The
promise of eternity is clear in scripture; we
are made in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-27).
Since we are in God’s image, we are eternal,
whether we like it or not. God made us this
way, eternity is promised in scripture to both
saved and lost. Heaven and Hell faces those
made in the image of God.
When Adam and Eve fell, all of mankind fell with
them; Jesus came to redeem us, to restore us
from our fallen state. He died in our place,
for our sins, His death purchased our
redemption. The word redeem in Hebrew is
lag
Ga'al,
and means to play the role of kinsman, someone
who is a relation to the person needing rescue,
hence the term, kinsman -redeemer. Jesus
became a “son of man” when He was born
into humanity, Jesus, “fully man” and “fully
God”, is our kinsman redeemer. His death
purchased our redemption; he paid the price of
our salvation.
The good-news of our redemption, is called the
Gospel or in the Greek,
Euaggelion.
This is the mission of the church, to announce
to the world the good-news of salvation. The
world needs to hear the message of salvation, so
they can make an eternal choice. Jesus has
given the job of presenting the Gospel to those
who are “Saved”. We, who have accepted Jesus as
Lord and savior, have the responsibility to
carry the message to the lost. Just as someone
was faithful, to bring us the message of
redemption, we are called to be faithful and
bring the message forward.
Just how does somebody lead somebody to Christ?
Just what are we called to do? This is the
dilemma for many who know Jesus Christ as their
personal savior.
If you have a friend who does not know Jesus
Christ, you have the greatest opportunity in the
world. If you could offer someone the whole
world, it is still not equal to what you can
offer a friend, when you offer him/her Jesus
Christ. Through friendship, we have this amazing
opportunity, to introduce people to Jesus
Christ. First, we need to understand just what
does it mean bring someone to Jesus Christ.
What does it mean to lead someone to Christ
Just how do you lead someone to Christ is a
question I faced after I first became a
believer. I knew why I believed, and I would
often tell people about the evidence and leave
it at that. I knew why I accepted, however after
I accepted, I did not really understand, what I
should do with my new found salvation.
Later through my search for fellowship and
knowledge, I took a class on personal
evangelism[1]
then the whole picture come together. Yes, I
was saved! But now with my salvation I had a
mission. I was called by Jesus Christ, to bring
the good-news of salvation to lost people. To
explain to them, who Jesus is, what He did, why
we need them, and then give people an
opportunity to accept Jesus, personally. The
same as someone asked me, if I would like to
receive Jesus Christ, I was to ask others.
Asking someone to accept Jesus Christ means giving
them an opportunity to hear the good-news, the
Gospel, and giving them an opportunity to put
their faith in Jesus Christ. Imagine you were
walking through a desert, dying of water, you
find an oasis in the desert, and you’re saved!
Finding the oasis saved your life. A short while
later, in the distance you see another person
struggle in the hot desert sun, dying of thirst.
What do you do? How do you lead them to the
oasis? You might go out into the desert, you
might call to them from the distance, and you
can even take them water from the pool.
Jesus Christ is our salvation in the desert of
life. We struggled for the living water, like
the Samaritan woman. Jesus offered her this
same water that he offers to us, the living
water of everlasting life.
13 Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this
water will thirst again, 14 "but whoever drinks
of the water that I shall give him will never
thirst. But the water that I shall give him will
become in him a fountain of water springing up
into everlasting life." John 4:13-14
We are called to offer the water of life, to those in the
desert. Even if you are the most successful
person whoever lived, without Jesus Christ you
are lost and bankrupt, dying of thirst in the
desert.
So leading someone to Christ is bringing someone to
point of decision, informing them of God’s offer
of redemption, then allowing them to accept or
reject the offer. Leading someone to Christ is
not making them a member of our church; it’s not
making them friends or having them repeat a
prayer after us.
Leading someone to Christ is having them make a
sincere commitment to Christ, only the Lord
knows someone’s heart. The sincerity of
accepting Jesus Christ it between them and the
Lord, our job is to present the Gospel clearly,
allowing them to make a decision. Showing them
how to receive the gift of salvation, Jesus
Christ, we are leading them to the living
waters.
Once someone comes to Christ, we can help them along
in their faith, through discipleship[2].
