Note: Tagged Gospel Witness with the others of this irregular series.

Soul-winning is not discipleship, witnessing is not apologetics debate, and being a witness for Jesus Christ is not fishing for new Church members, nor is it a class about Church, denomination, or religion.

We are not wasting time on unfruitful theological discussions with the lost. As interesting as those may be, they need salvation first. And Gospel witnessing is not entering into apologetics discussions which may be fun but are unfruitful for the lost sinner. Filling lost sinner’s heads with Bible knowledge and wowing them with your theological prowess is not soul winning. They need a straightforward salvation plan.

Never argue. Your debating skills are not Holy Spirit conviction upon a lost soul. If you feel the need to argue, you have difficulty expressing specifically what the Scripture says about a point. It would be best to search the Scriptures to share better that particular concept that leads toward faith in the lost sinner. Lost sinners need to hear a clear presentation from Scripture showing their need for Jesus Christ.

Soul-winning is not discipleship.

Both distinct missions seek the growth of the body of Christ. Soul-winning aims to grow the number of true converts, while discipleship seeks the development of individual believers in their depth and breadth of maturity in Christ.

“And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.” 2 Timothy 2:2

Discipleship seeks to plant the sure foundations of the Christian faith in the infant (immature) believers by imparting doctrinal truth to them. Teaching infant Christians so that they mature in Christ is also a mission-specific command of Father God.

Discipleship seeks to have the body of Christ grow upwardly, that is, laying a sure foundation so that individual Christians grow in the faith and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ and all that He commands by His word. This gets done by the faithful teaching others (all nations) that are faithful to do all that Christ commands. (2 Timothy 2:2 and Matthew 28:18-20)

Fruit of Spirit is not the fruit of the Christian.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23

You want this fruit to show forth in all you do, but it’s not yours; it is evidence of the Holy Spirit transforming you into meet for the Master’s use.

Many untrained Christians claim the fruit of the Spirit is their fruit as a Christian. They owe Holy God an apology. The fruit of the Spirit is His fruit in you. The fruit of the Christian includes sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, bringing in the Lord’s harvest, so souls get saved to the Glory of Holy Father God. And, He wants us to bear much of this fruit.

Fishing for Church members is not Gospel Witnessing.

“Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.” – 1 Corinthians 12:27

At times, you will have to flat out tell some lost sinners you contact that you’re not talking about religion or Church. Fishing for Church Attendees and Soul-winning is not the same thing. Nor are we telling lost sinners to straighten up and fly right. They need salvation in Christ Jesus; that’s what lost sinners need. At the end of your talk with the people you contact, you can invite believers to Church.

The church is the body of Christ. It’s a body, a living organism. Any organism that is not growing by multiplying and reproducing is dying. How does one increase the body of Christ? We do this by sharing the Gospel as the Father makes converts through faith in Jesus (John 6:37), as the Holy Spirit brings conviction for sin (John 16:9) to the conscience of the lost sinner.

Filling a building with lost sinners is not the mission Jesus gives His disciples. But that’s the instruction the head of those corporations learned in CEO school called seminary college.

Fishing for new church members is not soul winning. The church is the assembling together of believers (Hebrews 10:25).

“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Matthew 18:20