The "Roman Road" is simply a road map of verses in the Book of Romans that clearly show us the way to having eternal life in heaven. I've marked these verses in my bible as a quick reference when telling someone about Jesus. In other words witnessing to others about Jesus.
If you are a Christian (Someone who has given their life to Jesus Christ as their Lord) then you know how it happened that you came to know the Lord. SOMEONE told you about Him! Someone either told you about Jesus or they gave you a track that told you about Jesus, or you learned about Jesus from a source of media that you either read, heard or saw. You see, God uses us to spread the word to others so that they may have eternal life with Him. Imagine where you would be today if nobody had told you about Christ. Well you'd be lost! Your soul would be cast into the lake of fire on the day of judgement because your name was not found written in the "Book of Life." We know there is only one way to ensure you have eternal life, and that's by believing that God sent His Son Jesus to be a sacrifice for our sin and that He rose victoriously defeating death and He's alive today. His Spirit's still at work saving souls and He does this by way of our testimony. We have to be willing to share the good news to others. The Holy Spirit is ready and waiting for you to plant the seed. Hopefully this information that I'm giving you will help you to plant seeds. You don't even have to be good at planting seeds, you just have to do it. One things for sure, if you don't plant seeds, there's no chance for growth is there? So here's some tips on what you can do to prepare yourself to be a better witness for Christ. We're going to prepare ourselves to be able to lead someone to Christ by first setting up our bibles so that we can find the verses we want to share with others. We need to be able to find these verses quickly and with ease.
1. Take your bible and write on the inside cover (front page).....
"Step One" - Go to Romans 3:23, page# (whatever page # it is in your bible)
2. Turn in your bible to page# ? and locate Romans 3:23 and take a highlighter and highlight that verse.
3. At the bottom of the page that you highlighted Romans 3:23, write.....
"Step Two" - Go to Romans 6:23, page# (whatever page # it is in your bible)
4. Turn in your bible to page# ? and locate Romans 6:23 and highlight that verse.
5. At the bottom of the page that you highlighted Romans 6:23, write.....
"Step Three" - Go to Romans 5:8, page# (whatever page # it is in your bible)
6. Turn in your bible to page# ? and locate Romans 5:8 and highlight that verse.
7. At the bottom of the page that you highlighted Romans 5:8, write.....
"Step Four" - Go to Romans 10:9,10, and 13, page # (whatever pg# it is in your bible)
8. Turn in your bible to page# ? and locate these three verses Romans 10:9,10,13 and highlight them.
Now you are ready to study these verses, to understand these verses, and familiarize yourself with what they mean. You have marked your bible so that you can follow along without having to remember every verse. I know that sometimes when we first start witnessing to others we are very nervous and anxious, so by having these verses and these steps identified in your bible for you this way, you can be assured you won't get lost while telling someone about Jesus. The road is laid out for you to follow and all you have to do is follow the steps. Now lets prepare ourselves to share the gospel with someone that God has laid on your heart to witness to.
There are some questions that you can use to start conversation when witnessing. You can ask... "Do you think about Spiritual things?" or "Do you believe there is a heaven?" or "Do you believe in God?" These are simple questions that require really only a yes or no response. Then you'll want to follow up with this question... "Do you know for certain that if you were to die today that you would go to heaven?"
If they answer this question "NO, I don't know." then this is your opportunity to tell them they can know. Ask them if they would like to go to heaven when they die? If they say yes then ask them if you could show them how they can know for sure they will go to heaven when they die? Then if they say yes then open your bible to the inside cover and start from "Step One" on the Roman Road and say... "Let me show you what the bible says about it." Then proceed with your witnessing. (we'll get to what to say later).
If they answer "yes, I do know for certain I will go to heaven when I die." Then ask them how they know.
They may tell you they know the Lord as their savior and they'll explain. What your wanting to hear is that they understand that Jesus died for their sins, and they realized that they're a sinner and that they believe Jesus died and rose from the dead and paid the penalty or debt for their sins. And because they believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that he came to save the lost, they gave their life to Jesus as their Lord and they repented of their sins and asked Jesus to forgive them of their sins and now they know they have eternal life, because of what Jesus did for them.
