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A Brief Guide for Presenting the GospelDo you desire to obey the Lord in telling others about Him but feel uneasy about it because either you don't know how or you fear getting into an argument? The following approach to witnessing is a very condensed summmary of the material from our evangelism training curriculum called Witnessing Without Fear. Click here for more.
Witnessing Without Fear Summary Relate, Create, Convict, Reveal, Invite, and,
if necessary, Warn. Relate Seek to relate to people daily. Be friendly and show an interest in them. S.A.L.T. S - reminds you to say something. A - reminds you to ask questions, which is a way to find out how God is at work in their heart. L - reminds you to listen, which is the best way to know what’s going on and gain the opportunity to accomplish your goal. T - reminds you to turn the conversation to spiritual matters. Create Inject a question that turns the conversation to spiritual issues. Remember the question mark (“?”) looks like an upside-down fishing hook. The Questions. 1. Do you have any kind of spiritual beliefs? 2. To you, who is Jesus? 3. Is there a heaven and a hell? (If “yes”, “Who goes to heaven? Who goes to hell?”) 4. Where will you go when you die? What do you base this on? 5. If what you believe were not true, would you want to know it? Or, something else like, “May I share with you what the Bible says about these things?” Or, “Would you be interested in knowing what the Bible teaches about these things?” Another permission-question is to say something like, “You know, I once had beliefs very similar to yours. Then I began to learn that God has given us a way to know the answers to these and many other important questions. May I share with you what I discovered and how you could know it too?” Carry a Marked Copy of the New Testament. Have certain verses you like to use already marked. Have the person read the verses out loud and tell you what it means (use verses covering God, Man, Sin, Jesus, Salvation, Response). Explain the verses if necessary. Convict - Boxes 1-3 of Two Ways to Live (God, Man, Sin) God (Rev 4:11). Use the Word of God to speak to their conscience and convict them of their sin against a holy and righteous God. Emphasize the Creator-creature distinction-“God made you; therefore He has authority over you.” Man. Man was created in God’s image to live eternally in fellowship with God bringing Him glory by obedience to God’s commands. Fellowship with God is the only source for significance and satisfaction in life. All attempts to seek for other sources are vain and evil (Jer 2:13). Sin (Rom 3:10-12; Heb 9:27). “To miss the mark.” WSC: “What is sin? Sin is any want [or lack] of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God.” First John 3:4 (NIV) says, “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness” (“transgression of the law,” KJV). All of God’s commands are fulfilled by love (Matt 22:36-40; Rom 13:8-10). Sin is failing to love as we ought. The essence of sin is autonomy or living independently of God. Sin separates from God and results in physical and spiritual death (Rom 6:23). Use the 10 Commandments (Exod 20:3-17) asking WDJD - “Would you consider yourself to be a good person?” “Do you think you’ve kept the 10 Commandments?” “If God judges you by that standard will you be guilty or innocent?” “What is your destiny then, heaven or hell?” “Does that concern you?” If yes, proceed to Reveal (the WDJD questions are from Ray Comfort). Reveal - Boxes 4-5 of Two Ways to Live (Jesus, Salvation) Jesus (1 Pet 3:18; 1 Pet 1:3). Present Christ-His person and work. Jesus is the God-man, born of a virgin by the power of the Holy Spirit and sinless in nature and deed. He is the only one who has ever lived in perfect obedience to God. He is the sinless One who vicariously lived the righteous life God demands of us. He provided a substitutionary atonement for sin through His death on the cross by bearing the full punishment for sin we deserve. Salvation (Eph 2:8-10). Explain that salvation is a free gift of God’s grace that we can only receive through faith apart from works. We are justified by grace through faith. God is able to pardon believing sinners because His wrath against our sin was fully satisfied at the cross. Not only is our sin placed on Christ, but His righteousness is imputed to us so that we can be counted perfectly righteous in Christ. Greater news has never reached the ears of man! Invite - Box 6 of Two Ways to Live (Response) Response (John 3:36). Invite them to receive Christ and His salvation by faith and to repent of their sinful autonomy (self-rule). Balance the free offer of salvation by grace through faith by challenging them to count the cost of following Christ. Illustration: Joining the army is free and all is provided for you, but it will cost you deeply in terms of personal freedom, family, friends, autonomy, discipline, and maybe your life. Don’t leave out the demands of discipleship. This must be presented to test the genuineness of their faith. Faith alone saves, but the faith that saves is never alone (it’s demonstrated by works). Warn- Box 6 of Two Ways to Live (Response), if
necessary If they reject the offer of salvation or any of the points of gospel truth ask them to explain why they reject it. Be sure to challenge their objections by asking questions like, “How do you know that?” Or, “What makes you believe that?” Usually people reject Christ for a moral reason rather than an intellectual one. They don’t want to surrender their will to Christ. They want to cling to their autonomy. We must give stern warnings to those who reject Christ or who decide not to decide (indifference). We are not only to proclaim the good news of salvation and heaven, but also the bad news of judgment and hell. |
