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The Soul-Winning Perplexity—A Christian Puzzle

www.bibleone.net

 

Preface

 

The title of this study is meant to convey that the concept of soul-winning by evangelicals varies to such a degree that it becomes a perplexing puzzle to the serious student of Bible doctrine, particularly as it relates to the “appropriation step” of eternal life.  This study will present various positions of this step as used by evangelical Christians and compare them to actual New Testament one-on-one soul-winning occurrences.  In one of the most notable New Testament occurrences the reader will be challenged to select the correct “appropriation step” from a list of contemporary popular ones.  The purpose of this format is to stimulate the reader to “think” and to become aware of God’s Word on the matter rather than to robotically follow traditional norms.

 

The term “soul-winning,” at least in evangelical circles, refers to the procedure of bringing a person whose condition is “lost” (spiritually dead) to a condition of “saved” (spiritually alive).  By “lost” is meant a condition that will determine a person’s eternal destiny to be apart from God and in the lake of fire.  By “saved” is meant a condition that will determine a person’s eternal destiny to be in union and fellowship with God in heaven.

 

God’s Part

 

The Bible clearly declares that except for Christ, every person born of woman is “lost” or “spiritually dead” due to sin; and if left in this state, will eventually pass through the portal of physical death into the lake of fire for all eternity.

 

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)

 

But the Scripture has confined all under sin . . . . (Galatians 3:22)

 

For the wages of sin is death . . . . (Romans 6:23)

 

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned. (Romans 5:12)

 

But the Bible also states that the purpose of the incarnation of Jesus Christ was to “seek and to save . . . the lost” (Matthew 18:11; Luke 19:10)—the “lost” being both Jews and Gentiles (Acts 10:45; 11:18; Romans 10:12, 13).  The instrumental act of Christ that made the salvation of mankind possible was His vicarious (substitution) spiritual death (Matthew 27:45, 46; Mark 15:33, 34; John 19:30) upon the cross of Calvary; whereupon, He became mankind’s “sacrificial lamb” by literally taking upon Himself the sin of man and becoming that sin in order to pay God’s penalty-price for sin:

 

For He [God] made Him [Christ] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

 

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"). (Galatians 3:13)

 

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. (Hebrews 2:9)

 

Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. (1 Peter 2:24)

 

And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins . . . . (1 John 3:5)

 

This sacrificial spiritual death upon the cross by God’s Son satisfied God’s demand for justice and thereby freed God to accept man into heaven (Romans 3:25, 26; 1 John 2:2).  Subsequent to Christ’s spiritual death upon the cross, He voluntarily and unilaterally relinquished His physical life, for no man could take it from Him (Matthew 27:50; Luke 23:46; John 10:17, 18).    Christ was then buried but on the third day He rose from the grave, which act validated His person (deity—God incarnate) and His message of salvation for all mankind (the Gospel).

 

Man’s Part

 

Although God has unilaterally in grace reached out to man by providing all that is necessary for his salvation, the Bible clearly reveals that not all men will be saved.  Even though God has provided eternal salvation as a free gift for every person (Ephesians 2:8; Revelation 22:17), not everyone will avail himself of God’s grace-gift.  It is up to each person to receive it—to appropriate it in accordance with God’s clear instructions as provided in His Word.

 

God has ordained that His message of salvation be carried by His children (those who have been saved) throughout the world in order that individuals may be “won over to Christ,” hence, the term “soul-winning.”

 

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.

(Proverbs 11:30)

 

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)

 

And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. (Mark 16:15)

 

The Perplexing Puzzle

 

The crux of the matter is now the focus.  Once the facts of a person’s lost condition and destination under this condition and Christ’s nature, incarnation, sacrificial death and resurrection are known by one who is “lost;” how does the Bible tell that lost person what definitive step he is to take to acquire or appropriate eternal life in order to be “saved.”? 

 

It is at this juncture the “plan of salvation” varies among evangelicals.  The means of appropriating God’s grace-gift of eternal salvation becomes a mixed bag, some saying one thing and some another.  Often there are several “steps” presented as the way to receive salvation.  At best this may be confusing to the listener; at worst, it can be construed as some personal “work” (self-effort) that brings on the “saved state.”

