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Resurrection of Christ in Evangelism

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  • Resurrection of Christ in Evangelism

    So recently I was doing Bible study with a girl. We looked at 1 Cor 15:1-22, Romans 3:21-26 and Acts 10:34-43. Before we met up, I had my friend write out her view of the gospel (and I wrote my version as well). We looked at what we wrote before diving into scripture.

    One thing I noticed with her gospel presentation as well as another student's gospel story is that they both left out the resurrection of Christ from their gospel story entirely. It just ended with the death of Christ that was the payment for sin and an invitation to believe in Jesus.

    Question: why do you think Christians forget to mention the resurrection when they talk about the gospel?
    sigpic

  • #2
    I have always majored on the resurrection being (who was it that said) "the gatepost on which the gate of Salvation is hinged".

    If Christ be not risen from the dead, we all might as well quit and go home (to paraphrase the Apostle)
    The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

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    • #3
      By the way, hats off to Mrs Hill, who was 192 years old when she was my Sunday School Teacher when I was about 8.

      She said many things I will never forget, like.....

      "The way you can remember the difference between the Pharisees and the Sadducees is that the Sadducees didn't believe in the resurrection ---- that's why they were so SAD, you SEE?"

      The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post
        By the way, hats off to Mrs Hill, who was 192 years old when she was my Sunday School Teacher when I was about 8.

        She said many things I will never forget, like.....

        "The way you can remember the difference between the Pharisees and the Sadducees is that the Sadducees didn't believe in the resurrection ---- that's why they were so SAD, you SEE?"

        Thjat joke must be older than Mrs. Hill!
        When I Survey....

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Faber View Post
          Thjat joke must be older than Mrs. Hill!
          Wait, WHAT? It's a JOKE?
          The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Faber View Post
            Thjat joke must be older than Mrs. Hill!
            But still younger than Mossy...



            That's what
            - She

            Without a clear-cut definition of sin, morality becomes a mere argument over the best way to train animals
            - Manya the Holy Szin (The Quintara Marathon)

            I may not be as old as dirt, but me and dirt are starting to have an awful lot in common
            - Stephen R. Donaldson

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post
              I have always majored on the resurrection being (who was it that said) "the gatepost on which the gate of Salvation is hinged".

              If Christ be not risen from the dead, we all might as well quit and go home (to paraphrase the Apostle)
              Yeah, I think that your generation has had it right when it comes to the resurrection. But I guess it's something I've noticed with college students and younger. Granted, they were only 2 students recently, but I've heard it before. They majored on the cross a lot.
              sigpic

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              • #8
                There is really not much "Good News" if there is no resurrection.
                Micah 6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Jedidiah View Post
                  There is really not much "Good News" if there is no resurrection.
                  Definitely! In fact, 1 Corinthians 15:17 says, "And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins." But I have still seen the phenomenon, so I want to get down to the reason why.

                  I PMed back and forth a bit with 37818, and he found a number of tract sites that do not use the resurrection in most of their evangelistic tracts. Take a look around tracts.ca and Bible Truth Publishers and only one of the tracts he saw mentioned the resurrection of Christ.

                  For example, here is some content from one of the Bible Publisher's tracts(bold parts mine):

                  His rest is given, never earned. He gives it because neither you nor I could ever pay for it. The Lord Jesus Christ took the punishment that I deserved for my disobedience to God. “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). He offers abundant life, freedom for the conscience and a home with Himself. God couldn’t state the case more clearly than this: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24).
                  It only mentioned his death, not his resurrection.

