Cornerstone Curriculum, Official Certification Edition

LESSON 2 | EVANGELISM AND SPIRITUAL WARFARE: BINDING OF THE STRONG MAN / 403

“There Is No Devil.” In a conversation at work, during lunch hour, a mild argument broke out in the lunch room between two fellow employees. In discussing the events of 9-11, the horrific destruction of the Trade Towers in New York City, one employee claimed that this event and others like it are the work of evil people who simply are tools of the devil. The devil’s lies are at the root of all evil in the world. The other employee rejected this idea, saying that evil is the result of bad choices of individuals and has nothing to do with any kind of demonic or satanic involvement. Blaming things on the devil, she said, is just an excuse for not taking personal responsibility for one’s own actions. Seeming to get nowhere in their debate, they turn to you and ask your opinion. What would you say about this issue to them? “What Can You Promise Me?” In sharing his faith with a friend at school, a young disciple of Jesus laid out an outline of the good news of God’s salvation through Jesus Christ. He explained who Jesus was, why he came to earth and had to die, and what God promises to those who receive Jesus as Lord and believe that God raised him from the dead. After listening quietly for awhile to this witness of the Gospel, the young seeker said, “That’s well and good, but I am not sure if the thought of eternal life and salvation and such is all that helpful to me now. I’m broke, I lost my job two days ago, and rent is due in two weeks. I failed my midterm in English, and my girlfriend and I are struggling. I just don’t see how believing in Jesus will affect my life at all. I want to go to heaven when I die, but what about today, what about right now? What can you promise me, how will my life change if I say “yes!” to Jesus today? Will it make any real difference in my life today at all?” How might the young disciple answer this question?

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U rban M i s s i on

Spiritual Warfare: Binding of the Strong Man

Rev. Dr. Don L. Davis

CONTENT

Salvation is God’s deliverance from the devil and liberation from the effects of the Fall, i.e., from sin and its dominion. Evangelism is the declaration of the good news of this deliverance and salvation from Satan and sin which God has accomplished for us in the person of Jesus Christ.

Summary page 176 & 5