The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum Gospel presentation

Is this a good summary of the Gospel?<br><br><br>1. There is a God, and He created the entire universe, including all of mankind. He is sovereign and eternal, and He is at work in our world even today.<br><br>Romans 1:20- “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities- his eternal power and divine nature- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”<br><br>Acts 17:26-27- “From one man, [God] made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth: and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each of us.”<br><br>Romans 8:28- “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”<br><br><br>2. God is perfect, holy, and without sin. Man, although created in God’s image, willfully rebels against his Creator and deserves eternal condemnation and separation from God.<br><br>John 3:19- “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.”<br><br>Romans 3:23- “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”<br><br>Romans 1:21- “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.”<br><br><br>3. But there is good news! God is also a loving God and provides the way for us to be reconciled to Him. He sent his son Jesus Christ, who was fully God and fully human, to die on a cross as a substitute for sinners, so that whoever calls upon the name of Jesus will have a right relationship with God and be saved from the judgment to come.<br><br>Romans 6:23- “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”<br><br>Hebrews 4:15- “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are- yet was without sin.”<br><br>1 Peter 3:18- “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.”<br><br>John 14:6- “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’”<br><br>Acts 4:12- “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”<br><br><br>4. But Jesus Christ did not stay dead! On the third day, He rose from the dead, as foretold in the Scriptures, thus conquering the power of death and promising eternal life with God for those who will trust in Him.<br><br>Romans 4:25- “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”<br><br>Romans 8:11- “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.”<br><br>John 11:25- “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.’”<br><br><br>5. Salvation is the gift of God. It cannot be earned, for we do not deserve it nor can we ever be “good enough” to gain it. We must first repent of our sins, meaning turning from self and sin, to God and His desires. We must be “born again,” meaning we surrender our lives fully to God and allow Christ to be our personal Lord and Savior. We do this by calling out to God in prayer.<br><br>Ephesians 2:8-9- “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast.”<br><br>1 John 1:9- “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”<br><br>John 3:3- “In reply Jesus declared, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”<br><br>2 Corinthians 5:17- “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”<br><br>Romans 6:22- “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.”<br><br>John 3:16-18-“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”<br><br><br>So we all must answer life’s ultimate question: Will you or won’t you come to Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins? Will you come to Christ for eternal life, for a peace that passes understanding? Proverbs 16:25 says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” Are you going to turn to the light of Christ, or are you going to stay in darkness?<br><br><br>For more information on why you can trust God’s Word (the Bible), see the following books:<br><br> Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell<br> <br> Reason to Believe by R. C. Sproul<br><br>

sbc_and_reformed,



In His Grace,

[color:red] We must first repent of our sins, meaning turning from self and sin, to God and His desires. We must be “born again,” meaning we surrender our lives fully to God and allow Christ to be our personal Lord and Savior. We do this by calling out to God in prayer.</font color=red><br><br>Well, I always have problems with pre-set methods of sharing the Gospel. It is like Barney carrying one bullet for his revolver. First, I would rather carry an automatic and second, it should always be fully loaded. It is important to study and understand the whole counsel of God (individuals have a variety of questions, et. al.........). The Scriptures you brought up are good, but with the thoughts above I shutter to think that Sproul said this, but he may have (from Josh I would expect this)???<br><br>We CANNOT repent UNTIL God gives us repentance! (2 Tim 2:24-26). We CANNOT turn until He turns us. Additionally, you are using the terms "Ye Must Be Born Again" as a command and it is not even so in Scripture ("believe" is a Present participle revealing a continuous action--continually believing ones). Being "born again" is something that happens to us (regeneration) so we may appropriately respond in faith.......(conversion). You may say God gives us a new willer to will with and irresistibly surrender. ....Pilgrim has an excellent presentation and I will find it for you and post it accordingly.<br><br>Well he beat me to it...see Pilgrim's post.

Friend,

Pilgrim's "A Gospel Summary" is indeed excellent. You might also look at John Blanchard's "Ultimate Questions" which I think is very well done also:

Ultimate Questions

May God bless you as you seek to spread the Good News--

Theo

Thanks you all!<br><br>I was wondering about that repentance/faith part myself. I knew something was missing...I tried to explain too much there in my own fallible words instead of letting infallible Scripture take it from there.<br><br>Here is what I changed it to:<br><br><br>5. Salvation is the gift of God. It cannot be earned, for we do not deserve it nor can we ever be “good enough” to gain it. Even the ability to believe and to repent is a gift of God.<br><br>Ephesians 2:8-9- “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast.”<br><br>John 6:47- “I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.”<br><br>John 3:3- “In reply Jesus declared, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”<br><br>2 Corinthians 5:17- “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”<br><br>Romans 6:22- “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.”<br><br>Acts 3:19- “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”<br><br>1 John 1:9- “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”<br><br>John 3:16-18-“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”<br><br>So here is life’s ultimate question: Will you or won’t you come to Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins? Will you come to Christ for eternal life, for a peace that passes understanding? Proverbs 16:25 says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” Are you going to turn to the light of Christ, or are you going to stay in darkness?<br><br><br>[Do you think I should take off the book by Sproul too? It is good, but I don't need if I need to include it in the presentation. Also, there is so much focus on apologetics. It seems as though people have this idea that no one will ever believe in the Bible if they don't see the historical and archaeological proof for it.] <br><br>

Personally, I would remove Josh McDowell's book and include Theo's excellent idea along with Jeff's presentation.<br><br>BTW, is this for a paper you are presenting or just for general use or...?

In His Grace,

This is for general use in evangelism. Thanks for the recommendations!<br><br>Marie

Yeh, I'm going to press my "luck" here and go out on a thin limb by recommending one MORE item for your consideration, since you are dealing with general evangelism. One of the best books on the current market (I'm assuming it is still in print), is Will Metzger's, Tell the Truth. My copy was published by IVP, which isn't known to publish that many Reformed authors or even conservative works as of late. But if you were to do a search on Google, you could quickly locate it, I would think. Joe usually has some good links for buying books at reasonable discounts, so perhaps he knows where you might find this title.<br><br>In His Grace,