They may tell you they think they're going to heaven, they'll say things like they "hope they are going to heaven," or they "hope they have been good enough," or they may say "I'm not a bad person, I don't cuss or steal or anything really bad, I think God will let me in heaven." they may say, "I go to church and I read my bible so I know that I'm going to heaven." If they answer this way then you'll know they need to hear the truth of the Gospel and you can say something like... "The bible tells us there is only one way to get into heaven and that's through a relationship with Jesus Christ." Then ask... "Do you want to know for certain that when you die you'll go to heaven?" If they answer "yes," then lead them down the Roman road and start with "Step One" on the inside cover of your bible.
Remember your goal here is not to save anyone. We don't save people. Jesus does! Our work is simply to present the message of Christ and allow the Spirit to do the work. We're just planting seeds for Christ. If that person says "No, I'm not interested." then do not be offended or hurt or feel like you have failed in anyway. You did what the Lord wanted you to do. You attempted to tell someone about Jesus, and for whatever reason it just wasn't in God's timing for this person to give his or her life to Christ. Just remember to pray for that person and hope that God allows other people to try and share to them like you did, and over time, maybe they will have their eyes opened and be able to see the truth. The worst thing that we can do is measure our success at witnessing by how many people give their life over to Jesus at the time of our witnessing. When I think back to the day I gave my life to Christ, that was not the first time I was told about Jesus. It took years of different people inviting me to church and telling me about the Lord before His Spirit finally convicted me of my sin. I wish I could go back now and tell all those that had witnessed to me that they did have an impact on my life and it's because of their faithfulness that I belong to Christ today. They just don't know the impact they made on me, but I do, and I'm thankful for them all.
In a few days I'll post again "The Roman Road, Tell the Good News pt.2" and I'll explain how you can share each verse and explain what it means so that whoever you are talking to understands and you can also feel more comfortable with your witness. The more you do it the more comfortable you'll get and the less anxious you'll feel. You just need to get going and be prepared for God to use you in a mighty way to impact His Kingdom! God bless you in your service.
Steve
If you are a Christian (Someone who has given their life to Jesus Christ as their Lord) then you know how it happened that you came to know the Lord. SOMEONE told you about Him! Someone either told you about Jesus or they gave you a track that told you about Jesus, or you learned about Jesus from a source of media that you either read, heard or saw. You see, God uses us to spread the word to others so that they may have eternal life with Him. Imagine where you would be today if nobody had told you about Christ. Well you'd be lost! Your soul would be cast into the lake of fire on the day of judgement because your name was not found written in the "Book of Life." We know there is only one way to ensure you have eternal life, and that's by believing that God sent His Son Jesus to be a sacrifice for our sin and that He rose victoriously defeating death and He's alive today. His Spirit's still at work saving souls and He does this by way of our testimony. We have to be willing to share the good news to others. The Holy Spirit is ready and waiting for you to plant the seed. Hopefully this information that I'm giving you will help you to plant seeds. You don't even have to be good at planting seeds, you just have to do it. One things for sure, if you don't plant seeds, there's no chance for growth is there? So here's some tips on what you can do to prepare yourself to be a better witness for Christ. We're going to prepare ourselves to be able to lead someone to Christ by first setting up our bibles so that we can find the verses we want to share with others. We need to be able to find these verses quickly and with ease.
1. Take your bible and write on the inside cover (front page).....
"Step One" - Go to Romans 3:23, page# (whatever page # it is in your bible)
2. Turn in your bible to page# ? and locate Romans 3:23 and take a highlighter and highlight that verse.
3. At the bottom of the page that you highlighted Romans 3:23, write.....
"Step Two" - Go to Romans 6:23, page# (whatever page # it is in your bible)
4. Turn in your bible to page# ? and locate Romans 6:23 and highlight that verse.
5. At the bottom of the page that you highlighted Romans 6:23, write.....
"Step Three" - Go to Romans 5:8, page# (whatever page # it is in your bible)
