This is one of the best explanations of the Christian's responsibility to evangelize I know of. This book isn't simply about predestination vs. free will (although it is highly relevant to that debate), it is a perspective on the whole question of Christian evangelism in light of God's sovereignty.
Packer shows that, when properly viewed, the sovereignty of God does not remove our responsibility to evangelize. He writes a very good perspective on the relationship between God's sovereignty and man's responsibility, showing that both the "freewill" position and the "hyper-Calvinist" (i.e. those who say that God's sovereignty precludes our responsibility to evangelize) position are wrong and unbiblical.
He also makes some interesting comments and observations on the WAY that we evangelize. For example, he points out that many consider evangelistic sermons to be a "special" type of sermon and evangelistic meetings to be a "special" type of meeting, but ALL of Scripture, both Old and New Testaments, point to Jesus, so any sermon that properly teaches the Bible is in a sense evangelistic, and every properly run church service should point to Jesus. He points out that this attitude of "special" sermons and "special" meetings is very indicting of the modern church - i.e. that many "sermons" and "church services" are NOT really properly teaching the Bible and are NOT properly pointing to Jesus. This is particularly true of many topical sermons and "Christianity-lite" (I once heard of a Christmas "sermon" on "how to avoid anxiety at Christmastime" - no mention of Jesus' birth, life, teachings, or work for us).
This does not mean, of course, that we should not have special meetings or sermons for the sole purpose evangelism, or that we should not make a special effort to evangelize. Packer argues that these should still occur, particularly considering the paganism dominating our culture of late.
This book is also very helpful in defending Calvinism. One common objection to Calvinism is that if Calvinism is true there is no point in evangelism. Packer shows that this isn't true, and that God's sovereignty in salvation does not remove our responsibility to evangelize. More generally, this is a good introduction to the difficult question of how God's sovereignty and and man's responsibility can coexist.
Anyone who wants to better understand the Christian's responsibility to evangelize, or the relationship between God's sovereignty and man's evangelism (and who doesn't want to understand these better?), should read this book. It is excellent.
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Reviews with images
Seems to be a scanned copy…
It’s underlined and notes taken on the pages. Super weird!
Top reviews from other countries
Malcolm Lisle
Does God Need Gospel Preaching?
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 29, 2023
Al Watson
In a world where the Church has drifted away from The Biblical Gospel we need to own and teach the truths of this book.
Reviewed in Australia on September 18, 2020
Hanniel
Gottes Souveränität löst die menschliche Verantwortung nicht auf und stärkt die evangelistische Pflicht
Reviewed in Germany on August 16, 2016