Well let's move on to lesson number three.
Lesson number three, let's talk about we are all sinners.
Number one, why someone must admit that they are a sinner.
Number one, why must someone must admit that they are a sinner.
Letter A, the first thing we must do in order to get someone saved is to get them to realize
that they are sinners.
They have to realize that they are a sinner.
Letter B, because if someone is not a sinner, that's your fill in, then they will not need
a savior.
They are not a sinner, they will not need a savior.
Number two, no one is perfect.
The Bible says there's none righteous.
So letter A, I have found that it's easier for someone to first agree that they are not
perfect before they agree that they are a sinner.
Some people have absolutely no problem agreeing, I am a sinner.
But some people get highly offended if you just knock on their door and you're like,
hey, you are a sinner, all right?
So sometimes what I've found works great is to kind of ease people into that idea by first
stating the fact that there is none righteous, the fact that we are not perfect.
So letter B is going to kind of explain how this conversation may go.
Now before we get into letter B, let me explain something.
We're now getting into the presentation of the gospel.
Before we talk about how to dress, how to get ready for, how to introduce yourself,
how to ask the questions.
Now you've got someone who has agreed, I want to hear what you have to say, so where are
you going to start?
I usually start in Romans 3, 10.
But let me explain to you how I explain the gospel and how I think people should explain
the gospel.
I basically use a three-step process, read, reveal, and review, all right?
Our goal at Verity Baptist Church is to be extremely thorough with the gospel.
Most soul winners are really shallow and don't go into a lot of depth.
So in order to be able to make sure you're doing things thoroughly, what I mean by read,
reveal, and review, you're going to see this throughout the lesson, is you read the passage.
That's extremely important, all right?
People get saved by the word of God.
They don't get saved by your illustrations, they don't get saved by your smooth talk.
The word of God is what they need.
So we need to make sure we read the passage.
We need to make sure, and usually I would encourage you to memorize all the verses,
but I almost never quote the verses to the people.
I want them to see it.
Now oftentimes I'll have my Bible open to the passage, whoa.
And let me pick that up.
I'll have my Bible open to the passage, and I'll be quoting it because I'm not really
reading it, but I'm showing it to them, like I want them to see what the Bible says.
So read the passage, reveal the truth.
What that means is explain the verse, explain it thoroughly, make sure they understand,
and then review the concept.
We like to ask a question to make sure they understand.
We don't move on to the next point until they understand the first point, okay?
We don't move on from there.
So you read the passage, you reveal the truth, and then you review the concept.
So here's how this conversation may go, Romans 3, 10.
So let's say somebody said, you know, sure, I'd like to hear what the Bible says.
The first thing I'll do is say, well, let me show you what the Bible says.
In Romans chapter number three and verse 10, the Bible says, as it is written, there is
none righteous, no, not one.
And I'll explain it something like this.
I'll say, you see that word, you see this word here where it says righteous?
See that first part of the word, it says right?
Someone who's righteous is someone who always does right or is without wrong.
You know, maybe a word you and I would use would be like perfect.
And what this verse is saying is that there is none righteous, meaning there's none perfect,
no not one.
So I read the verse, I revealed the truth, I explained to them, so then here's how I
review it.
I'll simply say something like, you didn't think you were perfect, right?
Now most people are going to be like, yeah, of course not, I'm not perfect.
Now look, I've literally been out soul winning and, you know, I've been soul winning for
a long time, decades, over a decade.
And I've had people say to me, I've had two or three people say to me like, I am perfect.
There are some people out there who believe in a doctrine called sinless perfection, where
they think they're perfect.
Well, guess what?
We're not moving on from there, okay?
Because the first thing you need to realize is you're not perfect.
If you're perfect, then we need to be worshiping you, okay?
Then you're Jesus, all right, and you're not, so you're not perfect.
So you know, it's as simple as that.
Because there's rain, there's none righteous nor one.
What this verse is saying, that no one's righteous, no one's perfect, no one's without wrong.
We've all messed up, we've all made mistakes.
Do you agree with that?
You didn't think you were perfect, did you?
Well, of course, no one's perfect, just move on to the next verse.
Does that make sense?
But you want to go through that process, read, reveal, review.
Now let me say this, that's a really easy concept for people to understand.
Most people are going to grasp that easily.
Other concepts get a little more difficult, but just so you kind of understand what we're
doing.
We are all sinners, that's your word there.
We are all sinners, for all have sinned, okay?
So letter A, we do not want people to feel as if we are attacking them or pointing at
them specifically as you are a sinner.
We don't want to make people feel like we're just attacking them personally when we present
the gospel.
This is why we start by pointing out that no one's perfect.
We begin with that concept, no one's perfect.
Number two, when we talk about sin, make sure you include yourself.
We're all sinners.
And that's just good, for those of you guys that preach, people don't respond well when
all you're doing is pointing at people.
Oftentimes even when I'm here, I'm like, look, I'm working on this.
Just realize we're all sinners and try to use that terminology, we're all sinners, I'm
a sinner.
Oftentimes I'll tell people, so the next verse I'll show them is Romans 3, 23, for all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God.
So I just showed them Romans 3, 10, then I said, well, let me show you this verse.
This verse takes it a step further, Romans 3, 23 says, for all have sinned and come short
of the glory of God.
And then I'll explain the verse, I'll say something along these lines.
