Evangelism:
The Joy of Sharing the Good News.
Part 13.
This week is part 1 of a 2-part discussion of presenting the gospel itself — the Good News. But first, let’s review what we’ve discussed so far in this series.
Building a meaningful relationship is the initial step. Four aspects of this are:
- Identify people in your network of relationships.
- Pray for them regularly.
- Demonstrate Christ’s love to them.
- Initiate a relationship through invitations to share meals, watch a game (guys), have tea (ladies), etc.
The next step is to be intentional, pray, and be alert for open doors to share the gospel. When that happens, introduce spiritual conversations as naturally as you can. To do this, use bridges such as sharing your personal testimony and using transition questions. We looked at transition questions in part 12 of this series. The diagnostic questions from Evangelism Explosion are proven and effective:
#1. “Have you come to the place in your spiritual life where you know for certain that if you were to die today you would go to heaven?
#2. “Suppose you were to die today and stand before God and He were to say to you, ‘Why should I let you into heaven?’ What would you say?”
Other transition questions may be more appropriate depending the context. Either way, it’s a “transition question” because they serve as a transition to the gospel. As a follow-up to the EE questions above:
From EE #1:
If they say, “I don’t think anyone can really know.”
You can respond, “I used to think the same way but I discovered that the Bible does tell us that we can know for sure. And I’m so thankful I have that assurance no matter what happens to me. May I take a moment to share with you what I discovered?”
From EE #2:
If they say, “Well, I’ve tried to live a good life. I go to church occasionally. I’ve never killed anyone or anything like that.”
You can answer with, “Actually, the Bible says entrance into heaven is a free gift, and not something we can earn. Most people don’t realize this. May I take a moment to share how you can receive this free gift?”
Regardless of how they answer the EE or other transition questions, we have now arrived at the heart of the conversation: presenting the gospel.
If sharing the gospel as a way of life is your desire, I encourage you to memorize a group of about 10 verses — along with brief explanations and illustrations. Don’t present the gospel in a wooden fashion. You should be familiar enough with these concepts and passages that you can share them without turning to a Bible, although having an individual read a few biblical passages himself or herself can be beneficial.
The following is part one of a gospel presentation. Part two is for next week.
In his book Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, J.I. Packer says the gospel is a message about God, Man, Christ, and Repentance and Faith. We will use these major headings to structure our thoughts.
God
- The Bible teaches that God created us to know him. To know him is to have eternal life.
In John 17:3, Jesus said, “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”
Explanation — This is a difference between knowing about God (i.e., believing that he exists) and knowing him personally as you would a close friend. God wants us to have a personal relationship with him through his Son.
- The one true God is full of love and offers us eternal life through faith in his Son, Jesus.
John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
- This is the only way we can know him and have eternal life because the Bible also tells us God is a just judge who must punish sin.
Transition: This can be seen more clearly when we understand what the Bible says about us.
Man
- We have all sinned against God
Romans 3:23 says, “There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Explanation — Sin is breaking God’s law in thought, word or deed. Even though we may consider ourselves decent people compared to others we may know, when we compare ourselves with a perfect God we will realize how impure we are. Sin is not just wrong actions. We constantly have wayward thoughts and desires that are not aligned with God.
Because human beings are sinners:
- The Bible says the penalty due our sins is death.
Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death …”
Explanation — Sin earns death, not just physical death but spiritual death, what the Bible calls hell. Left to ourselves we all deserve to be condemned.
Illustration — Now people will often say, “Why can’t God simply forgive us?” The reason is because he is just. What if someone who murdered a member of your family appeared before a judge and said, “You know, I really shouldn’t have done that person.” And the judge replied, “Well, I can tell you’re sorry so you’re free to go.” What you would say to the judge? I know what I would say, “Wait a minute. That’s not right. He deserves a penalty!” We instinctively know that isn’t just. Well we haven’t merely committed a crime against another human being; we have rebelled against God. We have essentially told him, “I don’t care about your standards. I am going to take the life you gave me and use it the way I please.” God’s holiness and justice demand a penalty be paid.
- We cannot work our way to God.
Isaiah 59:2 says, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.”
Explanation — Because our sins have separated us from God, there is nothing we can do to bridge that gulf. Many think they can reach heaven or earn God’s acceptance through religious works but the gulf between him and us is infinitely wide. In John 8:34 Jesus said, “… everyone who sins is a slave to sin.”
Illustration — Think of the Grand Canyon for a moment. Imagine if you tried to jump over the Grand Canyon; how far would you get? Not very far. Let’s say an Olympic Gold medalist in the long jump tried. How far do you think he would get? Not much better. This is like us and God. We can never reach him by our works, because our works aren’t good enough. Like our hearts, they’re tainted. The only way for that separation to be bridged is for our sin to be dealt with by a sufficient penalty being paid. The problem is, we have nothing to pay for it that could remove our sins.
Transition — This then is the bad news. But the Good News is that what we could never do for ourselves, God has already done for sinners like us in the person of Jesus Christ.
We will continue in part 2 next week.