A Biblical Basis for Witness

Almost all soul winning involves witness, but a witness does not always result in immediate soul winning. The Christian’s hope is that the end result of a witness is a soul won to Christ.

In the New Testament, three terms are used to describe spreading the Christian message.

One is to “proclaim,” another is to “tell good news” (connected to our word “evangelize”), and

the third is to “bear witness.”

The word “witness” was used primarily as a legal term. A witness was one who personally experienced and accurately reported facts or events. Or a witness vouched for the truth of a thing. Sometimes people bear witness; sometimes God or the Spirit bears witness.

The Old Testament calls God’s people to witness for him against speechless idols.

Isaiah 43:12 states, “‘I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,’ declares the Lord, ‘that I am God.’” The resurrected Christ urged his disciples to witness in Luke 24:46–49: “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

The early New Testament use of the word “witness” was limited.

It referred to those who knew Jesus in his earthly ministry and resurrection. Michael Green, author of Evangelism in the Early Church, has pointed out that this limitation was eventually removed. A sense of personal encounter with the risen Jesus became the basis for genuine witness. That means people like you and me—who have met the living Christ—can be his witnesses.

John’s Gospel is filled with witness stories. Jesus gives witness to his own person. The Father, the miracles, and the Scriptures all bear witness to Jesus. In addition, there is an internal witness of the Spirit to those who accept the testimony. Indeed John’s whole purpose is to witness for Christ, bringing people to experience the life Christ gives. John exclaimed, “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31).

Witness as a term from the courtroom must not mislead us.

The Christian witness needs to be presented in a different spirit from the argument of the court. Let’s put it this way: The witness does not see himself or herself as a winner of arguments but as a winner of people to Christ. The witness is going to hungry and needy people with joyous, life-changing news. The prospect is not an enemy to be fought but a person to be loved and won.

In the context of spreading the good news of Jesus Christ, the term witness is not so much like arguing a case in a courtroom; it is wooing and winning.

Adapted from The Bible Speaks to Me about My Witness by Dr. Charles “Chic” Shaver on the Discipleship Place