How Do You Win Souls Of Those Knee Deep In Sin

It's always a combination imo... depending upon what God, Holy Spirit within urges. Tell everyone the Gospel, that Jesus came because of His love for them... and if necessary, tell them using words.


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Tammyo said:

IM interested in what ways we can introduce God in the lives of our old party friends without preaching how do we convince them that a Christian life is more fulfilling than a immoral lifestyle WHAT DO WE SAY??

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What convinced you?

In these dark times, a lot of unbelievers have heard Gloom&Doom preaching. They've heard that they will go to Hell if they don't accept Christ. They've heard that they will get eternal punishment if they don't do what we say they should do.

However..... it is human nature to be defiant towards authority. That's our flesh, our sin nature to do so. So obviously when a preacher preaches Gloom&Doom, it is going to harden hearts. Yes, it is necessary to know the dangers of Hell, but yet there's something important missing, and that is His Love.

IMO, the best way to reach out to unbelievers, is find out what they are lacking the most in life. We know from experience, that Christ can provide all we need. If you see an unbeliever who is lonely and single, tell him that there's a Friend standing right beside him at all times, just waiting for him to notice.

If you see an unbeliever who is worried about death, tell them of Heaven and what they can do to get there. Don't tell them that they will burn in Hell if they don't, tell them that if they do what is right (Repent and accept Christ), they will go to Heaven, and then describe Heaven, tell them about our glorified bodies that we will receive when we get there. Tell them about the lack of pain, and the lack of sin, and the lack of all that is evil in Heaven.

If you see an unbeliever who is hungry and can barely afford to live, tell them that Christ is good to those who love Him, and that prayer is a powerful tool that one can rely on. Give them your own testimonies of answered prayers. Show them some love and hand them some money and say "Here, Jesus asked me to give you this...".

Show them Christ's love. Do kind things for these people. Don't condemn them, don't look down upon them, don't frown upon them. Christ entered the Tax Collector's house and ate with sinners, saying "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick".

These are just some examples, I'm sure there are more things that one can do. The one thing I would urge people NOT to do, however, is Gloom&Doom preaching. God wants us to love Him and His Son because He loves us. He doesn't want us to merely obey out of fear. He's not a bully or a tyrant.

In the end, read the Gospels yourself and think "How did Christ approach the sinners?" Did He preach Gloom&Doom? He barely mentioned Hell in all of His ministry, only a few times. He went around healing the sick, casting out demons, and teaching words of love and wisdom.

But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: - Romans 5:20

RW Schambach tells of rolling into the worst part of town...

Xalith said:

In these dark times, a lot of unbelievers have heard Gloom&Doom preaching. They've heard that they will go to Hell if they don't accept Christ. They've heard that they will get eternal punishment if they don't do what we say they should do.

However..... it is human nature to be defiant towards authority. That's our flesh, our sin nature to do so. So obviously when a preacher preaches Gloom&Doom, it is going to harden hearts. Yes, it is necessary to know the dangers of Hell, but yet there's something important missing, and that is His Love.

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Yes.

I have related this before, but I knew one woman now a sister in Christ who had been a prostitute. She had heard street preachers open up their sermons many times before by pointing to her and saying: "You're a dirty sinner, you're going to hell!"

Her attitude had become "Okay, I've done too much wrong, so I'm going to hell," and she'd tuned them out.

Until one day one preacher started out with, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." That hooked her. In fact, when he finished she actually walked up to him, poked him in the chest, and demanded, "What you were saying about all things becoming new...is that the truth?"

What did she need most? To be free of all the baggage everyone had told her she was carrying...but had never said she could be free. Yes, they may have said something somewhere in there about forgiveness...but she'd already had experience with man's "forgiveness." New creation was what the Holy Spirit had caused her heart to intensely desire.

IMO, the best way to reach out to unbelievers, is find out what they are lacking the most in life. We know from experience, that Christ can provide all we need. If you see an unbeliever who is lonely and single, tell him that there's a Friend standing right beside him at all times, just waiting for him to notice.

If you see an unbeliever who is worried about death, tell them of Heaven and what they can do to get there. Don't tell them that they will burn in Hell if they don't, tell them that if they do what is right (Repent and accept Christ), they will go to Heaven, and then describe Heaven, tell them about our glorified bodies that we will receive when we get there. Tell them about the lack of pain, and the lack of sin, and the lack of all that is evil in Heaven.

If you see an unbeliever who is hungry and can barely afford to live, tell them that Christ is good to those who love Him, and that prayer is a powerful tool that one can rely on. Give them your own testimonies of answered prayers. Show them some love and hand them some money and say "Here, Jesus asked me to give you this...".

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I don't think this is only a matter of "finding out" in material ways, being like Columbo or Sherlock Holmes. I'm not ruling out that the Holy Spirit can make one more observant of such clues. If a person makes a habit of being guided by the Holy Spirit on where he should go, when he should go, and what he should say when he gets there, he will be in the right place at the right time saying the right things. He will see more clearly and accurately those things that through which the Holy Spirit says, "Right here, right now, do this thing for this person." Remember Paul had intended to go into Asia--his own backyard--but was told by a vision from the Lord to go to Macedonia instead.

Show them Christ's love. Do kind things for these people. Don't condemn them, don't look down upon them, don't frown upon them. Christ entered the Tax Collector's house and ate with sinners, saying "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick".

