Living a life that commends the Savior to unbelievers is essential.

A man who for years was antagonistic to Christ unexpectedly trusted Christ to save him. He attributed his conversion to a timid neighbor. The surprised neighbor said to the new convert, “I did not even speak to you about Christ the way I should have.” The new convert answered, “No, you didn’t. But you lived me to death. I could refute their arguments and upset their logic, but I could not refute the way you lived.”

But wait a minute! Is that enough? Let’s imagine for a moment that you were the most perfect Christan an unbeliever ever saw. There was absolutely nothing about your life that did not commend the Savior to them. Now suppose I watched you (and for all practical purposes stared at you) for a full year. Would I then know how to get to heaven? Certainly not.

The comment often made is, “Witness to everyone you can. When necessary, use words.” That might sound like a clever and true statement, but it simply is neither. Eventually, somebody has to talk to the lost. Living a good life might impress them with the Christian life, but unless somebody explains the gospel to them, they will have no idea how they can live forever in the presence of God.

That is why evangelism, properly defined, is both information and invitation. It is sharing the gospel with the lost and inviting them to trust the Savior.

First, there is the information.

The lost do not need to know the Bible. They need to know the gospel. The gospel as defined in 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 includes four verbs. Christ died for our sins. Had He not died, we would have. He was buried. That is the proof that He died. There were those who visited His grave. Christ arose victorious over sin, death, and the devil. Christ was seen – that is the proof that He arose. So, the gospel can be defined in ten words – Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead. His burial is proof that He died. The fact that He was seen is proof He arose. Unbelievers do not need to understand the entire Bible, but they do need to understand the gospel. Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead.

For years I have used the true story of a young girl at a youth camp who was playing near a rock. Underneath that rock there was a rattlesnake. Suddenly the snake lurched out and bit her and she fell to the ground dying. Her brother was standing a short distance away. As soon as he saw her fall he rushed over to her and sucked the venom from her leg. He did not know that there was an infection inside his mouth. When the venom entered the infection, he died. But because he died, she lived. He died in her place.

Christ died in our place. Had He not died we would have. He took the punishment we deserved, died on a cross in our place, and rose again the third day. That is the information a non-Christian needs to hear.

Then there is the invitation

The one book of the Bible specifically written to tell us how to receive eternal life is the Gospel of John (John 20:30-31). The word used 98 times in that book is “believe.”  It means to “trust.”  Understanding that Christ died for our sins and rose again, we must trust in Christ alone to save us. Christ’s death on the cross satisfied God’s anger against our sin. When we place our trust in Christ to save us, we are satisfied with the only thing that satisfied God – His Son’s payment for our sins. We dare not trust our good works, church attendance, or baptism to save us. But we must trust Christ and Christ alone as our only way to heaven. The moment we place our trust in Christ alone to save us, we are forever His.

Conclusion

It is important to live a life around unbelievers that commends the Savior to them. But that is not enough! They need to hear the greatest message they have ever heard – Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead. Through trust in Christ alone to save us, we can live prepared to die and die prepared to live.

Tell it often! Tell everybody! Tell it clearly!