How to Effectively Share the Gospel

I use four thought-provoking questions to convince the lost that they need to be born again.

The conversation usually goes something like this:

1. “Is there life after death?”

“Eric, is there life after death?”

The usual reply is: “I don’t know.”

Then I ask if he thinks about it.

“All the time.”

Is he afraid of death?

“A little bit.”

“A little bit? It’s horrifying!” I can see in his eyes that he’s wondering how I know, because he hasn’t told a soul that he’s terrified of death.

I know because Scripture tells me of his fear: “…and [that He] might free all those who through [the haunting] fear of death were held in slavery throughout their lives” (Hebrews 2:15, Amplified Bible).

I then tell him that the Bible is the world’s biggest-selling book of all time. This is because, in the Old Testament, God promised to destroy death, and in the New Testament, it tells us how He accomplished this (Isaiah 25:8; 2 Timothy 1:10).

Eric says he didn’t know that. And who in their right mind is not going to be interested? I have found that even atheists want to learn more.

2. “Do you get to Heaven by being a good person?”

Eric does. And he thinks he is a good person (see Proverbs 20:6).

3. “Have you broken any of the Ten Commandments?”

The moral Law stops the mouth of justification, leaves all the world guilty before God, and brings the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:19-20). We can see Jesus using the Ten Commandments when He spoke to the rich young ruler (Mark 10:17-19). Charles Spurgeon said, “I do not believe that any man can preach the gospel who does not preach the Law. Lower the Law and you dim the light by which man perceives his guilt; this is a very serious loss to the sinner rather than a gain; for it lessens the likelihood of his conviction and conversion.”

After showing him that all liars will have their part in the lake of fire and that God sees lust as adultery, hatred as murder, etc., I say to Eric, “Have you ever heard the Bible verse ‘The wages of sin is death?’ It’s saying that God is paying you in death for your sins. Like a judge who says to a criminal who’s committed murder but thinks he’s a good person, ‘I’m going to show you how serious your crime is. I’m giving you the death sentence. This is your wages. This is what you’ve earned.’ And Eric, sin is so serious to a holy God. He’s given you the death sentence. You’re on death row. You’re in a holding cell with a nice blue roof, air-conditioning, and good lighting, but this life is a holding cell. And your death will be evidence to you that God is deadly serious about sin.”

4. “Why did Jesus die on the cross?”

“We broke God’s Law, and Jesus paid the fine. That’s why He said, ‘It is finished!’ just before He died. He was saying, ‘Paid in full.’ If you’re in court, and you have speeding fines and plead guilty, a judge will let you go if someone else pays those fines. And it’s legal.

“God can take death off you because of what Jesus did on the cross—in paying our fine. And it’s legal. He can legally let you live forever because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. All you have to do, according to Scripture, is repent of your sins and trust in Jesus like you trust a parachute (Acts 3:19, 26). The moment you do that, you have God’s promise that He will grant you everlasting life as a free gift—not because you’re good but because He’s good and kind and rich in mercy.”

In Season and Out of Season

Living Waters is a nonprofit ministry dedicated to equipping Christians to share their faith. We have found that the Christmas and Easter seasons are the most gospel-friendly times of the year. We want to use these two seasons to reach 100,000 people with these four simple questions. And we want to do it using this little booklet. Here’s how to use it:

You ask a friend or a stranger, “Would you like to do a short survey? It’s just four questions. And you will get a free Ten Commandments coin and a Million Dollar Bill just for answering.”

1. Is there life after death?
2. Do you get to Heaven by being a good person?
3. Have you broken any of the Ten Commandments?
4. Why did Jesus die on the cross?

The exciting thing is that every Christian can participate, as no special skills are required. You can confine the survey to the questions, or you can take it further. It’s up to you! Whatever the case, the person you do the survey with gets the gospel into their hands through the free Ten Commandments coin and a Million Dollar Bill tract. And what’s more, this is a legitimate public survey. You will register your results at LivingWaters.com/survey. There, you will be able to see the results of other Christians from around the world who are also participating in the survey. If you want to give your contact details, you can write them on the post-it notes in the booklet (which comes with a pen).

Get the Four Question Survey booklet for your church, your youth group, or yourself at livingwaters.com.