6. Turn in your bible to page# ? and locate Romans 5:8 and highlight that verse.
7. At the bottom of the page that you highlighted Romans 5:8, write.....
"Step Four" - Go to Romans 10:9,10, and 13, page # (whatever pg# it is in your bible)
8. Turn in your bible to page# ? and locate these three verses Romans 10:9,10,13 and highlight them.
Now you are ready to study these verses, to understand these verses, and familiarize yourself with what they mean. You have marked your bible so that you can follow along without having to remember every verse. I know that sometimes when we first start witnessing to others we are very nervous and anxious, so by having these verses and these steps identified in your bible for you this way, you can be assured you won't get lost while telling someone about Jesus. The road is laid out for you to follow and all you have to do is follow the steps. Now lets prepare ourselves to share the gospel with someone that God has laid on your heart to witness to.
There are some questions that you can use to start conversation when witnessing. You can ask... "Do you think about Spiritual things?" or "Do you believe there is a heaven?" or "Do you believe in God?" These are simple questions that require really only a yes or no response. Then you'll want to follow up with this question... "Do you know for certain that if you were to die today that you would go to heaven?"
If they answer this question "NO, I don't know." then this is your opportunity to tell them they can know. Ask them if they would like to go to heaven when they die? If they say yes then ask them if you could show them how they can know for sure they will go to heaven when they die? Then if they say yes then open your bible to the inside cover and start from "Step One" on the Roman Road and say... "Let me show you what the bible says about it." Then proceed with your witnessing. (we'll get to what to say later).
If they answer "yes, I do know for certain I will go to heaven when I die." Then ask them how they know.
They may tell you they know the Lord as their savior and they'll explain. What your wanting to hear is that they understand that Jesus died for their sins, and they realized that they're a sinner and that they believe Jesus died and rose from the dead and paid the penalty or debt for their sins. And because they believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that he came to save the lost, they gave their life to Jesus as their Lord and they repented of their sins and asked Jesus to forgive them of their sins and now they know they have eternal life, because of what Jesus did for them.
They may tell you they think they're going to heaven, they'll say things like they "hope they are going to heaven," or they "hope they have been good enough," or they may say "I'm not a bad person, I don't cuss or steal or anything really bad, I think God will let me in heaven." they may say, "I go to church and I read my bible so I know that I'm going to heaven." If they answer this way then you'll know they need to hear the truth of the Gospel and you can say something like... "The bible tells us there is only one way to get into heaven and that's through a relationship with Jesus Christ." Then ask... "Do you want to know for certain that when you die you'll go to heaven?" If they answer "yes," then lead them down the Roman road and start with "Step One" on the inside cover of your bible.
Remember your goal here is not to save anyone. We don't save people. Jesus does! Our work is simply to present the message of Christ and allow the Spirit to do the work. We're just planting seeds for Christ. If that person says "No, I'm not interested." then do not be offended or hurt or feel like you have failed in anyway. You did what the Lord wanted you to do. You attempted to tell someone about Jesus, and for whatever reason it just wasn't in God's timing for this person to give his or her life to Christ. Just remember to pray for that person and hope that God allows other people to try and share to them like you did, and over time, maybe they will have their eyes opened and be able to see the truth. The worst thing that we can do is measure our success at witnessing by how many people give their life over to Jesus at the time of our witnessing. When I think back to the day I gave my life to Christ, that was not the first time I was told about Jesus. It took years of different people inviting me to church and telling me about the Lord before His Spirit finally convicted me of my sin. I wish I could go back now and tell all those that had witnessed to me that they did have an impact on my life and it's because of their faithfulness that I belong to Christ today. They just don't know the impact they made on me, but I do, and I'm thankful for them all.
In a few days I'll post again "The Roman Road, Tell the Good News pt.2" and I'll explain how you can share each verse and explain what it means so that whoever you are talking to understands and you can also feel more comfortable with your witness. The more you do it the more comfortable you'll get and the less anxious you'll feel. You just need to get going and be prepared for God to use you in a mighty way to impact His Kingdom! God bless you in your service.
Steve
