A Biblical Theology of Mission (Success in the Spirit)

One of the most fascinating things Jesus said was, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:44). Unbelievers are unable to come to Jesus on their own. We should have no success in mission or evangelism because unbelievers cannot repent and believe. But God determines to draw chosen individuals to Jesus, doing so undoubtedly by the Holy Spirit.

When Jesus said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you” (Acts 1:7), he suggested we needed the Spirit’s empowerment to engage in mission, and when he said that the Spirit would convict the world of sin and righteousness and judgment (John 16:7-11) he was telling us we needed the Spirit’s work in individuals to bring conversion.

This is why Paul told the Corinthians,

^2:1 And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. ² For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. ³ I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. ⁴ My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, ⁵ so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power. (1 Corinthians 2:1-5, NIV)

Paul does not say that he wasn’t persuasive in his preaching (he certainly was, Acts 26:28; 2 Corinthians 5:11), but that he didn’t use manipulative type persuasions as if converting people depended on his ability to convince and their ability to respond. Rather, he preached what he knew was to be rejected by his listeners (Jesus Christ crucified) unless the Holy Spirit converted them.

We’re told in Acts 13:48 that “all who were appointed for eternal life believed,” and in Acts 16:14 that the Lord opened people’s hearts to believe the gospel. Our evangelism and mission must be accurate and clear, but our success in bringing about conversion is totally dependent on the Spirit of God at work in human hearts.