheaton, Crossway Bibles, 2008.
Corwin, Gary R. Gary B. McGee, and A. Scott Moreau, Introducing World Missions: A Biblical, Historical and Practical Survey. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2009.
Glasser, Arthur F. “The Apostle Paul and the Missionary Task,” in Perspectives on the World Christian Movement 4th Edition, ed. Ralph Winters and Steven C. Hawthorne 149-154. Pasadena: William Carey Library, 2009.
Johnstone, Patrick. “Covering the Globe,” in Perspectives on the World Christian Movement 4th Edition, ed. Ralph Winters and Steven C. Hawthorne 551. Pasadena: William Carey Library, 2009.
Piper, John. “Let the Nations Be Glad,” in Perspectives on the World Christian Movement 4th Edition, ed. Ralph Winters and Steven C. Hawthorne 64. Pasadena: William Carey Library, 2009.
Verkuyl, Johannes. “The Biblical Foundation for the Worldwide Missions Mandate,” in Perspectives on the World Christian Movement 4th Edition, ed. Ralph Winters and Steven C. Hawthorne 62. Pasadena: William Carey Library, 2009.
Weber, Stuart K. Matthew Holman New Testament Commentary. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000.
Yohanna, K.P. Come, Let’s Reach the World. Carrolton, TX: GFA Books, 2004.
Zuck, Roy B. A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament, Chicago: Moody Press, 1991.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
BOOK CRITIQUE: SHARE JESUS WITHOUT FEAR
BIOGRAPHICAL ENTRY
Fay, William, and Linda E. Shepherd. Share Jesus Without Fear. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999.
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Bill Fay can be seen in many lights. He is both an evangelist and a radio host. Before his salvation, Fay was CEO of a multi-million dollar corporation. On top of his day job, he owned a house of prostitution and many more businesses that were affiliated with the mafia.
Through trials and near imprisonment, God brought Bill Fay to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Now as a Christian, Fay has a passion to equip others to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and help them overcome their fears of sharing the Gospel. He has also witnessed to almost 25,000 people since becoming a Christian. This, in many respects, is his greatest credential. Fay also has authored many materials for Sharing Jesus Without Fear and is a graduate from Denver Seminary. Bill Fay currently resides with his family in Ft. Myers, Flordia.
CONTENT SUMMARY
Share Jesus Without Fear is a book that is like no other. It takes the Gospel message and teaches how to reach the lost in the most practical manner. The author of this book, William Fay, was very successful in the world’s view. Fay was a CEO of a multi-million dollar corporation and felt like he needed nothing, including God. Along with being a CEO, Fay also had ties with the mafia. He ran a brothel house including other businesses tied to the mafia. After a while Fay was finally arrested for his house of prostitution. After being arrested, Paul Grant, a man that had been witnessing to him for about a year, reached out to him again with the love of Jesus Christ. Paul and his wife Kathie invited him over for dinner one day and shared with him the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how it has changed their lives. Later on, Fay reached out to his pastor that married him and his fourth wife. This was after being arrested and facing 8 years in prison. After this point, Fay accepted Christ as his Savior. Immediately after his salvation he began to witness to his daughter whom he had not seen in over 20 years. After witnessing to his daughter, he began to witness to the officers and detectives that had arrested him. Throughout Fay’s life, he has witnessed to over 25,000 people.
Chapter one of this book begins with a simple concept, “You can’t fail.” Whether a person responds to the Gospel in a salvation experience or not is irrelevant. Obedience to God in sharing one’s faith is more important than a result. If an unbeliever does not respond to the believer sharing their faith it does not mean that the believer failed. It means that they were obedient to God. A Christian sharing their faith has “nothing whatsoever to do with bringing anyone to the Lord. It has everything to do with obedience. Even if you don’t have the privilege to see someone respond, you have not failed because you were obedient” (pg. 3).
In chapter 2 Fay shares a startling statistic of Christians sharing their faith. He states that only five to ten percent of people in the American church have shared their faith in the past year (pg. 6). This means that the other 90 to 95 percent are drowning themselves in the sin of silence. Fay states that churches that made a choice not to reach the lost will die out. He also points out that “evangelism involves telling one’s friends how to go from the state of death to the state of life” (pg. 8). Christians do not need to feel like they have to have experience in sharing their faith in order to reach an unbeliever. They also need to realize that it is the job of every Christian to reach the lost, not just the pastoral staff. Every believer is commanded by God to share their faith with the unbelieving world. Fay also points out that it takes an average of 7.6 times of hearing the Gospel for an unbeliever to respond. Sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a command that all Christians must practice with boldness.
