Share the Gospel

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30.

God has laid these verses on my heart as His cry to a dark and dying world. This world is in desperate need of a Savior. I can envision Jesus crying out for people to turn to him. Come to me! I will give you rest! My burden is easy! He pleads with unbelievers to come to him. He offers to remove their burdens of sin, guilt, shame, pain, and offers rest in return. I write this hub to fellow believers to encourage them to share the gospel with those around them. I know that sharing our faith can be really tough. I know that I struggle with it at times, but we must proclaim the gospel to everyone that we can. Jesus called us to be salt and light. I also write this hub to unbelievers so that they may consider the claims of the gospel and find joy, rest, and satisfaction in Christ.

Before I go any further, I want to define what the gospel is. The word "gospel" means good news and it is the power of God to change a life through Jesus Christ. In order for us to understand why it is good news, we must start out by first examining the state of mankind.

Mankind is Fallen

Mankind is fallen and desperately wicked. Do you not believe me? Turn on the evening news or pick up a newspaper. You will find story after story about drive by shootings, murder, rape, thefts, government corruption, war, and so on. I can hear the “but I am a good person” argument coming. You very well may be a great person when you compare yourself to the people around you; however, God’s standard is complete perfection. I know that I fall way short of that. The Bible makes it clear that all of us are sinners and that none of us are good. If you are still unconvinced, let me ask you a few questions:

• Have you ever told a lie?

• Have you ever lusted after someone?

• Have you ever used God’s Name as a swear word?

• Have you ever disobeyed your parents?

• Have you ever stolen anything?

I am willing to bet that no one makes it past the first question without saying yes. Think about it this way for those of you that have kids, did you have to teach them to lie? No, they figure that out on their own because there is sin in them from birth.

Sin Separates us from a Holy God

God is holy and will not tolerate sin. He may have grace on us for awhile, but be sure that He will judge all sin. Paul in his letter to the Romans writes that the penalty of sin is death (eternal separation from God in hell). That may seem kind of harsh, however, consider this analogy. If you were to slap me in the face, it would not be that big of a deal because I am just an average citizen. However, if you were to slap the President of the United States in the face, you would end up with your face in the ground and armed men and women pointing guns at you. It is the same offense, but the severity of punishment is based on who you have offended. Our sin offends the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. His punishment for sin is just because of how great He is.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16

The Old Testament system of sacrificing "spotless lambs" as a sin offering was a foreshadowing of Jesus. The writer of Hebrews tells us that there can be no forgiveness of sins without the shedding of blood.

Thankfully, God chose to leave his throne in heaven and come to Earth as a defenseless baby. Think about that! The God, who made the universe, came to live as one of us so that He could save us from our sins. Jesus was fully God and fully man. He lived a life of complete perfection. He laid down His life as a sacrificial lamb on the cross and paid the penalty for our sins. He rose three days later so that we could have eternal life.

We Have a Choice to Make

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hears my voice, and open the door, I will come into him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” Revelation 3:20 KJV

Jesus was God’s sacrificial, spotless lamb that was slaughtered for the sins of the world. Hear Jesus knocking at your heart’s door and saying come to me! Repent of your sins and turn to me! I will give you rest and forgive you of your sins! At this point, all of us are faced with a choice to both place our trust in Christ and accept His payment for our sins, or choose to face a holy God on Judgment Day based on our works and how good of a person we are. I have made my decision to accept His gift of salvation and to repent of my sins. The Bible makes it clear that Jesus is the only way to God and that there is no other name by which we must be saved. I urge you to trust Christ today before it is too late.

Sharing the gospel can be hard, especially if you are an introvert like me. However, that does not excludes us from having to do it. Jesus commanded us to do it as part of the Great Commission. A person cannot be made into a disciple unless they have first come to saving faith in Jesus Christ. It is important to remember that there is nothing more loving that you can do for a person than to share the gospel with them because if they stay in their sins, they will face an eternity separated from a loving God in hell. Sharing the gospel also benefits the believer as it drives the gospel deeper into them and they also learn to defend their faith more and more.

For some, sharing the gospel is easy. For the rest of us, here are some tips that can help all of us do it better and more often:

• Read the Word - It is hard to share the good news of the gospel if we do not spend regular time reading it and know it inside and out.

• Memorize the Word - Memorizing key verses to make sharing the gospel easier. I recommend verses such as John 3:16, John 14:6, Acts 4:12, Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8-9, and Revelation 3:20 to start.

• Use the Ten Commandments - Before anyone can be saved, they must first become lost. Take them through the Ten Commandments and see how their life matches up. A good place to start is with lying and adultery.

• Tell them your story - One of the most powerful ways to witness is to share what God has done and is doing in your life. No one can argue with the evidence of a changed life.

• Be Polite - Do not be rude and obnoxious when sharing your faith.

• Be Honest - It is vitally important that you are open and honest when sharing the gospel. If you do not know something, admit it and offer to get back to that person at a later time.

• Do it often - The more that you share your faith, the better you will become at it.

• Pray for opportunities - Ask God to give you opportunities to witness and for boldness to take advantage of them. Pray that God will give you the words to say. Pick out three people that you know and pray for their salvation.

• Leave the results to God - Remember that it is our job to tell people about Christ, but it is His job to save them. Do not be discouraged if the person that you are talking too does not get saved. Keep planting seeds in people's hearts.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, I want to encourage you to stand firm and to be bold. Take a stand and share the gospel with your friends, family, and anyone else that you feel led to do so with. Let us have boldness and be salt and light to a world that is literally going to hell. Let us reach out to try to save as many people as possible!