4 Verses to Help You Share Your Faith

In my first year out of high school and I became good friends with someone who was working as a missionary on my community college campus. Daniela was a great friend to me that year, we would hang out and go to Bible Studies together as well as pray for opportunities to tell others about Jesus. She was a great example to me in that season because she was so genuine and sensitive to God’s leading. She taught me that it’s good to be ready to share your faith at any moment. One day we were together on campus and another girl approached us who was obviously upset. She poured her heart out to us and said she knew she could come to Daniela because she would listen and pray for her. I remember quietly praying to myself as she talked because of the things she was sharing; I could sense that God was bringing her to us because her heart was open to receive Jesus. Daniela could tell that too, and when our new friend stopped talking, she responded by saying that she would love to pray with her. But she also wanted to invite her to start her own relationship with Jesus, so that she could be confident that He was always with her. This girl blurts out “yes, I want Jesus with me all the time, but I feel so ashamed and guilty I don’t know what to do!” Daniela pulled a little 4-page booklet out of her bag that explained 4 key Bible verses from the book of Romans and on the last page a little example of a prayer to accept Jesus. After we all reviewed the booklet, we prayed together as this new believer poured out her heart to God in her own words that she had done many things that would separate her from God, but she was accepting the gift of forgiveness because of Jesus’ sacrifice and now she would walk in His life for the rest of her life and beyond.

That was the first time I had ever been so intimately present with someone who surrendered their life to Jesus. Recalling this moment now still makes me smile – after we prayed in the lobby of our community college, I remember thinking that things would never be the same. For her, her eternal destiny had been changed and her life empowered by the relationship with Jesus she had just begun. For me, I knew something had shifted: whatever it would take in the future to help others get started in their own journey of faith was worth the sacrifice. Daniela and I talked the next day, and I asked her about her little booklet – she explained to me that it was “the Romans Road to Salvation” which is a method of sharing your faith based on 4 Key verses in the book of Romans.

1. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).
2. The wages of sin is [eternal] death (Romans 6:23a).
3. The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23b).
4. Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9).

These verses are the cornerstone of our faith. It’s worth noting that you can (and should) start with memorizing these 50 words and their accompanying references, but that’s only one part of sharing your faith. There’s more to the story than a tiny 4 page booklet with the verses on the Romans Road to Salvation:

We were praying.

We were listening.

We were ready.

These verses in Romans are best shared in the context of relationships – maybe the relationship is as quick as a chat in the park with someone you just met or the relationship may be a friend or family member you’ve known virtually your whole life. Leave the circumstances up to God. Our job is to be praying for opportunities to share with those who need to know Jesus. Our job is to listen for the right timing when people’s hearts are open. Our job is to be ready to share from our hearts with these powerful verses from the Bible to guide us and those who will start their journey of faith.

Let’s dive a little deeper into each stop on the Romans Road to help you start to get ready to share.

EVERYBODY SINS

“…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

“As it is written: there is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understanda; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” Romans 3:10-12

This is a real bitter pill to swallow, and we must accept this for ourselves and to recognize when someone else is ready to accept it. Our nature is to excuse our sins with things like ‘I’m doing my best’ or ‘you only live once’ or ‘it feels right to do this’ and we must get past that to see things the way God sees when it comes to sin. If someone is not ready for this, it’s best not to drag them down the Romans Road against their will. Daniela and I knew our friend was ready to accept Christ because she expressed that she knew that her own actions were wrong, she just didn’t know what to do about it.

SIN ALWAYS LEADS TO DEATH          

“…For the wages of sin is death…” Romans 6:23a

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” John 3:16-18

We must be sensitive and caring, after all the perception of the world is that Christians are only about making people feel guilty and telling them the are going to hell. Yet, one of the most known and beloved verses in the Bible is John 3:16 – “for God so loved…” God is not shortsighted when he sees what happens in our lives and for eternity when we are trapped by sin. As we pray for our family and friends, we will begin to see that too, and we will be driven to prayer for a chance to tell them that God loves them and has more for their life on earth and eternal life as well.

GOD’S FREE GIFT

“…but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23b

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

The banner at this stop on the Romans Road is that God’s gift comes to us by way of Jesus. There is nothing we have ever done or could ever do to earn this gift; we must depend on Jesus totally. It’s unexpected and undeserved – it’s not like a birthday gift or a graduation present. In fact, it’s more like a friend paying for your parking ticket. It’s kind of unfathomable to us because we just don’t operate that way – but Jesus paid the fine before we even realized we had committed the offence. Once we realize what He has done, it’s a joy to follow Him. We walk in freedom from the compulsion to earn or perform for this gift because we know that we simply can’t.

OPENLY DECLARE AND BELIEVE

“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9

“for ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How then, can they call on the one that have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” Romans 10:13-14

While it is true that you can’t earn salvation, some believe God’s gift costs them nothing. Others mistakenly believe that practicing religious rituals or doing good deeds is what God requires. Both extremes miss the way to receive God’s free gift. Once again you cannot drag or guilt someone down this road – declaring that Jesus is Lord (in charge) of your life will be easy to those who are ready to travel this road to salvation. A heart that believes He is alive will know that is how we can go on living this life on earth and be with Him in heaven. And how good is this full circle moment? Romans 10:13-14 reminds us that when we call on the name of Jesus, we get to tell others!

How will they know if you don’t tell them?