BEING READY TO LEAD SOMEONE TO CHRIST
Written October 2018
Dr. John MacArthur, author and pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley California, told a story once about boarding a plane and sitting beside a college athlete. As Dr. MacArthur told the story he said that when boarding the plane he was tired and had no special plans to witness or speak to anyone about the Gospel, but God has different plans. He said that as He sat there a gentleman came and sat beside him and in polite conversation they began talking about what they did for a living. When Dr. MacArthur told about what it was he did for a living this college athlete looked at him and said, “That’s interesting because I have been thinking a lot about God lately and I was wondering how I could have a personal relationship with Him.”
Sometimes things happen like that. God works out things and allows us to experience that joy of leading someone to Christ. I will never forget one night at Vacation Bible school as a precious mother came to me and said Pastor Daniel, I need to be saved, I need to be baptized, and I need to join this church. Those are amazing and wonderful events we get to experience from time to time in life. The question we have to ask ourselves is “Am I ready to lead someone to Christ?”
For some of you that just read that question you probably responded by saying, absolutely I am ready to lead someone to the Lord right now. If so that is great I’m glad you are ready and willing to do so. For those of you that might have had a tinge of fear come at that question let me reassure you, everyone goes through that feeling at some point in time. The question of where do I go in my Bible to help someone know Christ as their Savior. What if I say the wrong thing. I get it. I’ve been there too, but the great thing is that we can all learn numerous ways to present the Gospel in a concise, understandable way, and in doing so we will have more confidence and boldness in sharing the Gospel.
What I would like to share is not new by any means, in fact it has been around for a long time. It is called the Romans Road to Salvation. The Romans Road to Salvation is a way of explaining the good news of salvation using verses from the Book of Romans. It is a simple yet powerful method of explaining why we need salvation, how God provided salvation, how we can receive salvation, and what are the results of salvation. I’d like to share them with you now that you might know a simple way of presenting the Gospel. The information that I am presenting here can be found numerous places online and in various books. What is here before you came from gotquestions.org.
The reason why I would like us all to read over this is because of any information we can ever give anyone the message of salvation is the most important, and most critical information we can ever share and we never know when that chance might arise.
The Romans Road to Salvation
The first verse on the Romans Road to salvation is Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” We have all sinned. We have all done things that are displeasing to God. There is no one who is innocent. Romans 3:10-18 gives a detailed picture of what sin looks like in our lives. The second Scripture on the Romans Road to salvation, Romans 6:23, teaches us about the consequences of sin – “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The punishment that we have earned for our sins is death. Not just physical death, but eternal death!
The third verse on the Romans Road to salvation picks up where Romans 6:23 left off, “but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 5:8 declares, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Jesus Christ died for us! Jesus’ death paid for the price of our sins. Jesus’ resurrection proves that God accepted Jesus’ death as the payment for our sins.
The fourth stop on the Romans Road to salvation is Romans 10:9, “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Because of Jesus’ death on our behalf, all we have to do is believe in Him, trusting His death as the payment for our sins – and we will be saved! Romans 10:13 says it again, “for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins and rescue us from eternal death. Salvation, the forgiveness of sins, is available to anyone who will trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
The final aspect of the Romans Road to salvation is the results of salvation. Romans 5:1 has this wonderful message, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Through Jesus Christ we can have a relationship of peace with God. Romans 8:1 teaches us, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Because of Jesus’ death on our behalf, we will never be condemned for our sins. Finally, we have this precious promise of God from Romans 8:38-39, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
If you ever wondered what prayer you could lead someone in to help them accept Christ as their Savior is a simple prayer of salvation to God. The thing to remember is that all the prayer conveys is a person’s declaration to God that they are relying on Jesus Christ for their salvation. The words themselves will not save. Only faith in Jesus Christ can provide salvation.
“God, I know that I have sinned against you and am deserving of punishment. But Jesus Christ took the punishment that I deserve so that through faith in Him I could be forgiven. With your help, I place my trust in You for salvation. Thank You for Your wonderful grace and forgiveness – the gift of eternal life! Amen!”
I hope this article helps and empowers you to share the Gospel and I look forward to hearing about every opportunity you have to lead someone to faith in Christ.