It is sad that so few Christians are practicing soul winners. We get questions from our listeners about how to win a loved one to the Savior. Upon inquiring, we find that the person does not know how to present the gospel, and maybe cannot even define the gospel. Here are a few tips to help you with your fishing for men.

First, you must be a practicing Christian! A lady had two sons, one a lawyer and one a preacher. Both had earned a doctorate, so when a person would ask for Dr. Smith, she would answer, “Do you want the one that practices or the one who preaches?” Unfortunately, too many Christians are not practicing the Christian life. Last month we dealt with the subject of commitment and change in the Christian’s life. These are absolutely necessary for the one who would bring people to the Savior.

A fisherman tries to keep his line and bait free from debris that would frighten the fish away from the bait. We who would present the Savior must have clean lives so that the light of the gospel will not be diminished by the dirt in our lives. It may be a habit or an attitude that is harmful, or a personal matter that turns people off.

Second, you must be a praying Christian! Someone wisely observed that you must talk to God about men before you talk to men about God. It is God the Holy Spirit that must quicken the soul before that person can ask Jesus Christ to be his Savior. Read Ephesians 2:8 & 9. It might be wise to have someone else join you in prayer for that person. Pray specifically for the person by name, and ask God to prepare the heart of that person. Prayer is like preparing the soil to receive the seed. It makes a difference in the way the seed, the Bible, is received.

Third, you must be a prepared Christian! Perhaps you might want to highlight Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Romans 10:13, John 3:16, John 1:12, etc. in your Bible or New Testament. In my early days of soul winning, another idea that helped me was to write on the top of the page, upside down, the next verse I was going to use. I would put a little arrow to show me which way to go in the Bible to find that verse. You see, I want the person I am talking to about the Lord to actually read the verse for themselves, so I would be looking at it upside down, and I would be turning pages in the opposite direction that I normally use. By having the verses highlighted, it makes it easier to locate the verse for the person to read.

Always remember, God has promised to bless His Word (Isaiah 55:11), not your words. Very often, we share our testimony, our ideas, or an interesting story of someone’s conversion. These may be good in their place, but the only thing that will produce a Christian is the seed of the Word. That is why it is important to memorize Scripture, so that we can quote God’s Word to the person. It is the Sword that cuts to the bone and changes lives.

Fourth, you must be a proclaiming Christian! We can be totally prepared, all prayed up, practicing the Christian life, and never win anybody to the Lord because we did not speak up. We can speak of anything else with ease, but we hesitate to share the most important message of the ages with our loved ones and friends. We listen to the devil when he tells us they will not understand, or they might be offended, or we might make a mistake, etc.

Don’t let Satan keep your mouth shut. Share the gospel with your loved ones and friends.

Finally, we must be producing Christians. Jesus said, in John 15, that we glorify God by producing much fruit for Him. We are told in Proverbs 11:30 “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.” When our Savior confronted the disciples after His resurrection along the sea, He asked them, “Have you any fish?” They answered, “No”. Then Jesus told them to cast the net on the other side of the ship. You see, it is the desire of the Savior and of our God that we should have fish in our nets. Have you, my friend, any fish in your net, and persons you have won to the Savior?

I am convinced that if we are practicing Christians, praying Christians, prepared Christians, we can be proclaiming Christians that will produce results.

For more on this topic see: 303 Evangelism  or visit our BBN Bible Institute and take Course # 52400 Personal Evangelism

Perhaps the most often asked question is: “How can I know that I am going to Heaven when I die? It is asked by young and old, male and female, and people from all kinds of backgrounds. It may be from a church member who had been faithful to a church for years, or from a person who has never been to church.

Often, the person has made some kind of a decision or had some kind of experience that has satisfied them until now, but there is a question in their mind that causes them to wonder. I usually ask them if they are satisfied that what they have done, or what they experienced is enough to get them inside God’s Heaven.

You see, it is not what satisfies us, or makes us feel religious that will take us to Heaven. It is only the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross—His death, burial, and resurrection that will atone for our sins. His precious blood is the only antidote for the penalty of sin, death.

I recommend to anyone who is not positive that you are ready to meet God and here His, “Welcome Home!”, that you pray this prayer, right now, where you are: “Lord, if I never have before, I right now confess that I am a sinner, and I want Jesus Christ to be my personal savior. Forgive all of my sins, and give me eternal life as you have promised in the Bible.” If you will do that, I can tell you that God will save you, and you will be ready for Heaven.if you just prayed that prayer. We will send you some information that will help you get started living for the Lord.

Also read:  How to get to Heaven

For more information on this topic please see our BBN Bible Institute course: 10600 Doctrine of the New Birth

“Even though I know that I am a Christian, I am still having problems getting victory over sin in my life. What’s wrong?”

We get this question quite often from listeners who are having a hard time with a particular sin in their lives.

We forget that we will not be glorified until we get to Heaven. We are living in an imperfect body, governed by an imperfect brain, and dwelling in an imperfect world. Our exhortation to holy living cannot be denied, and our example is Israel going into the Promised Land. When they crossed over Jordan, they immediately faced a battle! After winning that one, they faced another, and another, and another.