 

That which becomes immediately apparent to the student of Bible doctrine is that most of these “appropriating provisions” that are proffered to the “lost” are not found in the Bible; and, in fact, some are derived from misinterpretations of only one or two biblical verses.  One would think that to know the correct “appropriation step” of God’s salvation message, it could be discovered and determined with certainty by visiting the few examples within the Bible wherein a Christian leads a lost person to appropriate God’s grace-gift of salvation.  And indeed it can.  This would surely be the logical discovery means for the inquiring Christian mind; therefore, this study will now focus on the few one-on-one soul-winning events recorded in the Bible.

 

Biblical One-On-One Soul-Winning Models

 

One of the most notable examples of a person informing a lost person how he may appropriate God’s eternal salvation is found in Acts 16:30, 31, wherein the Philippian jailer specifically asked the apostle Paul, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”  At this Paul replied with a specific answer.  And now reader here is your test.  What do you think was Paul’s response?  Select the correct response from the following possibilities:

 

  • Confess your sins to God and be willing to turn from them and place your faith in Jesus Christ.

 

  • Open the door to your heart and invite Jesus to come into your heart and save you.

 

  • Repeat after me the “sinner’s prayer.”

 

  • Repent of your sins and believe on Jesus Christ.

 

  • Ask Christ to forgive your sins and accept Him by faith as Lord and Master of your life.

 

  • Commit your life to Jesus Christ.

 

  • Confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

  • Ask God to be merciful to you, a sinner.

 

  • Tell God you are sorry for your sins and place your faith in Christ.

 

  • Believe and be baptized and you will be saved.

 

  • Believe on and make a public profession of your faith in Jesus Christ.

 

  • Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.

 

The only correct response is the last one.  Paul never mentioned repentance, making Jesus “Lord” of his life, declaring his faith publicly, the requirement to parrot a “sinner’s prayer,” asking for forgiveness, inviting Christ into his heart or baptism or any other “requirement.”  He only said:  “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”  Nothing more!  Succinct, certainly!  But Paul’s answer is quite comprehensive once one understands the concept of “believe” (and also of “faith”) in that day.

 

Another one-on-one example is found in Acts 8:26-39 wherein after presenting Christ through the Scriptures to the Ethiopian eunuch on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza, Philip made it clear that he could follow Christ in believer’s baptism “If you believe with all your heart.”  To this the eunuch said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”  Here again, the appropriating means of receiving God’s grace-gift of eternal salvation is only a genuine belief (faith) in Jesus Christ.

 

Again in Acts 17:12 the only means of appropriating salvation for those at Berea was faith in Christ.  And although in the book of Acts the act of faith (belief) is mentioned along side of repentance and baptism, a proper exegetical understanding of these few verses makes it quite clear that the unmeritorious act of placing one’s faith in Christ is the only means one may apprehend eternal life.  The same goes for the passage in the book of Romans (chapter 10) where faith is mentioned along side “confess with the mouth” and “call on the name of the Lord.”  Here, when proper exegesis is exercised along with the contextual review of the Old Testament passages to which these verses refer, it is clear that eternal salvation is only appropriated by an act of faith in Jesus Christ.

 

The supreme example of a one-on-one relationship in which the means of appropriating God’s grace-gift of salvation is found in John 3:1-18.  Here the Lord Jesus Christ Himself makes it clear to the Pharisee Nicodemus that the only means of appropriating salvation is by believing in Him.  In fact, accompanying best known soul-winning verse of Scripture in the entire Bible (John 3:16), Christ mentions faith at least four other times as the only requirement for obtaining eternal life.

 

The Objection to Faith Alone

 

But evangelicals often object to stipulating faith alone in Christ as the only means of appropriating salvation.  They do this at times by parroting the verse in the book of James (2:19):  “You believe that there is one God.  You do well.  Even the demons believe—and tremble!  There point being that“head knowledge” and not“heart knowledge” is in view and therefore “believing without commitment” is non-efficacious.  Unfortunately, on their part, this shows a misunderstanding of the “kind” of salvation that is in view in the book of James.  It also violates the one-on-one models of presenting God’s salvation above.  They fail to understand what the Greek meaning of the words translated believe and faith, which are used in the New Testament as the appropriation step of eternal life, i.e., salvation.

