Here is a general overview of how I am usually blessed to be able to share the Gospel based on one of my more recent conversations with a girl in Maryland that I met at a church College Group on our way up to the University of Connecticut. This is about how it went:
Really, being saved means having a personal relationship with God, so let's look at God first. In Acts 17:22-31 it says 3 main things about God: 1) He's the Creator. He created the heavens and the earth. He is all-powerful and is everywhere. 2) Since He created us, He is a Loving Father. However, He's not just loving, but the Bible says that He IS Love. 3) Finally, it says that He is a Just Judge. Here is something that people don't like to look at much, but since He is perfect He knows the difference between right and wrong and judges justly, or impartially. He doesn't show partiality and so everyone is on the same playing field. That is God summed up in a very small nutshell, but for the sake of time, let's look at people now.
Do you think that people are similar or different from God? Different. Much different. *Laughs briefly* We certainly aren't perfect and we mess up a lot. *I laugh* Yeah! I agree. In fact the Bible tells us in Romans 3:23 that ALL of us have sinned and fallen short of God's glory. When I say all, I again want to emphasize that everyone is on the same level. You, me, even the pastors that you know have messed up and fallen short of God's glory.
What this does is cloud our vision of God and actually separates us from Him. This separation is caused by our sin. Now tell me, have you ever had a job? Yes. Cool, so every week or two you got paid right? Yeah. Yeah. Let me ask, if your boss said that he was giving you your pay out of the kindness of his own heart, you'd laugh right? *Laughs* Yeah. Exactly! You earned that! Just like if he withheld your pay, you'd be upset right? Oh yeah. So those are your wages. Well, the Bible tells us what our wages are in Romans 6:23. What we've earned because of sin and that is Death. Not just the fact that 10 our of 10 people will die physically, but that we have earned spiritual death, which is separation from God. Even more, the Bible tells us that there is nothing that we can do to get back to God ourselves.
It seems we have a problem here. *Nods* In summary, God is perfect; we aren't; because of our sin, we are separated from Him and in fact deserve death; and there is no way we can get back to God by our own attempts. This is the truth, and it's sad.
Be that as it may, this is not the end of the story. God knows that we can't get to Him on our own, and He desires a relationship with us more than we do with Him. That is why He sent Jesus Christ for us. Jesus dying on the cross was where God's love and justice met. In Romans 5:8, we are told that while we were still sinning and separating ourselves from God, He sent Jesus to die for our sins in our place. God was being just by sentencing us to death, but being love by sending Jesus to take our place.
Now, I told you the beginning to Romans 6:23; that the wages of sin is death, but the last part says that the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ. It's a free gift that God is offering for us to have a relationship with Him. Now, like every other gift, what do we have do to? Say I were to offer you this free pen, *holds out pen* what would you have to do? I'd have to say thank you and take it, right? Yeah, that's exactly right, and that's where our response comes in along with another verse.
John 3:16 says that our response is to believe. What we need to do to have that everlasting life and relationship with God is to believe in His gift of Jesus. Now believing is more than simply acknowledging something intellectually. Instead, it has to be deeper than that. First of all, we have to repent (a churchy word, I know), but this simply means that we have to turn away from our sins and not only face God, but actively pursue Him. Next we have trust or faith that Jesus has made a way for us and that we cannot make it to God on our own. Finally, we simply confess that Jesus is the Lord, or boss, of our lives. Romans 10:9 tells us that we need to make that deliberate choice that we want to turn towards God and let Jesus be the bridge between us and God instead of us attempting to get to Him on our own.
Does this make sense to you? Yeah. Yes it does. Good, so what would you have to do to have that relationship with God? I'd have to let go of my current lifestyle and pursue Jesus and accept Him as the boss of my life. Yeah. So what's holding you back from making that decision right now and accepting that eternal life through Jesus Christ? I dunno. I'm afraid of what will happen with my friends. I just don't know if I can let go of my lifestyle yet.
I'd like to say that I was able to continue to encourage her, and lead her to Christ, but that isn't true. The truth is, however, that she got to hear the gospel presented in a clear and concise (though it may not look it in words) way that was written on paper that she can go back and look at. I cannot help but think of Isaiah 55:11 in the King James Version at this point. God's Word will not return void. It WILL accomplish His will!
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