[Evangelism] Discussion post: "Evangelism & the Gospel" (60/60, 8/29/2025)

The Essentials of the Gospel

     As outlined in the “An Anthropology of the Gospel” by Elijah Housse, the components  of the gospel are “1) creation, 2) fall, 3) redemption, and 4) glorification.”[1] Creation account illustrates how God by His word (cf. John 1:1) , created the heaven and earth and everything in between them, all the animals, plants, birds, fish—essentially every living things belonging to the animal kingdom and plant kingdom under the classification of the discipline of taxonomy, which exist not only on earth, but all the solar systems and the constellations of stars in the sky, etc., from nothing (Genesis 1:1-2:3); most importantly, God created man and woman as in the first human couple Adam and his lawfully-wedded wife Eve with God as the master of ceremony (Genesis 2:4-25). God installed all the physical and natural laws to govern the behavior and movement of the created objects as in the gravity, electromagnetic forces, nuclear forces. All the cosmic forces such as dominant dark energy and dark matter were also created by the Almighty. It was perfect. It was very good (cf. Gen. 1:31) as the universe is constantly expanding outward set in motion by God.

     Then, perhaps gazillion years before the creation of humanity, there was a war in heaven as the prideful Lucifer led a rebel force against God Almighty, and of course, he had no chance as he and one third of the fallen celestial hosts were cast down from (the third) heaven (Isaiah 14:12; Luke 10:18). Then, Satan, the old serpent and his minions now occupying the sphere  outside the third heaven, most notably the second heaven, came to earth; Adam and Eve at the offer of “false immortality” and “false divinity” were deceived by the coaxing dragon, and fell from grace as they disobeyed God’s commandment and ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge of right and wrong (Genesis 2:17). However, merciful God had a redemption plan for the humanity and final solution for the fallen Satan and fallen angels, as the seed of woman (God Himself), would come and rescue the humanity and crush the head of Satan as only He is qualified and able to do (cf. Genesis 3:1-24).

     Redemption is only through Jesus Christ the Son of God (cf. Psalm 49:15; Isaiah 7:14; 9:6; 43:11, “I alone am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior.”; 43:13; 45:22; John 3:16; John 14:6; Acts 4:12) as He is the lamb of God, a sinless & perfect ransom for many so that whosever believes in Him will not perish, but receive eternal life. This is crucial--Jesus being fully God and fully human; as He more than adequately demonstrated His divinity through numerous supernatural YHWH God-invoking miracles, healings, exorcisms of the evil spirits, (cf. Mark 6:30-44; John 11:38-40; Psalm 107:29-31; Matthew 8:23-27; John 4:6; Matthew 4:2, etc.) and His humanity, He is fully qualified to die for the sins of humanity and be able to cleanse and forgive their sins because His blood and sacrifice is THAT POWERFUL because He is the Son of God, Son of Man. Immanuel He is. As always has been.

     The glimpse into future glorification was demonstrated by Jesus Himself as He transfigured into His Glorious transfigured state on the mount of Transfiguration as He chatted with Moses and Elijah (Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36) as there are no physical natural laws which would bound Him. Such was His glorified body after resurrection as He moved around the physical world as if He were a ghost of some sort invoking the supernatural power that He is fully possessed of rendering the physical space, dimensions and time ineffective against Him (cf. John 20:19; Mark 16:12; Luke 24:16; 1 Cor. 15:5). That is something the believers can look forward to as apostle Paul writes, “But we all, with unveiled faces, looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18 NASB; cf. Romans 8:29). Essentially, the saints will not experience the second death but will be resurrected just as their Lord and Savor Jesus did, since the death cannot contain them as their sins are all cleansed. However, the unsaved, the accursed, will be handed the second eternal death upon their physical death (Rom. 6:23) which will surely come as certain as the Tax Day on April 15 or the rise of the blazing sun in the next morning. (cf. Rev. 2:11; 20:6; 20:14; 21:8). It is critical to know that for every action committed/word uttered, there is equal and opposite consequence/repercussion for that. We have Jesus to run to, but who the unbelievers have? That is what it ultimately comes down to as we are eternally blessed and they are eternally cursed.

     As this humble author is fifty-seven years old—lifetime believer--and is hailing from a family who has accepted Christian faith for the past century (since the dawn of the twentieth century), there is really nothing which surprise him from what is written in “What Evangelism Is Not.”  He has been surrounded by and accessed to this kind of formal/informal training, education, and reminders all his life. Nothing in Christian education/faith would really shock nor surprise him at this point. However, this writer would humbly and sensibly offer and point out that perhaps the time for the international mission to reach out to the unreached people groups is coming to an end SOON as our focus will shift towards the domestic evangelism more vigorously and strategically. Politically, financially, spiritually, biblically—that refocused and re-shifted evangelism going forward in the future makes a far more sense than sending out costly, risky, unfruitful, unbearing, unbiblical international missionaries as business as usual. Of course, his two cents. This servant of God’s focus will be focused on the domestic pastoring and evangelism for a long while—regardless.  

[Bibliography]

Housse, Elijah, An Anthropology of the Gospel.

[1] Elijah Housse, An Anthropology of the Gospel, 9.

**My reply to someone named Felicia:

Dear Felicia, thanks for your post. I’d like to expand on a few things which you mentioned namely  #1“we must respond” and  #2 “evangelism encompassing the whole nine yards both in words and deeds.”

