Revised Big Six Questions
The most effective way to share the Would You LIke To know God Personally? booklet is to engage in meaningful dialogue with the person you are witnessing to. Eye contact and engaged body language should be displayed, questions should be both asked and answered, participation in reading various segments of the booklet should be asked of the person you are sharing with. The booklet should be used to guide the conversation towards an understanding of the Gospel: introducing people to the living Savior Jesus Christ. If it is only read word for word without engagement, the booklet becomes an impersonal presentation of religious ideas & belief systems and does not address with any depth some of the key truths of the Gospel.
With this in mind, it is important to understand key points to each of the 4 categories. Questions for engagement and understanding along with examples to clarify the truth are needed to make your communication of the Gospel even more effective. Memorizing questions and examples will give you confidence and freedom to weigh if they are understanding the Gospel message or not.
What follows is the text (word-for-word) of the Would You Like to Know God Personally? booklet. Each main point, question and example is inserted in this presentation at the exact point where you would ask it.
God loves you and created you in his image. He wants you to know Him personally, so that you may experience the love and freedom He offers.
God’s image bearers
“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” Gen 1:27
An image gives a picture of someone or something. God has displayed His image and beauty in people, men and women of all ethnicities and cultures, and created them to give a picture of Himself and His love to the world. This gives each man and woman tremendous value and significance
God’s Love
“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
God’s Plan
“Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” John 17:3
What prevents us from experiencing the love and freedom God offers? What keeps us from accurately displaying God’s image to the world?
We are all sinners. Sin is part of the human condition that keeps us from knowing God personally and experiencing his love and freedom.
People are sinful
“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23
QUESTION 1. How would you define sin?
Can be answered 100 different ways. In fact there is no wrong answer. Anything that is not pleasing to God or goes against His Word is sin. Everyone will get the answer to this question because there are many ways to sin. They’re telling you in their own words what sin is by giving you one example.
Sin is our innate desire to take the place of God, not just the actions we do. People were created to be in relationship with God, and to bear His image. But we are not God, and we have failed to portray His image accurately in the world.
QUESTION 2: Have you ever sinned before?
This question on the surface sounds too simple, but it is perhaps the most significant in the booklet. To clearly and honestly admit that one has sinned, shows one’s need for forgiveness. God’s requirement to get into heaven is perfection. Nobody is perfect, so somehow we all need to find forgiveness in God’s eyes. They will be in a dilemma after they’ve answered this question. Humanly speaking, there’s no way to work back to perfection.
People are separated
“For the wages of sin is death.” Romans 6:23
This is not just physical death…our sinful condition deserves eternal separation from God.
The third principle explains the only way to bridge this gulf…
Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for our sin so we can be in relationship with God the way we were created to be. Jesus not only restores us to God but he is restoring everything in creation.
Jesus was sinless
“[Jesus] committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.” 1 Peter 2:22
Jesus Christ was able to pay the penalty for our sins because He is perfect and free from sin.
Jesus died in our place
“But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
QUESTION 3: Why did Christ die on the cross?
Don’t answer this question for the person, let them tell you first. The answer is found in the first five words of the next verse you’ll read in 1 Corinthians 15:3-6 “Christ died for our sins...” That’s the Gospel message, the good news. You’ll come back to review this point again.
Jesus’ power
“Christ died for our sins…he was buried…he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. He appeared to Peter, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred…” 1 Corinthians 15:3-6
Jesus’ resurrection from the dead shows that he has power over death so he can offer us eternal life with God.
Jesus is the only way
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through me’.” John 14:6
What do you need to do in order to be in relationship with God and accept the love and freedom He offers?
We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and surrender to his Lordship. Only then can we be in relationship with God and experience his love and freedom as part of His family.
We must receive Christ
“Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12
We receive Christ through faith
“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.” Ephesians 2:8-9
There is nothing we can do to earn a relationship with God, but it is by grace (an undeserved, unearned gift) because of faith (knowing God is real and trustworthy) that we can be saved (rescued from the penalty of our sin to relationship with God).
QUESTION 4: What do you think this verse is saying? (referring to Ephesians 2:8-9)
This is the big clarifying question in the booklet. It allows you to see if they fully understand the first three points in the booklet. The answer is we are saved by placing our trust in Christ’s death on the cross to pay for one’s sins (by grace, gift of God), not by works (not from yourselves). Go back and review pages 4-5 of the booklet by simply asking: “What is it that separates one from God?” The answer is sin. Look at point three of the booklet (pages 6-7) and ask: “ Once again, why did Christ die on the cross?” The answer is to pay for our sin. Ask: “Is there anything in our own power that we can do to get rid of our sin?” Answer: no.
In essence, what you’ve just done is reviewed the key points of the booklet again. This repetition is good and really clarifies the gospel to them. They are telling you what the Gospel is! Basically, don’t try to remember these extra questions, just ask questions two and three again, using your own words. The same is true for the extra questions in Question Five below.
We experience love and freedom when we receive Christ
[Jesus speaking] “I came that they might have life and have it abundantly.” John 10:1
We enter the family of God when we receive Christ
“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.” Ephesians 2:19
Receiving Christ involves:
- Recognize you are a sinner and need a Savior
- Admit that you cannot be in relationship with God by yourself
- Turn to God and give him the right place in your life (repentance) and place your faith in Jesus Christ alone.
- When you trust in Christ, you receive complete forgiveness of your sin and an eternal relationship with God.
- Knowing intellectually that Jesus Christ is the Son of God is not enough. Having an emotional experience will not give you the love and freedom you seek. It requires complete surrender to Jesus Christ as Lord of your life.
QUESTION 5: What is the main difference between the circle on the left and the circle on the right?
Again, always give the person the opportunity to answer first and think about it. The answer is where the “cross” is. In the circle on the left Christ is outside the life. In the circle on the right, Christ is in the life. Ask: “If Christ is in someone’s life, what is one of the most important things that He’ll do for them? Answer: forgive them of their sin.
Ask: If Christ forgives someone of their sin, is there anything that would stand between them and God? Answer: nothing, Christ did it all on the cross. Question five gives you a second full opportunity to let them communicate back to you the gospel message in points 2 through 4 of the booklet.
Which circle best describes your life? Christ outside your life? Or Christ on the throne?
Which circle would you like to have represent your life?
The following explains how you can receive Christ:
You can receive Christ right now by faith through prayer
Prayer is talking to God. God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. The following is a suggested prayer:
"Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be."
QUESTION 6: What is the main thing that this prayer is saying?
Yes, this is the third opportunity to let the person verbalize the message of the Gospel. Answer: the third full line of the prayer “I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord.”
Now re-ask the extra questions under Questions Four and Five. By now they will really know the message and will know exactly the commitment they’re making if they pray the prayer to receive Christ.
If this prayer expresses the desire of your heart, then you can pray this prayer right now and Christ will come into your life, as He promised.
Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?
Now Live it!
01: Share the Gospel
