Mark 16:15 ~ (Jesus) said to them, “Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."
Sharing your faith with someone can be very challenging, but with a few practical tools from Scripture, you can be equipped for the task. The book of Romans explains, in meticulous detail, the doctrine of Salvation. That makes it a great book when sharing the Gospel with someone. Here are a few well-known verses you can use as milestones for the conversation. It is called the Romans road because the idea is that you would go through the verses one by one, in order to explain each point - like stops along a highway.
We are all guilty of sin
First, we have Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God..."
Explain that no one can be "good enough" to earn God’s favor. No one has ever been or ever will be good enough or live a sinless life (except Christ).
Illustration: It is impossible to jump high enough to reach the moon. The highest jumper in the world will literally fall, laughably, impossibly short of reaching the moon by jumping. The same is true for us trying to reach perfection.
What does it say about God? God is perfect, without sin. He is holy. He is the author of creation and the one-and-only, absolute authority of right and wrong. And we are not, so we are declared guilty.
Sin carries a penalty that must be paid
Romans 6:23 is our second post along the path. "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Explain that sin carries a penalty. If you are guilty there is a debt that must be paid. Sin brings death, both bodily and spiritually, and the penalty for sinning against a Holy God is eternal separation from Him in condemnation.
Illustration: The crime of murdering a young girl should be as severe as possible. If a human judge did not punish the crime accordingly, we would rightly accuse that judge of being unjust. The same is true about God judging sin.
What does it say about God? God is a just and wise judge. He is righteous and fair in all His judgments.
God has made a way
Thirdly we have Romans 5:8 showing us the way "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
Explain that because He loves us so much, for us even though we have done nothing to deserve such love, He has made a way for our sins to be paid through Jesus Christ; a way for us to be declared "not guilty". He is the only one able to pay for the sins of everyone in the world and He proved this when He was resurrected.
Illustration: Imagine getting to the checkout counter of a shop with a trolly full of stuff (our sin). But we have no money to pay for it. The person behind you offers to pay for everything in your trolly. God is offering not to excuse or to write off your sin debt, but He is offering to pay the penalty on your behalf.
What does it say about God? God is love and He loved us first. We did nothing to earn His love, and yet He chose to demonstrate His great mercy and grace by paying for our sin debt so we can be declared "not guilty".
You have a choice to make
Romans 10:9-10 is our last road marker. "...if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord 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."
Explain that we all have a choice to make. We either decide to believe that Jesus Christ really did die on the cross, and was resurrected, to save us from our guilty judgment as well as its consequences (internal) and express sincere regret or remorse about our sin (external) - or we don't. We either acknowledge our hopeless, lost state without God, release the severity of our rebellion (sin) against Him and turn away from what we think is right to humbly turn towards our Maker - or we don't.
Illustration: To accept a gift we must decide to accept it (internal) and reach out with our hands (external) to receive it from the Giver.
What does it say about God? God cannot lie and is faithful to His word. He will never change His mind; He is not a man (Numbers 23:19). In this we can have the assurance that when we are saved we are eternally secured by His Spirit. We don't have to wonder or doubt whether we have the right to be called His children, or if we really will be in paradise with Him one day. We can rest assured.
What have you decided?
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