Jesus set the model for us to follow. He trained
12, who reached the whole world. God puts
people in our life, so we can transfer His
wisdom to them.
The Holy Spirit draws people
One point, we need to clarify is that we are merely
instruments used by God to complete the work.
When we lead someone to Christ, we are actually
letting God work through us to bring people to
Christ. People do not come to Christ because we
choose, but because God chooses. We are merely
making ourselves available for God’s service.
In the book of Acts, we see the Ethiopian eunuch,
sitting in his chariot, reading from the
scriptures. He was reading from the book of
Isaiah, chapter 53, when Phillip came upon the
scene. Now this is how it appeared in the
physical world, actually Acts reveals the Holy
Spirit was directing the scene. Phillip was
merely a willing servant, used by God. Philip
had a message to deliver to the Ethiopian, the
same message we have.
26 Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, "Arise
and go toward the south along the road which
goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." This is
desert. 27 So he arose and went. And behold, a
man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority
under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who
had charge of all her treasury, and had come to
Jerusalem to worship, 28 was returning. And
sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah
the prophet. 29 Then the Spirit said to
Philip, "Go near and overtake this chariot."
30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading
the prophet Isaiah, and said, "Do you understand
what you are reading?" 31 And he said, "How can
I, unless someone guides me?" And he asked
Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 The place
in the Scripture which he read was this: "He was
led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb
before its shearer is silent, So He opened not
His mouth. 33 In His humiliation His justice was
taken away, And who will declare His generation?
For His life is taken from the earth." 34 So the
eunuch answered Philip and said, "I ask you, of
whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of
some other man?" 35 Then Philip opened his
mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached
Jesus to him. 36 Now as they went down the road,
they came to some water. And the eunuch said,
"See, here is water. What hinders me from being
baptized?" 37 Then Philip said, "If you believe
with all your heart, you may." And he answered
and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the
Son of God." 38 So he commanded the chariot to
stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went
down into the water, and he baptized him. 39 Now
when they came up out of the water, the
Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so
that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on
his way rejoicing. Acts 8:26-39
Philip explained to the man, what he was reading in
scripture. How it was fulfilled in Jesus
Christ, pointing to the way of salvation (vs.
35). Then the man confesses Jesus Christ is the
Son of God, through Philip’s preaching the
Gospel. Following his sincere faith, he was
baptized in the faith. From the beginning to
the end the Holy Spirit was involved in the
whole event. Philip made himself available for
God’s service.
The same thing happens today, when we allow God to
use us, he directs those, searching and yearning
for salvation into our life. Like Philip, we
need to be sensitive to the Spirit of God,
(Romans 8:1-27). The Spirit of God today is
drawing people to Salvation, our job is to find
those who God is calling. Therefore it does not
depend on our abilities, but on our
availability. When we make ourselves available,
God will then call us when the time is right.
44 "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws
him; and I will raise him up at the last day. 65
And He said, "Therefore I have said to you that
no one can come to Me unless it has been granted
to him by My Father." John 6:44,65
Through friendship, we make ourselves available
to God’s Spirit, as people come into our life.
Like Philip going down the road, he showed
friendship to a stranger. Jesus showed
friendship to the Samaritan woman (John 4),
causing the village of Sychar to come out and
meet Him.
Let
the light of Christ shine
When do we broach the subject of salvation and Jesus
Christ in a friendship? This is really up to the
move of God’s Spirit. This is why being
sensitive to the Spirit is essential in our
spiritual walk. God will open the door of
salvation, through our life or by God’s
prompting them.
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we
do not know what we should pray for as we ought,
but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us
with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now
He who searches the hearts knows what the mind
of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession
for the saints according to the will of God.
Romans 8:26-27
Often, it’s our life that causes people to ask what
makes us different. When we let the light of
Christ shine
through
our lives, we demonstrate the love of God.
Through our life, people will be drawn to us,
when Jesus Christ shines through us. People in
the world are looking for hope, the world only
offers dead ends. This is what sets us apart,
the Spirit of God, dwelling in us has changed
us, we are Born Again, because God is
dwelling in us (John 3:3-7, I Cor. 6:19).
through
our lives, we demonstrate the love of God.