 

It should be reiterated at this point that the exhibition of faith (belief) is always based upon a series of “facts,” i.e., the person’s realization of his condition and the biblical facts relating to Christ (deity, incarnation, death and resurrection).  These “facts” may start as “head knowledge,” but the exercise of faith makes them personal and a reality.  In other words, the lost person accepts “ownership” of such data through the instrumental and non-meritorious step of faith,

 

Whereas today one may interpret these words as “head knowledge,” in biblical times they would not be so misunderstood.  To “believe in or on” or express “faith in” Jesus Christ could be understood in only one way.  The person would know that it meant he was to place his full trust or confidence in Christ for his personal salvation—and in nothing or no one else.  And this is not a prayer; it is a decision that the individual makes within and by his will, i.e., a “willful decision” that may indeed be followed by a prayer.

 

Repentance is another step oft mentioned as part of the appropriation process.  But repentance was not a sorrow for or turning from sin, something that a lost person under the control of the sin nature can not possibly do.  Biblical repentance simply meant a “turning to Christ from any other confidence” for one’s personal salvation.  The same goes for “commitment.”  The lost person cannot commit to Christ as Lord.  Lordship of Christ is only possible after one becomes a child of God; and, in fact, it is not an instantaneous event.  It is a progressive process biblically identified as “sanctification.” 

 

It is also impossible for a lost person to “confess” all his sins (a misapplication of 1 John 1:9), much less to even know all his sins.  And it is non-efficacious to ask God to forgive one’s sin in order to be saved.  This is automatically a finished transaction in regards to one’s eternal standing before God once faith is exercised in Jesus Christ.  The same goes for requiring a person to make a “public profession” as part of obtaining eternal life—a misuse of Luke 12:8, 9.  To “invite Christ into one’s heart by opening one’s heart’s door” is to completely misconstrue the meaning of Revelation 3:20, a scripture that applies to Christians and not the lost.  And last but not least, there is never a mention of a “sinner’s prayer” in the Bible.  To misapply the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14) in this manner is truly unfortunate.

 

The Only Book in the Bible Written Specifically to Bring the Lost to a Saved Condition

 

Consider the only book in the Bible written specifically to inform a lost person how to obtain God’s grace-gift of eternal salvation—the book of John.  Its primary purpose and focus is as follows:

 

But these [the book of John] are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. (John 20:31)

 

A careful review of this epistle reveals that only faith in Christ alone is offered as the means to apprehend or appropriate God’s grace-gift of eternal life.  Repentance, confession of sins, commitment, praying, and all else is never mentioned.

 

The Preponderance of Scripture Indicates Only Faith

 

In fact, should the reader wish to compile a list of scriptural passages relating to the way one is to appropriate eternal salvation, he will find that the vast majority of listings point to only one requirement—the non-meritorious expression (decision of the will) of faith alone in Christ alone.  This is far better addressed by the following acknowledged and distinguished Bible theologians and scholars:  Lewis Sperry Chafer, D.D., Litt.D., Th.D., Late President and Professor of Systematic Theology, Dallas Theological Seminary, author of Systematic Theology; Robert B. Thieme, Jr., distinguished Bible scholar and pastor of the Berachah Church, Houston, Texas, author of numerous commentaries and studies on the Bible; William MacDonald, author of the Believer’s Bible Commentary.  Some of their comments follow:

 

In the preceding pages it is also pointed out that the New Testament declares directly and without complication in at least 150 passages that men are saved upon the sole principle of faith; and, in this connection, it has been demonstrated that it is not a matter of believing and repenting, of believing and confessing Christ, of believing and being baptized, of believing and surrender to God, of believing and confessing sin, or of believing and pleading with God for salvation, but it is believing alone.  Such belief is apart from works (Rom 4:5) . . . a definite turning—and act of the will—to God from every other confidence (1 Thess. 1:9). . . .

 

There are two convincing reasons why the Scripture under consideration does not present two human responsibilities in relation to salvation by grace.

 

a.      To claim that a public confession of Christ as Savior is required in addition to believing on Christ, is to contend that 150 passages in which believing alone appears are incomplete and to that extent misleading.  A certain type of mind, however, seems able to construct all its confidence on an erroneous interpretation of one passage and to be uninfluenced by the overwhelming body of Scripture which contradicts that interpretation.

 

b.      To require a public confession of Christ as a prerequisite to salvation by grace is to discredit the salvation of an innumerable company who have been saved under circumstance which precluded any public action.

 

Confession of Christ is a Christian’s privilege and duty and may be undertaken at the moment one is saved, but it is not a condition of salvation by grace, else works of merit intrude where only the work of God reigns. . . .

