The Evangel Dean Basic Training Resource Handbook

20 • T HE E VANGEL D EAN B ASIC T RAINING R ESOURCE H ANDBOOK

III. Evangel – What’s in a Name?

A. Meanings and uses of the term “evangelism” ( evangelion )

1. Evangelism as content (the testimony of God’s salvation through the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Christ)

a. Evangelion as “good message, good tidings” – This term refers in the NT to the salvation we possess through faith and trust in Jesus Christ, that same salvation which we all receive on the basis of our personal faith in the Lord Jesus, founded upon his expiatory death, his burial, resurrection, and ascension, cf. Acts 15.7; 20.24; 1 Pet. 4.17.

b. Alternative meanings and nuances

(1) The gospel of God (Mark 1.14; Rom. 1.1; 15.16; 1 Thess. 2.9; 1 Pet. 4.17)

(2) The gospel of his Son (Rom. 1.9)

(3) The gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Mark 1)

(4) The gospel of our Lord Jesus (2 Thess. 1.8)

(5) The gospel of the glory of Christ (2 Cor. 4.4)

(6) The gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20.24)

(7) The gospel of the glory of the blessed (1 Tim. 1.1)

(8) The gospel of your salvation (Eph. 1.13)

(9) The gospel of the Kingdom (Matt. 4.23; 9.35; 24.14)

2. Evangelism as presentation (verbs used in association with the content of the gospel)

a. kerusso – to preach as a herald (Matt. 4.23; Gal. 2.2)

b. laleo – to speak forth (1 Thess. 2.2)

c. diamarturomai – to testify thoroughly (Acts 20.24)