Whenever the true gospel message is given, there are usually two basic objections. If a witness does not know how to deal with these objections, the result will often be that the person being witnessed to will not trust Jesus Christ as Savior.
The word “gospel” means good news and the gospel of Jesus Christ truly is good news. Romans 1:16 says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” Ephesians 2:8-9 says “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
The first objection to the true gospel is usually, “I can’t believe that because it is too simple.” The simplicity of the true gospel has been a stumbling block to many down through the centuries. It seems that man in his pride always wants to add something to the finished work of Christ.
Israel stumbled because it is too simple. In Romans we read that Israel did not attain to the righteousness required to enter heaven–the righteousness of God. The question “Why?” is asked and answered in Romans 9:32. “Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, bur as it were by works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone. As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.” It was too simple. Jesus paid it all and Jesus, therefore, became a stumblingstone to them. They didn’t seek salvation by faith but by the works of the law.
Satan used the fact that the gospel is simple to prevent people from trusting Jesus Christ as their only hope of reaching heaven. Notice how II Corinthians 11:3 says exactly that. “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”
It is the simplicity of the message of Jesus Christ that Satan used to corrupt the mind of the unbeliever to think that works, a change in behavior, or a change in life-style will bring about salvation. When the Bible says, “Not of Works, lest any man should boast (Ephesians 2:9),” it is saying that no works whether good or bad have anything to do with salvation. It is “by grace are ye saved through faith (Ephesians 2:8).”
The second objection is often stated, “I can’t accept that because that would mean I could live as I please and still go to heaven.”
It is true that the moment that a person puts their trust in Jesus Christ as Savior that they are saved forever. Jesus promised that He would not cast out or lose anyone that He saved (John 6:37-39). But it is not true that you could live as you please and get away with it.
A disobedient believer will incur the chastening of God the Father and can lose his joy, power, effectiveness, testimony and rewards but cannot lose his salvation. Salvation was purchased by the sacrifice of Jesus alone and His blood alone can cleanse our sin and provide for us salvation. The Christian life is dependent upon sacrifice of self and, therefore, can affect the blessings of a life lived for Christ.
In other words, we become a child of God by the new birth at the moment we trust Christ as Savior. We will never be anymore saved than at that moment. At the moment a person is saved, he is totally, completely and forever saved. God becomes our Father at that moment for the first time. The unsaved person has God as their Creator but not their Father. As our Father, God deals differently with His children than He does with the lost.
Notice I Corinthians 11:32, “But when we (believers) are judged, we (believers) are chastened of the Lord that we (believers) should not be condemned with the world (unbelievers).” I Corinthians 11:30 tells us of some of the forms of chastening. “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep (are dead).”
Sometimes the Lord takes the disobedient believer home to heaven early (I Corinthians 11:30), but certainly does not excuse the disobedience. “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth (Hebrews 12:6).”
If a person remains disobedient to the Lord and God does nothing about it, it would prove the person was never saved. Notice this truth in Hebrews 12:8, “But if ye be without chastisement whereof all (believers) are partakers, then are ye bastards (illegitimate), and not sons (not born again).”
The Bible tells that God’s dealing with the disobedient believer does not lead to life of sin but rather a life of righteous living. “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby (Hebrews 12:11).”
On the positive side, God tells us that we can earn rewards by living for Him. So much so that Moses recognized God’s rewards as being greater than Egypt’s treasures. Hebrews 11:26 tells us that Moses, “Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: For he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.”
As you present the gospel to a lost person, expect that you will hear one or both objections that we have discussed. Be prepared with the answer from Scripture. You will find that your effectiveness as a witness for Christ will greatly increase.
We are told in I Peter 3:15 to “…be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” To be ready with an answer is a command in Scripture. We should be prepared. Since these two questions always come up, we should be ready.
The issue in witnessing is always grace vs. works. Do human works in some way save us or did Jesus Christ alone provide for our salvation; God says you are not saved by your works, but by grace through faith.
* Written by Dr. Hank Lindstrom
The moment you put your trust in Jesus Christ, God who can read your mind knows, saves YOU and gives you the Gift of God, eternal Life.
You do not need anyone to pray over you, or pray for you, because this is between you and God in heaven. Because of your new trust in the shed blood of Jesus Christ you are now a child of God. Before you trusted in Jesus, God was your creator but now and forevermore he will be your father.
You are saved in a moment of time, because you are trusting in the true Savior now, not working your way to heaven day by day which is not even possible.
Once saved you can never be lost, for any reason. This is because you were born spiritually the moment you put your trust in Him. Just like your physical birth which brought you into this human world, your spiritual birth gave you a new spiritual life that is permanent. You were born-again, made righteous and holy in Gods eyes. In fact you have the righteousness of God himself, your are sinless and perfect in God’s eyes now and that’s why you can enter into a perfect heaven.
My favorite saying is:
God will not save anyone who is trying to be saved, He will only save those who are trusting to be saved.
