The Gospel

This page describes five ways a person can share their faith in Jesus Christ – ways which are easy to remember and easy to communicate.

Two Births & Two Deaths

The Bible talks about two births and two deaths.

Two Births

The first birth is our physical birth. But Jesus mentions a second birth while talking with a Jewish teacher. He said, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” This confused the Jewish teacher, so he asked, “How can a man be born when he is old?” Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.” Being born of water is our physical birth. Being born of the Spirit is spiritual birth.

How can a person be born a second time, (i.e., spiritually born)? Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Eternal life is God’s spiritual life. By believing in Jesus Christ—God’s one and only Son—we are born a second time into God’s family (spiritually) and receive eternal life.

Two Deaths

The Bible also talks about two deaths—our physical death, and also a spiritual death. The Bible says that when we die physically, the immaterial part of us (our soul/spirit) is separated from our material part (the body). Our immaterial part is also separated from this world. So separation is the essence of death.

Spiritual death involves being separated from God’s world, (i.e., heaven). The Bible says there will come a time when everyone will stand before God to be judged: “The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

Heaven is where God is. The lake of fire, (another name for hell), is where God is not. If a person is thrown into the lake of fire, that person is being separated from God’s world, and that is called the second death. The first death is separation from this present world. The second death is separation from God’s world (heaven). Our first death is physical death, which is separation from this world. Our second death is spiritual death—separation from God’s world. However, the second death can be avoided.

There are two things to notice about the Scripture above which talks about judgment. First, it said, “each person was judged according to what he had done.” But notice that none of the people judged by this standard escaped the lake of fire. Only those whose name was found written in the book of life escaped. In other words, if we are hoping that we are good enough to make it into heaven (i.e., what we’ve done in this life is good enough), we will discover it wasn’t enough. The Bible says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” It also says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Second, notice that the Bible said, “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” The way to escape the second death (the lake of fire), is to get your name written in the book of life. But how? Remember what Jesus said above? “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” If you believe in Jesus Christ, you are given eternal life. The book of life is a book located in heaven which records the name of every person who has been given eternal life.

Two Formulas

Let’s put it all together. The Bible says if you are only born once, (physically), you will die twice (physically and spiritually). You will be separated from this world (the first death) and from God’s world (the second death).

However, if you are born twice (physically and spiritually), you will only die once (physically) because you have been given eternal life.

So here are the formulas:

1 birth = 2 deaths
2 births = 1 death

Want to only die once? Then believe on Jesus Christ. Believe on Him as your Savior (who saves you from the penalty of death because you have sinned), and as your Lord (give Him control of your life and read the Bible and regularly go to church to find out how He wants you to live).

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Do vs. Done

Bill Hybels writes:

“Lynne and I were on a sailing trip. After anchoring in a harbor for the night, we [met] some people who invited us to come to their boat later to spend some time socializing with them and a few of their friends.

“It was when we were in the process of leaving [after the party] that the moment came. Lynne had already climbed down the ladder into the dinghy and I was halfway down myself when one of the people who had invited us aboard said, ‘Say, Bill, before you leave can you answer a question? I’ve always wanted to ask a Christian what it means to become one. Could you tell all of us?’

“Let’s do a freeze frame: If you’d been in my place, how would you have responded? Would you have been ready to give a succinct response to such an important question?

D-O

[Here’s Bill’s answer:] “First you’ve got to realize the difference between religion and Christianity. Religion is spelled ‘D-O,’ because it consists of the things people do to try to somehow gain God’s forgiveness and favor.

“But the problem is that you never know when you’ve done enough. It’s like being a salesman who knows he must meet a quota but is never told what it is. You can’t be sure you’ve done enough. Worse yet, the Bible tells us in Romans 3:23 that we never can do enough. We’ll always fall short of God’s perfect standard.

D-O-N-E

“But thankfully, Christianity is spelled ‘D-O-N-E,’ which means that what we could never do for ourselves, Christ has already done for us. He lived the perfect life we could never live, and He willingly died on the cross to pay the penalty we owed for our wrongs.

“To become a real Christian is to humbly receive God’s gift of forgiveness and to commit to following His leadership. When we do that, He adopts us into His family, and begins to change us from the inside out.”

The above quotes are from Bill Hybels and Mark Mittelberg, Becoming a Contagious Christian, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994), 223 pp. We highly recommend this book.

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The Airplane

“You can learn all about which airplanes have the safest record, reserve your flight, drive to the airport, [and check in]. But it does you no good unless you get on the plane. Similarly, it’s not enough to know all about Christianity. You have to take a step of faith and ‘get on board’ by trusting in Christ.”

“The Airplane” way to share one’s Christian faith is from Bill Hybels and Mark Mittelberg, Becoming a Contagious Christian, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994), 223 pp.

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The Roman Road

The Roman Road is a series of easy to remember verses from the book of Romans which you can mark in your Bible (or memorize the references) and quickly share with someone wanting to know how to become a Christian.

  1. Romans 3:23—For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
  2. Romans 6:23—For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
  3. Romans 5:8—But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
  4. Romans 10:9-10—9 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

If Romans 10:9-10 is too long to memorize we recommend you use Romans 10:13—Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

(Roman Road clipart source: http://www.mylot.com/w/image/2116696.aspx).

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The Judge

If you commit a crime and stand before God, (the just Judge), He must pronounce you guilty. Romans 6:23 says the penalty for doing wrong (sinning) is death. However, if someone died in your place (Christ did), your penalty would be paid (it is) and you’d be free (you are). But, you must accept or reject the substitute payment.

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