God’s Word, the Bible, is the most important tool we can use when sharing the Gospel (Good News) with others. Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” His Words are powerful and have the highest authority. When we use them, we can confidently say that “God has said.” If people disagree, it’s a disagreement with what God has said, not us. God has plainly told us what we need to know about Himself, sin, the punishment for sin, and how we can be right with Him. Here are some Bible verses that may be useful in helping people understand what God says about these matters.
God is holy and perfect:
God tells us in His Word that He is Holy (set apart), perfect, and completely just. He is above all and has authority over all things.
Exodus 15:11 Who is like You, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders?
Deuteronomy 32:4 He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.
Ecclesiastes 3:14 I know that whatever God does, It shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, And nothing taken from it. God does it, that men should fear before Him.
Revelation 15:4 Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, For Your judgments have been manifested.”
Man is a sinner:
What is sin? The original word means, “To miss the mark.” The idea is like an archer who misses the target. Sin is wrong-doing. It is breaking God’s law. It is missing the mark of God’s perfect standard. God says everyone has sinned. Using God’s law, the 10 Commandments, is an effective way to share this. No reasonable person would claim that they have kept all of them. So, that is a great place to start if a person doesn’t see they are a sinner.
Exodus 20:1-17 (Review the 10 Commandments and let God’s Word appeal to the conscience)
Romans 3:10-12 As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.”
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
1John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
Isaiah 64:6 But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.
There is a penalty for sin:
God tells us in His Word that a time is coming when He will judge everyone. God’s Holiness demands perfect justice. The penalty for our offenses (sin) is physical death and then a second death described as everlasting punishment in a place called the Lake of Fire – often referred to as Hell.
Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment…
2 Peter 3:7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
Ezekiel 18:4 “Behold, all souls are Mine; The soul of the father As well as the soul of the son is Mine; The soul who sins shall die.
Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.
Romans 6:23a For the wages of sin is death…
Matthew 13:49-50 “So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
Matthew 25:46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
Revelation 21: 8 “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
God loves us, wants to save us from sin’s penalty, and desires us to be with Him forever. So, He sent the Savior:
Because God loves the world, He made a way for us to be right with Him. God the Father sent God the Son, Jesus Christ – who was sinless, to pay in full the penalty for our offenses. He accomplished this by Jesus’ sacrificial and substitutionary death on the cross. God was completely satisfied with Jesus’ atoning work and raised Him up three days later.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
1 Timothy 2:2-4 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
1John 4:9-10 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
1 Corinthians 15:3-4 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures…
We must believe:
God tells us in His Word that we can be forgiven of our wrong-doing, be saved from the punishment that we deserve, and have eternal life with Him by believing in Jesus Christ. What does it mean to believe in this sense? It means to repent (change your mind regarding the person and work of Jesus) and trust in Jesus alone to save you. In other words, turning away from whatever you are trusting in – from your unbelief – and placing your complete trust in Jesus Christ.
There is nothing we can do to atone for our sin. So, Jesus became our substitute. He died on the cross to pay the penalty our sins deserve. God the Father was completely satisfied with His payment and raised Jesus up from the dead three days later. It’s His work that saves us. We simply place our trust in Him to save us.
Some people are relying on what they can do – things like good works, ceremonies and other religious expressions, or generally trying to be a good person. But God’s Word is clear. There is no other way to be saved from judgment and have relationship with Him. No amount of good works will ever make a person right with God. We must not trust in what we can do, but rather in what God has done for us in Christ. Good works – works that are pleasing to God – are a result of His saving work, not the cause of it.
Ephesians 2:8-10 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
Mark 1:14-15 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
John 3:36 “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
Acts 16:31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
Acts 4:10-12 “let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. “This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Romans 10:8-11 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”
1 John 5:9-13 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son. He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
Titus 3:4-7 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
There are a lot of verses listed here, and there’s plenty more in the Bible. You don’t have to use them all. Some people use just one verse for each thought. Ask God to help you with this. Choose what is most appropriate. Wherever possible, encourage the person you’re sharing with to read the words themselves. You may want to write the references (addresses of the verses) in your Bible to help you easily find them. Here are a couple of ways to do this:
>>> Make your own list of verses and put it in your Bible… inside the front or back cover.
>>> Memorize the reference for the first verse you will use. At the bottom of the page that the verse is on, write the reference for the next verse you will turn to. On the bottom of that page, write the next reference… and repeat this process for each verse you will use in your sharing.
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