Here’s something to ponder this Valentine’s Day. Those of us who have a personal relationship with God, by His grace through faith in Christ, should never give up on praying for our friends and loved ones—that those who don’t already know God personally eventually will. Having a personal relationship with God is evidenced by a heart changed by the Holy Spirit, but as humans we can misread the evidence.  God is the final judge. He is the only one who can see inside the heart.

God, being a just and fair God, gives everyone on the earth evidence of His existence. Romans 1:20 says, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” For me it is difficult to understand how anyone who is completely honest with himself can believe this amazing world came into existence without God. The intricate designs of the plants and animals and human beings in this world are clear evidence of a Designer. Jeremiah 29:13 says, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” We see evidence of this today. Just the other day I saw a Christian broadcast wherein they told of Muslims desperate for truth having dreams that lead them to salvation through Christ. So I believe that, even if someone has never been told the story of the Gospel, if he or she sincerely asks God to reveal Himself, He will do it.

On the other hand, I believe God desires to give the extra grace of additional opportunities to come to know Him personally through the prayers and outreach of those who have already come to know Him and have become His children. II Peter 3:10 tells us that God is “not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” God’s desire to use believers to spread the Good News is shown in Acts 1:3. Before Jesus left the earth He said, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Peter failed Jesus miserably by denying that he even knew Him at the time of the crucifixion; but after the Holy Spirit fell on those in the upper room on the Day of Pentecost, he preached a powerful sermon to a large crowd, after which about 3,000 became Christians. Not all of us are called to be preachers, but we all have our own spheres of influence.

Peter’s Advice

Peter advised believers in the beginning portion of I Peter 3:15, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have.” That must mean that our lives should be different enough from the rest of the world that they will want to know why we are different.

While working in a girls’ club in our church, I learned from their memory work that you could use “A,B,C” as a simple guideline for sharing the reason for our faith. “A” is for “Admit that you have sinned.” Some verses to back that up could be Romans 3:23 and Isaiah 53:6. “B” is for “Believe.” Two passages that could support that point are Ephesians 2:8&9 and Romans 10:9&10. “C” is for “Confess.” You could use Acts 3:19 and I John 1:9 for this part.

I once took a course called “Evangelism Explosion.” It is a really great course for someone who is serious about wanting to be able to help people find a relationship with God. You can find outlines and even a video presentation online to help you learn all about Evangelism Explosion’s guidelines for presenting to someone the option of eternal life. I have recently discovered another website that has some very helpful information for those who have a friend or loved one engaged in another religion or an unorthodox sect of Christianity. It also has answers to many important questions. It is the website for the Always Be Ready Apologetics Ministry.

Getting back to I Peter 3:15, about being prepared to give an answer, the rest of the verse and the following one says this: “But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.” If we want to share the way of knowing God through faith in Christ with those who don’t yet know Him, we need to allow the Holy Spirit to give us genuine love. We should remember that powerful passage in 1 Corinthians 13 that begins by saying, “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” In other words, we’re just a bunch of noise. Jesus said in John 13:35 that the evidence that we are His followers is that we love each other. If we are often jealous, critical, short-tempered, or uncaring, we may appear to be phonies. We risk having people doubt the power of the Gospel to transform lives and thereby doubt the Gospel completely. If we really are genuine Christians, perhaps there are times when we should humbly apologize for our shortcomings and explain that we sometimes have to ask God’s forgiveness and help.

If we want to share salvation through Christ, we also have to be prepared to be considered a bigot. It is often considered bigotry today to say that there is only one true religion –that the only way to know God is to believe Jesus died for our sins. The Bible leaves no room for other theories. In John 10:9-10 we read these words: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  Christianity is the only religion in the world that is based upon grace.

We should also be prepared to tell the whole truth. It’s very unpopular to talk about hell these days. Some have said Jesus spoke more about hell than heaven, but, according to several websites, apparently that is misinformation that has been passed around. It’s a little difficult to pin down exact numbers because of different terms used to refer to heaven and hell. There are some debates about whether certain terms were actually referring to heaven and hell. All seem to agree that the number of Jesus’ references to heaven is much greater than the number of His references to hell. One site calculated 10% as opposed to 3%. Nevertheless, Jesus did not avoid mentioning hell when it was appropriate. According to Ephesians 4:15, we should be “speaking the truth in love.” That means we shouldn’t shy away from the truth, but we should do it lovingly rather than carrying “Turn or Burn” posters. (However, Jesus did speak of hell in angry tones when He spoke to the hypocritical religious leaders who were leading people astray, as in Matthew 23:15. That should make us realize the seriousness of not being genuine.) Jesus probably mentioned hell as a warning because He didn’t want anyone to end up there. If I had a friend who was going to be driving on a road where I knew there was a cave-in, wouldn’t the loving thing be to warn her? I’m not saying I find it easy to mention hell. Our modern religious culture has had an impact on me, too.

Being Ready to Share

Although it’s our job to be ready to share what the Bible tells us about the gift of eternal life when we have an opportunity, we have to rely on the Holy Spirit to convict our friends and loved ones of their need for salvation. Before Jesus died and rose, He explained to His disciples what the Holy Spirit would do after He himself left the earth, as found at the beginning of the 16th chapter of John. He told them that the Holy Spirit would convince the world of sin and righteousness and judgment, because they did not believe in Him. The Holy Spirit would speak to the world about righteousness because Jesus’ example of righteousness would no longer be visible to the world. Below is a song I remember hearing some years ago, and I could identify with the emotions expressed in the song. Maybe this song can mean something special to you, too.

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Cpyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, by Biblica, Inc. TM  Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version: are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc. TM