I believe one of the most intimidating things for some Christians to do is to share their faith with someone. Not just share their faith, but to be able to explain to an unsaved person how to be saved. The Bible gives us clear instructions on this.
1 Peter 3:15 "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear."
There are two types of people who are the most difficult to reach for salvation.... those that think they are too far gone to be saved and those who think they are so good that they don't need to be saved. The latter group is far more prevalent and far more difficult to convert due to pride.
The first group is easy to deal with. Jesus died for the sins of the entire world. Romans 10:13 states
"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
Whosoever means anybody at any time. No one can slip so far down that Jesus will not save them. A person may slip so far down that they will be at such a hard-hearted state that they will not seek the Lord, but Jesus rejects no one who comes to Him. This one simple verse settles the argument that anyone is beyond salvation.
The tough nuts to crack are the self proclaimed "Good People". The problem is that there are no "Good People" apart from the saving grace of God. The Bible says in Romans 3:10 "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one."
The reason is that the only way we can obtain righteousness is to have it imputed to us. Impute simply means to assign to someone or put it on their account. The NIV uses the word "credited". The next time you are shopping, don't say charge it, say impute it. (or better yet pay with cash).
We can not earn this righteousness by anything we could do ourselves. This goes all the way back to Abraham. He was called Abram at the time.
"Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness."
The Bible clearly teaches that belief (complete trust and confidence in God) is the only path to righteousness. Paul addresses this in Romans 10:3
"For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God."
Jesus addresses similar people in Matthew 7:22-23
"22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."
These people casted out devils, prophesied or preached in Jesus' name and did many wonderful works all in the name of Jesus. However, they did not trust what Jesus did on the cross for them. This is why Jesus said "I NEVER knew you". He did not say, I once knew you but now I lost you, for that would be impossible. These people were trusting in their own brand of righteousness instead of trusting on the righteousness which is imputed based on faith in Jesus. In fact, Jesus called their righteousness as iniquity.
Many people will end up in Hell with a laundry list of good works to their name, but they will be lacking the one thing that could save them... that being trust in Jesus Christ alone.
There is no "step by step" plan, per se, to lead someone to Christ. However, every point on this checklist (with the scripture verses to back it up) needs to be included in your discussion with a lost person. (or a "good" person who doesn't think he or she is lost, but really is.... sadly, this could and does include many church members)
I. STEPS IN LEADING A SOUL TO CHRIST
A. Establish the fact that all men are sinners.
(Romans 3:10; 3:23; Isaiah 64:6; Jeremiah 17:9; James 2:10)
B. Establish the fact that the penalty of sin is death.
(Romans 6:23; Ezekiel 18:20)
C. Establish the fact that you must be perfect to enter heaven.
(Revelation 21:27; Habakkuk 1:13; Psalm 5:4)
D. Establish the fact that a person can do nothing of themselves to obtain this perfection.
(Ephesians 2:8-9; Galatians 2:16; Romans 4:5)
E. Show how God provided a sin-bearer (Jesus) & credits to man His righteousness.
(II Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 3:9; Isaiah 53:6; I Peter 3:18)
F. Establish the fact that man needs only belief in the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Savior for salvation.
(John 3:16; Romans 10:9-10; John 1:12; Acts 16:31)
G. Establish the fact that man can be certain of his salvation now, and that his salvation cannot be lost because eternal life is eternal.
(John 6:37-39; 10:28; I Peter 1:5; Hebrews 10:10-14; I John 5:13)
Everyone will have their own style of explaining the salvation process to a lost person but these are great guidelines to use. For a Reader's Digest version just think of it like this:
1) We are sinners and our sin has separated us from God
2) The penalty for this sin and separation is eternal damnation in hell
3) In order to enter Heaven, we must be perfect
4) We can not achieve this perfection by any form of good works of our own
5) Jesus (by his death, burial and resurrection) has made a way for us to exchange our sin for His righteousness so that in the eyes of God we are perfect
6) The way we obtain this righteousness is by trusting in Jesus' work on the cross alone and not by trusting in any works of our own
7) Once we have trusted Christ, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit as a child of God forever and we can never lose this relationship. We can lose fellowship with God and the joy of our salvation (see David's words in Psalm 51 about restoring the "joy of his salvation, not restoring his salvation"), but not our salvation itself because it is not based on our actions, but by our belief.
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