Wednesday, September 20, 2017

The Gospel - ’Sorry, I cannot quite interpret your life!’

Welcome back to my blog. Thank you for visiting today. We are in the midst of an exciting series on exploring relevant research findings from Teleios! A list of our compelling findings is on our website (www.teleiosresearch.com).

Teleios recently completed a survey of visitors to the Instagram site, GodsHolyScriptures. We had 224 participants, 93% were adolescents (<18) and millennials (18-34), 60% evangelicals and 60% female. We asked them what someone must believe to be a Christian, and how they explained this to others. Wow, we received some amazing answers!

Last week we discussed what extra beliefs many people add to salvation. This week let us explore how people share the gospel. The survey respondents’ favorite means to spread the gospel is in Table 1. Fortunately, directly sharing the plan of salvation was the most popular (39%). Also frequently mentioned was living a good life (35%).

Table 1 - What is sharing the Gospel?

Response
%
Verbally telling a nonbeliever the specific message of salvation
39%
Living as a good example
35%
Encouraging others
9%
Inviting others to church
7%
Praying for others
8%

We are fortunate that our gracious God has entrusted to us to be involved in other people's lives by telling them they can spend eternity with God. What a wonderful truth to impart to others!

However, we have to tell them! If you discover a good recipe or sport site on the internet or social media, and are excited about it, do you verbally tell someone else or text them to let them know? My guess is you do not depend on a wordless lifestyle that would somehow magically transmit to your friends information about your new favorite site. You must verbally relay this message specifically, of course.

Unfortunately, people cannot interpret our lifestyle, as important as this is for a framework in sharing the Gospel (1 Thessalonians 2). Romans 10:15-17 is very clear, that for person to come to faith, they must hear the explicit plan of salvation and believe. Here is a simple direct ‘ready to use’ Gospel message.

Salvation is a free gift of God! You can have confidence you are saved:

·        Each person has done misdeeds (sin) that deserve judgment and punishment from a perfect and just God.

·        However, God being loving, sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins on the cross to take the punishment that we deserved.

·        Consequently, God will see us without sin by accepting through faith the forgiveness that Christ provided by his death on the cross. This gracious forgiveness heals our relationship with God allowing us to obtain eternal life!

Teleios examined why people are resistant to sharing the explicit plan of salvation at a Midwest bible-believing Church. We found the most common reason was not only social rejection but also not knowing how to say the Gospel itself.

In the hundreds of Bible studies we've been blessed to teach no student could tell us clearly the gospel, even non-succinctly. This not only prevented them from sharing with others but also at times caused doubt in their own minds because they could not coherently tell themselves that they were forgiven and really saved.

Unfortunately, the hesitancy sharing the Gospel is one of the greatest hurdles of believers advancing in their knowledge of God (Colossians 1:9-10). Further, this hesitancy is associated often with fear on one side while creating internal guilt on the other side. This self-defeating battle is unfortunate as sharing the Gospel does not need to be this way. It is actually quite easy and next week we'll discuss exactly how to do it!

Thank you for joining us today. I counted a privilege that you would read my blog.

WC Stewart


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