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There are numerous ways to share the good news of Jesus Christ and the salvation available in Him. One popular method is the bad news / good news approach.
The gospel is the good news. In fact, it is so good it is almost unbelievable. But a person can only appreciate the true goodness of the gospel if he first understands the starkness of current reality. He has to first know the bad news in order to understand that the good news is good.
So we start by sharing the bad news—all human beings are sinners deserving of God's wrath, currently living spiritually dead in sin, and ultimately headed to hell where an eternity of punishment and separation from God awaits. There is no way we can earn our way into God's favor. We are completely destitute and utterly in need of salvation. Often humans are not good at recognizing our own sinfulness, so it may be helpful to provide some illustrations. For example, we might ask if lying is wrong. Presumably the person will respond that it is. Then we ask if they've ever lied. Presumably they will reply with yes. Then we ask what this makes them. The response: a liar. We might then point out that breaking one of God's laws means breaking them all. Verses that we can share in giving the bad news include Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:10, 23; 6:23; Ephesians 2:1–3; 1 Corinthians 6:9–10; and John 3:18.
When a person hears and is convinced of the bad news, it is devastating. Our sin is too much for us to handle. Graciously, this is where the good news comes in.
The good news is that Jesus came to save us from our sins and we can be saved through faith. We can explain that God loves us and wants us to be with Him, so that's why He sent Jesus. Jesus is both God and human, who came into the world, fulfilled the Law completely, and then died in our place. He lived a righteous life and then took on the sins of the world and the punishment for those sins. He then rose again from the dead victorious over sin and its consequences. Then, in His grace, He offered salvation to us. If we believe in Him by faith, God accepts Jesus' sacrifice on our behalf. God sees us as righteous because Jesus paid the price we owe. We can now have a relationship with God, turn away from sin, and ultimately spend eternity in heaven with God. John 3; Acts 4:12; Romans 5; 6:23; 10:9; Ephesians 2:1–10; 1 Corinthians 6:9–11; and 2 Corinthians 5:17, 21 are all excellent verses to share here.
If the other person believes this, we can pray with them to confess their sins to God and their belief in Him. We rejoice with them over the good news and welcome them into the family of God. Then we can help them plug into a Bible-teaching church and get on the road to discipleship and growth in Christ.
The gospel is the good news. In fact, it is so good it is almost unbelievable. But a person can only appreciate the true goodness of the gospel if he first understands the starkness of current reality. He has to first know the bad news in order to understand that the good news is good.
So we start by sharing the bad news—all human beings are sinners deserving of God's wrath, currently living spiritually dead in sin, and ultimately headed to hell where an eternity of punishment and separation from God awaits. There is no way we can earn our way into God's favor. We are completely destitute and utterly in need of salvation. Often humans are not good at recognizing our own sinfulness, so it may be helpful to provide some illustrations. For example, we might ask if lying is wrong. Presumably the person will respond that it is. Then we ask if they've ever lied. Presumably they will reply with yes. Then we ask what this makes them. The response: a liar. We might then point out that breaking one of God's laws means breaking them all. Verses that we can share in giving the bad news include Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:10, 23; 6:23; Ephesians 2:1–3; 1 Corinthians 6:9–10; and John 3:18.
When a person hears and is convinced of the bad news, it is devastating. Our sin is too much for us to handle. Graciously, this is where the good news comes in.
The good news is that Jesus came to save us from our sins and we can be saved through faith. We can explain that God loves us and wants us to be with Him, so that's why He sent Jesus. Jesus is both God and human, who came into the world, fulfilled the Law completely, and then died in our place. He lived a righteous life and then took on the sins of the world and the punishment for those sins. He then rose again from the dead victorious over sin and its consequences. Then, in His grace, He offered salvation to us. If we believe in Him by faith, God accepts Jesus' sacrifice on our behalf. God sees us as righteous because Jesus paid the price we owe. We can now have a relationship with God, turn away from sin, and ultimately spend eternity in heaven with God. John 3; Acts 4:12; Romans 5; 6:23; 10:9; Ephesians 2:1–10; 1 Corinthians 6:9–11; and 2 Corinthians 5:17, 21 are all excellent verses to share here.
If the other person believes this, we can pray with them to confess their sins to God and their belief in Him. We rejoice with them over the good news and welcome them into the family of God. Then we can help them plug into a Bible-teaching church and get on the road to discipleship and growth in Christ.