You MUST put ALL your trust in Jesus to be saved, trust in the blood that He shed on the cross, trust that He is God in the flesh, trust that He made the complete payment for your sins, not just part; He paid for ALL of your sins (past, present, and future)! Trust that He rose again from the dead after 3 days and 3 nights, and in return for this trust, He gives YOU Eternal Life. All false Christians put part of their trust in Jesus and part of their trust the Church and part of their trust in themselves. If you put 99.99% trust in Jesus and 00.01% in something else, you will go to hell. It must be 100% trust in Jesus and what He did and 0% in you or your church! This information in critical… (grace always cancels works!) You are going to hell if it’s by your works or you are going to heaven by Gods grace. It’s as simple as that.
So I guess the question comes down to who are you trusting. Are you trusting yourself to get to heaven by being a good person and giving lots of money to your church or are you trusting Jesus, the lamb of God, that was slain for the sins of the world to get you to heaven? You receive the Gift of God (Eternal Life) as soon as you stop trusting in yourself, your church, your synagogue, your mosque, your money, or any other works and put your trust in Him and Him ALONE, Jesus Christ, Yeshua, The King of Kings, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, the Alpha and Omega, the Mighty God.
False religions are everywhere and they will find you, the one true God and His plan of salvation must be found.
If all this makes sense to you and you would like to trust Jesus as your personal Savior right now then tell the Mighty God in Heaven of your decision to trust Jesus Christ as your only hope of heaven. Tell Him that you are no longer putting your trust in your actions, or your church, or your church membership, or in your money, or in your Rabbi, or in your synagogue or your Mosque but that you are putting all of your trust in Him and the shed blood of the cross to pay your sin debt. Thank Him for doing it for you! Thank Him for giving you the Gift of Eternal Life that He paid for with His life. There is no greater deed than that of laying down your life for another.
Will you trust Jesus as your Savior right now, the one who shed His precious blood on the cross of Calvary to pay for all your sins?
Sinners Prayer
Lord, I admit that I’m a sinner & I don’t understand a whole lot about the bible, but I do believe that Jesus Christ died & paid for my sins in full, by His death & shed blood on the cross. I trust right now the He died for me, was buried & rose again from the dead and will live forever more. I trust Jesus Christ right now to save me, to be my savior, to forgive my sins & to give me the GIFT OF GOD Eternal Life.
Amen
By reading this sinners prayer aloud, you are putting your trust in God and His plan of salvation. You are not saved by saying this prayer, you are saved the moment your mind made the switch from trusting in yourself to putting your COMPLETE TRUST IN JESUS CHRIST. That moment may have been five paragraphs up on this page or that moment may have been on another one of our pages. You will not feel any different, but you will be changed and changed for the better forever. Once you have trusted Jesus as your savior and received his gift of eternal life, this gift can NEVER be lost. You can NEVER go to hell for ANY reason. Your past, present and future sins were paid in full the moment you put your trust in Him. You are blameless and Holy in God’s eyes now and FOREVER. If you have eternal life today what kind of life will you have in five years? ETERNAL! What kind of life will you have in ten years? ETERNAL!! What kind of life will you have in 50 years? ETERNAL!!! God does not give probationary life or temporary life, His gift is ETERNAL LIFE! Thanks be to GOD!
Why be good, now that I am assured of going to heaven? Because God’s law of sowing and reaping still applies to you and me. You will reap what you sow. You will reap more than you sow and you will reap later than you sow. If you drink alcohol like a fish, you will reap a diseased liver. If you smoke like a chimney everyday, you will reap lung cancer. If you rob, murder, and steal you will reap a life in prison. You will reap what you sow. I guarantee it! Now that you are saved, when you do good things you WILL be rewarded here on earth and in Heaven. And when you do bad things you WILL lose rewards that God had planned on giving you here on earth and in Heaven. But you will NEVER lose your guarantee of going to heaven. That can never be lost for any reason!! You have God’s word that your salvation can never be lost for any reason. You did not earn salvation and you do not work to keep salvation! Eternal Life, salvation, being born again, becoming a child of God, was, is, and always will be the GIFT OF GOD.
Remember: If your not saved forever… you are not saved!
Why is this true you might ask? Because if a person is not sure that they are saved TODAY / RIGHT NOW it means that they are still trying to be the savior! They can’t be sure they are going to heaven because they don’t know what sin’s they may commit next week, next month or next year. We who have trusted in Jesus alone, can have comfort knowing that all our sins have been paid in full on the Cross of Calvary (past, present, and future sins). Jesus has already died for my sins so I don’t need to pay for any sin I have or will commit in the future because Jesus already paid the price in full with His blood. So called Christians who say that you can lose your salvation because of suicide or murder or falling away from the church don’t have a clue what the Bible says and clearly have not trusted Jesus ALONE!
Biblical Salvation is forsaking any other means of salvation but Christ and casting ourselves fully upon Him for eternal life.
The Gift of God, Eternal Life can never be lost once possessed for any reason. John 6:39 ” And this is the Father’s will which hath sent Me, that of all which He hath given Me I should LOSE NOTHING, but should raise it up again at the last day.” You have God’s promise that once you put your trust in Jesus you can never be lost for ANY reason whatsoever.
“For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance” Romans 11:29 Again, God is telling you that this Gift of God that you have just received is without repentance. He can never take His gift back for any reason, no matter how bad you get, or how bad your sins are it is not possible. God would have to cease to exist for that to happen because He cannot lie.
*** If you have put your trust in Jesus today, please send us a quick email and let us know. The email’s we receive from those led to the Lord by our website is what keeps us going thru the difficult times. ***