5 Points of the Gospel
Sometimes people ask me:
What’s the best way to share the Gospel?
I mean, where do you start?
Of course I have to talk about Jesus, but do I talk about sin first?
I should start with God, right?
Do I talk about the Trinity?
What about Noah’s Ark? Abraham? David?
What do I include and what can I skip?
Is there a certain order?
I’ve shared the gospel many many times,
and almost every time, I do have a outline or a checklist in the back of my head
and that’s the purpose of this video.
I’m sure many of you know the gospel,
but it becomes a challenge – how do I share the whole gospel
-what if you only have 5 minutes.
So I’ve been teaching The 5 Points of the Gospel
-so you could share the gospel in 5 minutes, or 2 hours
depending on how much time you have, and what point you need to focus on.
but yes, there’s a specific order.
you can’t talk about Jesus unless you first talk about sin.
and you can’t talk about sin unless you first talk about God.
and you don’t have to spend 10 minutes talking about sin if he already agrees he’s a sinner.
and yes, you can share the whole gospel in a 5 minute Uber ride.
I’ve been teaching this for 17 years as a pastor,
but I didn’t come up with this.
I actually got it from John MacArthur,
but I can’t find it in any of his works
If any of you can find the source, let me know in the comments below.
OK, these are the 5 points:
God – Man (or People) – Sin – Jesus – Personal Acceptance
So let’s begin.
#1: God
Obviously, this is where you start.
Who is God?
Describe who God is. You can describe his attributes [attributes] If you don’t know, you can look it up yourself
Are you on the same page with the person you’re talking to?
The Christian God is different from Allah or the Mormon God.
Tell him that God is perfect, righteous, holy, and loving.
Tell her that he is wise and good.
In China, I had to make it a point that God is a person.
yeah, as Americans, we take that as a given,
But in China, God or a higher power, is commonly seen as a force. – it’s impersonal.
But God is a person, with a personality.
God has feelings, of happiness, anger, compassion, love.
He forgives. A force can’t do that.
You might just spend a minute on this point, or if you’re talking to an atheist, you may have to talk about his existence, and the proof for that.
But even if he doesn’t agree with you, or you don’t convince him,
you have to move on to the next point.
It’s not about agreement, but can he understand what you believe?
#2: Man (or People)
God created people to have a relationship with him.
We were not made to be robots, but we have a free will to love him, or not.
We were created for a purpose, not the result of chance.
Yes, you can spend a longer time on this, but the point is –
God wants to have fellowship with us, as a father to his children.
God cares about people.
#3: Sin
But sin came into this world.
Now, you could talk about how Adam and Eve fell in the Garden,
or you could just talk about yesterday’s news.
There’s sin everywhere.
I’ve rarely met anyone who doesn’t believe in sin.
Everyone knows there’s a difference between good and evil.
But I have to help define it by saying that sin is anything that’s against God’s will. or say that it’s anything that displeases God.
use your own language,
but the point is that this causes a huge problem:
Going back to the 1st point, God is perfectly holy.
God is so righteous he has to punish evil.
God is not the innocent bystander who just watches a thief take a woman’s purse.
No, God steps in. He punishes evil.
Now, this is not where you talk about the age-old debate – the Problem of Evil or the Problem of Pain
- If God is so loving, why is there pain or evil in the world?
I do have a video that answers that question – but this is not the point where you get into that debate. Stick to the 5 points.
and try not to get involved in long tangents.
Once when I was sharing the gospel, this woman asked me to explain to her the Trinity!
this could’ve been a 10 minute tangent, so I gave a very brief answer and said we could talk about it more later, but let’s get back on topic.
In any gospel presentation – you don’t want to get into long tangents – you don’t want to get sidetracked into an academic discussion.
When you’re sharing the gospel, you’re trying to get personal.
and that makes people uncomfortable.
so they want to make it an intellectual discussion – an impersonal topic
But in any gospel presentation – you never want to make it a debate:
me vs. you
my ideas vs your statements
don’t let them get you in a debate of whether homosexuality or transgender is wrong.
don’t let them lead you into politics – Obama or Trump or the Wall
no, no. move along the 5 points.
The main point of the 3rd point is that God loves man – the 2nd point, but God can’t have fellowship with man because he’s too holy and righteous – the 1st point.
This is a great place to quote Rom 3:23 – For all have sinned...
and rom 6:23 – the wages of sin is death...
and the death the Bible speaks of is hell.
So this is a problem – We can’t be with God because of sin.
God must punish the people he loves.
But God always had a solution – Point #4: Jesus Christ
This usually takes up the longest time,
and I’m not going to cover every possible thing you can say about Jesus here in this video.
You don’t have to talk about the Virgin Birth or his miracles,
but here’s a few essentials you have to cover:
Jesus is God – you have to say that.
he’s not some prophet or holy man.
He is God.
and that’s why he has the power to forgive sins
since sin is ultimately a sin against God, only God has the right to forgive sins
and Jesus was also 100% man. He was born in the flesh.
This is important, so he could represent us and take our place.
