“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
Romans 1:16 (NASB95)
While studying, I came across an outline from a service many years ago. Adapting material from Ray Comfort, we walked through a presentation of the gospel. Please read through the following outline. Then prayerfully consider how you will present the gospel to family and friends this weekend as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If those people are local, invite them to join us for our Resurrection Sunday service this weekend.
The Gospel
I. The Problem: Bad News
Question 1: “Would you consider yourself to be a good person?”
Question 2: “Do you think you have kept the 10 Commandments?”
- “You shall have no other gods before Me.” (Exodus 20:3)
- “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them…” (Exodus 20:4-6)
- “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.” (Exodus 20:7)
- “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy…” (Exodus 20:8-11)
- “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.” (Exodus 20:12)
- “You shall not murder.” (Exodus 20:13)
- “You shall not commit adultery.” (Exodus 20:14)
- “You shall not steal.” (Exodus 20:15)
- “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:16)
- “You shall not covet…” (Exodus 20:17)
Question 3: “If God judges you by the 10 Commandments on the Day of Judgment, will you be innocent or guilty?”
- Innocent? I’m basically a good person.
- Innocent? I haven’t done those things in a long time.
- Innocent? I have done more good than bad.
- Innocent? That’s man’s law, God’s law is different!
Question 4: “Will you go to heaven or hell?”
Question 5: “Does that concern you?”
“Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins.”
Ecclesiastes 7:20
“When they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin)…”
2 Chronicles 6:36
“All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.”
Isaiah 53:6
“But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.”
Isaiah 59:2
“As it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave, With their tongues they keep deceiving,” “The poison of asps is under their lips”; “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”; “Their feet are swift to shed blood, Destruction and misery are in their paths, And the path of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God“
Romans 3:10-23
“For the wages of sin is death…”
Romans 6:23
“And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,”
Hebrews 9:27
“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
Revelation 20:11-15
For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.
Romans 2:14-16
II. The Plan: Good News! God’s Provision – a Substitutionary Sacrifice
Several pictures in the Old Testament of what Jesus would accomplish as our substitutionary sacrifice:
- Adam & Eve – they sinned, and God provided a covering through the death of an animal
- Abraham & Isaac (Genesis 22:1-14)
- Passover Lamb (Exodus 12) – shed blood for the protection of the people from death
- Sacrificial System – temporary cleansing of sin through substitutionary sacrifices
- Pointed to the coming Lamb that would completely remove sin!
- Hebrews 10:1-10, 14
III. The Prophecies: Coming Messiah
- Genesis 3:15 – He would be the GOD – MAN.
- Isaiah 7:14 (cf. “seed of the woman” in Gen. 3:15) – He would be VIRGIN BORN
- Micah 5:2 – He would be ETERNAL
- Isaiah 9:6 – He would be GOD (cf. John 1:1)
- Isaiah 52-53 – He would suffer and DIE in our place but come back to LIFE
- Psalm 22 – He would be CRUCIFIED
- Daniel 9:26-27 – killed during the time of the Roman Empire (69th week)
- Psalm 16:10; 30:3; 41:10; 118:17; Hosea 6:2 – He would be RESURRECTED
