Evangelism - The Root of the Matter
October 17, 2021 Sunday Evening Study

Here are some questions to ponder:

What is the minimum requirement to actually be saved?

What is the age of accountability with respect to the Gospel?

Is a deathbed conversion genuine?

Can someone lose their salvation?

Is there a sin that is unforgivable?

Is church attendance mandatory for salvation?

I have asked this before, but how many here have ever led someone to Christ - prayed the prayer? How many of you have shared the gospel with someone directly, to the point where you believe they had everything they needed to be saved? If you remember from our first week, the statistics say that less than 10% of Christians have shared the gospel with someone who is not their child, so it stands to reason that a large percentage in this room would be in the same position. And if that is you, I am not here to shame you or make you feel guilty. We need to be concerned about what we do going forward.

We have been learning about how to engage in conversation with an unbeliever so that we might build a bridge to a gospel presentation. Well as it happens, sometimes when we encounter someone, they are ripe for the truth - they are ready for the gospel. Do you know how to share the gospel clearly and effectively? We are going to talk about that today, because it is vital.

I am going to have a homework assignment for you this week, and I am very serious about it, because it is a very important thing. When we witness, by definition we are telling what we have seen, what we know, and what we believe to be true as a result of our experiences. That is what it means to bear witness - that is what we are doing when we share the gospel with someone. So if you are telling the things you have seen - then I ask you, what have you seen?

An effective Gospel presentation is going to have 2 very crucial parts, and we want to strive to use both parts. 1. It will be biblically sound - it will tell the truth of our salvation and be referenceable in the Word - you should be able to back up your words with God’s Word. This means it will be a complete story - what a person needs to know to both connect with God and then to walk with Him. 2. It needs to have personal relevance. We are not selling a pontiac here - this is important because it has transformed our own lives, and we need to be able to explain how that is and what that means for us.

For the biblical Gospel, there are many tracks that you can follow. I will give you the most basic of these - the Roman Road. It is a simple series of verses that tells the story from beginning to end:

Romans 3:23 - "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."
Romans 6:23 - "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." The punishment that we have earned for our sins is death. Not just physical death, but eternal death!
Romans 6:23b - “But the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 5:8 -"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Jesus’ resurrection proves that God accepted Jesus’ death as the payment for our sins.
Romans 10:9 - "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."
Romans 10:13 says it again, "for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins and rescue us from eternal death. Salvation, the forgiveness of sins, is available to anyone who will trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
Romans 5:1 - "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Through Jesus Christ we can have a relationship of peace with God.
Romans 8:1 - “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Because of Jesus’ death on our behalf, we will never be condemned for our sins
Finally, we have this precious promise of God from Romans 8:38-39, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

It is simple - we have all sinned. We cannot save ourselves from our sin. God sent His son to die and take the blame for our sin. We must ask for forgiveness, recognize Christ as Lord, and allow Him to take over our lives. We are then rescued from eternal death, we are forgiven of our sins, and we have a relationship of peace with God. Nothing can ever break that.

Regardless of whether or not you choose to use a specific formula like the Roman Road or another, there are a few things that we need to make sure we are communicating in one way or another in our gospel presentation. This hearkens to that first question - what is the bare minimum required to be saved - we do not really know, but we want to make sure we have the most basic principles covered.

1. Who Is God
1. God is the creator of all, people and things
2. God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent
3. God loves us, His creation He dubbed “Very Good” and we bear His image
2. Who Am I?
1. I am a sinner - all sin. We live in a fallen world.
2. I deserve to be punished for my sin, and I cannot escape that.
3. Who Is Jesus?
1. Son of God, fully God and fully human
2. Perfect sacrifice - took the blame for my sin
3. Allowed for me to have a relationship with God through Him
4. What must I do?
1. Accept forgiveness of your sins
2. Recognize God as Lord and ask Him to take charge of your life
3. Repent - consciously turn from sin with His help
4. Learn and study - respond to Him saving you.

What about the other part of witnessing? Everything we just went over - that’s the Gospel message in a nutshell. But for it to be a witness, it has to be something you have experienced. How do you share where your life and the Gospel meet. Some thoughts:

1. Your own conversion story - do you have a life-changing story?
2. Struggle with sin and pain in your life? 
3. Stories of God’s presence and intervention with you or those you love?

This is one of those places where good pre-evangelism helps a lot, as that is where we establish connections. If I am speaking with someone who loves baseball, I can tailor my own experience with God in a way that He will understand through talking about my experience playing ball. For you, maybe it is military, or a similar struggle you both shared. Maybe there is no connection there and they need to hear the blunt and honest truth about where you were when you were lost. This is a point where often we break down their barriers by breaking down some of our own.

Here is your homework assignment, and I really hope you guys will take this seriously. Since we are called to bear witness, have you ever put into words exactly what you believe? It may sound silly, but you may also be surprised at how few have really done so. I want you to write a credo. Many of you have heard of the Apostles Creed - they basically tackle all the major points of theology there, but that is the sort of idea. I want to know what you believe about salvation - how you obtain it, why you need it, and what you should do once you have it. This credo is basically what you are going to tell people when you share the gospel with them. Back it up with scripture and/or personal experience. I would love for one or more of you to share them next week. The idea is to get you thinking about this - really thinking about it, maybe for the first time.

Let’s pray.