Heaven, where God dwells. Jesus said, “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be
also” (John 14:2-3 NKJV). Heaven is a place where God is, where we will spend eternity reunited with Him in His presence. To His good and faithful servant the Lord said, “Enter into the joy of your lord” (Matthew 25:23 NKJV). Heaven is a place where, “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4 NKJV).
Hell, where those who do not surrender to Christ are separated “from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:9). This is a place where they will be tormented day and night. Paul said, “In flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction” (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 NKJV). This is the same place prepared for the devil and his angels, “Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41 KJV).
Hell was not prepared for mankind but for “the devil and his angels.” God made provision through the cross of Christ so that we would not have to go hell. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18 NKJV). It is not God’s will or desire for anyone to go to hell. Paul said, God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4 NASB). Peter said, the Lord is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9 NKJV).
People must hear the Good News of the Gospel of Christ, accept Jesus as their Savior and only hope of heaven in order to escape the tortures of hell, go to heaven, and enter “the joy of their lord.” Jesus is yearning for all who are estranged from God to accept Him into their hearts as Lord and Savior. He said, “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 NKJV). There must be someone to share the Gospel with them and give them the opportunity to open the door of their heart and invite Jesus in. Will you accept the call? Jesus said, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19 NKJV). If we are not fishing, we are not truly following Him. Please don’t leave it to someone else to lead them to Christ. YOU MAY BE THEIR ONLY HOPE!
How to lead someone to Jesus Christ
Begin by asking them four questions. The third question is predicated on their answer to the second question and the fourth on the third. These are simple questions that need not be elaborated on much but are good questions to find out where they stand in their relationship with the Lord.
1. Ask permission. This first question is simple. Ask, “Do you mind if I ask you a question?” Or, “Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?”
2. “If you died tonight where would you spend eternity?” or “If you died tonight do you have the assurance you’d go to heaven?” Either of these questions will suffice or a variation of them. Again, these are lead questions to find out where they stand with Christ. If they say, “No, I don’t know if I would go to heaven” or “I don’t know where I’d spend eternity,” then you can skip the third question and share the plan of salvation with them. If they say yes, then you need to ask the next question to determine if the assurance of salvation (heaven) is secured on the correct foundation of Jesus’ finished work on the cross.
3. If you stood before God and He asked, “Why should I allow you into my heaven?” what would you say? This question will let you know where they really stand with God. If they say something like, “Jesus is my Lord and Savior, Jesus is my only hope of salvation” or “I would tell God, because of Jesus.” If this is their reply, you can simply say, “Praise the Lord” and rejoice with them that they are saved. If they say something other than this such as “I’m good person, I’ve never harmed anyone, I try to live a good life, I go to church, I try to love my fellowman” etc., proceed to the fourth question and then share the gospel with them.
4. Ask, “Do you mind if I share a few brief things with you?” As you share the gospel, don’t elaborated too much on each part – you don’t want to risk losing them. Get to the point.
Have your Bible with you. As you begin to share with them and show them scripture, be sure you open your Bible and let them read the verses with you. To make it easy for you, have your Bible bookmarked where the first verse is. In the margin of the first verse, write the reference to the second verse. Do this with each proceeding verse so you know where to go to next. I take most scriptures from the New King James Version, but use whatever translation you like best or are the most comfortable with. This Gospel presentation is known as the Roman Road.
Romans 3:23 “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” You must begin by showing them we have all sinned. DO NOT say, “See you are a sinner!” You don’t want to condemn them but to give them revelation and understanding of God’s Word. Identify with them. Include yourself. Say something like, “The Bible says, we have all sinned. I know I have, haven’t you?” If they say they have not sinned, say something like, “That’s good, not many can say that, I know I can’t.” Then point to simple sins you know all have committed at one time or another like lying, disobeying parents or the law, stealing, hating someone in your heart, etc. These are all sin.
Romans 6:23a “The wages of sin is death.” Explain how we are all going to die some time. “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27 NKJV). We are not only going to die physically, but we will all one day stand before God on Judgment Day to give an account of our sin. Sin has wages and they must be paid for. “The wages (penalty) of sin is death.” This is not only dying physically but spiritually, separated from God throughout all eternity in hell. God does not want this for us. He has made provision so we won’t have to face this penalty, but the choice is ours.
Romans 6:23b “The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Jesus paid the penalty for our sins when He died on the cross. He went to the cross, experienced death and separation from God in our place. Eternal life is a free gift. We don’t have to pay the penalty for our sins ourself. He did it for us. This free gift comes only through Jesus and His finished work for us on the cross (John 14:6 and Acts 4:12).