Through our life, people will be drawn to us,
when Jesus Christ shines through us. People in
the world are looking for hope, the world only
offers dead ends. This is what sets us apart,
the Spirit of God, dwelling in us has changed
us, we are Born Again, because God is
dwelling in us (John 3:3-7, I Cor. 6:19).
The world cannot find hope apart from Jesus.
Therefore we need to make sure people know why
we are different. We are reflectors, reflecting
the light we have inside of us. We need to let
the light of Christ shine out of our life.
If we are filled with darkness, then evil shines out
of our life. If we are filled with the Spirit,
then our life will reflect the light of God. We
become “images” and “reflectors” of our Father
to a lost and dying world.
44 "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who
curse you, do good to those who hate you, and
pray for those who spitefully use you and
persecute you, 45 "that you may be sons of
your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun
rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain
on the just and on the unjust. 46 "For if you
love those who love you, what reward have you?
Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
Matthew 5:44-46
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there
is no law. 24 And those who are Christ's have
crucified the flesh with its passions and
desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us
also walk in the Spirit.
Galatians 5:22-25
34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one
another; as I have loved you, that you also love
one another. 35 "By this all will know that
you are My disciples, if you have love for
one another."
John 13:34-35
In each of these verses, we see the world is
watching our life. The world is comparing us,
evaluating us, to see if we are real. They want
to know is Jesus real? Through our friendships
we allow the world to come into contact with
us. As a result, we let them see how real Jesus
Christ is, it’s not an act. Ultimately through
our life, friends will yearn to know what makes
us different.
Ask yourself, before you knew Jesus; were there
people who stood out to you? People who did not
seem like the world? Did you wonder what made
these people different? This is the opportunity
we have everyday, with those who God has put
around us.
Praying for our friends
Praying for our friends
When we become aware of the vital role we play in
the salvation of souls, expect a battle to
ensue. Bringing souls into the kingdom of God
is a direct attack on Satan’s domain. Satan
does not like his domain attacked; Satan however
is powerless against the authority of Christ
(Matthew 28:18). However, we need to have a
clear understanding of Satan’s power in the
earthly realms. Scripture calls him (Satan)
the god of this age, this title, in
scripture is defining the power we are up
against. Satan is not someone we should take
lightly, Peter calls him a lion,
seeking whom he may
devour (I Peter 5:8).
3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who
are perishing, 4 whose minds the god of this age
has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light
of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the
image of God, should shine on them.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4
Make no mistake, bringing souls into the kingdom of
God is spiritual warfare, Satan’s domain is
being assaulted.
This
is the reason we need prayer cover, we need the
resources of Heaven available to us. Our actions
and relationships need to be covered in prayer,
because we are at war. The eternities of souls
are on the line, Satan would love to stop us in
our tracks, but Christ’s authority is supreme.
This
is the reason we need prayer cover, we need the
resources of Heaven available to us. Our actions
and relationships need to be covered in prayer,
because we are at war. The eternities of souls
are on the line, Satan would love to stop us in
our tracks, but Christ’s authority is supreme.
Prayer is the often overlooked part of Paul’s
description of the armor for the spiritual
warrior in Ephesians
6:10-18. Here, Paul requests
prayer cover, so he may advance the gospel.
18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the
Spirit, being watchful to this end with all
perseverance and supplication for all the saints
19 and for me, that utterance may be given to
me, that I may open my mouth boldly to
make known the mystery of the gospel,
Ephesians 6:18-19
Understand all heaven is focused on the salvation of
souls, on the battle between the forces of Satan
and the forces of Jesus Christ (the saved).
Jesus declares the joy in Heaven, when a sinner finds
salvation.
7 "I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in
heaven over one sinner who repents than over
ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.
Luke 15:7
Leading
Someone to Christ
Therefore with each relationship we develop, we need
to understand the depth of the spiritual
struggle. Since our goal is not merely to have
friends for the sake of friends, our goal is to
develop eternal friends. Friends we will know
for eternity in heaven, friends who we can take
with us into heaven.
Therefore let’s summarize the important points
before we continue.
