If you were sharing with someone how they can have eternal life, where would you go in Scripture to show them what God says?
Do you have a passage or two picked out?
If so, what are they, and why would you go there?
Let’s hear what you have to say in the comments below.
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The post itself was very thought provoking. But the comments section has got out of hand. It definitely needs a moderator.
Antonio
Antonio,
Good to see you here again, my friend. A weekend storm is brewing. I predict it with great accuracy.
You assume I’d use Scripture. Jesus didn’t usually. Neither did Paul. They seem like pretty good examples. Both tended to emphasize power over Scripture. The Scripture came later, once they were in the Kingdom. .
If you believe that and teach that you are not very effective in sharing the Gospel i would start with the fall and progress through the Bible
Equip
It seems that a conversation that begins, “Here, let me heal your daughter,” will be an effective introduction.
And then to, “Who did that? Jesus did that. He loves you. Would you like to know him?”
Experience is not as effective as the power of the Word
NEVER AL MACK
The conversation of healing the daughter is recorded in written Scripture.
You are not Jesus and you dont have the ability to heal a flee of a headache so never tell anybodyy YOU can heal because You canti
On the contrary. Both Jesus and Paul quoted Scripture regularly, especially when presenting how to have eternal life. Actually, when presenting the message of eternal life, they never referenced their healing powers nor were they doing it whenever presenting the gospel. Their healings were definitely signs to prove who He was and what His capabilities were. But, when talking specifically about eternal life, neither He nor Paul brought it up. That’s the example we should go by. See Jn. 6 and Rom. 3 & 4 for examples.
John 3:16 -17, but questions on what those verses mean and how to follow Jesus would require a bit more…a lifetime more.
True! That is why sharing the gospel is always best in an ongoing friendship.
Few to none. First, I would share according to who I am talking to, and only then if they are willing to talk about the Lord. Then, it is a matter of sharing the Gospel…the Good News. It is about being a witness, testifying to what I have seen, heard and experienced. Many people who do not know the Lord likely know little about scripture, so shoving Romans Road or the 4 Spiritual Laws in their face is often useless. We need to live the Gospel and share the Gospel – as opposed to follow some rules and threaten death and destruction if they don’t “accept” Jesus.
Right on! I agree. Don’t start with Scripture … ever. Friendship is the place to begin.
To begin and to continue, too. How many use friendship as some sort of conduit and as soon as the other party shows no interest, they get cast aside? Love kinda leaves the room with that sort of behavior. Love puts self aside. Without love, whatever we might preach becomes noise.
Hmmm…read that somewhere.
Matthew 25:31-46. Why? Because Jesus is clearly saying what He’s going to do when He returns.
The Book of John
Absolutely. This is the reason the Gospel was written.
http://www.livingwater.org/phone/index.html#mailform
I use those and we have them where I work.
Excellent
Roman road
Romans Road is challenging … especially since Paul seems to be writing Romans to those who are already believers. It makes me wonder about the validity of the Romans Road. I write a bit more about that here: https://redeeminggod.com/cherry-picking-gospel/
Luke 15
The three parables contained within this passage tell us everything we need to know about God’s position toward us. He is passionately in love with his children, he will not rest until he’s found every single one of us, and he welcomes us back with not a single word of condemnation.
Like with Romans, I consider Luke 15 to be primarily directed at believers. These are discipleship parables … I wrote this about 10 years ago, but need to write something more detailed… https://redeeminggod.com/lost-and-found/
John 4:22. Ye worship ye know not what. Selah 🙂
I appreciate Romans 7-8. Most people recognize the timeless experience of doing what they don’t want to do and not doing what they want to do. Our human failure and slavery to evil.
Yes. It is a good description of the common human experience, even for believers. Not much in there though about how to receive eternal life.
the Gospel of John. Good verses are 3:15-16; 3:36; 5:24; 6:47; 11:25-27 just to cite a few from memory. Jesus gives everlasting life to whomever believes Him for it! Very simple, yet profound!
Perfect. Simple, yet profound, just as you say.
I would go directly to all the eternal life passages in John. I’m not convinced going to Romans or using the Romans Road is the best and simplest way to go. John is far too simple and to the point to not go there. I would use Jn. 6:47, 3:15-16, 5:24, 11:25-27, 6:37, 6:40, and 1:12, for starters. I would go there even before giving a long intro. of our sin problem, since this is exactly the way Jesus did it. He got straight to the main point, which was the gaining of eternal life. I would never say, “Never go to Scripture first before forming a friendship.” Too many times, when meeting people, it’s on the fly and short term, with no time to form a friendship. So, before they take off and possibly never see me again, I want to make sure that if they walk away with anything, that it’s not me trying to start a friendship, nor trying to explain the sin problem, but instead making clear to them how they can have eternal life as a free gift by just believing in Him for it. When there is time, friendship is always desirable. But, so often, there isn’t the time.
Well, maybe my use of “Never” was too strong. There might be exceptions where there just isn’t time. You are right. I agree as well that the offer of eternal life is the main point, and you can get right to the point without spending too much time on sin.