In Chapter three, it addresses the main rationale that Christians give for not sharing their faith. Many Christians believe that they do not have the gift of evangelism and as a result they do not have to witness to the lost. This is far from biblical. A believer is commanded in the Great Commission to evangelize to the lost (pg. 15). According to Philippians 4:13, God has equipped all believers in sharing their faith. The fear of rejection must be put aside and obedience to God must take priority. Many Christians believe that if they lead someone to Christ they have caused them to be saved, but in reality only God leads someone to salvation. If an unbeliever does not respond “they are rejecting Jesus and God’s Word. Therefore you did not fail in your obedience” (pg. 17). Believers must drop all excuses for not sharing their faith. When Christians remove the disobedient excuses in their life they grow more in their relationship with God.
Chapters four, five, and six really reaches the heart of this book. In these combined chapters, Fay introduces a method that he uses in reaching the lost. He starts out examining the “conversational joggers,” which is on page 30. Fay uses questions “to determine if God is at work and to see if their heart are open” (pg. 30). These questions can include, “What are the biggest problems facing women today?” and “Do you go to church anywhere?” Questions that can be used in “conversation joggers” can be found on pages 145-146. These questions help to lead to Fay’s sharing Jesus without fear questions. These questions include “Do you have spiritual beliefs?”; “To you, who is Jesus?”; “Do you think there is a heaven and hell?”; “If you died tonight where would you go?”; and “if what you were believing were not true would you want to know?” These questions are simple and practical questions in sharing one’s faith. They are meant not to be argumentative in nature. Also, these questions help to promote control when the believer is witnessing to the unbeliever. Fay also stressed the importance in listening to the unbeliever when asking these questions. After presenting these questions, Fay encourages the sharing of certain scripture passages with the unbeliever. These passages are put in a unique order. When presenting these passages the Christian would ask the unbeliever to read it aloud. After reading the passage aloud the person sharing their faith would then ask, “What does this say to you?” After sharing the passages the believer may have the opportunity to ask the five commitment questions. They are, “Are you a sinner?”; “Do you want forgiveness of sins?”; “Do you believe Jesus Christ died on the cross for you and rose again?”; “Are you willing to surrender you life to Jesus Christ?”; “Are you ready to invite Jesus Christ in to your life and into your heart?” These questions can be found on page 148.
Fay also gives practical advice when confronting objections. When the unbeliever gives an objection to the five commitment questions just ask them “why.” This will allow the one that is sharing their faith to filter out the multitude of objections and get straight to the unbeliever’s heart. Fay also helps by giving his “ready responses to common objections” (pg. 81). William Fay concludes his book with an exhortation to pray for the unbeliever. He presses the Christian to spend time in prayer daily for the lost (pg. 129). Along with praying for the lost, he encourages the believer to pray for God to open doors for an opportunity for sharing one’s faith. The Christian should also manifest a Christ-like love to the unbeliever that they might see Christ in them.
EVALUATION
When reading this book, one may notice that all of Fay’s stories always ended in positive success. The unbeliever always received Christ. This can be considered ironic since Fay stresses the notion that success is not based upon the response of the unbeliever, which is true, but he never stated when someone did not receive Christ when he shared his faith. If Fay’s purpose was to encourage Christians to share their faith despite the response, then he should have shared more examples of unbelievers rejecting the Gospel. The believer can be discouraged in reading only success stories and never really seeing the hardships of sharing one’s faith. Fay’s assessment is true that the believer is only successful in being obedient, but their needs to be a consistency with his examples.
