What is Evangelism?

God has so ordered his church that “there should be ministers or pastors to preach the Word of God.”[i] The church must send ministers to preach so that sinners can hear the gospel, call on Jesus, and be saved (Rom. 10:14, 15).

But the duty of gospel proclamation does not belong to ministers alone. Instead, ministers are “to equip the saints for the work of ministry” (Eph. 4:12). To be faithful Christians we should understand our call to faithfully evangelize. Rob Ventura’s forthcoming book Equipped to Evangelize: A Biblical Foundation (Christian Focus, 2025) lays seven foundations to help Christians reach the lost.

The Need for Evangelism

Everything wrong with this world flows from the problem of sin which can be cured only through the life of Jesus. Evangelism is needed because sinners have become alienated from the life of God and must be reconciled to him (Eph. 4:18).

And though we want to see converts, we must not equate evangelism with that desired outcome. If we equate evangelism with results, we might either use spiritual manipulation or become discouraged by meager visible fruit. But evangelism is truly successful if we declare the message that by trusting in Christ sinners can be completely forgiven and receive eternal life. We must tell the truth. God must open the heart and give new life (Acts 16:14).

Sinners don’t simply need to improve their lives; they need to hear how they can find new life in Jesus (Rom. 10:17). So who should we tell?

The Scope of Evangelism

We might be inclined to speak to people with backgrounds or worldviews like ours or who seem open to Christ. Similarly, the mostly-Jewish early church struggled to accept that “Gentile sinners” (Gal. 2:15) could join God’s family. But God helped them overcome their prejudices (Acts 10:15).

Jesus is “a light for all the nations;” he brings salvation “to the end of the earth” (Is. 42:1, 6; 49:6). So the gospel “ought to be announced and declared without differentiation or discrimination to all nations and people” (Matt. 28:18; Acts. 1:8).[ii] We should “long to see [God’s] churches full, that all the chosen race may, with one voice and heart and soul, sing [his] redeeming grace.”[iii] To have that longing requires right motives. 

The Motives for Evangelism

Despite the challenges of evangelism Christians have good reasons to do it. Christians evangelize to glorify God. When people come to faith they join us in worshiping God and living according to his will. Christians should want that. But even if unbelievers foolishly reject that good news God is glorified when we tell others about his gracious willingness to save (John 17:4). 

Christians also evangelize to love their neighbors. Like God we should “[desire] all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4; cf. Rom. 10:1). Is there anything more loving than to tell people how to escape hell and know God’s love? Paul is blunt: “Knowing therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men” (2 Cor. 5:11). But who is the “we”?

The Agents of Evangelism

God sovereignly saves sinners. But he is often pleased to do so through the means of the spoken gospel (Rom. 10:17). Sometimes God works through the official proclamation of the word. But he also works through lay people exercising the prophetic office of believer. Acts 8:4 says that “those who were scattered went about preaching the word.” Luke’s word for preaching is simply evangelizing. These evangelists weren’t the apostles (see Acts 8:1) but ordinary believers who were not ashamed of the gospel but believed that it was the power of God to save (Rom. 1:16).  In Acts 11:19 persecuted believers didn’t preach the gospel as official heralds. But they did speak it as commissioned Christians.

If you know the grace of God, the Lord is calling you to talk about his grace to those who are “strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” Eph. 2:12). So what should you say?

The Message of Evangelism

If the gospel is a strong saving message we must get it right. It tells about God the righteous, man the rebel, Jesus the redeemer, and our response. First, the holy God created all things, justly imposes duties on his creatures, and exacts the penalty of hell for rebellious sinners. Second, all people have rebelled against God and are dead in sin (Eph. 2:1). Although people know God they do not honor him (Rom. 1:21). Third, a sinner’s only hope is redemption in Christ. God’s eternal Son took on humanity to die for our sins and rise to reckon us righteous (Rom. 4:25). Fourth, sinners must respond to that message with repentance and faith (Matt. 3:2; Acts 19:4). By repentance we change our mind and the course of our life. By faith we trust in Jesus’ suffering and righteousness.

And every time you share that message something powerful happens. What does that mean?

The Results of Evangelism

Paul outlines what always occurs when people tell others the gospel. “We are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life” (2 Cor. 2:15, 16). Some people hear the gospel and choose death. Others by the Spirit’s power, trust Christ. 

We don’t know how people will respond. But as many as are appointed to eternal life will believe (Acts 1:48). Those who do must be pointed to a local church where they can grow into mature disciples (Acts 2:41–42). The church has a central role in faithful evangelism.

Still, the pressure isn’t all on us. To understand the difference between our responsibility and God’s effective work we need to know about the true power of evangelism.

The Power of Evangelism

Jesus’ first witnesses received power when the Holy Spirit came upon them (Acts 1:8; 2:1–13). The Holy Spirit—a divine person who inhabits all believers—transformed fearful, doubting men into courageous and confident witnesses of Jesus’ life and saving work. “It is the Spirit who gives life” (John 6:63), lights up dark minds (1 Cor. 2:14–16), releases captives from “the spiritual sway of the wicked one” (1 John 5:19), makes dead branches fruitful (Gal. 5:22, 23), and enables true service to God (Acts 4:31).

The Holy Spirit can use even your feeblest efforts to make Christ known to lost people. You don’t need “plausible words of wisdom” but the “demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (1 Cor. 2:4). The gospel’s transformational power lies in God’s work, not your presentation.

If you are a Christian, you are an evangelist. To be equipped for this great work read your Bible and gather to hear God’s word proclaimed. Pray for hearty courage for the work. And trust God that, despite your weaknesses, he will use you to leave the savor of his precious son Jesus. Toward that glorious effort Equipped to Evangelize: A Biblical Foundation will be a great help.