 

As before stated, repentance, which is a change of mind, is included in believing.  No individual can turn to Christ from some other confidence without a change of mind, and that, it should be noted, is all the repentance a spiritually dead individual can ever affect.  That change of mind is the work of the Spirit (Eph. 2:8).  It will be considered, too, by those who are amenable to the Word of God, that the essential preparation of heart which the Holy Spirit accomplishes in the unsaved to prepare them for an intelligent and voluntary acceptance of Christ as Savior—as defined in John 16:8-11—is not a sorrow for sin.  The unsaved who come under this divine influence are illuminated—given a clear understanding—concerning but one sin, namely, that “they believe not on me.”. . . .

 

Few errors have caused so much hindrance to the salvation of the lost than the practice of demanding of them an anguish of soul before faith in Christ can be exercised.  Since such emotions cannot be produced at will, the way of salvation has thus been made impossible for all who do not experience the required anguish.  This error results in another serious misdirection of the unsaved, namely, one in which they are encouraged to look inward at themselves and not away to Christ as Savior.  Salvation is made to be conditioned on feelings and not on faith.  Likewise, people are led by this error to measure the validity of their salvation by the intensity of anguish which preceded or accompanied it.  It is in this manner that sorrow of heart becomes a most subtle form of meritorious work and to that extent a contradiction of grace. 

 

Underlying all this supposition that tears and anguish are necessary is the most serious notion that God is not propitious, but that He must be softened to pity by penitent grief.  The Bible declares that God is propitious because of Christ’s death for the very sin which causes human sorrow.  There is no occasion to melt or temper the heart of God.  His attitude toward sin and the sinner is a matter of revelation.  To imply, as preachers have done so generally, that God must be mollified and lenified by human agony is a desperate form of unbelief.  The unsaved have a gospel of good news to believe, which certainly is not the mere notion that God must be coaxed into a saving attitude of mind; it is that Christ has died and grace is extended from One who is propitious to the point of infinity.

 

To believe on Christ is one act, regardless of the manifold results which it secures.  It is not turning from something to something; but rather turning to something from something.  If this terminology seems a mere play on words, it will be discovered, by more careful investigation, that this is a vital distinction.  To turn from evil may easily be a complete act in itself, since the action can be terminated at that point.  To turn to Christ is a solitary act, also, and the joining of these two separate acts corresponds to the notion that two acts—repentance and faith—are required for salvation.

 

 On the other hand, turning to Christ from all other confidences is one act, and in that one act repentance, which is a change of mind, is included.  The Apostle stresses this distinction in accurate terms when he says to the Thessalonians, “Ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (1 Thess. 1:9).  This provides no comfort for those who contend that people must first, in real contrition, turn from idols—which might terminate at that point—and afterwards, as a second and separate act, turn to God.  The text recognizes but one act—“Ye turned to God from idols”—and that is an act of faith alone. . . .

 

In the foregoing, an attempt has been made to demonstrate that the Biblical doctrine of repentance offers no objection to the truth that salvation is by grace through faith apart from every suggestion of human works or merit.  It is asserted that repentance, which is a change of mind, enters of necessity into the very act of believing on Christ, since one cannot turn to Christ from other objects of confidence without that change of mind.  Upwards of 150 texts—including all of the greatest gospel invitations—limit the human responsibility in salvation to believing or to faith.  To this simple requirement nothing could be added if the glories of grace are to be preserved. . . .

 

With the reception of the divine nature through the regenerating work of the Spirit, a new understanding and a new capacity to respond to the authority of Christ are gained.  Those attending upon these issues in practical ways are aware that a self-dedication taxes the limit of ability even of the most devout believer.  The error of imposing Christ’s Lordship upon the unsaved is disastrous even though they are not able intelligently to resent it or to remind the preacher of the fact that he, in calling upon them to dedicate their lives, is demanding of them what they have no ability to produce. . . . The most subtle, self-satisfying form of works of merit is, after all, found to be an engaging feature in this practice of applying to unbelievers the Lordship of Christ. . . . The unregenerate person, because of his condition in spiritual death, has no ability to desire the things of God (1 Cor. 2:14), or to anticipate what his outlook on life will be after he is saved.  It is therefore an error of the first magnitude to divert that feeble ability of the unsaved to exercise a God-given faith for salvation into the unknown and complex spheres of self-dedication, which dedication is the Christian’s greatest problem. . . .