In the OT, God set in place a spiritual law of representation.
Sin must be punished, and the person who sins must die
-because God is holy and righteous.
But God allowed that an animal can take your place.
You stood before the priest and the altar, and you would confess your sin before God.
you deserve judgment.
But instead of you, the animal would take your place and die for your sin on the altar.
For thousands of years, this was just a symbol of the Ultimate Sacrifice that was to come.
God would send his own Son to die on the cross as the ultimate sacrifice.
and he rose again to prove that he was God.
So all those who believe Jesus as Lord shall be saved, for their sins will be forgiven, because of Jesus, the Lamb of God.
Now, the sin problem is solved, and man can have fellowship with God once again.
But the Gospel doesn’t stop here – there’s a 5th Point.
Up until the 5th point, this is all still intellectual fact.
It’s what happened in history.
but knowing history doesn’t make you a Christian.
Even the devil can say, “I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross and rose again”
Even Satan can say, “I believe that Jesus died on the cross as the final sacrifice to forgive sins”
-but that doesn’t mean he’s a Christian.
Just because someone says that Jesus is God doesn’t mean he’s saved.
- that’s just a fact.
Even Satan believes that Jesus is God, died on the cross, and rose again for the sins of mankind.
and one day, he will even be forced to get on his knees and bow before Jesus.
and he will even have to say “Jesus is the Lord.”
and yet there is one thing he cannot say “Jesus is my Lord”
- personal acceptance
Jesus is not just God. But he is my God.
my Savior.
my Lord.
Becoming a Christian is not just believing in factual statements.
It’s about putting your faith and trust in a person. – Jesus.
There’s a famous story of a tightrope walker.
With tremendous skill, he was able to walk across the expanse between 2 tall buildings – just on a rope! and then he asked the crowd below him – “Who believes that I could walk across, this time, carrying a man on my shoulders?”
With confidence, many hands went up – “Yes, we believe!”
and then he said, “If you really believe, Any volunteers?”
hmm.
big difference between saying you believe
and actually putting your trust in someone.
- that’s faith
It’s one thing to say “I believe this man can walk across”
“I believe this Jesus can forgive my sins”
But can you actually put your faith in Jesus?
can you put your life in his hands?
“Jesus, I believe in you, I believe that you died for my sins and rose again. I believe you are God who forgives me of my sins.
Be my Lord and be my God. I will follow you. I put my life in your hands”
and that’s what makes you a Christian.
So there you have it:
God – Man – Sin – Jesus – Personal Acceptance
- The 5 Points of the Gospel
Sometimes people ask me:
What’s the best way to share the Gospel?
I mean, where do you start?
Of course I have to talk about Jesus, but do I talk about sin first?
I should start with God, right?
Do I talk about the Trinity?
What about Noah’s Ark? Abraham? David?
What do I include and what can I skip?
Is there a certain order?
I’ve shared the gospel many many times,
and almost every time, I do have a outline or a checklist in the back of my head
and that’s the purpose of this video.
I’m sure many of you know the gospel,
but it becomes a challenge – how do I share the whole gospel
-what if you only have 5 minutes.
So I’ve been teaching The 5 Points of the Gospel
-so you could share the gospel in 5 minutes, or 2 hours
depending on how much time you have, and what point you need to focus on.
but yes, there’s a specific order.
you can’t talk about Jesus unless you first talk about sin.
and you can’t talk about sin unless you first talk about God.
and you don’t have to spend 10 minutes talking about sin if he already agrees he’s a sinner.
and yes, you can share the whole gospel in a 5 minute Uber ride.
I’ve been teaching this for 17 years as a pastor,
but I didn’t come up with this.
I actually got it from John MacArthur,
but I can’t find it in any of his works
If any of you can find the source, let me know in the comments below.
OK, these are the 5 points:
God – Man (or People) – Sin – Jesus – Personal Acceptance
So let’s begin.
#1: God
Obviously, this is where you start.
Who is God?
Describe who God is. You can describe his attributes [attributes] If you don’t know, you can look it up yourself
Are you on the same page with the person you’re talking to?
The Christian God is different from Allah or the Mormon God.
Tell him that God is perfect, righteous, holy, and loving.
Tell her that he is wise and good.
In China, I had to make it a point that God is a person.
yeah, as Americans, we take that as a given,
But in China, God or a higher power, is commonly seen as a force. – it’s impersonal.
But God is a person, with a personality.
God has feelings, of happiness, anger, compassion, love.
He forgives. A force can’t do that.
You might just spend a minute on this point, or if you’re talking to an atheist, you may have to talk about his existence, and the proof for that.
But even if he doesn’t agree with you, or you don’t convince him,
you have to move on to the next point.
It’s not about agreement, but can he understand what you believe?
#2: Man (or People)
God created people to have a relationship with him.
We were not made to be robots, but we have a free will to love him, or not.
We were created for a purpose, not the result of chance.
Yes, you can spend a longer time on this, but the point is –
God wants to have fellowship with us, as a father to his children.
God cares about people.
#3: Sin
But sin came into this world.