- Other Prophecies: Descendant of Shem (Gen. 9:26); Of Abraham (Gen. 12:3; 22:18 cf. Mt. 1:1; Gal. 3:16); Of Isaac (Gen. 26:3 cf. Lk. 3:23, 34; Mt. 1:2); Of Jacob (Gen. 35:11f; Num. 24:17 cf. Lk. 3:23, 34; Mt. 1:2); Of Judah (Gen. 49:10 cf. Lkk. 3:23, 33, Mt. 1:2; Heb. 7:14); Of Jesse (Is. 11:1 cf. Lk. 3:23, 32; Mt. 1:6); Of David (Jer. 23:5; 2 Sam. 7:12-16 cf. Lk. 3:23, 31; Mt. 1:1); Son of God (Ps. 2:7; 1 Chron. 17:11-14; 2 Sam. 7:12-16); Presented with gifts (Ps. 72:10; Is. 60:6 cf. Mt. 2:1, 11); Children killed (Jer. 31:15 cf. Mt. 2:16); Shall be a prophet (Dt. 18:18 cf. Mt. 21:11; Lk. 7:16); Shall be a priest (Ps. 110:4 cf. Heb. 3:1; 5:5-6); Shall be a judge (Is. 33:22 cf. Jn. 5:30; 2 Tim. 4:1); Special anointing of the Holy Spirit (Is. 11:2 cf. Mt. 3:16-17); Zeal for God (Ps. 69:9 cf. Jn. 2:15-17; Sold for 30 pieces of silver (Zech. 11:12 cf. Mt. 26:15); Money to be thrown in God’s house (Zech. 11:13b cf. Mt. 27:5); Price given for the potter’s field (Zech. 11:13b cf. Mt. 27:7); Silent before accusers (Is. 53:7 cf. Mt. 27:12-19); Crucified with thieves (Is. 53:12 cf. Mt. 27:38); Interceded for His persecutors (Is. 53:12 cf. Lk. 23:34); Forsaken by His own people (Is. 53:3 cf. Jn. 7:5, 48; Jn. 1:11); Bones not broken (Ps. 22:14 cf. Jn. 19:34); Heart broken (Ps. 22:14 cf. Jn. 19:34); Side pierced (Zech. 12:10 cf. Jn. 19:34); Buried in rich man’s tomb (Is. 53:9 cf. Mt. 27:57-60); Feasts & Festivals point to Him (Lev. 23)
- Probability of these prophecies being fulfilled in one man:
- 8 prophecies = 1 in 1017
- 48 prophecies = 1 in 10157
- John 5:39-40 – “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.”
- Luke 24:25-27 – And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.
IV. The Power: The Crucifixion / Resurrection
- Validate Who Christ is! (Rom. 1:4) – Son of God!
- Fulfill the Law and satisfy God’s holiness (2 Corinthians 5:21)
- Proof:
- Predicted beforehand
- Jesus was dead (no SWOON theory)
- Stone in front of the tomb (sealed & guarded; no WRONG TOMB theory; no STOLEN BODY theory)
- Grave clothes (He passed right through them)
- Resurrection appearances (no HALLUCINATION theory)
- Changed lives of believers (Apostles died as martyrs)
- Existence of the Church
V. The Passion: God’s Love
- God is love! (1 John 4:7-8)
- How would we know that?
- Creation reveals to us God’s POWER
- Sacrifices reveal to us God’s HOLINESS / JUDGMENT / SUBSTITUTION
- Crucifixion reveals to us God’s LOVE
- Can be seen in TOTAL IDENTIFICATION (Philippians 2:5-8; 2 Corinthians 5:21)!
- Can be seen in TOTAL COMMITMENT!
- John 15:13 — “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
- John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
VI. The Personal Response: Two Choices
A. Reject Christ
B. Receive Christ – “A B C’s”
- Acknowledge our sin & repent (turn away from our sin)
- Believe and trust only in the Lord Jesus Christ and His once-for-all substitutionary sacrifice
- Confess publicly that we are disciples and followers of the Lord Jesus
CONCLUSION: The Gospel is good news!
- What are you going to do with the resurrected Christ?
- What will you say when you stand before the Holy God of the Universe and give an account of your sinful life?
Suggested Prayer: “Dear God, I know that You are perfectly holy and that my sin has separated me from You. I know that there is nothing I can do to earn eternal life. Thank You that Jesus (God in human flesh) lived a perfectly sinless life (to fulfill your righteous requirements) then died on the cross in my place to take away my sin. I now repent of (turn from) my sin and receive Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I will follow Jesus and tell others about Him. Thank you for loving me. Change me now from the inside out for Your glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”