Personal
Evangelism Handbook
CHAPTER XIV
20th Century Protestantism
Through the study of church
history we discover that the majority of those
Protestant churches that were started during, and as a
result of, the 16th Century Reformation were formed as
an effort to have and maintain pure doctrine from the
Word of God in their worship.
Men such as Martin Luther were
certainly great men of God, who stood firmly for the
Word of God regardless of the terrible persecution they
received. Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin, and John Wesley
were bold servants of the Lord who helped in leading the
reform of the Christian church back to the fundamental
teachings of the Word of God.
However, the doctrines taught
when the various denominations were STARTED are not
necessarily the doctrines taught in these same
denominations today. There have been many splits
branching from the main denominations, and it is
difficult to correctly "label" a particular
doctrine as being taught by any entire denomination for
this reason.
To those churches and those
pastors who have remained true to the Word of God
despite the tremendous pressures put upon them by Satan,
men, and organizations, we say PRAISE GOD!
It is our desire for you, as a
soulwinner, to be able to recognize false doctrine
whenever you hear it, and to know how to present the
truth of that doctrine in an effective way. Often the
errors will have a bearing on salvation, and thus are of
vital importance.
It isn't our purpose to try to
"knock" or degrade any particular church or
denomination. Perhaps other churches bearing the same
name would teach the doctrine correctly. It isn't even
necessarily beneficial for you to connect automatically
a certain error with a certain church, because the error
may or may not be taught by a particular minister; also,
the error may vary in form or degree from one church to
another.
As an ambassador for Christ you
should never take for granted that a person knows the
Lord as his Saviour. Because he is a member of your
church, a Baptist church, Methodist, Presbyterian, or
Lutheran church, is no guarantee that he is saved.
In Paul's farewell address to
the elders of the Ephesian church he told them, "I
have not shunned to declare unto you ALL the counsel of
God" (Acts 20:27). He then mentions that it is
their duty, as Christian leaders, to FEED the flock and
to WARN the flock, "For I know this, that after my
departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not
sparing the flock" (v. 29 ) . If you are in the
position of leadership among Christians, not only is it
your responsibility to build the believers up through
the Word, but it is also your divinely-appointed task to
WARN those in your care of FALSE DOCTRINE.
The Apostle Peter also spoke of
the danger of false doctrine, taught by false teachers:
"But there were false prophets also among the
people, even as there shall be false teachers among you,
who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even
denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon
themselves swift destruction. And MANY shall follow
their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the WAY OF
TRUTH shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness
shall they with FEIGNED WORDS make merchandise of you .
. ." (II Peter 2:1-3).
Paul warned, "Now I
beseech you, brethren, MARK them which cause divisions
and offenses contrary to the DOCTRINE which ye have
learned; AND AVOID THEM" (Romans 16:17). You are
not to: accept their sponsorship . . . you and your
message are God-sponsored; or accept their money . . .
God will take care of your financial needs; or have them
on your platform . . . for what fellowship have you with
Satan?; or support their schools . . . you would be
perpetuating their errors; or send converts to their
churches . . . babes in Christ need the WORD!
The Bible is unmistakably clear
on this subject. "Be ye NOT unequally yoked
together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath
righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion
hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ
with Belial (Satan)? Or what part hath he that believeth
with an infidel?" (II Cor. 6:14, 15)
This verse isn't speaking about
people who don't believe in God. It is speaking of those
that do not believe that God took on flesh and made a
complete payment for their sin. And verse 17 says,
"Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye
SEPARATE, saith the Lord...."
I'm sure you know Christians
who, every time they hear a new preacher, say . . .
"My, wasn't he WONDERFUL?" The preacher may
have been off on salvation, messed up the invitation,
misused any number of Scriptures; yet if he was
humorous, quoted from famous men, or spoke with words so
large you couldn't understand what he was saying, many
people would think his message was WONDERFUL. The people
may have been so taken by his "sincerity and
spiritual tones" or his "vivid illustrations
and sentimental stories" that they did not stop to
see if this man's MESSAGE was true to the Word of God!
Scripture exhorts us "That
we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro and
carried about with EVERY WIND OF DOCTRINE, by the
sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie
in wait to deceive." What is a believer to do when
he hears something taught that does not "ring
clear" to him? How can we know what is Scriptural
and what is not?