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Think about Zacchaeus. He had plenty of money, but he was disrespected by the Romans and despised by the Jews. What he did not have was fellowship. But then Jesus--the superstar of the moment--looked up, actually called him by name, and said, "I'd like to eat with you." Jesus offered the thing that the Holy Spirit had caused Zacchaeus to crave most.

These are just some examples, I'm sure there are more things that one can do. The one thing I would urge people NOT to do, however, is Gloom&Doom preaching. God wants us to love Him and His Son because He loves us. He doesn't want us to merely obey out of fear. He's not a bully or a tyrant.

Click to expand...

Jesus said that no man could come to Him without being enabled by the Father. He also said that His sheep knew His voice and would follow Him. This means that "enabled people" are out there walking around, waiting to hear His voice...and they probably don't even know it.

Our gospel is to those who are walking around enabled and don't even know it. They know they need something, but they don't know what. That has been called the "God-shaped hole," but it will manifest itself in different ways for different people.

But this is a serious mistake: Do not tell these enabled people--the ones we're really speaking to anyway--that they're going to hell. If they are enabled, then their names have been written in the Book of Life since before creation...hell is not in their eternal future and never was. Telling them they're going to hell is the condemnation of Satan, not the gospel. It's a lie. Since we don't know which ones are enabled and which aren't, then we should not say it at all. Jesus told us that it was the Holy Spirit's work to condemn the world of sin...let the Holy Spirit do His job. Our job is to speak the good news, not condemnation.

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As this has turned into more of a discussion, I'm going to move this thread to Christian Advice.

Tammyo said:

IM interested in what ways we can introduce God in the lives of our old party friends without preaching how do we convince them that a Christian life is more fulfilling than a immoral lifestyle WHAT DO WE SAY??

Click to expand...

*Ours is to pray, and show the lost the agape of Christ just as He showed it to the lost around him.
We are His representatives, His hands and feet etc.
We do our part, which is living out the faith and upholding The Word in our own lives each day...the Holy Spirit will do his part... reveal/convict of sin, reveal righteousness/what the judgement is if one persist in sin... Holy Spirit points/direct folks to the Lord etc...as it is in God's Word here...Romans 6:23, Ephesians 5:5, Romans 1:18, Luke 13:5...Ephesians 2:8.

I remember reaching out to a neighbor in NC... what
got her to come to church was having a friend she
could count on...that was in the 80's.
Even now, living in a trailer park still carries
a stigma where I'm from in NC.

I forgot...
Welcome to the forum!

Tammyo said:

IM interested in what ways we can introduce God in the lives of our old party friends without preaching how do we convince them that a Christian life is more fulfilling than a immoral lifestyle WHAT DO WE SAY??

Click to expand...

it's not what you say as much as it is what you do - as you show the selfless love and goodness of God to others, they will realize that there's goodness in you that goes beyond your own personal best, and they will ask you about this - it's the goodness of God that you show to others (that's beyond what they can see in you) that causes people to change (repent)

IMO it is usually easier to present the gospel to those who are "knee deep in sin" than those who live moral upright lives. The latter often brush off the conviction and drawing by the Holy Spirit by thinking to themselves they are already "pretty good;" and see no need for salvation.

We all are knee deep in sin so that part is irrelevant. The only way I know of telling people about Jesus is to tell them about yourself. How you came to be a believer, that is, not how wonderful you have become since you did so. I would in times past have echoed the "be an example" meme but it seems to me too many people think being an example is showing everyone how good they have become rather than mimicking God's unconditional love. If you can do the latter without doing the former then being an example works. If not then it just breeds resentment.

grasping the after wind said:

We all are knee deep in sin so that part is irrelevant. The only way I know of telling people about Jesus is to tell them about yourself. How you came to be a believer, that is, not how wonderful you have become since you did so. I would in times past have echoed the "be an example" meme but it seems to me too many people think being an example is showing everyone how good they have become rather than mimicking God's unconditional love. If you can do the latter without doing the former then being an example works. If not then it just breeds resentment.

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The "user review"--aka testimony--is often overlooked these days, but it's power should not be underestimated. Not everyone is called to be an evangelist, but everyone is called to be a witness to what Jesus has done for them. The woman at the well was not an evangelist, yet by even her scant testimony of what Jesus said to her, she brought her entire village to Him.

If they ask you if they will go to hell if they are not watchful you have to tell them the truth

Jude 1:22 And on some have compassion, making a distinction;[a] 23 but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire,[b] hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.

Revelations 3:3 “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write,
‘These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. 2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. 3 Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. 4 You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.5 He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
6 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’

mikeforjesus said:

If they ask you if they will go to hell if they are not watchful you have to tell them the truth

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Yes, you do need to tell them the truth.

I did not say to sugar-coat the truth... however, you don't need to begin the conversation with Hell and Gloom&Doom. IMO, it is better to start with Heaven and what they can do to get there, but if they ask about Hell.... answer truthfully. Something like... "Yes, there is a Hell, and yes people will go there if they don't believe, but wouldn't you rather reach for Heaven instead of worrying about Hell?"

I think it is better to give them a goal that they can reach for, something that they will want to aspire to, rather than giving them ultimatums. Ultimatums cause people to either be rebellious, or they will only follow out of fear. Sometimes fear is necessary, but I would only use fear as a last resort.

I mentioned if they ask. Yes I agree you should only use fear as a last resort