Another negative aspect of this book was a story that is presented in chapter six. The story is about a boy that was in a severe car wreck and Fay had the opportunity to witness to him (pg.66). Fay only had about thirty seconds to share the gospel with the young boy before he was towed away in a helicopter. He asked the commitment questions and the boy could only respond with an “Uhhhh.” As stated before, Fay only asked the questions in about thirty seconds. Not a yes or a no, only an “Uhhhh.” After asking the questions without a clear response Fay states, “You see, if this groan came from the boy’s heart, then he was saved.” It is true that one can come to a salvation decision at their deathbed, but it should never be promoted to wait until then. Fay comes across when telling this story as if he boldly knew that this boy was saved. An “Uhhhh” is far from a “yes.”
Many Christians struggle in sharing their faith. This book provides a simple method for sharing one’s faith. The under arching theme of this book is a necessity for all Christians. All believers must be bold in sharing their faith without fear. Having fear is an invalid excuse for not witnessing to others. It is also disobedient to God. Fay’s simplistic methodology is biblically well supported. This method is one of many good methods in sharing one’s faith.
Fay, William, and Linda E. Shepherd. Share Jesus Without Fear. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999.
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Bill Fay can be seen in many lights. He is both an evangelist and a radio host. Before his salvation, Fay was CEO of a multi-million dollar corporation. On top of his day job, he owned a house of prostitution and many more businesses that were affiliated with the mafia.
Through trials and near imprisonment, God brought Bill Fay to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Now as a Christian, Fay has a passion to equip others to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and help them overcome their fears of sharing the Gospel. He has also witnessed to almost 25,000 people since becoming a Christian. This, in many respects, is his greatest credential. Fay also has authored many materials for Sharing Jesus Without Fear and is a graduate from Denver Seminary. Bill Fay currently resides with his family in Ft. Myers, Flordia.
CONTENT SUMMARY
Share Jesus Without Fear is a book that is like no other. It takes the Gospel message and teaches how to reach the lost in the most practical manner. The author of this book, William Fay, was very successful in the world’s view. Fay was a CEO of a multi-million dollar corporation and felt like he needed nothing, including God. Along with being a CEO, Fay also had ties with the mafia. He ran a brothel house including other businesses tied to the mafia. After a while Fay was finally arrested for his house of prostitution. After being arrested, Paul Grant, a man that had been witnessing to him for about a year, reached out to him again with the love of Jesus Christ. Paul and his wife Kathie invited him over for dinner one day and shared with him the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how it has changed their lives. Later on, Fay reached out to his pastor that married him and his fourth wife. This was after being arrested and facing 8 years in prison. After this point, Fay accepted Christ as his Savior. Immediately after his salvation he began to witness to his daughter whom he had not seen in over 20 years. After witnessing to his daughter, he began to witness to the officers and detectives that had arrested him. Throughout Fay’s life, he has witnessed to over 25,000 people.
Chapter one of this book begins with a simple concept, “You can’t fail.” Whether a person responds to the Gospel in a salvation experience or not is irrelevant. Obedience to God in sharing one’s faith is more important than a result. If an unbeliever does not respond to the believer sharing their faith it does not mean that the believer failed. It means that they were obedient to God. A Christian sharing their faith has “nothing whatsoever to do with bringing anyone to the Lord. It has everything to do with obedience. Even if you don’t have the privilege to see someone respond, you have not failed because you were obedient” (pg. 3).
In chapter 2 Fay shares a startling statistic of Christians sharing their faith. He states that only five to ten percent of people in the American church have shared their faith in the past year (pg. 6). This means that the other 90 to 95 percent are drowning themselves in the sin of silence. Fay states that churches that made a choice not to reach the lost will die out. He also points out that “evangelism involves telling one’s friends how to go from the state of death to the state of life” (pg. 8). Christians do not need to feel like they have to have experience in sharing their faith in order to reach an unbeliever. They also need to realize that it is the job of every Christian to reach the lost, not just the pastoral staff. Every believer is commanded by God to share their faith with the unbelieving world. Fay also points out that it takes an average of 7.6 times of hearing the Gospel for an unbeliever to respond. Sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a command that all Christians must practice with boldness.
In Chapter three, it addresses the main rationale that Christians give for not sharing their faith. Many Christians believe that they do not have the gift of evangelism and as a result they do not have to witness to the lost. This is far from biblical. A believer is commanded in the Great Commission to evangelize to the lost (pg. 15). According to Philippians 4:13, God has equipped all believers in sharing their faith. The fear of rejection must be put aside and obedience to God must take priority. Many Christians believe that if they lead someone to Christ they have caused them to be saved, but in reality only God leads someone to salvation. If an unbeliever does not respond “they are rejecting Jesus and God’s Word. Therefore you did not fail in your obedience” (pg. 17). Believers must drop all excuses for not sharing their faith. When Christians remove the disobedient excuses in their life they grow more in their relationship with God.
