Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear - 1 Peter 3:15
I have a prayer that I pray every morning. One of the things that I ask the Lord in that prayer is "Give me an opportunity to share Christ with someone." After I prayed those words this morning I wondered "What exactly do I mean by 'Share Christ'?" It could mean that I want to be given the opportunity to share the Gospel with an unbeliever. Do you remember the Four Spiritual Laws from Bill Bright and the Campus Crusade For Christ ministry?
Law 1: God Loves You - God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.
Law 2: Humanity's Sin - All people have sinned, which separates them from God.
Law 3: Jesus Christ as the Solution - Jesus Christ is God's only provision for sin.
Law 4: Personal Acceptance - Individuals must personally receive Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.
There is more to it - but you get the idea. It is the plan of salvation. There are a lot of ways that those truths have been communicated, and dare I say "packaged" to make sharing your faith a little less daunting to the new Believer.
In John chapter 3, Jesus told Nicodemus that to have eternal life - Nicodemus had to be born again spiritually.
Paul wrote in Romans - if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. - Romans 10:9
That is sharing the Gospel with words but you can also share the Gospel by the way you live your life.
Jesus told Philip - "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" - John 14:9
Jesus told a group of Jews - “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. - John 5:19
Jesus prayed to the Father - “I do not pray for these [the disciples] alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; - John 17:20-23
When the world sees us, it should see Jesus in us, who, in turn, is a reflection of the Father - who is also our Father.
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! - 1 John 3:1
So my testimony is not just the words that I say, but the life I live.
"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." - Galatians 2:20
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." - 2 Corinthians 5:17
You see, Christian, we are a witness by the way we live our lives not just the words we share.
That is not to say that God will not use you as you pass by someone in life who is seeking God. God uses you to share the Gospel in words and deed. That person may not know you or ever see you again.
Paul described it this way "I planted, Apollos watered, and God brought the increase." - 1 Corinthians 3:6
"Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." - Romans 10:17
And so we ask God to give us an opportunity and then we get ready to be a witness to the saved and the lost alike. God will do the rest.
Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.
By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone
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