                  The Fellowship Tract League has a number of good tracts, but some of them also forget to mention the resurrection. For instance, "God's Message to you:"

                  WHAT YOU MUST DO:
                  1. Admit your need(I am a sinner).
                  2. Be willing to turn from your sin(repent).
                  3. Believe that Jesus Christ died for you on the cross.
                  4. Through prayer, invite Jesus to come in an control your heart and life(receive Him as Saviour and Lord).
                  This Navigators Tract does mention the resurrection, but only in passing as you are praying the sinner's prayer. It doesn't explain it in the main text, which could be confusing for people:

                  There is only one way to find peace with God, and the Bible says it is through Jesus Christ. We were stranded without any way of getting back to our Creator, and we needed a way to pay for our sins and be clean again so that we could be welcomed back to be with Him. Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” So this is the Good News—that even though we were still enemies of God (as one translation says), Jesus came to die on the cross and pay the price for our sins so that we could have a relationship with Him again. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
                  ..........
                  So how can I have peace with God, life to the full, and be confident of eternal life like these verses say? First, through an honest prayer to God, I have to admit that I’m not perfect—that I can’t escape my sins, and I can’t save myself. I follow this admission by believing that Jesus Christ died for me on the cross and rose from the grave, conquering death and sin. Then I invite Jesus Christ to live in me and be the Lord of my life, accepting His free gift of eternal life with Him.
                  This famous Steps to Peace with God tract definitely hits the nail on the head, by explicitly putting the resurrection in the evangelistic message.

                  I guess what I'm saying here is that maybe for some reason, the resurrection is not always mentioned or is hardly mentioned in some gospel presentations and I'd like to get down to the reason why.

                  Here are my theories:
                  1. For the sake of brevity
                  2. An incomplete understanding of the importance of the resurrection
                  3. Penal substitutionary atonement not technically requiring the resurrection so those who hold only to that don't care about the resurrection
                  sigpic

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                  • #10
                    And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
                    (Acts 4:1-2 ESV)

                    And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.
                    (Acts 4:33 ESV)

                    Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.
                    (Acts 17:18 ESV)

                    It appears to me that when the apostles evangelized they spoke more about the resurrection than about the death of Christ. Everyone dies. Without the resurrection there is nothing special about Christ's death.
                    The brutal, soul-shaking truth is that we are so earthly minded we are of no heavenly use.
                    Leonard Ravenhill

                    https://clydeherrin.wordpress.com/

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Jedidiah View Post
                      There is really not much "Good News" if there is no resurrection.
                      I take issue with the so-called "Four Spiritual Laws" which never mentioned the resurrection, but states that "God has a wonderful plan for your life." Just "the more abundant life," which I take to mean a better life here on earth. At least that's what I got from other Campus Crusade literature and from Bill Bright. Death was nothing more than "separation from God."

                      Sinners are separated from God and enjoying it. What could the spiritual laws offer them?

                      I can't imagine anything being called a gospel that makes no mention of the resurrection, heaven or eternal life.
                      When I Survey....

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                      • #12
                        If I recall correctly, the new Knowing God Personally tracts based on the four spiritual laws does make mention of Jesus' resurrection, but it's not emphasized as much because you have to get through all four points quickly.
                        sigpic

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                        • #13
                          I was in a class on the theology and practice of Evangelism, and so naturally one of the first topics of discussion was, "What is the Good News?" Every student worked with one or two others to come up with something to share, and the teacher wrote them all down and then we took that and put it together and then compared it with a much better definition, but I recall that almost everyone mentioned the Cross, and almost no one the Resurrection, there were a few mentions of the perfect life, and none of the virgin birth.
                          Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith? -Galatians 3:5

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by heartablaze View Post
                            If I recall correctly, the new Knowing God Personally tracts based on the four spiritual laws does make mention of Jesus' resurrection, but it's not emphasized as much because you have to get through all four points quickly.
                            Those little booklets are tools - it would be up to the 'evangelist' to fill in the details.
                            The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post
                              Those little booklets are tools - it would be up to the 'evangelist' to fill in the details.
                              Agreed. In fact, I once attended a marriage seminar sponsored by Campus Crusade. In a Gospel presentation, the leaders added the essentials that the Four Spiritual Laws left out.

                              Any tract or pamphlet is pretty much useless if not accompanied by personal contact and a clear presentation of the full plan of salvation.

                              But not including the details is like your garage mechanic leaving out the part about needing a new transmission.
                              When I Survey....

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