§
Leading someone to Christ is giving them an
opportunity to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and
Savior
§
The Spirit of God is the force behind a persons
salvation, we are only instruments
§
We need to let the light of Christ shine through
our lives
§
We need to pray for those who God puts in our life
With the above points in context, God opens the door
for our friend to be presented with the Gospel.
Where do we start? There are several methods to
present the Gospel, including the Roman Road,
Three Phase Pattern, Religion vs.
Christianity, Jesus’ Definition of
Christianity, Four Steps to God[3]
and Steps to Peace with God.
Each method has one point in common; the need for
Christ has to be established. The belief we are
“good enough” and worthy of Heaven is one of the
hardest bridges to cross. Most people consider
themselves good, and we justify our sins in our
hearts. Therefore, since I am good why do I
need a savior? We will use the method Steps
to Peace with God by the Billy Graham
Evangelistic Association.
Objections about Jesus and the Bible sometimes need
to be answered first, before someone is willing
to trust Christ. This is why understanding
apologetics (Word of defense) is important,
especially since the Gospel is under constant
attack. Many people have sincere questions, so
we should never dismiss questions; the truth has
nothing to fear.
( Everybody yearns for a purpose, we are looking for
meaning, why am I here. Some find
their purpose in success, fame,
money, looks or sports, all are vain
attempts to purpose. Only through
Christ will we find our purpose)
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God loves you and wants you to
experience peace and life --
abundant and eternal.
The Bible says... "...we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Romans 5:1 "For God so loved the world that He have His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16 "...I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." John 10:10 |
(Our fallen condition has caused us
to be separated from God. Most
people don’t know there is a
problem. We are constantly trying
to find a way to fill the empty
feeling. This is our yearning of
redemption.)
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God created us in His own image to have an abundant life. He did
not make us as robots to
automatically love and obey Him, but
gave us a will and a freedom of
choice.
We chose to disobey God and go our
own willful way. We still make this
choice today. This results in
separation from God. The Bible says... "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23
Through the ages, individuals have tried in many ways to bridge
this gap...without success...
The Bible says...
"There is a way that seems right to man, but in the end it leads to death." Proverbs 14:12 "But your iniquities have separated you from God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear." Isaiah 59:2 |
(Jesus came to
restore this lost relationship with
God. Jesus death has paid the price
of our redemption. The way of
restoration is established. The
Gospel is the good-news of
salvation)
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Jesus Christ is the only answer to this problem. He died on the
Cross and rose from the grave,
paying the penalty for our sin and
bridging the gap between God and
people.
The Bible says...
"...God is on one side and all the people on the other side, and Christ Jesus, Himself man, is between them to bring them together..." 1 Timothy 2:5 "For Christ Jesus also has suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God..." 1 Peter 3:18a "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8 |
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We must trust Jesus Christ and receive Him by personal
invitation.
The Bible says...
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me." Revelation 3:20 "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name." John 1:12 "...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." Romans 10:9 Is there any good reason why you cannot receive Jesus Christ right now? How to receive Christ: 1. Admit your need (I am a sinner). 2. Be willing to turn from your sins (repent). 3. Believe that Jesus Christ died for you on the Cross and rose from the grave. 4. Through prayer, invite Jesus Christ to come in and control your life through the Holy Spirit (Receive Him as Lord and Savior). |
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If you prayed this prayer, The Bible says...
"For 'whoever calls upon the name of
the Lord will be saved.'" Romans 10:13 Did you sincerely ask Jesus Christ to come into youe life? Where is He right now? What has He given you? "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -- not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9 |
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Credit: truthnet.org
Written By Kachi
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"He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God
does not have life. These things I
have written to you who believe in
the name of the Son of God, that you
may know that you have eternal life,
and that you may continue to believe
in the name of the Son of God." 1 John 5:12-13,
NKJV
Receiving Christ, we are born into
God's family through the
supernatural work of the Holy Spirit
who indwells every believer...this
is called regeneration or the "new
birth".
This is just the beginning of a wonderful new life in Christ. To
deepen this relationship you should:
1.
Read your Bible every day to know
Christ better. 2. Talk to God in prayer every day. 3. Tell others about Christ. 4. Worship, fellowship, and serve with other Christians in a church where Christ is preached. 5. As Christ's representative in a needy world, demonstrate your new life by your love and concern for others. ! |
