EVANGELISM: Pure Grace Approach

Bro. Arlou G. Requiroso S.B.G.

INTRODUCTION

This is a short and yet practical guide for those who have a desire to win souls to Christ but feel the need of help in so doing. While it is not our job nor in our power to SAVE anyone, it is our job to "present the gospel of the grace of God in a clear and understandable manner so that men can be saved. We are debtors to the lost of this world as Paul indicates in Romans chapter one.

Every believer is called to be an Ambassador for Christ which means we stand in His stead. To be a soul winner you will need the following.

1. You must be saved yourself

2. A desire to see people saved

3. Training in a clear presentation of the gospel

4. Some good tools to help you

As we go to persuade men we need to have a plan. That is what this handbook is about. It is a plan to help and no more. If you determine before God to be what he called you to be, an Ambassador for Christ, and you are asking people the Crunch Question, then no doubt you will see souls saved, to the glory of God.

THE PLAN

There are Three Parts To The Plan

1. The 5 Steps

2. The Verses

3. The Dialogue

We will go through each step adding the next one to it. Go slowly, your goal in giving the gospel is to be as clear as possible. It is the job of the Holy Spirit to do the saving. It would be better to see a few saved with a clear gospel than many confused with unsound doctrine.

THE FIVE BASIC STEPS - These need to be memorized in order.

Step One - They Must Know They Are Sinners

Step Two - They Must Know What Happens To Lost Sinners.

Step Three - They Must Know Eternal Life Is A Free Gift That Cannot Be Earned

Step Four - They Must Hear The Gospel Of Grace Clearly.

Step Five - They Must By Faith Trust In Christ And Christ Alone

THE VERSES

Now we will add the verses to the 5 basic steps. If you do not have a pocket size New Testament, you should obtain one. Once you have an NT you will want to chain the verses I will give you together so that you will not get ‘lost’ when witnessing to others. To chain verses together you would have a starting place like Romans 3:10. At Romans 3:10 you would write down the next reference you will use as in this case Romans 3:23. This way you would only have to know where to start and then just follow your chain.

Step One:

They Must Know They Are Sinners.

The verses to use are Rom 3:10, 3:23. These verses show the issue of sin is not horizontal but vertical. We do not meet the perfect standard of righteousness that is God. God is perfect and we are not. This is what SIN is, and this must be communicated to the unbeliever. Most will agree they are not perfect. This issue is the Word of God not your opinion. You are not telling them they are a sinner, God is telling them they are a sinner.

Step Two:

They Must Know What Happens To Lost Sinners.

The verses to use are Rom 6:23, and 2 Th 1:8-9.

The point here is eternal judgment. The soul will live forever somewhere. Romans 6:23 is the "bad news - good news"verse and it should be used that way. First present the bad news ".. the wages of sin is DEATH..." This death is described in the Bible as eternal separation from God in the lake of fire. Take them to 2 Th 1:8-9 and let them read the verse. They MUST know what will happen to them if they do not choose rightly. Then take them back to Romans 6:23 and show them the good news. The good news is that God has a gift for them and it is free. And they are free to choose which one they want.

Step Three:

They Must Know Eternal Life Is A Free Gift.

The verses to use are Rom 4:5, Titus 3:5, 2 Tim 1:9, Eph 2:8-9

It is of critical importance that the sinner understands that he can do nothing that will appease God or merit His favor. Man is unconditionally lost and needs an unconditional salvation. That is what Grace is all about. It is best to have a number of verses "at hand" to use because this is the single most used objection to salvation. God is looking for His own righteousness not ours. The RIGHTEOUSNESS that God REQUIRES is the RIGHTEOUSNESS he SUPPLIES!

Step Four:

They Must Hear The Gospel Clearly.

The verses to use are Rom 5:8, 2Co 5:21 and 1Co 15:1-4. These verses, used in this progression, clearly present...

the love of God towards unlovable man,
the substitutionary death of Christ for that man,
the details of the gospel, i.e., the death, burial and resurrection.

Each of these points must be made clear to the unbeliever.

Step Five:

They Must By Faith Trust In Christ.

The verse to use is Eph 1:13. Notice that the verse says you trusted after you heard the gospel and after that you believed. This verse has a three step progression.

You hear the gospel
You believe the gospel
You trust the gospel

The result being that you are now sealed by the Holy Spirit into the church, the body of Christ.

THE DIALOGUE

Now that we have the steps and the verses we need a way to communicate these truths to others, this is where we use dialogue. Knowing what you are going to say before you say it has its advantages in that it allows you to control the conversation. You need to be in control of the conversation if you expect to get the job done. Keep in mind that we are presenting and representing the Lord Jesus Christ. In sales terms it’s called knowing the product you want to sell. We have nothing to sell, but we do have something to give away and often that is harder than selling. So know the steps by heart, know the verses by heart, and know what to say and when to say it.

Asking Permission

This question will vary somewhat with the circumstances of the conversation and the person with whom you are talking. The issue is gaining permission so that you can begin and finish without interruption. Sometimes you will be interrupted with objections or non-relevant questions; if you have asked permission to speak then you can tactfully remind the person of this and thereby regain control of the conversation. For example you could say… "That is a good question and we will get to it after we finish what we are covering right now." You do not have to be rude.. remember you are an Ambassador not a vacuum cleaner salesman.

Question One

A good way to ask the first question is, "May I ask you a personal question?" If you gain permission (and you usually will, people are genuinely interested in God and the bible) move on to question two. If you are not granted permission you might want to rephrase the question and try again. However, do not make a point of pushing the unbeliever, leave the door open for others.

