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There are a myriad of gospel truths in the Bible. Yet only one gospel truth is presented as the truth that people must believe in order to receive eternal life.

This is the truth that God gives eternal life to anyone who believes in Jesus for it (John 3:16; 5;24; 6:47; etc.)

But realistically, if someone knowing absolutely nothing about God, or Jesus, or sin, or eternal life, then what are the chances that someone will believe in Jesus if you tell them “Hey, you can have eternal life if you believe in Jesus for it”?

I would say the chances are close to zero.

This is one reason why there are so many other truths in the gospel. Many of the gospel truths are there, not so that people are required to believe them in order to receive eternal life, but because they help a person get to the point where they do believe in Jesus for eternal life.

I call these the Preparation Truths of the Gospel

7 Gospel Preparation Truths

There are potentially thousands of preparation truths in the gospel, but I have found that seven of these truths tend to be the most effective and necessary in helping a person come to the place where they believe in Jesus for eternal life.

Here are these seven preparation truths:

There is a God (and He looks like Jesus)
The Bible is God’s Word (so we can look to it for guidance)
God Made Humans (so we are responsible to him in some way)
God requires holiness (this is His standard)
All have sinned (and fallen short of the standard)
Sin results in separation from God (we separate from Him; not vice versa)
Jesus delivered us from sin, death, and separation (due to grace and forgiveness)

IF a person believes all seven of these truths, it is nearly certain that they will also believe in Jesus for eternal life.

Now is it possible to take a person from knowing none of this to believing in Jesus in one 5-minute conversation? I highly doubt it.

This is why evangelism often takes place over the course of months and years, through relationship building and numerous conversations. Often, these seven truths are caught, not taught, as our friends observe us living out these truths in our own lives. And usually, despite how neat and tidy that seven-pointed list is above, the conversations are never that focused or that tidy.

But that’s okay, for that is what relationship-building is all about.

But what about the rest of the gospel?

Once a person believes, this does not mean that the gospel conversations are over. There are still lots of gospel truths left. What are we to do with these? It is this question that we will look at in next week’s post.

For now, what do you think about these seven “Preparation truths”? Are there others you have found helpful when you have conversations about Jesus with other people?

Also, if you want a better explanation of those seven truths, I delve into each one a little more deeply in my course, the Gospel According to Scripture.

Want to learn more about the gospel? Take my new course, "The Gospel According to Scripture."

The entire course is free for those who join my online Discipleship group here on RedeemingGod.com. I can't wait to see you inside the course!

The Clear Gospel Invitation: Believe in Jesus for Eternal Life

By Jeremy Myers

33 Comments

In some previous posts, I have written that while the gospel is huge and complex, the gospel invitation is clear and simple. I have received many comments, Tweets, and Facebook messages about this, so let me try to clarify even further.

There are thousands of gospel truths in the Bible. Clearly, one cannot believe all of them, nor must one understand and believe all of them in order to receive eternal life. Thankfully, Jesus Himself (as well as the Apostles) consistently show that there is one small set of gospel truths that must be believed to receive eternal life.

I call this “the gospel invitation.”

The Gospel Invitation

The gospel invitation is one truth three parts. A person is invited to:

Believe
In Jesus
For everlasting life.

Another way to think about this is that we are to (1) believe (2) in a person (3) for a promise.

Let us briefly consider each.

Believe

First, we invite people to believe.

Since the New Testament almost universally uses the verb “believe” or the noun “faith” it is not wise to substitute other words such as trust, commit, submit, decide, repent or any other word that implies some sort of action or work on our behalf. Believing and faith are the words the Bible most often uses (which is only one word in the Greek with a verb and noun form), and so we garble the gospel when we choose to use other words.

Yes, it is important to understand what the words “believe” and “faith” mean, which in itself is a huge study, but I will walk through this study with you in a future course I will offer.

Believe in a Person

Second, we invite people to believe in a person, namely, Jesus Christ.

We do not just invite people to just believe; they are invited to believe in Jesus.

Also, since Jesus has come and revealed God to us, it is not sufficient to invite people to believe in God. Someone can believe in God (or a god) and still not believe in Jesus.

But what exactly do they believe about Jesus? That He was human? That He was God incarnate? That He died on the cross and rose from the dead? That He was born of a virgin and lived a sinless life? When we believe in Jesus, what about Jesus must we believe? This leads to the third gospel invitation truth.

Believe in a Person for a Promise

We invite people to believe in Jesus for everlasting life.

There is a bit more flexibility with this term than with the other two. For example, instead of everlasting life, you could also use the words eternal life, the righteousness of God, or justification. Yet since some of these latter terms may require further explanation, it seems best to use the words Jesus Himself used, and stick with “everlasting life” or “eternal life.”

But whatever terminology you use, it is important to emphasize the promise Jesus makes to those who believe in Him. We are to believe in Jesus for His promise of eternal life.

It is not sufficient (or even the same thing) to believe that Jesus was God, or to believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose again from the dead, or to believe that Jesus really existed, or any of these other true facts about Jesus. If you take a look at each one of those facts, while all of them are true, none of them include a promise, and it is entirely possible for someone to believe that Jesus truly existed, that Jesus was God in the flesh, and to believe that Jesus died on the cross and rose again from the dead, while at the same time, failing to believe in Jesus for everlasting life.