In the Christian life, we will always be fighting the battle of living in a manner that will please and honor the Lord. On that battlefield, we face three enemies: the world, the flesh, and the devil. We are bound to lose that battle, if we forget that there is a three prong attack from our enemy. (1 John 2:16)

The first route of attack is the world. We do not want to be different from the world and we do not like the opposition and criticism of the world. As Christians, though, we must realize that we are not called to march to the world’s beat, and we are headed in a different direction. God told Israel not to marry or have anything to do with the inhabitants of the land they were to conquer, because they would wind up doing the sinful things that had caused the present occupants of the land to be condemned to death by God. Can we not learn that we, too, have been called to be in the world, but not of the world (John 15:19)?

The second attack comes from the flesh, that is, from the body in which we live. It has appetites and desires, that, kept in control and exercised according to God’s directives, lead to a happy, fulfilled life. However, the flesh, without limits, will lead one to excesses that destroy the body, and in the process ruin our relationship with the Lord. This can be in the area of eating, drinking, sleeping, satisfying sexual desires, etc. (1 Corinthians 6:12, 10:23).

Finally, there is the arch-enemy of our souls, the devil. He opposes anything that is of God and anyone who would live for God. We are told to put on the armor of God to be able to do battle with him (Ephesians 6). The only way to victory is to fight by God’s rules, and to recognize that we will be in this battle until we are called to Heaven.

For more on this topic please see 0101 Trials and Temptations  or take the BBN Bible Institute course # 22100 God’s Discipline For Living

At times, we get questions about the death of a loved one, or someone who has died at their own hand.

Whenever someone commits suicide, they will be leaving unanswered questions for loved ones to wrestle with. A person contemplating suicide should consider the confusion and sorrow they are inflicting on those who remain behind.

The questions most asked are, “Would a real Christian do such a thing?” or “Can a person who does that go to Heaven?” or “Why did my loved one do this?”

In the Bible, we have some that we conclude were believers who thought of suicide. I think right away of Elijah under the juniper tree, or Jonah under the gourd. Both were in deep depression, which is normally the state of a person contemplating suicide. Samson, who is a man mentioned in the roll call of the faithful in Hebrews 11, committed suicide by bringing the pillars down on himself and his enemies.

One of the strongest urges God has put within humans is the urge to live. Even those who attempt suicide often struggle at the last second trying to stay alive. A person jumping over a bridge into water will try to surface if possible. It takes a temporary insanity to permit the person to take his or her own life. It is possible for a Christian to get out of touch with reality, and out of fellowship with the Lord and destroy himself. His eternal destiny would not be based on the last thing they did before death, but on the decision he made to trust Christ as his Savior. If we only made Heaven based on our final act on earth, not many would make it.

While suicide is a type of murder, since it involves taking a life, it is still a sin for which Jesus died. There have been many accounts of murderers being saved, and no one who knows the scripture would deny that a murderer can be saved and forgiven of that deed. Since Christ’s atonement pays for all sins for the Christian, it covers murder and even suicide, but, lest anyone should think that this makes suicide an acceptable option for a Christian, consider this. A Christian will have to answer a very serious question in Heaven should he end his own life. That question will be asked by God, Himself, and it is, “Why did you not choose My best for your life? Could you not trust Me that I knew what was best for you?” You see, His best never involves violating His law.

God said eternal life is based on our belief on Jesus Christ and His death on the cross. (John 3:16-18) Our actions as Christians may bring shame to the name of Christ, but they are not the basis of our salvation. (Titus 3:5-7)

For more teaching on this topic see: 0105 Suicide and Self Destruction

We get questions from some of our listeners like this: “When I was 12, I made a decision to trust Jesus Christ as my Savior, but I am not sure that I will go to Heaven when I die. Am I saved?” Or, a listener may ask, “I am a Christian, but I am not living as I should. Does this mean I am not a Christian?”

My question to those callers who would ask either of the two questions is this: “What changed in your life when you made that decision?” The apostle Paul, who had met the Savior on the Damascus road came away changed forever. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” II Corinthians 5:17. Very simply put, “No Change, No Christ.” No one has ever met Jesus Christ and has come away the same. They are either better or worse, but there will have been a change. The change will be for the better, if they have accepted Him and invited Him into their lives. They will change for the worse if they are confronted by Him and reject Him.

A missionary was translating John 3:16 into the language of the people he was trying to win to the Lord. He was stumped, because there was no word in their language for the crucial word, “believes.” While he was thinking and praying, a national who had been working with him came into the room. This man had been working hard on the mission compound, gathering some supplies and repairing some things. He sat down in a chair and exclaimed in his native tongue, “It feels wonderful to put my whole weight down on this chair!” Immediately, the missionary had the word for which he was seeking. He translated John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever puts his whole weight on Him may have eternal life.” We commit our entire weight on a chair when we sit down in it.

Jesus did not operate a “seeker friendly” type of ministry, leveling the entrance standard to the lowest common denominator. Certainly, He loved sinners and died for them. He invited them to come to Him, but He expected, yes even demanded, a commitment of faith from those who would name His Name and follow Him.

Could it be that you have made a “decision to believe,” but have never made a “commitment to follow Him”. In like manner, we commit our total self to the Savior by faith when we accept Him as our Savior.

If you’d like to have more information about this topic, see 0301 Salvation or visit our BBN Bible Institute Online and register to study the course 00400 Understanding The Gospel.