The bible mentions both the so-called “Calvinistic” view of double predestination (Rom. 9:18-23; Ephesians 1:4-5; cf. Proverbs 16:4) for both the saints and the reprobates, respectively and the Arminian view of free will of individuals to choose; absolutely. We’d have to embrace both, but heck of a lot more towards the one’s individual volitional power as in Arminianism since who knows what, who or how God has predestined (for each and every single one of us)? Who knows what is in store for 7 billion inhabitants on earth? Are you sure that your own mother and father are saved with 100% certainty? Perhaps… That is God’s prerogative in the Providence, the exclusive authority power zone for the Almighty alone. Leave it alone, pretty much. Our job as a mere man/Christian/a messenger of the gospel is basically #2 of my point, evangelism—to go out and preach to people, who need to be evangelized. Hopefully, those who have ears, let them hear (Matthew 11:15).  

I have been around numerous Calvinists for the entirety of my life, and I have nothing but healthy amount of justified contempt, disdain and scorching constructive criticism for their worldviews and behavior. It has been a big stumbling block for not only me, but many people in our community at large. However, as their idol Calvin wrote, “The refusal of the reprobate to obey the word of God when manifested to them, will be properly ascribed to the malice and depravity of their hearts, provided it be at the same time inscrutable judgment of God, to show forth his glory by their condemnation. In like manner, when it is said of the sons of Eli, that they would not listen to salutary admonitions “because the Lord would slay them” (1 Sam 2:25), it is not denied that their stubbornness was the result of their own iniquity; but it is at the same time stated why they were left to their stubbornness, when the Lord might have softened their hearts: namely, because his immutable decree had once for all doomed them to destruction. Hence the words of John, “though he done so many miracles before them, yet they believe not on him; that the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled which he spake, Lord, who has believed our report?” (John 12:37, 38).” [1] Precisely. The hardened disciples of JC (not Jesus Christ) know it exactly; they just simply refuse to act on it due to their stubbornness which JC (not Jesus Christ) spoke about ala Pharaoh.

When I was a young boy, South Korean Church was so hot on evangelism, and the Holy Spirit movement; those two things are the ones which really stood out in my prepubescent mind as the southern part of the divided country along the 38^th Parallel Demilitarized Zone  was so enraptured in the spreading of the gospel among the populace as it also began adopting the watered down corrupted unwelcomed elements of the prosperity false messages in droves as the nation previously experienced the devastations of the civil war which tore the peninsula apart in utter impoverished state. However, the code of conduct and morals and ethics of the evangelists were still wholesome, pure enough and the gifts of the HS manifested in full so that the significant number of people became converted. Yes, the deed and the word go hand in hand, and the unbelievers are watching every move we make and every word we utter.

[Bibliography]

Calvin, John, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Peabody, MA; Hendrickson Publishers Marketing, LLC, 2008.

[1] John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, (Peabody, MA; Hendrickson Publishers Marketing, LLC, 2008), 647.**

**My reply to someone named William:

William, I enjoyed reading your post. Thank you.

As you said, “Hebrews 9:22 teaches that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” The sacrifice of Christ is central. His death satisfied God’s justice, and His blood brings the forgiveness of sins. As John MacArthur notes, the Gospel has nothing to offer the proud rebel, but to the broken and repentant, it gives everything needed for life and godliness.” Absolutely. RIP John MacArthur, and who has not heard him preach at least once and not have been inspired by his words?  

(On one of my previous visits to Seoul, South Korea, I witnessed a short video clip of Joyce Meyer being presented to a throng of hundreds of South Korean Protestant churchgoers gathered at a certain mega church one wintery Sunday morning—where one of my Seoulite first cousins went. If it were not for my cousin, I would not have sat in that church in first place. That particular church is infamously known for its left-leaning Marxist-Socialist  political persuasions among the majority of its membership and leadership…Then on contrary I saw a patriotic South Korean conservative pastor in his middle age, who presented a series of sermons of John MacArthur to his likewise patriotic and awaken congregations on YouTube channel; that particular pastor and his whole church have been consistently persecuted by the  current pro-North Korean/-CCP full-blown Marxist communist regime/government as of late, and it has been largely portrayed as a some kind of social pariah by the corrupt CCP-bought out main stream media outlets. The times we are all living now: I have repeatedly maintained that I stand for the Truth, the Way and the Life, which is JC as I have no political interest in either or whatever party it may be.)

Well, yes the blood of Jesus, that is the difference maker from all other world religions out there: people would really need to contemplate on this topic long and hard as they ought to regarding the major points outlined in the Bible anyways. Why and how it can wash away any sins committed by any person in the whole wide world—from the beginning to the end. Over and over. Then, once he figures out the exact personhood of Jesus--who he really is, and what he stands for, His origin; his true identity--the grace, love, mercy, one feels towards his own salvation, the thankfulness, the emotions, the euphoria, the unworthiness, the joy, the tears, the sobs…the controllable sobs…streaming tears…That is utterly important as John MacArthur wrote, “But the apostles understood that Jesus Christ, being God in human flesh, is far more than any earthly kyrios. He is the Lord over every other lord, and the King over every other king. Put succinctly, He is the “Lord of all” (Acts 10:36), possessing the full weight of divine authority, for “in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form…and He is the head over all rule and authority” (Col. 2:9-10). He has been seated at “the right hand of the power of God” (Luke 22:69 NKJV) and all things have been put “in subjection under His feet” (Eph. 1:22)”[1] Need I say more?

[Bibliography]

MacArthur,  John, Slave: The Hidden Truth About Your Identity IN Christ, Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010.

[1] John MacArthur, Slave: The Hidden Truth About Your Identity IN Christ, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010), 85**