 

Outside the doctrines related to the Person and work of Christ, there is no truth more far-reaching in its implications and no fact more to be defended than that salvation in all its limitless magnitude is secured, so far as human responsibility is concerned, by believing on Christ as Savior.  To this one requirement no other obligation may be added, without violence to the Scriptures and total disruption of the essential doctrine of salvation by grace alone.

 

(From Systematic Theology, by Lewis Sperry Chafer, D.D., Litt.D., Th.D., Late President and Professor of Systematic Theology, Dallas Theological Seminary, Kregel Publications, 1993)

 

You find the same sort of problem today in Lordship salvation—faith plus commitment.  As a spiritually dead person you can never make Christ ‘Lord,’ or gain the approbation of God by making a dedication, walking an aisle, raising your hands, jumping through a psychological hoop.  You can never invite Christ into your heart or into your life.  When you invite Christ into your spiritually dead heart, you are inviting Him into a sewer; you are inviting Him into a tomb.  Instead, God summons you to share His eternal life through faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Only the Holy Spirit can make Christ your Lord at the moment you express nonmeritorious faith in Christ alone. Unbelievers are spiritually dead and there is only one thing a spiritually dead person can do for salvation.  He cannot make a commitment; he cannot make Christ Lord; he cannot go through agonizing emotional activity.  He must simply believe in the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved (Acts 16:31). . . .

 

Let us examine the concept of faith.  In eternity past our sins were collected in one PROM chip in the computer of divine decrees.  The omniscience of God knew all the knowable and programmed this one chip with all the sins of human history.  The impeccable humanity of Christ on the cross received the imputation of and the judgment for all those sins.  Our Sins went before the Supreme Court of Heaven and were expunged.  This is why anyone who expresses faith alone in Jesus Christ can be eternally saved. 

 

Yet this believing faith issues from a spiritually dead person.  Such faith has no value or validity in itself.  The value of faith lies in its object, Jesus Christ, and the validity of faith exists only through the power of the Holy Spirit who causes faith to be effective for salvation.  Faith is not meritorious; the merit belongs to Jesus Christ for His work on the cross and to the Holy Spirit who substantiates faith by His work of common and efficacious grace.

 

(From various works by Robert B. Thieme, distinguished Bible scholar and pastor of the Berachah Church, Houston, Texas)

 

When we present the gospel, we must maintain that faith is the sole condition of justification. (William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary)

 

Conclusion

 

The only means whereby an individual may appropriate God’s grace-gift of salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone.  To present anything in addition to this one non-meritorious requirement—that of making a genuine decision to place one’s total trust and confidence in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice at Calvary—is to “muddy the waters” and possibly confuse the lost who need this “good news” message.  And, if for no other reason, consider this:  to so “muddy” the presentation of the gospel message is to violate God’s clear instructions on the matter.

 

There is no doubt in this writer’s mind that there will be a large host in heaven who have properly come to Christ through faith even though their introduction to Him was “muddied” by one of the previously listed plethora of “appropriation provisions;” BUT, they will have come to Christ as a direct result of realizing that it was only faith (genuine trust/confidence) in Christ—a decision of their will—that secures eternal life.  In fact, some will have been actually “saved” (a decision of total and genuine faith in Christ that they will have made without any fanfare or notoriety) after their so-called “salvation experience,” their parroting of the “sinner’s prayer,” or their “profession of faith.”

 

There is little doubt that this study will be summarily dismissed by many ardent soul-winners who have been engrained with their “successful” methodology of bringing a lost person to Christ.  Some will actually refuse to change because they will then be subject to some form of failure, guilt, or embarrassment.  This writer prays this will not be the case.  Rather, he truly hopes that they will understand that God knows the “good intentions” of their hearts, which will only produce eternal rewards.  And it is the hope of this writer that they will henceforth, when reaching the final step of leading a person to Christ, simply ask the person to make a genuine, willful decision to totally trust Jesus Christ and His work on Calvary for his or her personal salvation.  It will then do no harm to ask the person if he has in fact made such a decision.  Upon the person’s affirmation, the soul-winner may then be assured that the person is “saved,” and should continue to minister to the new believer in regards to biblical sanctification (the maturing in Christ through absorption of Bible doctrine, biblical practices, and associations).