Chapters four, five, and six really reaches the heart of this book. In these combined chapters, Fay introduces a method that he uses in reaching the lost. He starts out examining the “conversational joggers,” which is on page 30. Fay uses questions “to determine if God is at work and to see if their heart are open” (pg. 30). These questions can include, “What are the biggest problems facing women today?” and “Do you go to church anywhere?” Questions that can be used in “conversation joggers” can be found on pages 145-146. These questions help to lead to Fay’s sharing Jesus without fear questions. These questions include “Do you have spiritual beliefs?”; “To you, who is Jesus?”; “Do you think there is a heaven and hell?”; “If you died tonight where would you go?”; and “if what you were believing were not true would you want to know?” These questions are simple and practical questions in sharing one’s faith. They are meant not to be argumentative in nature. Also, these questions help to promote control when the believer is witnessing to the unbeliever. Fay also stressed the importance in listening to the unbeliever when asking these questions. After presenting these questions, Fay encourages the sharing of certain scripture passages with the unbeliever. These passages are put in a unique order. When presenting these passages the Christian would ask the unbeliever to read it aloud. After reading the passage aloud the person sharing their faith would then ask, “What does this say to you?” After sharing the passages the believer may have the opportunity to ask the five commitment questions. They are, “Are you a sinner?”; “Do you want forgiveness of sins?”; “Do you believe Jesus Christ died on the cross for you and rose again?”; “Are you willing to surrender you life to Jesus Christ?”; “Are you ready to invite Jesus Christ in to your life and into your heart?” These questions can be found on page 148.
Fay also gives practical advice when confronting objections. When the unbeliever gives an objection to the five commitment questions just ask them “why.” This will allow the one that is sharing their faith to filter out the multitude of objections and get straight to the unbeliever’s heart. Fay also helps by giving his “ready responses to common objections” (pg. 81). William Fay concludes his book with an exhortation to pray for the unbeliever. He presses the Christian to spend time in prayer daily for the lost (pg. 129). Along with praying for the lost, he encourages the believer to pray for God to open doors for an opportunity for sharing one’s faith. The Christian should also manifest a Christ-like love to the unbeliever that they might see Christ in them.
EVALUATION
When reading this book, one may notice that all of Fay’s stories always ended in positive success. The unbeliever always received Christ. This can be considered ironic since Fay stresses the notion that success is not based upon the response of the unbeliever, which is true, but he never stated when someone did not receive Christ when he shared his faith. If Fay’s purpose was to encourage Christians to share their faith despite the response, then he should have shared more examples of unbelievers rejecting the Gospel. The believer can be discouraged in reading only success stories and never really seeing the hardships of sharing one’s faith. Fay’s assessment is true that the believer is only successful in being obedient, but their needs to be a consistency with his examples.
Another negative aspect of this book was a story that is presented in chapter six. The story is about a boy that was in a severe car wreck and Fay had the opportunity to witness to him (pg.66). Fay only had about thirty seconds to share the gospel with the young boy before he was towed away in a helicopter. He asked the commitment questions and the boy could only respond with an “Uhhhh.” As stated before, Fay only asked the questions in about thirty seconds. Not a yes or a no, only an “Uhhhh.” After asking the questions without a clear response Fay states, “You see, if this groan came from the boy’s heart, then he was saved.” It is true that one can come to a salvation decision at their deathbed, but it should never be promoted to wait until then. Fay comes across when telling this story as if he boldly knew that this boy was saved. An “Uhhhh” is far from a “yes.”
Many Christians struggle in sharing their faith. This book provides a simple method for sharing one’s faith. The under arching theme of this book is a necessity for all Christians. All believers must be bold in sharing their faith without fear. Having fear is an invalid excuse for not witnessing to others. It is also disobedient to God. Fay’s simplistic methodology is biblically well supported. This method is one of many good methods in sharing one’s faith.
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