How to Explain The Gospel to a Friend
1 Peter 3:15
But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, (NIV)
Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if you are asked about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. 16But you must do this in a gentle and respectful way (NLT)
I remember being at university and a friend asking me what is this Christianity stuff all about anyway? I was really not ready for the question, and talked more about the Christian life than I did what the core of the Gospel is.
Bill Hybels tells of being on a sailing trip and getting to know some people who invited him to socialize with them on their boat. Just as he was about to climb down the ladder to leave, one of them, who had discovered that he was a minister, said “Bill, before you go, can you answer a question? What does it mean to become a Christian?” Bill knew he had about 45 seconds before he would lose the attention span of this group of friendly, but irreligious sailors
If you were Bill, what would you say? Could you communicate the central message of the Christian faith in a concise fashion? Most of us would feel uncomfortable. So today, we are going to look at how to communicate the Good News to a friend.
Today, we are going to try to obey 1 Peter 3:15 and be ready to explain the hope that we have.
4 Points
1. God
The first point relates to GOD.
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If we look at these points as part of a play, God would be the first character introduced-the Loving Father. There are three qualities we need to know about Him. The first is that:
God is LOVING.
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In 1 John 4:16b it says:
...God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
Most people would like to believe this about God, and few will argue with it. They say God is love, then quit, as if that is the end of the story. It is as though their image of God is of a kindly grandfather who pats us on the head and says, "1 don’t care what you do, you’re okay because I love you."
We know that this is an incomplete view of God because:
God is HOLY.
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By "holy" we mean "absolutely pure." 1 Peter 1:15-16 says:
But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
Anything impure stands in -stark contrast to God, since He is without sin or impurity of any kind. The brilliant, shining light of His holiness exposes and rejects anything that falls short of His perfect standard.
God is JUST.
This means that God is a good and perfect judge.
God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you ( 2 Thessalonians 1:6).
Not only does God’s holiness expose and reject anything impure or sinful, but His justice has to deal with it. He must punish rebellion, sin, and imperfection because a good judge does not let lawbreakers go without paying for their misdeeds.
2. Us
The next point relates to US.
We are the next characters in this play-the Lawbreakers- who have rebelled against the Loving Father.
We were created good, but became SINFUL.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23 ).
The human race was originally created good, but became sinful as a result of Adam and Eve’s rebellion against God’s law. But it did not stop with them. All of us continue to rebel against God and break His laws.
We deserve DEATH, both physical and spiritual.
Romans 6:23 says:
For the wages of sin is death. ..(See also Hebrews 9:22)
The debt we owe God requires payment, and that payment is our death. This death is not just physical, it is also spiritual. It is separation from God for all eternity in a place the Bible refers to as hell.
The next point is that:
We are spiritually HELPLESS, or "morally bankrupt."
Isaiah 64:6 says:
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our
righteous acts are like filthy rags. ..(See also Ephesians 2:8-9)
We have incurred a debt which must be paid, and there are no funds in our moral bank account to buy our way off death row.
So far, the news is entirely bad. But it is important to under- stand what we all face apart from Christ.
It can be a mistake for us to jump ahead too quickly and tell people they can be saved through Christ before they really understand that they are sinners who stand before a holy God.
If our friends do not understand this, they will not see their need, or the relevancy of the Gospel to their lives. They must understand that as good as we may think we are, we all fall far short of God’s perfect standards.
This is where the good news of the Gospel fits in. The word Gospel actually means "good news," and refers to what Christ did for us.
3. Jesus Christ
The third point relates to JESUS CHRIST.
He is the Hero of the play. Christ is the one who provides the opportunity for forgiveness and reconciliation between the Loving Father and Us, the lawbreakers. He is the only one who can solve our dilemma.
The first thing to remember is that:
Christ is GOD, who also became man.
John 1:1, 14 states:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ...The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (See also John 8:24)
It is important to understand who Jesus is. As we celebrate at Christmas, He is "God incarnate," both divine and human. He is not only the Creator of the universe (1 John 1:3), but He also became a human being. God actually became one of us and lived among us.
Next, Christ died as our SUBSTITUTE.
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed (1 Peter 2:24). (See also
1 Peter 3:18; 2 Corinthians 5:21)
This is the central idea of the Gospel. The debt of death that we owe was paid for by Christ who died in our place. He made it possible to offer us the greatest gift in the world. He will
give us His righteousness, forgiveness, and life in exchange for our sins, guilt, and death sentence. What an incredible gift! Now, there are two questions that often come up at
this point.
The first question is, "Why did any price have to be paid at all? Why couldn’t God just forgive and forget, like we can?" To answer that, suppose your neighbour accidentally ran in to your brand new car, which was parked in front of your home. Although you could forgive your neighbor, you would still have a dented car and have to pay for the repairs yourself. In the same way, our sins have done damage that has to be paid for. God can forgive and forget our sins, but He is left holding the debt - which is the death penalty.
The second question is, “Why did Christ have to die? What kind of justice is there in having Jesus, an innocent bystander, suffer instead of me?" Some people have even compared Christ to a “whipping boy."