I'll say, the Bible defines the word sin as the transgression of the law, meaning when
we break God's law, we've sinned.
So for example, God says, you know, I shouldn't lie, so if I tell a lie, that's a sin.
Or God says I shouldn't steal, so if I steal something, that's a sin.
And what this verse is saying, it's saying for all have sinned.
That means I've sinned, that means you've sinned.
Now here's the review, would you agree with that?
That we're all sinners?
Oh yeah, well I mean the Bible says we're all sinners, yeah, I agree with that.
Okay, well here's why I showed you that verse, because in Romans 6, 23, you see, and we just
transitioned to, but I review, I make sure they agree with that, we're all sinners.
They agree, they're not, they're not perfect, you know.
Number four, how the questions should be, so let's talk about the questions real quickly.
How the questions should be used throughout the conversation.
Letter A, the questions should be used for the purpose of bringing attention to key words
in the verse.
When I ask a question, I'm not just asking questions for the sake of asking questions.
And if you see Jesus in the gospels, how he presents the gospel, he's often asking questions
and engaging people in communication.
You could explain the entire gospel, and I've seen people do this, and have that person
just listen to you for 15 or 20 minutes and never engage them in conversation, but they're
probably going to understand better and they're probably going to enjoy the conversation better
if you allow them to talk too.
So a lot of times you can do that by asking them questions.
So number four, letter A, the questions should be used for the purpose of bringing attention
to key words in the verse.
There's key things you want them to look.
Letter B, use questions to see if the person is agreeing with you or not.
Use phrases like, would you agree that?
Do you believe this?
And letter C, the questions should be worded so that people do not feel as if they are
being tested or judged.
Use phrases like, are you familiar with ... Sometimes I'll say, there'll be a word, and I'll say,
are you familiar with this word?
I used to, when I was a younger soul winner, I used to say things like, do you know the
definition of this word?
And then somebody actually said to me like, you know what, I didn't start this conversation
with you to be tested, I'm not in school or whatever, I actually offended them because
I think some of the words, they didn't know the definitions.
And I realized like, whoa, I just offended this person because I said, do you know what
this word means?
And it's like, they feel like I'm judging them or whatever, because they had some hangup
on, they didn't know what that word meant.
So try to use words that are graceful.
You know, instead of saying, do you know the definition of this word?
Now I say, are you familiar with this word?
You know, I'm sure you've heard this word before, grace, do you know what the word grace
means?
Yeah, well I've heard the word grace, I don't really know what it means.
Well here's what it means, you know, and you explain it to them.
So use words that are graceful, and this is, you know, as a soul winner, as a Christian,
you want to be careful about the words you use.
The Bible says, let your speech be all way with grace.
The reason was solved, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man, and so often
we offend people by the things that we say, and we don't, you know, just think, how is
this person, the person I'm speaking to, how is this making them feel when I'm saying this?
You know, so try to be very, you know, just think about the words that you are using.
So let us see, the question should be worded so that people do not feel as if they are
being tested or judged.
Now here's what I want to do, okay, before we move on to the next question, because we're
now actually looking at passages in the Bible and explaining them.
We're reading, we're reviewing, we're reading, we're revealing the truth in the passage,
and then we're reviewing it.
So what I want to do is, I know some of you are new soul winners, I want to help you out,
and I'm going to give, what we're going to do is, I'm going to, I want you to take your
Bibles, I don't know if you brought your Bible with you, but if you brought your Bible, go
with me to Romans chapter number 3 and verse 10, alright, Romans 3, 10, here's what I want
to do.
I want you to take a pen if you have a pen, a highlighter if you have a highlighter, and
I want you to underlight Romans 3, 10, because that's the first verse you're going to go
to, and you want to have it underlined, or highlighted would even be better, so you can
find, because sometimes, especially when you're new, you might like be nervous, and you looked
at Romans 3, 10 a hundred times, but when you're in front of somebody, you're having
trouble seeing it, so maybe highlight it, Romans 3, 10, and then here's what I want
you to do.
Right in front of Romans 3, 10, I want you to write the number 1, alright, and that kind
of helps you to realize that's the first verse I'm going to go to.
Now this is, assuming you're using my plan, your plan can change in the future, that's
fine, but especially if you're brand new, you don't have a plan, you don't have a structure,
let me help you out and give you these things, okay, so, Romans 3, 10, here's what I want
you to do.
Write a number 1 in front of Romans 3, 10, and if you have a highlighter, highlight the
word underline, underline the verse, and then here's what I want you to do.
Next to Romans 3, 10, underneath Romans 3, 10, somewhere around Romans 3, 10, I want
you to write the reference Romans 3, 23, alright?
Because after Romans 3, 10, we're going to go to Romans 3, 23.
Now when you're new, you might be nervous, and you might say, I know the story of Romans
3, 10, I can't remember, what's that next verse, you know, you have a mental block,
but if you write down next to it, you know, the next verse I'm going to, Romans 3, 23,
alright, so write a number 1 in front of Romans 3, 10, somewhere between Romans 3, 10, or
by Romans 3, 10, underneath Romans 3, 10, somewhere around there, write the reference
Romans 3, 23, so that you know that after Romans 3, 10, you're going to move on to Romans
3, 23, okay?
And we're going to keep doing that in your Bibles as we go on through the lessons, and
by the end, you'll have an outline in your Bible telling you where to start, what's the
next verse, what reference to go to next, and things like that, alright?