I received this email tonight, and thought that it was too excellent to not respond to and then repost here. Hope it's helpful:
2. It is true that the person being saved has absolutely nothing to do with the process; It is 100% God "flipping the switch" so to speak.
How do you resolve the contradiction between these two beliefs? If becoming a Christian has nothing to do with the person being saved and how much they appreciate the evangelists' tactics and winsomeness then how can those same attributes make the evangelist more effective?
Those attributes should only be effective when you are trying to convince someone of something that they themselves have some role in when it comes to the decision process. A winsome car salesman with finely tuned tactics will be more effective at getting the consumer to make a certain decision but that's because it's a decision that that consumer is involved in. If the consumer had absolutely no say in the matter then the salesman's winsomeness and tactics would be irrelevant; A poor salesman would be just as effective.
2 things have to be in view when solving this conflict.
1) The Glory of God is the reason we do everything that we do AND the reason that God does everything He does.
2) There is a multiplicity of causes to everything that happens in the universe.
So in addressing the first proposition:
1. It is true that some people, through winsomeness and tactics, are more effective at evangelism than others.
Proverbs and the New Testament are very clear that this is absolutely true. "The wise in heart will be called understanding, and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness." Proverbs 16:20 (Notice that this proverb is in one of the most God sovereign chapters in all of Proverbs. Specifically vs. 1, 4, 9, 33 ) "Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person." Colossians 4:5-6 (This one is key especially for addressing the next question. Notice that there is a way you should respond to each person. Paul is saying there is a response that "ought" to be offered.)
So regarding proposition #1, I absolutely agree that some people are more effective at evangelism than others, because they are taking these Scriptures (and many others) and synthesizing them into their evangelism and are being obedient in that process. (Perhaps a different question could be asked: What makes the difference between some people's evangelism and others?)
Addressing the second proposition:
2. It is true that the person being saved has absolutely nothing to do with the process; It is 100% God "flipping the switch" so to speak.
This is also absolutely true. "What shall we say then? There is no injustice of God, is there? May it never be! For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth." So then He has mercy on whom he desires, and he hardens whom he desires. You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will" On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump on vessel for honorable use and another for common use?" Romans 9:14-21
There's more that could be said about this. The Scripture witness is overwhelming that God is the one who sovereignly decrees how everything falls out. (Eph. 1:3-6, 11-12, Isaiah 45:6-7, 46:10, 48:9-11, etc.)
How do you resolve the contradiction between these two beliefs? If becoming a Christian has nothing to do with the person being saved and how much they appreciate the evangelists' tactics and winsomeness then how can those same attributes make the evangelist more effective?
This is the conflict between human responsibility and the Sovereignty of God. Understanding this conflict is key to understanding much of the Scripture. For every effect in the universe, there is a multiplicity of causes that bring that effect into being. For instance, when a house is built, it takes the people who want to build the house; it takes $ from the people who want to build the house, it takes blueprints, it takes construction workers and their tools, and it takes building material. All of these are causes in the building of the house, but they are all not causes in the same way. The efficient cause is the chief causer, and the end cause is the motive for him doing what he does. So to chart it out below:
The efficient cause: The $ from the "homeowners"
The formal cause: The blueprints
The material cause: Construction materials
The instrumental cause: The workers and their tools
The end cause: The DESIRE from the "homeowners: to have a house built. (Closely related to the efficient cause)
In salvation, God desires to save some for the motive of His own glory. God's own fame is His chief concern in all of the Scriptures. Do a word search on "my name's sake," "my glory" "for the sake of my name," and you will find that this is the reason why God does everything that He does AND the reason that should inform every action that we do. God wanted to save some in order to show them how merciful He is which highlights His glory. "What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory," Romans 9:22-23
So that's God's job. He is the efficient cause and the end cause.
Our job is to be winsome because it says something great about God. We do what we do because it says something about God and not about us. In other words, we should evangelize excellently, because to do otherwise would lie about God's character. We are the instrumental causes in His hand, which is an effect of His efficient and end causes. When we evangelize excellently, which tells the truth about God, God often sees fit to bless that work and make the evangelist effective. When we evangelize horribly, which lies about God, God often does not bless that work and thus the evangelist is not effective. (BTW, even this "excellent evangelism" is a result of God working in us-cf. Phil 2:13) In either case, it is still God who is ultimately the deciding factor. However our obedience to Him is just that, it is a command from Him to us to conform to His holy character.
Those attributes should only be effective when you are trying to convince someone of something that they themselves have some role in when it comes to the decision process. A winsome car salesman with finely tuned tactics will be more effective at getting the consumer to make a certain decision but that's because it's a decision that that consumer is involved in. If the consumer had absolutely no say in the matter then the salesman's winsomeness and tactics would be irrelevant; A poor salesman would be just as effective.
Regarding the first sentence here. Why does think this have to be the case? What's the governing authority that says this is so?
God's word says that our role in the decision making process always has us saying NO to God when the Holy Spirit is not present. "But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised." 1 Cor. 2:14 (cf. Romans 8:7-8) "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing;...For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to me unless it has been granted him from the Father." John 6:63, 65. "There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, there is not even one." Romans 3:10-12.
We always say no to God in our flesh. Without the Holy Spirit acting first (Ezekiel 36:26-27, Jer. 31:31-35), there is no hope for a man. God must work first.
The analogy of the car salesman is good but it's comparing apples with oranges. The person can't buy the car because he's dead and is in need of a resurrection. The "tactics" that the car salesman engages in is preaching the word of God that is in accord with how it should be preached. So he's preaching the Word of God, which God says is necessary for a person to hear and believe, and he's doing it in a way that honors God and is therefore being obedient. The dead man will respond if God makes him alive to hear.
Bottom line: We should be winsome because it honors God. God will save whom he will in the process.
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