2nd man united

Persuasions of the Holy Spirit

John 16:7-11 - But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict (persuade) the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

Before someone is able to ask Jesus to give them His life, they must be persuaded that they actually have a need for His life.  Above, we can see that Jesus actually told us that this is the role of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit prepares people by persuading them that they are sinful, they need a righteousness because of their sin and that if they don't obtain righteousness, that they would experience judgment.  Then, when someone hears about Jesus, they have the ability to say "Yes" to receiving His life and righteousness. 

No one ever comes to genuine faith through reason alone.  They don't read books like "Evidence That Demands a Verdict," which lays out a beautiful scientific argument for why Jesus is the Jewish Messiah and was raised from the dead; and then philosophically get convinced that they need Jesus.  Books, sermons and the like can be used to consciously give a person the opportunity to say "Yes" to receiving Jesus' life AFTER the Holy Spirit persuades them, but not BEFORE.

So, how does this affect the sharing of the gospel?  When you recognize the persuasions of the Holy Spirit on someone that Jesus talked about above, you will know that He is working on that person to drive them to Jesus to deal with their condition.  If this has not occurred, nothing you say will do the persuading unless the Holy Spirit has chosen to be involved, for this is a supernatural task.

(Taken from my notes from the “Beyond Beliefs” class with the Logos Institute)

An Experience Beyond Words

We live in what is now called a "postmodern" society in which our culture now largely holds to the belief that there is no absolute Truth.  A person that holds to this line of thinking believes that whatever one perceives to be true for themselves is fine, but there really is no way of knowing if an all-encompassing, umbrella Truth exists that applies to all people.  The fact that our culture thinks this way has radically changed the methods that are effective in communicating the Gospel.

In the book of John, one of the cultures that the apostle was communicating to was the Greeks.  Of course, we know that they were a philosophical culture dominated by the belief that Truth could be attained by the use of human reason.  Greek Stoic philosophers believed in a concept called the "Logos," which is translated as "Word." 

These philosophers believed the Logos was similar to "The Force" in the Star Wars movies; an impersonal energy that could be tapped into to take a person to a higher degree of consciousness. 

So, how did John address this crowd with the Gospel?

John 1:1-3, 14 -  ¹In the beginning was the Word (Logos), and the Word (Logos) was with God, and the Word (Logos) was God. ²He was with God in the beginning.

¹⁴The Word (Logos) became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only,who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. 

He simply reveals that the Logos is not an impersonal force, but a Person.  Then, he explains that all can know Him personally.  Pretty good move inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Now, let's bring it back to our culture.  Our primary methods of sharing the Gospel include sermons, arguments, tracts and the like.  In our postmodern society, words have become largely ineffective.  Those that hold to the postmodern way of thinking will not be moved by words because, according to them, words are nothing but the perception one has. 

Therefore, they must be moved by an experience that goes beyond words, which Jesus promised was available to His followers.  They must encounter the Person and not just hear about Him.

OK, now it's your turn.  What do you believe is critical to entering into a "beyond words" experience of Christ that will effectively encounter our culture with the reality of The Truth?  Have you seen this happening in your midst?  Have you had encounters with postmodern thinkers and what did they say, how did they think?

(This post taken from my notes in the Logos Institute class "Beyond Beliefs.")