What is personal evangelism you say?  Well, I'm glad you asked!!  In Mark 16:15 Jesus said for us to "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature."   That is the Great Commission for ALL of us who have called upon the name of the Lord to be saved!  Actually, its for all of us who have repented and put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ our Savior. 

You see there were two questions that I was presented with that made me think really hard about my current walk with the Lord.  The first was, "Who do you know who isn't saved?".  The second was, "What are you going to do about it?".  Those two questions got me thinking about so many people that I KNEW, by the fruits of their life, were on their way to hell.  What was I doing about it??  Nothing.  Well nothing proactive, nothing that generated any conversation about the spiritual aspect of our lives.  Nothing that made a person think about what would happen to them after they died!  Then I was hit with the ultimate statistic, 10 out of 10 DIE!!  We are all apart of that very real statistic!  So why then was I questioning my own salvation at this point?  Why was my 'foundation' being rocked?  I then had to check myself to see if I was in truth.

The Ten Commandments are the standard by which God is going to judge the world. (Acts 17:31) I had to go through those commandments to see if I was indeed a good person.  Most of us think that we are basically good people.  We think that as long as we haven't killed anyone or raped or anything else serious then we are fine.  "We're good with the man upstairs" kind of thinking.  The questions that stared at me through that mirror of God's law were as follows: "Have you ever told a lie?" [9th commandment] I thought, sure I've lied doesn't everyone? "So what does that make you?"  A liar.  That may be hard for some to admit, but its true.  Lying makes you a liar.  Then, "Have you ever stolen anything, even if its small?" [8th commadment] Sure, I mean when I was a kid, young and naive.  "What does that make you?"  A thief.  "Now Jesus said that 'whoever looks upon a woman to lust after her has committed adultery already with her in his heart.' (Matt 5:27,28) Have you ever looked with lust?" [7th commandment] Uhhhh....yea, yes I have.  "Then by your own admission you're a lying, thieving, adulterer at heart! If God were to judge you by the standard of the Ten Commandments would you be innocent or guitly?"  I guess by that standard I'd be guilty.  "Would you go to heaven or hell?" Umm, I suppose hell.  "Does that concern you?"  Yes, yes that concerns me VERY much!!  I don't wanna go to hell!! 

"Do you know what God did for you so you wouldn't have to go to hell?"  Yes, He died on the cross. "That's right, God became a man in Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins so that you could go free on your court day before God. Simply put, Jesus paid the fine where you and I broke the law [of God]."

That is what made me WANT to go and tell someone else of the good news of the fine being paid for!!  The good news became good news indeed once I saw myself in truth and faced the bad news of my sins which would've seperated me from God for all eternity!  It made sense to me probably for the first time in my life!  My entrance into heaven is not acquired simply because I'm a "good person" nor because I have done things to please God.  I don't go to heaven because I repeat a prayer or because 'I asked Jesus into my heart'.  Mark 1:15 is simply stated in the first words of Christ at the beginning of His ministry, "The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."

The correct biblical response to the gospel is always without fail: REPENTANCE and FAITH!  More to come....

-Eric-

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