by Edwin Crozier<\/p>\n
Surprisingly, the letters written to Timothy and Titus, both evangelists, say almost nothing about what we typically mean by evangelism. When we talk about evangelism, we are usually talking about bringing the gospel to those outside of Christ. But these three letters almost exclusively talk about the evangelist’s work among the congregation of believers.<\/p>\n
Even here at the end of I Timothy 4, Paul is talking about working with those who already believe. But notice what he says. “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers<\/em>” (I Timothy 4:16, ESV). Wait! Aren’t these people already saved? Paul is talking about Timothy preaching to the church. He is setting an example for and teaching the believers (see I Timothy 4:12).<\/p>\n In contradiction to the teaching of our Calvinist friends, there is no biblical notion of “once saved, always saved.” Christians need strong teaching to be saved. We need to hear the gospel again and again, even after we have responded to it, or we will drift away from it.<\/p>\n In just about every congregation of which I’ve been a part, I’ve met the brother or sister who thought they no longer needed the teaching. They had heard all the sermons. They had gone through all the Bible classes. They understood the truth. They continued to punch their attendance card. But it was obvious, and sometimes they would even say it out loud, that it was all really beneath them. They really just didn’t get anything out of the classes and preaching because they had been around so long and knew it so well. Oddly enough, these brothers and sisters who know the gospel so well have tended to fall away. Why? Because none of us knows it so well that we don’t need to keep hearing it.<\/p>\n All people need to hear the gospel. Those outside and those inside the church need to hear the gospel repeated again and again. Therefore, those who preach the gospel need to pay close attention to themselves and to the teaching. Only by careful devotion to teaching will even those in the church be saved.<\/p>\n Of course, this means that if we who are in the church want to be saved, we need to pay careful attention to ourselves and to the teaching.<\/p>\n Are you paying attention?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Edwin Crozier Surprisingly, the letters written to Timothy and Titus, both evangelists, say almost nothing about what we typically mean by evangelism. When we talk about evangelism, we are usually talking about bringing the gospel to those outside of Christ. But these three letters almost exclusively talk about the evangelist’s work among the congregation…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[77,58],"class_list":["post-96449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-doctrine","tag-once-saved-always-saved"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":31874,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-support-conscientious-objection\/","url_meta":{"origin":96449,"position":0},"title":"Do you support conscientious objection?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 19, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do you or your church support selective conscientious objection and conscientious objection? Answer: Registering for the draft is a government law that does not violate any teaching of God. \"Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1296,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-are-boy-girl-relationships-not-advisable-at-a-young-age\/","url_meta":{"origin":96449,"position":1},"title":"Why are boy-girl relationships not advisable at a young age?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 3, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why are boy-girl relationships not advisable at a young age Answer: Youth is a time of impatient desires. They want the things available to adults, but adulthood seems so far away. The typical teenage boy enters puberty around the age of 11. The typical teenage girl enters puberty around\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32196,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-a-sin-to-take-out-insurance\/","url_meta":{"origin":96449,"position":2},"title":"Is it a sin to take out insurance?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 20, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is it a sin to take out medical insurance or legal insurance? Are we rather expected to put our faith in the Lord to take care of those things? Answer: We were taught to pray, \"Give us this day our daily bread\" (Matthew 6:11), but God still commands us\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37138,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/we-lost-the-surprise-somewhere\/","url_meta":{"origin":96449,"position":3},"title":"We Lost the Surprise Somewhere","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I remember watching Mayberry RFD and related shows most of my childhood. Poor ignorant Gomer Pyle who worked as an auto mechanic was a notable character. But I can still recall my shock when I found out that Jim Nabors, who played Gomer, could sing --\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Gomer.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":61889,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-book-of-my-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":96449,"position":4},"title":"The Book of My Life","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 23, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. 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