Five of Part Four: How to Help Unbelievers Realize They are Sinners and Need A Savior
In
my previous blog article, we examined step one of the two step process of
applying “law” in evangelistic or apologetic discussions. The first step was to
encourage unbelievers to conclude for
themselves that they are not living a life worthy of entering heaven, if it
depends on their own moral behavior (“good works”). This includes so-called
“cultural Christians,” people who assume they are saved because they identify
with Christianity yet show no indication of a transformed life. I suggested
that whenever possible you initiate a conversation with a fitting Socratic
question, such as, “What in is there in your life that would compel me to
believe you are a Christian?” “How good would you have to be in order for God
to welcome you into heaven?” “What do you
think are God’s requirements for entrance into heaven?” and so on. The idea is
that when an unbeliever is challenged to explain and justify why he or she
believes they deserve eternal life in heaven with a holy God, they will begin
see they can never measure up to God’s
standards after all. At this point, they
may be willing to listen to the Christian perspective on salvation. The second
step—and the purpose of this article—is to suggest a way to apply law
effectively and justify it from Scripture.
Before
we get started, it’s important to understand, as Paul makes abundantly clear in
Romans chapter seven, that law saves no one. Its purpose is to show the reality
of sin and how it can control our lives. It identifies sin and demands that we
seek a remedy. Think of a road sign that tells us when we are speeding and must
slow down. Likewise, law is a road sign that tells us when we sin and points
the way to God’s solution—the gospel of grace through Jesus Christ. People who
seek salvation through self-effort will always fail; they are worse off than
they think.
The
problem is that unbelievers will not recognize their need for Jesus until they fully
understand their own sinfulness and need for a Savior—until they admit they
cannot save themselves through good behavior, no matter how hard they try to live
a virtuous life. Hence, the importance of adding law to our evangelistic and apologetic arsenal, at least for people
who think they are good enough to merit salvation by self-effort. So, let’s consider
how to apply law when engaging this variety of people. It’s a four step
process. Although you can explain it verbally, it is best to go through the
following passages in Scripture. If the person you are engaging is willing, encourage
her (or him) to read the passages herself.
First step: Rom.
3:10-18, 23. Point out from these
passages that everyone is a sinner. No one can live a moral life well enough to
justify entrance into heaven. In fact, according to God’s standards, not only
can our unexpressed thoughts be sin (Matt. 5:27-28), but not doing the things
we know we should be doing is also sin (James 4:17). Who can measure up to that
standard through self-effort? A few questions will help unbelievers see this
for themselves:
·
Have you ever lied?
·
Have you ever stolen anything, such as
pens or notepads from work?
·
Have you ever looked at a woman (or
man) with lust?
·
Have you ever misused God’s name?
·
Have you every coveted, been jealous, or
wished difficulty on another person?
All
these behaviors are typical of (fallen) human nature. Give an example from your
own life to illustrate how you
recognized your need for a Savior.
Second step: Jas. 2:10. Unbelievers need
to understand that sin is not just horrendous deeds like murder, rape, child
abuse, and so on. Use this passage to show that committing even one sin is
unacceptable to God and causes a person to fall under judgment. Why? Because God
is holy and just by nature and cannot ignore sin. Since humans are created in God’s
image, He expects us to live according to His ethical standards for the human
race. (Knowing, of course, we can’t, which is why He offers us a Savior.) In
short, God can tolerate no sin; He would not be holy if He did. Sin must be
dealt with.
Third step: Rom. 6:23a; 2 Thess. 1:9.
These passages show that the penalty for sin is “death,” which is eternal
separation from God (spiritual death). This is symbolized in Genesis 3:23-24,
when Adam and Eve where cast form the Garden of Eden for disobeying God. They
didn’t die physically (although the process began), so the death they were
warned about, if they disobeyed God, was spiritual death (Gen. 2:17)—estrangement
from God.
Now,
don’t start describing hell in “brimstone” terms. The biblical descriptions are
often metaphorical anyway and will be confusing to non-Christians (“outer
darkness” and “lake of fire” are opposite images of hell). Rather, ask a question
that will illustrate what living eternally separated from God will be like. For
example:
·
If this world and life is full of evil
and suffering, despair and hopelessness for most of the human race, what do you
think hell will be like?
·
Can you image anything worse than living
forever separated from all that is good and beautiful, all that is joy and peace;
a world where sadness and grief and evil never relent?
Give
them a moment to ponder this and respond. Few non-Christians will answer,
“Yeah, that sounds pretty good to me!” Most will agree that hell isn’t a place
they would want to spend even a moment. This should allow you to ask a
follow-up question.
· Would you rather live eternally in a
world where these things are absent; a world where there is no heartbreak,
sickness, ugliness, and despair?
·
Would you rather live in a world where
suffering, hunger, disease, racism, war, and all the other evils we observe and
experience in this life are gone forever?
You
see the strategy here? Give the unbeliever time to respond to both scenarios.
This is not a hell and brimstone tactic. It’s leading the conversation so that
the unbeliever begins to visualize what
eternal life in hell will be like—compared to what Jesus Christ offers, which
brings up to step four.
Fourth step: Rom. 6:23b. Now is the time
to press for sharing the Gospel. We can be forgiven for any and all sins
through Jesus Christ. We can enjoy the eternal benefits of life with God and
His people in a restored new heaven and earth (Rev. 21 and 22). Ask if you can explain how this can happen. If
you have your Bible, share a few passages to confirm the message (e.g. Rom.
5:8; 8:1).
Do
you see how this works? Law can be a stepping-stone to the Gospel. Of course at
this point the unbeliever may bring up apologetic-related issues. If that
happens, you may have to switch from law to apologetics before moving to Gospel.
This will be the topic of Part Five in my next blog article.
*
This and the other blog articles in this series are adapted from copyrighted
material and may not be reproduced in book or article form, either electronically
or in print, without permission. But feel free to link this blog to your own
website, personal email list, Facebook friends and groups, or email it to
people who may benefit from it. I explore the topic of this present series of
articles more fully in my book Engaging
the Closed Minded; Presenting Your Faith to the Confirmed Unbeliever (Kregel
Publications).
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