Over the last few days, we talked about sharing the Gospel with friends and relatives. What truths are we to share? When I get an opportunity to share Christ, I try to go over six essential topics with them: 1. Salvation is a Gift. 2. All Have Sinned. 3. The Wages of Sin. 4. The Substitutionary Death of Christ. Now we come to the fifth topic, receiving the atoning death of Christ for ourselves: 5. Repent and Receive Christ.
Repentance is from the Greek word metanoia; it comprises two words: meta and nous. Meta means "change," and nous is the Greek word for "mind." It means changing your mind and, therefore, changing your direction toward God. Do we believe if we say we change our mind about something and then do not alter our actions accordingly? If you believe the good news, it will change your life. “I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds” (Acts 26:20). There must be a willingness to believe and to turn to the Lord.
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord (Acts 3:19, Emphasis added).
"The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!" (Mark 1:15).
This turn of the direction of your life is toward Christ and away from serving yourself and Satan. When you believe and trust in Christ, the Spirit of God comes to live at the very core of your being. When we believe the Gospel, we become a child of God:
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12).
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me (Revelation 3:20).
9If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved (Romans 10:9-10).
After sharing these Scriptures, you can ask the person, "Do these thoughts make sense to you?" Listen to them to see if they have grasped the truth about what Christ has done for them and are open to receiving the gift of life. You could then ask them,
Would you like to receive Christ's gift of eternal life? Tell them that there is no better time than the present.
For he says, "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you." I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2).
You could ask them, "Is there any reason why you should not place your trust in Christ now?" At this point, you do not want to push them, but you should also realize that the enemy is more than likely giving them a hard time, and a spiritual battle is taking place inside the person's mind. You might want to ask if that is what is going on. Bring it into the light by telling them that this is a decision the person must make, either to reject or to place their trust in Christ's work on the cross for them. Encourage them to take the step of faith. I often ask them to pray words that I lead them in.
A Typical Prayer of Salvation
Dear God in heaven, I come to you in the name of Jesus. I am a sinner, and I am sorry for my sins and the life that I have lived; I need your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus shed His precious blood on the cross at Calvary and died in full payment for my sins, and I am now willing to turn from my sin. You said in Your Holy Word, Romans 10:9, that if we confess the Lord our God and believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead, we shall be saved. Right now, I confess Jesus as the Lord of my life; I want to turn from my sin and believe God raised Jesus from the dead. I accept the gift of God and invite Jesus Christ to come and live in me according to His Word. Lord Jesus, transform my life so that I may live for you and bring glory and honor to you. Thank you, Lord, for dying for me and giving me eternal life. Amen.
After the person has prayed with me, I go into the last of the six topics; let's look at this tomorrow. Keith Thomas
This short meditation is taken from the Discipleship series. It’s called Sharing the Gospel
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