11.20.16 ~ “The Fundamentals of Evangelism”

What do you say to someone who hasn’t expressed a belief in God or a need to

be forgiven of their sins?
What are some of the biblical truths a person must know and believe, in order

that they might receive forgiveness and eternal life? (see Romans 1:18-20; 2:12-15; 3:23; 5:8; 6:23; 8:1)

What is the Gospel? See 1Corinthians 15:1-4 Is it prudent to speak to people about God’s forgiveness without talking about sin? How about explaining trusting in Christ to someone apart from describing faith?

When we share God’s message of salvation, we must emphasize the need for a person to surrender to the Lordship of Christ, to fully receive Him as Savior.

We must be clear - salvation is not merely believing some facts about Jesus, but is to genuinely repent of sin and turn away from it, turning to God, completely trusting in Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross, as total payment for your sins (see John 5:39-40).

Only a genuine heart response to the true gospel of Christ can bring salvation to an unbeliever; any diluted, redacted, or corrupted gospel message can create a false sense of conversion, leaving that person separated from God, without hope and eternally damned.

Can anyone come to Christ apart from confessing that they are a sinner? NO! And so, we must teach the need for repentance; to repent means to do a total about face -- to turn away from sin and self and turn toward God; to be born “from above” [born of the Spirit] into God’s family (see John 1:12-13); a genuine change of heart belief will be verified in a person’s life by a change in their behavior (see Mark 1:4-8, 14-20).

True repentance is the work of God’s Spirit convicting us of our sin (see John 16:8-9; also 12:32; 6:44; 3:14-16). The cure for sin is to respond to God’s gift by confessing and following Christ (see 1John 1:5-10).

It takes "faith" to believe God (see Hebrews 11:1-3, 6). Faith is a gift from God (see Ephesians 2:8-9). Never forget this - God’s desire is to save us, to spiritually heal us granting us eternal life (see 1Timothy 2:3-4; 2Peter 3:9).

Faith in Jesus means to believe in and receive Him, confessing Him as Savior and yielding to Him as Lord; true repentance and belief take place in your heart not in the head (see Romans 10:9-10, 13).

True belief will produce clear evidence of salvation, there must be a demonstrable change in one’s life. To say that a person can be genuinely saved and yet not desire to obey God's Word, is absurd, a lie from hell!

There are many contemporary preachers who take the position that it is possible for a true believer to turn from Christ to unbelief, to deny God, and to become an atheist - yet still possess eternal life. B-a-l-o-n y!

That kind of apostasy proves a person was never saved (see 1John 2:18-19).

Scripture is very clear that a saved person can never become unsaved or fall back into total unbelief; a Christian cannot lose, have taken away, or give back, their salvation (Romans 11:29).

God is sovereign in salvation, and salvation cannot be revoked, i.e., once saved always saved. When you repent and believe in Christ, the Holy Spirit takes up permanent residence in you, and you become completely and eternally God’s possession.

Ephesians 1:13-14, “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession -- to the praise of His glory.” (You see, we are marked, sealed, redeemed)

1Corinthians 3:16, “Don't you know that you are God’s temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?”

In John 18:37 Jesus said, "for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to Me."

Jesus Christ is the Truth (John 14:6), everything He said and did is Truth; the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth (John 14:17), lives in each and every genuine believer and follower of Christ. The Bible is the Word of Truth (John 17:17), by which God's people are set apart, protected, directed, and provided for.

As you study and apply God’s Word to your life, you are spiritually transformed by a desire and propensity to serve, honor, and obey your Father in heaven, and the greatest thing you and I can do is to introduce someone to God's Son, Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior.
2Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

We become spiritual children of God.

Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ, I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

We are to serve and honor God.

John 8:32-33, “If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”

We are bond slaves, we have been given our freedom, yet we serve God.

1John 2:4, “We know that we have come to know Him [Jesus] if we obey his commands. The man who says, ‘I know Him,’ but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.’”

We are to obey God’s Word.

Christians are free from sin’s penalty, commissioned to proclaim the gospel [the good news] of Christ. We are commanded (Matthew 28:19-20a), to go and make disciples of all nations [i.e., proclaiming Christ], baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit [immersing them into all that the Bible says about the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit], teaching them to obey everything Christ has commanded [i.e., about Sin, Salvation, Life, Death, Prayer, Service, Marriage, Parenting, Helping the Poor, Protecting the Weak, Hating Evil, Holding up the Truth, Rebuking False Doctrine, Exposing False Teachers, etc.].

Jesus’ first command was (Mark 1:15), “Repent and believe the good news,” then (v. 17), “Come, follow Me!"

The message you and I are to proclaim must be God’s plan, purpose, and provision of Jesus Christ, He is (John 14:6), “the [only] way, the [only] truth, the [only] life [concerning God]. No one comes to the Father [goes to heaven or receives eternal life] except through Jesus Christ (crucified, resurrected, coming again).”

Salvation is free through Jesus, that is the message we must share;, for there is no salvation apart from forgiveness, and no forgiveness apart from repentance for sin and confession of Christ as Lord and Savior.
Acts 2:21 "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Acts 4:12, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which they must be saved.” And in Acts 16:30 the jailer asked Paul and Silas, ”Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They responded (v. 31), "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”

The most important Truth of all time is this, Jesus Saves!

Pastor Mike <‘(((><