Giving 'The gospel'

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Giving The gospel Can you do it?
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I was challenged in a meeting recently by the
following question If somebody came up to you
at the end of a church service and said they
wanted to become a Christian, how would you talk
them through the steps to salvation? A fair
question, and one that on the face of it you
would think reasonably easy to answer. Could you
respond to it straight off the bat? Or would you,
like me, get a bit flustered? Do you know the
relevant verses? Are you able to set it all out
in an understandable way?
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In 1 Peter 3 verse 15 it says
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord.
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone
who asks you to give the reason for the hope that
you have. But do this with gentleness and
respect.
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I have another question related to this What is
the gospel? You have probably heard the phrase
I gave him the gospel many times spoken by
church members and those with an evangelistic
gift. But how do you give someone the gospel?
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Its a good question to ask and certainly as the
verse above reveals, something we should be ready
to do at any time, so lets look at it now. The
Greek word "euangelion" is translated "gospel" in
the New Testament and it simply means good
news. It is the good news that God has saved us
by sending His son to take our place by dying and
rising again, so that we can be reconciled to
God. But that needs some explanation, especially
if speaking to a person with no church
background, as is becoming increasingly the case
in todays society.
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I am now going to go through the main points that
I think should be raised when presenting the
gospel to somebody.
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(1) God and man are separate. It is clear from
the bible that God is Holy. We can be so focussed
on the fact that God is loving that we forget the
other side of the coin, that He is Holy, He is
other. We are created in His image but He is
not like us. He is perfect. He is the creator,
all knowing, all present, all powerful. Verses
referring to this start in Genesis 11 and
continue throughout the bible, such as Exodus
1511, Psalms (take your pick!), Isaiah 4315,
Jeremiah 1010, 1 Timothy 117.
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It is equally clear that Mankind is sinful. It
started with the first man Adam and has affected
every person ever since. It is in our nature. It
is important to stress that we are all sinners
(Romans 323, Romans 310-12, Romans 512).
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The consequence of these two facts is that our
sin separates us from God. The sentence is death
(Romans 623) and without God intervening there
would be no hope, which takes us to point two
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(2) God made a way to restore our
relationship. We could do nothing about this
separation, so God stepped onto this planet in
the form of His son Jesus Christ who is God (God
has revealed himself in the bible as three
persons in one). Because Jesus lived a perfect
life he was able to take our punishment (death)
for us (John 316, 2 Corinthians 521). He did
this by voluntarily dying on the cross to pay the
penalty for our sins (1 Peter 224, Isaiah
534-5) and coming back to life three days later
to demonstrate His victory (1 Corinthians
1517-18, 1 Peter 13, Romans 64, 1 Corinthians
614). We could not earn this. He did this
freely by His grace (Ephesians 28-9, 2 Timothy
19).
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(3) We can now believe in Him and be saved We are
saved through faith when we repent of our sins
and trust that what Jesus has done saves us
(Romans 109, John 1125-26, John 336). We are
now at peace with God and in a relationship with
Him. Our sins (past, present and future) have
been dealt with, we can start a new life and
Jesus has promised us he will never leave us or
forsake us. No wonder it is called Good News!!
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I would just like to make a couple of points for
consideration when we are presenting this gospel
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It is important to stress that they are coming to
Jesus, not just because they want their sins
forgiven. They are entering into a relationship
with Him. When they accept this free gift, they
are understanding that Jesus is now Lord of their
lives and they are following Him.
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Ive mentioned it before and I will mention it
again now, (and no doubt on many more occasions
due to the fact that in our humanity we feel we
must somehow contribute to Gods work of
salvation) but its ONLY BY GRACE. We cannot
earn it, we certainly dont deserve it, its a
free gift. FREE! FREE! FREE! (Repeat this to
yourself endlessly until death!!).
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We are not on our own we actually couldnt live
this life on our own. We need the Holy Spirit to
empower us. In a later blog we will discuss how
you can pray for somebody to receive the Holy
Spirit, (but actually what better time is there
than as soon as they enter their new life?!
Start as you mean to go on!).
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I would really encourage you to learn these three
simple steps, or indeed any other way you find
comfortable You may want to use the Bridge to
Life model or something similar, or copy the way
in which the gospel was presented to you (it
obviously works!). I would also make it a
commitment to memorise the passages of scripture
mentioned above - there is nothing more powerful
than quoting scripture as it is the power of God.
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For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is
the power of God that brings salvation to
everyone who believes first to the Jew, then to
the Gentile. (Romans 116)
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I really this article helps you to think how you
can more effectively share your faith. Dont
forget that God is with you and will be with you
as you step out. Let me know by commenting on
this article or going to my website
www.adrianpursglove.com if you get any success.