Video Transcript: Receiving and Sharing the Gospel of Salvation

Hi, I'm David Feddes. And I'd like to speak briefly with you about receiving and sharing the  gospel of salvation. I want to share this with folks who have never come to salvation in Jesus  Christ for the first time, and also with people who perhaps are pastors or longtime Christian  leaders. Because even among those who are leaders, it is unfortunately true that some have  actually not been saved. And do not know Jesus as Lord and Savior. As Jesus was set up  some religious leaders, you crossed land and sea to make a single convert, and then you  make them into twice the son of hell, you are terrible words, but it is possible to be even a  religious leader and not be saved. And it's certainly possible for others, not to know the way of salvation and how to receive it. And then of course, not to know how to share it, either,  because if you don't have it, it's pretty hard to share what you don't have. So I want to focus  very briefly, on the essentials of receiving salvation. What is the gospel, we first of all simply  need to know the gospel. The first part of knowing the gospel is knowing my sin, I am sinful.  God's holy law, condemns my crimes and requires punishment in hell. Without Jesus, I am  spiritually and eternally dead, serving Satan, unable to save myself. That's my predicament.  That's what I need to be saved from. A vital part of knowing the gospel is what Jesus has  done to save us the cross of Christ. God in love, put my sins on his sinless Son, the God  man, the one who was both God and human. By suffering and dying on the cross, Jesus took  my punishment, he canceled all charges against me. He disarmed Satan's accusations  against me. And God raised Jesus bodily from the dead, after Jesus had paid that price on  the cross, a third element in knowing what is the gospel is the new life. The Holy Spirit causes me to be born again, as a child of God through faith. God credits Jesus perfect goodness to  me, when I believe in Jesus, the Holy Spirit lives in me and connects me with Christ and His  eternal life. trusting Jesus, I leave the old behind, and I join the new humanity in Jesus. That's the gospel, my sin, that I need to be saved from in my deadness and the punishment of Hell,  then Jesus, and what he has done in His perfect life, and in His death on the cross, to pay for  my sin, and to bring me forgiveness, and then thirdly, the new life, that is the gospel in its  simplest form. Now, how do I become a Christian? How do I receive that gospel one way that  I like to explain it to make it clear and simple as A B, C. A, admit that you are sinful, and totally unable to save yourself? This is sometimes called repentance. Admit, be, believe the gospel  facts and apply those facts to yourself. Trust Jesus to save you, you personally. Make God  your greatest treasure, and pleasure. Believing is not just a fact, in your head. It is a a  knowledge and an embrace that Jesus has done all of this for you personally, and that you  treasure him and see commit your life publicly to Jesus as your owner, and ruler. Become a  daily disciple by listening to God in Scripture, talking to Him in prayer, and seeking to live for  the Lord in all you do. Join a Bible believing Christ honoring church, and be baptized if you're  not already a baptized person. So how do I become a Christian? Admit? Believe, Commit  your life to Jesus. If you've never done that before, I invite you to consider it right now. Here's  one way that you could pray and speak to God about this. Dear God, I confess that I've often  sinned against you and have not lived the way you want me to live. I've done many things  which I should not have done, and I have failed to do the things I should have done. Please  forgive me. I sincerely believe that Jesus died on the cross in my place, and that he rose  again from my salvation. In faith I accept from you the gifts of forgiveness and eternal life.  With all my heart, I thank you for these gifts. And with the help of the Holy Spirit, I promise to  love and serve you as long as I live. I pray all of this in the name of my precious Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. If that's the prayer of your heart, if you receive Jesus as your savior, then hear  the promises of God. God so loved the world, that He sent His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. You have eternal life, through faith in  Jesus. And the Bible says that we're told these things, we who believe in this name of the Son of God, so that we may know that we have eternal life. Those are the promises of God, to 

those who trust Him. And if you've never trusted Christ before, and this is the very first time  you've ever really had it clear in your mind what it means to be a Christian, to receive Christ,  and welcome to the family of God. If you're a person who has become a Christian long ago,  then I hope you've been paying careful attention anyway, because the next step after  receiving Christ, and knowing the gospel as it applies to you, is sharing the gospel with  others. And I want to just say a couple of simple things about that, how do I share salvation?  First of all, know the gospel truth. Be ready to answer the questions. What is the gospel? And  how do I become a Christian? You don't have to follow the exact words that I presented here  in stating what is the gospel, but you do need to know the essentials and be able to state  them very clearly for somebody in not too terribly many words so that you can see what the  gospel is. And if they say, Well, how do I become a Christian? Then? My answer is A, B, C,  admit, believe, commit, you may have a somewhat different way of saying it. But I urge you to have a way of expressing what the gospel is that you can say, anytime somebody asks you.  And that if they say, Well, how do I become a Christian, then have a clear, simple way that  you can tell them that now I know that in many people's lives that you deal with, it's not all a  one time thing. There's often a process of exploring, of seeking to understand and I'm not  saying everything can be done in a three or four minute presentation. But do have something  brief, clear, and simple. So that you can make these things clear when the moment is right.  When God brings that whole process, to its fulfillment, so that you can tell somebody how  they can be saved. And an important part of that is God uses you. He used Jesus and uses  Jesus, our great Savior and the Gospel story written in the Bible. But he also has individual  people. And very often one of the powerful ways you can share salvation with others, is by  sharing your own personal testimony. Be able to tell the story of your own faith journey, briefly, and clearly. Tell key events or discoveries that brought you to Christ. Present a few major  reasons why faith in Jesus is important. Once again, you may when you're sharing with others speak different words and, and speak in different ways. But I urge it it really have your own  personal testimony. Maybe write it down on just a page, what you think are some of the most  important things about your own journey to faith in Christ and why you continue to trust Him,  and be ready to share those from your own heart. So again, in sharing salvation, first of all, of  course, it's friendship. It's living the Christian life. It's being kind to others, being the kind of  person from whom the light of Jesus shines, but then, in sharing the actual message of  salvation, know the gospel in a nutshell, know it in very brief form, and know how to tell  people that what they can do in response to the Good News of the Gospel to become a  Christian, and be ready at any time to share how you came to know Christ and what he  means to you. May God bless you as you know his salvation for yourself and delight in it. And  as you share the good news of salvation with others