Romans 10:13 “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Our only responsibility to receive this free gift of eternal life is to call upon Him, accept Jesus as our Savior and only hope of salvation, ask Him to forgive us of our sins, come into our heart and be the Lord of our life (John 1:12; Revelation 3:20; 1 John 1:9). At this point, ask them if they would like to pray and receive Jesus right now. If they say yes, pray a simple prayer for them to accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. If they no, ask if they care if you say a brief pray for them. Most won’t mind if you pray for them. Pray something like this in faith, believing God will answer your prayer. “Lord, I pray for (use their name) that you will touch them, open their heart to receive you and make yourself real to them right now. In Jesus name, Amen!” At this time, look directly at them, and say in faith, (don’t ask if they’d like to pray again) “Pray with me.” Ask them to repeat after you and pray a simple sinners prayer with them to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior.
Sinners prayer. Lord Jesus, i know that i am a sinner, and unless you save me I am lost forever. i thank you for dying for me on Calvary. I believe that you died on the cross to take away my sin and my guilt. I come to you now, surrendering my life the best way I know how. Wash my sins away with your blood. I ask you to come into my heart and be my Lord and personal savior. Give me the grace to live for you and serve you faithfully all the days of my life, in Jesus Christ Name, Amen.
Assurance of salvation. They need to be assured of their salvation. Say to them, “Did you mean what you just prayed?” The last verse we read said, “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13). God keeps His Word! When we pray a prayer like this God answers it. You called on the Lord just now and He said “YOU WOULD BE SAVED.” Now take them to 1 John 5:13 for additional assurance. “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” (1 John 5:13). Ask, “Do you now believe in Jesus, the Son of God? Then God’s Word says you now have eternal life.”
Follow Up
Now that they are saved, there are a few things they need to do to grow in their relationship with the Lord. Elaborate briefly. Don’t just share these things with them and leave it there. You must also commit to following up with them. Call or visit them in a few days and from time to time to see how they’re doing and if they are continuing to do the things they need to grow in their relationship with Jesus. Immediately after the first harvest of souls in the New Testament we read, “Those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:41-42 NASB).
Confess Jesus as Lord. One of the first things they must do is confess to someone they have accepted Jesus as the Lord and Savior of their life. Stress to them the importance of telling someone what they did. “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. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10). “Whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32-33).
Pray daily
Encourage them to take time each day to talk to God. “Men always ought to pray and not lose (faint) heart” (Luke 18:1). “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Those who had received the Word were committed to prayer (Acts 2:41-42).
Read the Word. Encourage them to read a little from their Bible each day. They don’t have to read a lot, but some every day. Encourage them to stay in the New Testament for a while. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2). “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near” (Revelation 1:3). If they don’t have a Bible make sure you get them one that is a translation they can easily understand.
Fellowship with other believers. It’s extremely important for them to attend a strong Bible believing church right away. “Those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added (to the church)…They were continually devoting themselves to….fellowship” (Acts 2:41-42 NASB). The Bible says we are to “not forsake the assembling of ourselves together” (Hebrews 10:25). They need fellowship for growth and encouragement. We also become like those we are around (1 Corinthians 15:33 and Proverbs 13:20). Don’t simply tell them to go to church, offer to pick them up and take them to church with you.
Follow Jesus in baptism. Talk to them about getting baptized. It’s important they realize they were saved the moment they called on the Lord. The Bible says, “Those who had received his word were baptized” (Acts 2:41). Baptism doesn’t save us, but it is an act of beginning to follow Jesus. Baptism is a public confession of our faith in Christ; that we have died, been buried and risen with Him to walk our new life in Him (Romans 6:3-4).
Having read through this article, i believe that it will help guide you as you go out to evangelize and bring lost souls to the saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ and i want to also encourage you to make winning souls a life style because THE GREAT COMMISSION IS THE LAST COMMANDMENT OF JESUS CHRIST and the FIRST ASSIGNMENT OF THE BELIEVER AND THE CHURCH APART FROM MAKING OURSELVES A CHANNEL THROUGH WHICH THE GLORY OF GOD IS MADE MANIFEST ON EARTH.
NOTE: Nobody can transform a man but our duty is to initiate the process by letting them hear the gospel of salvation because until that is done, the work of transformation which is carried out by the Holy Spirit will not begin.
Have in mind that "The Great Commission is not a suggestion to obey but an Obligation to Fulfill"
God Bless You
