A friend asked me to meet with her non-Christian family and share the gospel with them. We decided that in this case the best approach wouldn’t be to use a published booklet. Instead, I put together passages I thought captured the heart and soul of the gospel. There is no commentary other than the headings, so the Word of God stands on its own and its power is undiminished.

If you’re a Christian, I hope this is useful to you as you share your faith. If you’re not a Christian, this tells you straight from God’s Word why you need to be and how you can be. If you place your faith in Christ after reading this, please let us know. We’d like to help you get connected with a church in your area.

Randy Alcorn

The Most Important Thing You’ll Ever Hear: God’s Offer of Salvation

The Plan—God’s desire for us:

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27)

You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. (Psalm 16:11)

Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)

Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:2-3)

. . . we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:1)

The Problem—Our sin separates us from God:

But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. (Isaiah 59:2)

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)

For the wages of sin is death . . . (Romans 6:23)

. . . the way of peace they [men] do not know. (Romans 3:17)

Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart. (Psalm 24:3-4)

You have hidden your face from us and made us waste away because of our sins. (Isaiah 64:7)

Without holiness no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)

The Solution—Christ’s death and resurrection for us:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . . The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1,14)

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. (John 3:16)

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

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

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time . . . (1 Corinthians 15:3-6)

For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. (1 Peter 3:18)

The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Matt 20:28)

With your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. (Revelation 5:9)

Christ sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. (Hebrews 7:27)

We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:10)

God’s Offer of forgiveness and righteousness based on Christ’s sacrifice:

As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him. (Ps 103:12-13)

You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7:18-19)

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)

False solution #1: Thinking we can work our way to heaven:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:8-10) 
He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. (Titus 3:5) 
Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:1) 
There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. (Proverbs 14:12) 


False solution #2: Thinking we can come to God through any means but Christ:

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) 
Salvation is found in no one else [but Jesus], for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12) 
For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 2:5)

The Choice—Accept or reject God’s gift of salvation in Christ:

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

Yet to all who received him [Jesus], to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. (John 1:12)

Jesus says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20)

If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. (Romans 10:9-10)

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Romans 10:13)

He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 John 5:12-13)

The brevity of life and the need to repent and accept now God’s gift of salvation in Christ:

The length of our days is seventy years—or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. Who knows the power of your anger? For your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you. Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:10-12)

You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man’s life is but a breath. Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro: He bustles about, but only in vain; he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it. But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you. Save me from all my transgressions. (Psalm 39:5-8)

No man has power over the wind to contain it; so no one has power over the day of his death. (Ecclesiastes 8:8)

The Lord . . . is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)

Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment. (Hebrews 9:27)

I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 6:2)

Final Thoughts to Consider:

When I kept silent [about my sin], my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. . . . Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD’—and you forgave the guilt of my sin. (Psalm 32:3-5)

Jesus said, “He who is not with me is against me.” (Matthew 12:30)

He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy. (Proverbs 28:13)

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. (Revelation 22:17)

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