"STUDY to shew thyself
approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be
ashamed, RIGHTLY DIVIDING the Word of truth" (II
Tim. 2: 15 ) .
"All Scripture is given by
inspiration of God, and is profitable for DOCTRINE, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness" (II Tim. 3:16).
Compare SCRIPTURE with
SCRIPTURE, not preacher with preacher! "Knowing
this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any
private interpretation" (II Peter 1:20). Scofield's
note says this means it is "not isolated from all
that the Word has given elsewhere." To understand
the Bible properly, you must compare all the verses
given on the subject under consideration. This takes
study. As a soulwinner, you should know the Bible well
enough to know IMMEDIATELY when you hear something
contrary to God's plan of salvation.
"Neo-evangelicals"
call those preachers who don't quite preach salvation
the way the Bible says, "fringe friends." Have
you read Galatians 1: 8 recently? Did it say, "But
though we, or an angel from heaven preach ANY other
gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto
you, let him be a fringe friend"? No! God uses
strong language because that is how He feels about the
matter. God says, "let him be ACCURSED."
Please at this time go back to
Chapter Seven and reread the reasons given for
Galatianism being an accursed message.
It is a tragedy . . . but many
Protestant churches today do not even believe the Bible
is the Word of God. Some would say the Bible
"becomes" the Word of God as an individual
comes into "contact" with Christ. Others say
the Bible "contains" the Word of God. Others
come right out and admit that they do not believe the
Bible is any more the Word of God than is the Koran or
the Book of Mormon. They teach that any book a person
finds uplifting to his soul, that book is inspired of
God to him.
Around the time of 1910-1930,
"Fundamentalism" or "Orthodoxy" was
strong. This school stood for the Bible as the
completely inerrant and inspired Word of God. R. A.
Torrey, J. Gresham Machen, Robert Dick Wilson, and
Benjamin Warfield-great defenders of the faith-were
"Fundamentalists" of their day.
In time men arose, writing and
speaking of their complete disbelief in the Bible as the
Word of God, representing the left-wing, liberal
theology of the day.
There was no spirit of
cooperation among the "Fundamentalists" and
the "Liberals" because their positions were
(and are) complete opposites. The Bible tells us not to
have company with those who deny the Word of God.
Today the problem seems to be
with the ministers who take a position somewhere
in-between the Orthodox and Liberal position. This
school is called "Neo-evangelicalism."
Dr. Charles J. Woodbridge,
church historian and beloved expositor of the Word, made
a study of Neo-evangelicalism and gave us much of the
information presented here. The following four points
are taken from his lecture delivered to the Florida
Bible College student body in 1963. (The reason we go
into all this detail in a book on personal evangelism is
that so many dear, Christian people today do not even
see the dangers of this Neo-evangelicalism-they do not
see that the ideas supported by it are the cause of many
people being blinded to the plan of salvation.)
1. There is a new attitude of
scholars. Perhaps influenced by liberalism (while they
received their education), they now have an emphasis on
LOVE rather than on sound DOCTRINE. This sounds
beautiful, but Scripture says believers are not to make
common cause with the enemy. Love is no substitute for
truth.
2. There is a new method. The
ministers of this school have convinced themselves that
the "end justifies the means." They feel free
to use any method, as long as their goal is all right.
But the Scripture teaches us to act "princip'ially"
(Dr. Woodbridge's coined word) and leave the results
with God. We should never do evil that good may come.
Moses disobeyed God in smiting
the Rock in a way not prescribed by God. Did the water
come out? God overruled Moses' sin by His grace to meet
the needs of the people.
Some would ask us, as they
asked Dr. Woodbridge, "Don't you want to see souls
saved?" And our answer is the same. OF COURSE we
want to see souls saved. But we should do God's will
GOD'S WAY if we are to receive God's full approval of
what we are doing. Noah preached for 120 years. How many
souls did he lead to the Lord? Only seven? He left the
results with God-Noah's job was to preach what the Lord
had TOLD him to preach.
Our responsibility is to make
the gospel clear and understandable to the lost. God
wants us to be FAITHFUL with His message (I Cor. 4:2).
We can plant and water all we want to, but it is still
God who gives the increase. Actually, "soulwinning"
is a misnomer. We do not win the soul. God does this. We
just give out the message.
