"Leading a Soul to Christ"

Introduction: After you have warmed up to your prospect, you must lead the conversation into spiritual matters. Do your best to get to this point within 15 minutes of arriving. You will want to have approximately 30 minutes to present the gospel without interruption.
Explain to the prospect that your primary concern is for his or her relationship to God. Then ask the following questions:

1) Do you know what it means to be saved? (If they answer 'yes' ask them to give their testimony [tell how they became a Christian] and/or ask them: 'Can you give me a Bible verse why you know you are saved?' - 1 Peter 3:15.)
2) Has anyone ever taken a Bible and shown you what it means to be saved?
3) May I show you some verses of Scripture that explain what it means to be saved?
If the person says 'yes' to the last question, present the gospel to him following the plan given below.
If after going through the scriptures the person does not want to trust Christ and be saved, then pray with him, asking God to open his eyes and heart to his need. Then ask, "May I give you my personal testimony of (how I came to know Christ as my Saviour/how I became a Christian/how I was saved)?" Give another invitation for salvation. If the person still does not want to trust Christ, then pray with him/her and for him/her one more time before leaving. Let the person know you will be praying for his/her salvation, and that if they have any questions or concerns that you are available to talk anytime. Be sure to leave them some good Christian literature.

"A Simple, Thorough Gospel Presentation: Salvation Explained."

I. The PROBLEM - Man is a Sinner.

A. Romans 3:10 - "There is none righteous, no, not one."
No one is sinlessly perfect; no one is 'right with God' based on his own merits.

B. Romans 3:23 - "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."

1. The 'glory of God' is His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (Rev.21:23).
2. He is God's perfect standard of righteousness, sinlessness, and holiness.
3. 'All have sinned, and come short' of God's standard, and thus cannot enter Heaven on his own merits. * To 'come short' means to 'miss the mark' or 'fail the test.' To illustrate:
a. To 'come short' of the bull's eye on a dart board is to 'miss the mark.'
b. To 'come short' of 70 on a test is to 'fail the test.'
c. To 'come short' of sinless perfection is to be lost in God's sight.
C. Psalm 51:5 - "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me."
1. We are born with a sinful nature; received it at our very conception in the womb.
2. Because we are sinners (by nature) we sin. Not everyone commits the same number of sins or the same kinds of sins, but all sin because all are sinners by birth as well as by choice.
3. Fruit trees bear various amounts of different kinds of fruit, but all are fruit trees.
(The sinful nature is the root of our problem - sins are the fruit of our sin nature.)


II. The PENALTY - Because Man is a Sinner, He owes a Sin-debt to God: Hell.
 

A. Romans 6:23a - "For the wages of sin is death..."
1. Not just a physical death, but also an eternal death, called the 'second death' in Rev.20:14 and Rev.21:8 - the 'lake of fire.'
2. As sinners, we owe a penalty for our sin against a holy God; the penalty is death - an eternity separated from God in the 'lake of fire.'


B. John 3:18 - "He that believeth not is condemned already."
John 3:36 - "he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."
Many think that after death God will determine whether they spend eternity in heaven or hell. This is not true. The Bible teaches that as sinners, we are already sentenced. The person who is not trusting Christ for salvation is like a criminal who has been arrested, tried, found guilty, and sentenced to death. He is only awaiting the execution of the penalty - hell for the unsaved, unforgiven, condemned sinner. (The judgment of God hangs over his head by a thread.)
C. "The wages of sin is death" - Again, the penalty of sin is 'death.'

1. What we have earned in life and will owe in eternity for the sins we have committed is 'death.'
2. Since 'death' is the penalty for sin, that means that salvation cannot be earned by our good works. What God requires is 'death.' Therefore church attendance, church membership, baptism, tithing, the sacraments, etc. will not pay the penalty. The penalty is 'death' - not good works (Romans 3:28).
3. The lost sinner must suffer eternal death in the 'lake of fire' to pay for his/her sins. There really is 'hell to pay.'


III. The PAYMENT - Jesus Christ paid the sin-debt for us.
 

A. Romans 5:8 - "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
1. God demonstrated His love for me at Calvary.
2. We cannot clean ourselves up, make ourselves acceptable, better or presentable to God, in order to merit God's love and forgiveness. God loves us because of Who He is, not because of who we are - God is love, we are sinners.
3. Jesus died the death of a sinner. The word 'for' means: in place of or instead of. Jesus Christ died 'for us,' that is, in our place, in our behalf, in our stead - He is our substitute. Jesus took our place on the cross, He paid the debt we owe for sin so that we could have His righteousness (2 Cor.5:21; 1 Peter 3:18).
B. Isaiah 53:6 - "All we like sheep have gone astray: we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all."
* God took every sin we have ever or ever will commit, and laid them on Jesus. He bore our sins in His own body on the cross (1 Peter 2:24). He took away our sins (John 1:29). God punished Jesus in our place to pay the sin-debt we owe (Isaiah 53:10). This is called the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ.


IV. The PLAN - a man is saved by accepting Jesus and what He did by faith.
 

A. Acts 16:31; John 3:16; John 3:36- "Believe on the Lord..." "...whosoever believeth in/on Him..."
* To 'believe' means to: trust in, depend upon, rely on Jesus Christ to save and forgive you.
ILLUS: Trusting my physical life to a pilot and a plane to get me safely to my destination. You must trust Jesus Christ with your soul to get you safely to heaven.
B. John 1:12; Revelation 3:20 - "As many as received Him..." "I will come in to him..."
1. To 'receive' Christ means: to accept Him, to take Him, to welcome Him into your heart by faith. Just like you would receive a friend into your home who was knocking at the door. You must open the door and invite Him in. (You need to let Jesus come into your heart.)
2. INVITE the Lord Jesus Christ into your heart and life through prayer - Romans 10:13 says, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
C. The Sinner's Prayer.
* Ask the prospect to take your hand if me/she means business. Then lead him/her in a prayer like this (have him/her repeat after you, sincerely, from the heart):

"Dear Lord, I know that I am a sinner. I believe that your Son, Jesus Christ, died to pay for my sins and save me from hell. The best way I know how, right now, I receive your Son, Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour. Lord Jesus, come into my heart and save me, I pray, in your Name, Amen."

Ask him/her if Jesus saved them. Assure him/her of their salvation with verses like 1 John 5:12,13; John 5:24. Show them Revelation 3:20 and Romans 10:13 again and ask them if God did what He said He would do. If God is true, then they are saved when they invited Christ into their heart by faith. Then have the convert tell someone in your presence what they just did (Romans 10:11).


SALVATION in a "nutshell" is that: God forgives your sins so you don't have to go to hell and He gives you eternal life so you can live with Him forever in heaven, plus Jesus comes into your heart and changes your life!