Question Two

"If you were to stand before God today and he should ask you, why should I let you into my heaven, what would you answer?" Fact is most people do not know, or at least are uncertain. This question sets the tone of the conversation. If you do not get a clear gospel of grace testimony at this point, go to the next question. If you get a plain "yes" then lead into the next question like this…" I see, let me ask you another question…"

Question Three

"If I could show you, based on the AUTHORITY OF THE WORD OF GOD, that you could KNOW FOR SURE, you could have eternal life as a FREE GIFT, would you like to hear that?"

You have just asked their permission again and if you receive it you will want to open your bible to ROM 3:10 and begin to go through steps one to five.

Question Four

At the end of STEPS ONE TO FOUR you want to ask, "Do you understand that?" or "does this make sense to you?" Of course if they do not understand then you need to cover that STEP again. You want them to know what the bible is saying. Be praying the whole time for the Holy Spirit to guide you as you go.

Question Five

At the end of step five you will need to ask this question:

(your friends name) Do you believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died to pay for your sins? (wait for response)

Do you believe that he was buried and rose again from the dead according to the scriptures?" (wait for response)

If the answer is yes then you want to move on to the next question.

If the answer is no then you will need to evaluate the situation. Some times you will have to give the person time to choose. Others you will need to encourage – but do not push.

Question Six

Now you want to ask: "Do you DESIRE to have eternal life?"

Question Seven

If the answer to this question is yes, then you will want to say something like this: "If you desire to have eternal life why not thank God for eternal life right now?" IMPORTANT - Be sure you tell the person that their prayer does not save them, believing God saves them, prayer is how we talk and thank God for his unspeakable gift!

Question Eight

You should ask now, (with no doubt great joy and hope) "If you died tonight, where would you spend eternity? (wait for response) then ask: Why is that? (wait for response) The response should be based on what they now understand from the word of God.

Now explain to them they now have ETERNAL LIFE and they can never lose it because they didn’t earn it, it is a free gift.

Show them Eph 1:14, help them to understand that they are bought and paid for and now belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. You may also want to show them Rom. 8:38-39.

CLARITY

Just a few words about clarity. 1 Cor. 14:6-11 "Now brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, What shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine? 7 And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped? 8 For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? 9 So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? For ye shall speak into the air. 10 There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification. 11 Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me."

UNCLEAR LANGUAGE

As you speak to lost men you are going to hear all kinds of objections cloaked in religious double talk. Some of the things you will hear are...

I asked Jesus into my heart
I have been baptized
I pray all the time
I have Christian parents
I have always believed
I believe in God
I don’t believe in God
I read the bible
I don’t believe the bible
I go to church
I keep the commandments
I have my own religion
I am a .... (fill in the religion)
I don’t sin
I believe in evolution
I accepted Christ
I am a believer

None of these terms accurately describe what happens at salvation. When you hear these terms you will want to follow up with relevant questions. Again, these are tools of the flesh to get you to go away... If you do not hear that clear bell like ring of redemption you should consider the person lost and in need of the savior.

THE OBVIOUS

There are some obvious things that you do not want to overlook.

1. Practice the information with another believer. Use role playing to hone you skills. Remember you are the official Ambassador for the King of the Universe.

2. Have someone to go soul winning with you. Two by two is still a good method. Never ever never go alone. Do not visit the opposite sex alone or go inside a home alone.

3. Be praying for souls to lead to Christ. God will provide opportunities.

4. Carry some good tracts.

5. Use a New Testament if at all possible. Don’t scare them to death with a PULPIT SIZE BIBLE.

6. Be neat, clean and have fresh breath. You will be "up close and personal," so don’t be guilty of a "personal foul."

7. Be discerning. Do not force anyone, anywhere at anytime. Remember you are a tool of the Holy Spirit. Be useful not a hindrance.

8. Memorize the verses and understand what they teach. This way you can quote the verses as the soul you are dealing with is reading the passage. ROM10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

9. Highlight the verses in you chain so the lost can find them. They are not used to reading a bible for the most part and need all the help you can give them.

10. Keep eye contact as much as possible. This establishes honesty on you part.

11. Win them or warn them. If you do not see the person trust Christ, WARN them of the wrath to come, maybe the next soul winner can reap where you have watered or sowed.

12. Keep records for follow up and then follow up.

13. Get them an Authorized Version of the Word of God in LARGE PRINT. I believe small print bibles are a detriment to bible study and reading. Follow this plan.

Get them something they can read (large print)
Then give them something to read (King James)
Show them where to read (Paul)

14. Get them to Church every time the door is open. If you get them coming for regular feeding and fellowship in the assembly of the saints early, they will form the habit quicker and become stable sooner.

CONCLUSION

If what you are looking for is a plan whereby you can reach the lost, I believe you now have it. It is sound in Pauline doctrine. It is simple, and it is clear.

Your biggest problem is going to be your own flesh. It is true in every dispensation. The challenge is to let the Lord Jesus Christ live his life through you. (Gal 2:20)

You now have the steps, the verses and the dialogue. What you need now is the heart. The heart comes from the cross of Christ and His love for sinners.

2Co 5:14-15 For the love of Christ constraineth us because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: 15 and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

2Co 4:13-14 We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak; 14 Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.

Thank You & Happy Soul Winning!

For more information and study materials, please visit: http://www.puregrace.yolasite.com