The subject of the last post was the “Great Commission”. The Great Commission is the assignment, from God, to spread the Gospel or the Good News. The Good News is that the Kingdom of God is at hand and Jesus is that King. He came to forgive us of our sins and restore our relationship with God who loves us.
What is interesting is that the word Gospel in the original Greek is “Evanggelion”, which is where we get our term Evangelism. So, evangelism is about sharing the Gospel. An important question is “How do we evangelize? Do we evangelize with our words or with our actions? Show More
A common saying, attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, is “Preach the Gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words.” This expression is used as a recommendation for how we should primarily evangelize and that is by our deeds or works. As attractive an option this is, it is not true evangelism. Jesus, the apostles, and the early church understood that the word “Preach” means to use our words proclaiming the “Good News”.
It is difficult for most people to share or “preach” the Gospel because most are uncomfortable talking about spiritual things. As a result, we would rather do good deeds, but all this does is make you look like a “good person”. Which in itself is not a bad thing but preaching or proclaiming the Gospel means that our speech is pointing them to the Savior, Jesus Christ.
Remember the Great Commission is the command to make disciples, we do that by proclaiming what Jesus has done for us. That means we are a witness to what He has done for us personally, not what He has done for others. Another important ingredient to evangelism is to use key scriptures to make our point. Our testimony is our experience, the scriptures are the authority that we speak the truth with.
My favorite Gospel witnessing scripture is Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast”. Let’s take this verse apart:
- For by Grace, the subject is salvation and grace means that salvation or deliverance is a free gift.
- You have been saved, means salvation, Heaven is yours.
- Through faith, this gift of salvation is obtained by believing Jesus died for you and your sins have been forgiven.
- It is the gift of God, not of works, this simply means that this gift of salvation is unearned and undeserved.
- Lest anyone should boast, and this means person that a person will not be able to say “I earned or deserved this gift of salvation.
Another verse that I would suggest is Romans 10:9-11, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.
Isn’t that powerful… the individual being witnessed to must believe that God raised Jesus from the dead and confess that with their mouth. This means that they have to tell someone of their new belief in Jesus and that they are now a Christian.
A well-known evangelism series of scriptures is called the “Seven Steps of the Roman Road” because all seven verses are from the book of Romans. I will highlight the sense of the scripture and verse. For the full text go to https://www.PastorVicsNuggets.com.
- The Natural State of Man
Rom 3:10-18 As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; 11 There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. 12 They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.” 13 “Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues, they have practiced deceit”; “The poison of asps is under their lips”; 14 “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 Destruction and misery are in their ways; 17 And the way of peace they have not known.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” - The Reason
Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” of the glory of God. - The Cause
Rom 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because all sinned - The Penalty
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. - The Love of God
Rom 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. - The Remedy
Rom 10:9-11 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” - The Decision
Rom 10:13 for whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Remember it is God who draws an individual to Himself (John 6:44), it is your job to speak the message of life (evangelism)- the Gospel or Good News. You are the messenger; the individual makes the decision. Never become discouraged when someone says no to the message you bring. Think of evangelism as planting seeds. It is God who makes the seed grow into eternal life.
On the other hand, there is great joy when someone accepts Jesus as their Lord and Savior and you get to share in that joy.