3. There is a new theology.
Those adhering to this Neo-evangelical theology often
are the ones who are saying evolution and the Bible are
compatible. Among them are those who deny the
inspiration of II Peter, Esther, and parts of Genesis.
They want to "re-define" inspiration.
As Dr. Woodbridge said,
"How can you redefine 'holy men of God spake as
they were moved by the Holy Ghost'? Would you say:
( 1 ) holy means 'unholy'
( 2 ) men means 'women'
(3) of God means 'of the devil'
(4) spake means 'sang'?"
etc.
Either the Bible is the Word of
God, or the Bible is a complete hoax. THERE IS NO MIDDLE
GROUND!
4. There is a new ethic. It
allows the people to pretty much choose their own moral
system. If it makes you happy, it must be all right. The
Bible says, "There is a way that seemeth right unto
a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death" (
Prov. 16: 25 ) . There is no getting around
"whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also
reap" (Gal. 6:7) .
This Neo-evangelicalism is
getting more and more popular across America today.
Fewer and fewer pastors seem to realize its danger. It
is fast becoming the "mode" of 20th Century
Protestantism. Some independent, fundamental churches
are awake. Perhaps more and more ministers within the
framework of denominations will become awake . . . if
you will faithfully give out the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. If you will study the Word so that you can
"give an answer to every man that asketh you a
reason of the hope that is in you," you will be
doing much to stem the tide of Modernism.
Intricately interwoven into the
fiber of modern-day Protestantism is what has become
known as the Ecumenical Movement, and, as a soulwinner,
you need to know how this movement is keeping the
unsaved from trusting Christ as their Saviour.
The Ecumenical Movement is
dangerous, first of all, because of its FALSE DOCTRINES.
At the core of ecumenism is found the basic belief of
the "brotherhood of man" and the
"Fatherhood of God." When a person believes
that all people are brothers and that God is already the
Father of everyone, he does not see his need of a
Saviour.
Because of this, evangelism has
become "passé" to an ecumenist. In its place
is substituted the "social gospel" which is
aimed at improving society in general, rather than at
the salvation of souls.
Another danger of ecumenism is
that it CONFUSES people, even many saved people, into
thinking that nothing can be really wrong that talks so
much about "love" and "brotherhood."
But love that leaves out TRUTH is not love. It is a
counterfeit with no power to save or satisfy. Any
teaching that is concerned only with man and his
condition here on earth, with little or no concern for
man's future destiny, is not true to God's Word and is
not fulfilling Christ's last and most important command
to "preach the gospel to every creature."
Avid ecumenists are growing in
number throughout the various Protestant denominations
and even including much of the Catholic Church.
Obviously, almost 100% of these people are lost, without
Christ as their personal Saviour. They are trying to do
good by their brotherly kindness, and the truth of
salvation by faith in Christ alone is completely foreign
to them and, as they look on things, irrelevant. The
spirit and doctrine of ecumenism have blinded millions
into thinking "everything is fine."
Remember, anything that is
contrary to the Scriptures does not find any favor with
God. Don't play "patty-cake" with a movement
which is against God's Word and His will. God does not
need unscriptural tools or movements in His plan of
evangelism. What God is looking for is a dedicated child
of His who is willing to do anything or go anywhere to
reach lost souls with the gospel. By His grace, let us
determine to be that person.
The great need of people today,
including Protestants, is a clear understanding of the
gospel. The main issue in witnessing to Protestants will
be grace and works. To the Protestants who are liberal
in their theology, you will also need to establish the
fact that the Bible is the Word of God.
Your message to most
Protestants will be essentially the material given in
the first two chapters of this book.
Keep your message simple. Don't
take for granted that because a person goes to church he
understands ecclesiastical terminology or Bible
doctrine.
Start at the beginning . . . We
are all sinners . . . The payment for sin is death . . .
We must be perfect to have eternal life . . . We cannot
earn this perfection by what we do . . . God offers His
righteousness through the payment Christ made on the
cross . . . Only belief in the Lord Jesus Christ will
save . . . We can know we have eternal life once we have
accepted Christ as our Saviour.
Resist the temptation to get
off onto side issues and philosophical discussions. What
is the power of God unto salvation to the Protestants?
THE GOSPEL!
