The Why's and Hows of Evangelism

Do you have the desire to see people saved from eternal death? Do you know how to go about doing it? It seems that there is a legitimate reason people don’t evangelize like they should…they are unsure how.

The first thing we need to be able to do is tell them why salvation is important.

Matthew 25:46 KJV 1900

46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

The Bible describes Hell as a place of punishment, torment, a lake of fire where there is gnashing of teeth.

Heaven as a place of beauty: Revelation 21:18-21

The How: The Romans Road

1) I’m a “good person” do I really need salvation? In many years of talking to people, I think 9 out of 10 people categorize themselves as “good” people and don’t understand their need for salvation.

 For everyone has sinned;  we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. (Romans 3:23)

As the Scriptures say,  “No one is righteous—not even one.  (Romans 3:10)

When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death,  so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.  (Romans 5:12)

2) I’m not a really bad person, is my sin really that bad? Almost everyone considers themselves to be “relatively” better (less bad, less sinful, and less depraved) than others and so forgive themselves for their “relatively” minor sins.

 For the wages of sin is death,  but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

3) I’m too bad to be saved, how can there be any hope for me? Those, who don’t consider themselves better than others, often consider themselves to have missed the mark, with so many sins stacked up on their side of the scale, that there’s no hope for them.

 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.  (Romans 5:8)

4) How can I be saved? The concept of salvation by faith is alien to our human nature, we want to do something to earn our salvation, but the task is too great for us, we need divine intervention.

 And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: 

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. (Romans 10:9-10)

5) Did God accept me? After a person has come to Jesus Christ for their personal soul salvation, it is extremely common for them to doubt their salvation, to doubt that God will keep his promise, that they are safe in Christ.

As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him.

For  “Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.”  (Romans 10:11-13)

Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith,  we have peace with God  because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. (Romans 5:1)

 So now there is no condemnation  for those who belong to Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)

 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love.  Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

So Now What? Invite them to come to church, make a public confession of faith, follow in baptizing and start discipling.