Now, you could talk about how Adam and Eve fell in the Garden,
or you could just talk about yesterday’s news.
There’s sin everywhere.
I’ve rarely met anyone who doesn’t believe in sin.
Everyone knows there’s a difference between good and evil.
But I have to help define it by saying that sin is anything that’s against God’s will. or say that it’s anything that displeases God.
use your own language,
but the point is that this causes a huge problem:
Going back to the 1st point, God is perfectly holy.
God is so righteous he has to punish evil.
God is not the innocent bystander who just watches a thief take a woman’s purse.
No, God steps in. He punishes evil.
Now, this is not where you talk about the age-old debate – the Problem of Evil or the Problem of Pain
- If God is so loving, why is there pain or evil in the world?
I do have a video that answers that question – but this is not the point where you get into that debate. Stick to the 5 points.
and try not to get involved in long tangents.
Once when I was sharing the gospel, this woman asked me to explain to her the Trinity!
this could’ve been a 10 minute tangent, so I gave a very brief answer and said we could talk about it more later, but let’s get back on topic.
In any gospel presentation – you don’t want to get into long tangents – you don’t want to get sidetracked into an academic discussion.
When you’re sharing the gospel, you’re trying to get personal.
and that makes people uncomfortable.
so they want to make it an intellectual discussion – an impersonal topic
But in any gospel presentation – you never want to make it a debate:
me vs. you
my ideas vs your statements
don’t let them get you in a debate of whether homosexuality or transgender is wrong.
don’t let them lead you into politics – Obama or Trump or the Wall
no, no. move along the 5 points.
The main point of the 3rd point is that God loves man – the 2nd point, but God can’t have fellowship with man because he’s too holy and righteous – the 1st point.
This is a great place to quote Rom 3:23 – For all have sinned...
and rom 6:23 – the wages of sin is death...
and the death the Bible speaks of is hell.
So this is a problem – We can’t be with God because of sin.
God must punish the people he loves.
But God always had a solution – Point #4: Jesus Christ
This usually takes up the longest time,
and I’m not going to cover every possible thing you can say about Jesus here in this video.
You don’t have to talk about the Virgin Birth or his miracles,
but here’s a few essentials you have to cover:
Jesus is God – you have to say that.
he’s not some prophet or holy man.
He is God.
and that’s why he has the power to forgive sins
since sin is ultimately a sin against God, only God has the right to forgive sins
and Jesus was also 100% man. He was born in the flesh.
This is important, so he could represent us and take our place.
In the OT, God set in place a spiritual law of representation.
Sin must be punished, and the person who sins must die
-because God is holy and righteous.
But God allowed that an animal can take your place.
- that’s why there was an animal sacrifice.
You stood before the priest and the altar, and you would confess your sin before God.
you deserve judgment.
But instead of you, the animal would take your place and die for your sin on the altar.
For thousands of years, this was just a symbol of the Ultimate Sacrifice that was to come.
God would send his own Son to die on the cross as the ultimate sacrifice.
and he rose again to prove that he was God.
So all those who believe Jesus as Lord shall be saved, for their sins will be forgiven, because of Jesus, the Lamb of God.
Now, the sin problem is solved, and man can have fellowship with God once again.
But the Gospel doesn’t stop here – there’s a 5th Point.
Up until the 5th point, this is all still intellectual fact.
It’s what happened in history.
but knowing history doesn’t make you a Christian.
Even the devil can say, “I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross and rose again”
Even Satan can say, “I believe that Jesus died on the cross as the final sacrifice to forgive sins”
-but that doesn’t mean he’s a Christian.
Just because someone says that Jesus is God doesn’t mean he’s saved.
- that’s just a fact.
Even Satan believes that Jesus is God, died on the cross, and rose again for the sins of mankind.
and one day, he will even be forced to get on his knees and bow before Jesus.
and he will even have to say “Jesus is the Lord.”
and yet there is one thing he cannot say “Jesus is my Lord”
- personal acceptance
Jesus is not just God. But he is my God.
my Savior.
my Lord.
Becoming a Christian is not just believing in factual statements.
It’s about putting your faith and trust in a person. – Jesus.
There’s a famous story of a tightrope walker.
With tremendous skill, he was able to walk across the expanse between 2 tall buildings – just on a rope! and then he asked the crowd below him – “Who believes that I could walk across, this time, carrying a man on my shoulders?”
With confidence, many hands went up – “Yes, we believe!”
and then he said, “If you really believe, Any volunteers?”
hmm.
big difference between saying you believe
and actually putting your trust in someone.
- that’s faith
It’s one thing to say “I believe this man can walk across”
“I believe this Jesus can forgive my sins”
But can you actually put your faith in Jesus?
can you put your life in his hands?
“Jesus, I believe in you, I believe that you died for my sins and rose again. I believe you are God who forgives me of my sins.
Be my Lord and be my God. I will follow you. I put my life in your hands”
and that’s what makes you a Christian.
So there you have it:
God – Man – Sin – Jesus – Personal Acceptance
- The 5 Points of the Gospel
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