Goldsworthy on Evangelism

Graeme Goldsworthy in Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture makes some great remarks concerning evangelism. The entire book is excellent but listen to these excerpts:

"My concern about evangelism is that sometimes there is a greater emphasis on the need for some kind of response than on the clear exposition of the gospel. Telling people they need to come to Jesus, that they must be born again, that they should commit their lives to Christ, and so on, is not preaching the gospel. It is, at best, telling them what they ought to do or, in the case of the new birth, what has happened when they have received the gospel. It is a remarkable thing in Acts 2 that Peter's sermon contained no appeal. The appeal came from the congregation: 'What should we do?' It was the power and clarity of the gospel message that impressed them with the need to do something about it." p. 95

Later he says,
"Whenever people's sense of assurance of salvation is expressed in the first person, something is amiss. When the question 'How do you know God will accept you?' is answered by 'I have Jesus in my heart,' 'I asked jesus into my life,' 'The Holy Spirit is in me,' and so on, the real gospel basis for assurance needs to be reviewed. We rejoice when the answer comes in the third person: 'God gave his only Son to die on the cross for me,' 'Jesus died, rose, and is in heaven for me.' When the focus is on the finished and perfect work of Christ, rather than on the yet unfinished work of the Spirit in me, the grounds for assurance are in place." p. 95