The Conversion of an Evolutionist: Patient, Prayerful Gospel Witness
Priorities in Presenting the Faith: an apologetic of evangelism (Part 3)
In Part 2, Dr. Whitcomb noted two chief obstacles we face in evangelizing the lost, whether the “evolutionist” of his title or the ordinary Joe on the street. The first is man’s fallen nature – the unbeliever isn’t interested in the gospel and doesn’t care if you can prove your points. The second is the work of the devil and his demons, undermining the gospel work at every turn. (Part 1 here.) Part 2 closed with this paragraph:
If the Biblical picture of man’s enmity against God and control by Satan is correct, then how can Christians ever persuade men to turn from sin and Satan to the true and living God? The biblical answer, of course, is that they cannot. The Scriptures do not say that it is difficult for the unbeliever to accept spiritual truth. They say that is it impossible. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (I Corinthians 2:14). When our Lord once made a similar pronouncement concerning an entire segment of society, “his disciples … were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?” His answer provides for us the key to all truly effective Christian apologetics today: “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:25-26). It seems quite obvious, then, that God never intended that Christians should win the lost through purely philosophical and academic arguments, or even that they should by this means remove the mental obstacles within unbelievers so that the Word of God might penetrate their hearts.
If this had been God’s plan, the vast majority of Christians throughout history would have been automatically disqualified from effective witness, for they would have been unable to meet highly educated unbelievers on their own level in intellectual debate. “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise … that no flesh should glory in his presence” (1 Corinthians 1:26-29).
The Biblical method of winning men to Christ (including the intellectuals of our day) is to lovingly, patiently and prayerfully present the true Gospel “according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) from the context of a godly life (1 Thessalonians 1:5; 2:3-12). Only the “quick, and powerful” Word of God can penetrate the unbeliever’s shield of defense and pierce into his heart (Hebrews 4:12), and thus only God may receive the glory for the genuine conversion of sinful men.
Once converted by God’s Holy Spirit, a man for the first time in his life enjoys the proper perspective and frame of reference for analyzing his intellectual problems concerning Christian doctrines, even if he never finds the complete answers this side of Heaven.
Paul’s own conversion is an instructive illustration of this divine dynamic. Instead of presenting a list of questions to the Lord Jesus when he was overwhelmed by His presence on the Damascus road, Saul of Tarsus simply cried out, “What shall I do, Lord?” (Acts 22:10). With his spiritual blindness removed by God — “straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God” (Acts 9:20)
He “was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision” (Acts 26:19) even though it must have required years for him to rethink everything that he had previously learned about the Scriptures in the light of this transforming new revelation. The book of Acts contains numerous examples of such proclamations of God’s revealed message, resulting in conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit and genuine conversion (Acts 2:36-38; 8:34-36; 10:42-48; 16:31-34).
Another important New Testament example of this approach to Christian apologetics may be found in Paul’s admonition to the Corinthian church to turn from worldly wisdom and from an unwarranted glorying in certain sign-gifts in order that they might give themselves to the clear proclamation of God’s Word. He said: “But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all: and thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth” (1 Corinthians 14:24-25).(( Bernard Ramm is obviously quite wrong to say — “If a man has a prejudice against the Gospel it is the function of apologetics and evidences to remove that prejudice … Apologetics and Christian evidences cut down these objections to enable the Gospel once again to directly confront the consciousness of a man” (Protestant Christian Evidences [Chicago: Moody Press, 1953], pp. 15-16.).)) It is perfectly obvious from this remarkable passage that neither human wisdom nor empirical signs were an adequate substitute for the clear proclamation of God’s Word.
However, if the Christian communicator constantly appeals to God’s Word in order to establish its truth in the mind of the unbeliever, is he not guilty of reasoning in a circle? If the unbeliever refuses to accept the Scriptures as divinely inspired, should not the communicator temporarily abandon the Bible until he has demonstrated its truth independently by appealing to the vast army of archaeological, historical, scientific, and other facts that tend to confirm its claims?
The answer to this question is — no. If Christianity is merely one circle of truth to be conditioned and defined by other circles of truth, then it is not true at all, because the Scriptures boldly and consistently claim to be God’s eternal, all-inclusive, unique, final, and absolutely authoritative Word. This is the crucial foundation of true Christian apologetics.
When the Christian appeals to God’s Word he is appealing to the only ultimate circle of truth concerning God and spiritual realities. This circle is so vast and profound that it includes everything that exists, both within and beyond the universe, both visible and invisible — including the unbeliever himself and the very “god of this world” who blinds him!
To tum off the light of God’s Word, as it were, in order to establish first a “common ground” with the unbeliever is thus to abandon truth in order to grope together with an unregenerate mind in the darkness that characterizes this world-system apart from God.
Revealed truth is self-authenticating and self-vindicating, like light. Peter stated — “Ye do well that ye take heed [to the Word of God], as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn” (2 Peter 1:19).
Imagine a man lost within the deep recesses of the dark underground cavern in utter despair of ever finding his way out. If a friend had a general idea of his location, how could he best come to his rescue? Should he rush into the cave, careless of his pathway, and sit with him in darkness, sharing with him the common ground of being lost?
Would it not be much wiser to take along a powerful flashlight, marking his path as he enters the cavern so that he could retrace his steps to the safety of the world above? However, suppose that the lost man, in his utter despair, refused to believe that his friend had a flashlight and that there was a way out? Should the would-be rescuer sit there in darkness and argue with him concerning the size, make, power, and previous performance of his flashlight?
Since the lost man still has the capacity to recognize light when he sees it, should not his friend immediately end the debate by inviting him to look at the light as he switches on the flashlight?
Man’s amazing capacity to hear and to see in the physical realm did not come about by chance. “The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made both of them” (Proverbs 20:12). Neither is man’s capacity to recognize God’s truth a product of chance. Every human being has this capacity and will be judged by the Creator on the basis of his use of it. John tells us that Christ is “the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:9). Thus, man has an innate knowledge of his Creator. “That which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God has shewed it unto them” (Romans 1:19).
When a man is therefore confronted with Christ, the Light of the world, it is no help to him to accommodate him when he demands another light first. When a Christian apologist turns off the light of his Lord and begins groping to find light from the general consensus of scientific opinion, he has entered into a spiritual cavern from which there is no escape.
What he must do is to keep the heart and mind of his unbelieving friend exposed to God’s Word in one way or another, all the time praying that the Spirit of God might bring conviction of sin and a willingness to trust the Savior. If he does not respond to God’s infallible Word, which is His special revelation, what assurance do we gain from the Bible that He will respond to the witness of general revelation, such as the various theistic proofs for God’s personal existence and historical evidences for the truth of Christianity?
More Tuesday.
Dr. John Whitcomb is well known as a theologian and apologist. Among his many books are The World that Perished and The Genesis Flood (with Dr. Henry Morris). This series of articles is reproduced with permission.
You can contact Dr. Whitcomb via his website at: www.whitcombministries.org
Listen to Dr. Whitcomb’s sermons: www.sermonaudio.com/sermonsspeaker.asp