Even the most legalistic, works-righteousness, religious Christians believe that Jesus was God and that He died on the cross and rose again. But they do not believe that Jesus gives eternal life to those who simply and only believe in Him. Instead, such people believe that we must somehow work for, earn, and keep our eternal life through a life of good works. Such people believe a lot of good things about Jesus, but they do not believe in Jesus for everlasting life. As such, the gospel invitation is not complete if it does not mention the promise of eternal life.

The Clear Gospel Invitation

So the central invitation of the gospel is that we can believe in Jesus for everlasting life. It is that simple and that clear.

Do you believe this?

Do you believe in Jesus for eternal life? If so, you have it. Jesus guarantees it.

Can you also share this with other people? Of course you can!

Just like Jesus did, you can invite people to believe in Jesus for eternal life.

You do not need to invite them to forsake their sin, repent, confess, commit, submit, or any of the other common words and terms that are found in modern gospel presentations but are not found on the lips of Jesus.

If you want to invite people to receive eternal life, you can do no better than use the words Jesus Himself used. Simply invite people to believe in Jesus for everlasting life.

Want to learn more about the gospel? Take my new course, "The Gospel According to Scripture."

The entire course is free for those who join my online Discipleship group here on RedeemingGod.com. I can't wait to see you inside the course!

What are the essential Gospel truths you must share with others?

By Jeremy Myers

13 Comments

Did you know that the Gospel contains pretty much every truth taught in the Bible? It’s true. Since the Gospel is about Jesus, and since Jesus is the focus of the Bible and all Scripture points to Him, then this means that the entire Bible is “Gospel truth.”

But here’s the problem with that fact:

If the entire Bible is Gospel truth, then what are you supposed to share with others when you present the gospel to them?

Can you really tell them to just “read the Bible”? Can you tell them that they have not believed in the Gospel until they believe the entire Bible?

If so, we might as well just give up evangelizing right now. You will rarely, if ever, get a non-believer to read the entire Bible, and even then, no one ever actually believes the entire Bible (not even you).

Stop Telling People to “Believe the Gospel”

This is why I never invite people to “believe the gospel to become a Christian.” Such a statement is just too vague and too vast.

Saying, “Believe the Gospel” is akin to saying, “Believe the Bible to become a Christian.”

Besides, when someone starts reading the Bible, they quickly come across statements that are hard to believe, such as the idea that Methulselah lived to be 969 years old (Gen 5:27), that Joshua got the sun to stand still for a day (Joshua 10:13), or that Elisha got an ax head to float (2 Kings 6:6).

If they think they have to believe the entire Bible to become a Christian and they read those hard to believe ideas and think, “Well, I just cannot believe that!” they will then think, “I guess I cannot be a Christian.”

But they can become a Christian, even if they don’t (yet) believe these things! The problem is not with their lack of faith, but with our failure to clearly present the gospel.

We need to present the gospel like Jesus

People don’t need to believe the entire Bible, or the entire Gospel, in order to become a Christian. They just need to believe in Jesus.

Though the entire Bible is gospel truth, there are some gospel truths which consistently appear whenever someone is inviting others to become a Christian.

Jesus is the best guide and example of this. In the Gospel of John (which is the only book of the Bible written with the express purpose that those who read it will believe and have life–John 20:31), Jesus shows us over and over and over how to simply, clearly, and succinctly invite people to gain eternal life.

While the entire Bible contains Gospel truths, there are some central gospel truths which I call the gospel invitation. This gospel invitation is what Jesus consistently used (as did Peter, Paul, and the other apostles) to invite non-believers to receive eternal life from Jesus.

Here is what they said:

Believe in Jesus for eternal life.

That’s it.

Jesus used versions of this statement over and over and over in the Gospel of John (cf. John 3:16; 5:24; 6:47). In my course, The Gospel According to Scripture, I include a resource which shows where this gospel invitation is used 185 times in the New Testament. It is used consistently by Peter, Paul, and the other apostles.

Best of all, this gospel invitation is used consistently by Jesus. If this gospel invitation was good enough for Jesus, it is good enough for me.

So the next time you are talking with someone about the gospel or how to receive eternal life, don’t use unclear and muddled statements. Instead, follow the example of Jesus and Scripture, and simply invite people to believe in Jesus for eternal life. This is the best, clearest, and most biblical way of inviting people to receive eternal life.

so stop telling people to believe the gospel. This is like telling people to believe the Bible. This is not wrong, it is just not helpful. Such an invitation is too vast and too vague. Instead, let us follow the example of Jesus and use His gospel invitation.

Invite people to believe in Jesus for eternal life.

Want to learn more about the gospel? Take my new course, "The Gospel According to Scripture."

The entire course is free for those who join my online Discipleship group here on RedeemingGod.com. I can't wait to see you inside the course!

7 Gospel Truths that Help Prepare People to Believe in Jesus

7 Gospel Preparation Truths

But what about the rest of the gospel?

The Clear Gospel Invitation: Believe in Jesus for Eternal Life

The Gospel Invitation

Believe

Believe in a Person

Believe in a Person for a Promise

The Clear Gospel Invitation

Do you believe this?

What are the essential Gospel truths you must share with others?

Stop Telling People to “Believe the Gospel”

We need to present the gospel like Jesus

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