The practice of using a whipping boy was an unjust system of punishment practiced in medieval times. When a child in the royal family broke the rules, the child’s teachers did not dare discipline him or her directly. Instead, they would whip a slave in front of the offender. This was supposed to make the child feel bad enough to change his behavior and follow the rules. Not only did this not work, hut also it was obviously unfair.
This illustrates why Christ’s identity is so important. He is not some unwilling bystander who God forced onto the scene as a whipping boy to take our punishment. He is actually the God we have sinned against, who says to us, "1 love you, I’m willing to forgive you, and I’ll pay the death penalty that you owe.
Nicky Gumbel tells this story in Alpha of two men who grew up as best of friends, except that their lives took divergent paths. One became a judge, and the other a criminal. At one point the criminal ends up in the Judge’s court. He is obviously guilty, but he the judge’s friend. If the judge let him off, he would not be full filling his role of dispensing justice. Some what he does is he sentences his friend to the appropriate fine for his crime, he then steps down from the bench, takes off his robe and writes his friend a check for the amount of the fine in full. This is what God does in Jesus. He sentences us to death for our sins, but then steps down from heave and pays for our sins in full with his death.
Finally,
Christ offers His forgiveness as a GIFT.
Ephesians 2:8-9 says:
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. (See also Romans 6:23)
In spite of the enormity of our debt and the high cost Jesus paid to buy us forgiveness and new life, the whole package is offered to us freely. It is literally a gift waiting to be opened.
4. You
The fourth and final point relates to YOU and me and our friends.
Individually, each of us decides the outcome of our own story line in the play, which is whether or not we will end up being reconciled to the Loving Father.
Each of us has to make a decision. We can know all about the first three points, yet still not be taken off death row if we do not respond to the Gospel. That is why this final point is so vitally important.
You and I must RESPOND.
John 1:12 says:
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. (See also Romans 10:13)
The gift has been offered, but each of us must respond by receiving it. There are many people in churches - possibly even some of us - who have some understanding of the first three points, but who have never entered into a relationship with Christ by accepting the gift He has offered.
Jesus warned in Matthew 7:21-23 that on Judgment Day many people will be shocked to discover that their religious knowledge and activity will not gain them God’s acceptance.
It is not enough to hear the Gospel, simply understand it, or even intellectually agree with it.
You and I must ASK Christ to be our FORGIVER and LEADER.
I John 1:9 says:
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
And I Peter 3:15 says:
But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord…
(See also John 10:27; Luke 13:5)
This explains how we need to respond. As “Forgiver," Christ takes away our death sentence and gives us eternal life with Him.
As our "leader," Christ has control of our life. It is important for people to understand that they are coming to Him not only for forgiveness of past sins, but also for the strength and guidance they will need to make a fresh start and to begin living the way God wants them to live.
:) Finally, the result is a spiritual TRANSFORMATION by the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation,. the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17}.
(See also I Corinthians 6:19-20)
When we respond by receiving Christ as forgiver and leader, a spiritual transformation takes place in us. The Holy Spirit comes into our lives and changes us from the inside out so that we begin to desire to follow Christ (whereas before receiving him, this was probably the farthest thing from our mind).
Ways to explain the Gospel:
Do vs. Done Illustration
By the way, this the illustration Bill Hybels used when he was in the situation we mentioned earlier, on the boat.
:) The difference between religion and Christianity is that religion is spelled "D-O."
It is trying to do enough good things to please God.
The problem is we never know when we have done enough and - on top of that - the Bible says we can never do enough. (Romans 3:23: "For the wages of sin is death. ..")
Christianity, however, is spelled "D-O-N-E."
Christ did for us what we could never do. He lived the perfect life that we could not live. And He died on the cross to pay for all of our wrongdoing.
But it is not enough just to know this. We have to receive what He has done for us. And we do that by asking for His forgiveness and leadership in our lives.
Then you would ask them for a response to what you just explained. There are a couple of examples written there for you.
The Bridge Illustration – thanks to the Navigators
This illustration has been used to lead thousands of people to Jesus. It is great in that all you need is a writing instrument, and something to write on. A pen and a napkin, a stick on the beach…
I want you to draw this with me – to help you remember it.
1. God wants to have a relationship with us.
2. However, we have rebelled against Him and broken off that relationship.
3. Most of us are aware of this and try to do things to get back to God, but it doesn’t work.
4. Furthermore, the sins we have committed have to be punished, and that punishment is death.
5. But God did for us what we could not do, and that is build a bridge back to Himself.
6. He did that by paying our death penalty when He died on the cross.
7. One last thing. It is not enough just to know this. We must act on it by admitting that we have rebelled and by telling God that we want His forgiveness and leadership.
8. Conclude the illustration by asking your friend where they think they are on the diagram.
(Video clip) Now let’s watch Joanne to see how she uses this illustration with Leslie. They have had a long standing friendship and a few spiritual talks up to this point.
Now, I want you to partner up, and take 2 min to walk each other through the bridge illustration. – no artistic ability needed.
Conclusion:
There may be some people here for whom this is the first time that the Gospel has impacted you, and you want to give your life to Jesus now. If that is so, please come to the front after the service where someone will pray with you and help you with the next steps to take.
This Ssermon was adapted from a lesson in the "Becoming a Contagious Christian" Course by Mark Mittleberg, Lee Strobel & Bill Hybels
