The Essential Tool of Evangelism

If you ask most Americans if they are aware that Jesus Christ died on the cross, you would find that a majority would say that they are. Though it is a blessing that this truth is not foreign today in America, the tragedy, however, is that many do not truly understand why. This problem is evident in the indifferent and unchanged lives of those who not only reject the gospel, but also those who claim it. No longer emphasizing sin, repentance, and the judgment to come, the root of this problem can be found in the modern methods of evangelism and the exclusion of giving the Law. Since the Ten Commandments are no longer being used to prepare a heart for the Good News, we are missing the essential tool that God has intended to show a person why he needs a Savior. Because the Law is what reveals our sin, drives us to Christ, and protects the gospel message, we must use it before giving the Good News so people will more likely come to Christ.

The Law, or Ten Commandments, is a forgotten yet essential tool of evangelism. It was used by Jesus (John 7:19-23), Paul (Romans 2:20-24), and James (2:10-11), and was also regularly promoted by great Christians of old including: Charles Spurgeon, John Newton, Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley, John Bunyan, and Martin Luther, to show people how desperately they needed Christ.

One of God’s purposes of creating the Law was for it to work in harmony with the Gospel (Galatians 3:21). While the Law was never able to save a person (Romans 8:3; Hebrews 7:19) and can never justify anyone (Galatians 2:16), God created it for sinners (1 Timothy 1:9-11; Galatians 3:19), to work alongside the gospel and to prepare a heart for grace. It is a missing tool that needs to be brought back in our gospel presentation for many reasons.

The first reason we must include the Law in our evangelism is because it reveals to a person their sin. In a culture where most believe they are essentially good and heaven-bound, the first step to give the gospel is to break people of this deceit and show that they are instead sinful creatures under God’s wrath. The Law is important because the Scripture tell us that “by the Law is the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20).” Paul also said that he did not know sin before he knew the Law (Romans 7:7). To show a person his sin, we must show him the Law because it functions to unveil the condition of the sinful human heart. This is a vital because unless a person sees and understands his sin, he cannot and will not repent from it and therefore cannot be saved.

While the modern gospel message will usually mention “sin”, this general reference is not enough for the spiritually dead to understand. The Mark Cahill, in his book, One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven, rightly argues:

When mentioning sin, most believers cite Romans 3:23, which says, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." For the lost to understand this verse, they need a definition of what "sin" is....to know sin, we must know what the Ten Commandments are (111-112).

The Law is incredible because it specifically defines sin for us. 1 John 3:4 says: “sin is the transgression of the Law.” The Bible also tells us that sin is unrighteousness (1 John 5:17), which is anything that does not conform to God’s standards that the Law reveals. Most people do not truly understand what sin really implies and shrug their short comings as “being only human.” The Law, however, gets down to the wire, showing the person exactly what he has done wrong, how he has specifically offended God, and that he has sinned. As a person sees detailed commands in the Law that he knows he has broken, sin will make sense as he sees his guilt before a holy God.

The Law not only shows what sin is, but it makes it personal. Mark Cahill stated, “One of the biggest lies Satan tells the lost is that they will be good enough for God on Judgment Day (One Thing, 119).” For a person to be broken over his sin and come to Christ, he must realize not only that he is not good, but that his guilt is personal. The Law does this by showing a person that his definition of “good” is not the same as God’s. It makes sin personal because he not only sees how great he has fallen short of God’s standards, but also that God requires personal perfection in not just actions but also in heart. Sean Norris explains:

[Jesus] explains that we do not break God's law simply through our actions, but first in our thoughts and hearts. Anger with your brother is the same as murdering him. Lusting after another is the same as committing adultery. Jesus takes the law to its highest pitch here. It is concerned with matters of the heart. The only way for anyone to be good and pleasing to God is to have a pure heart, to have completely pure motivations, to never have a bad thought about anyone or anything. In short, as Jesus sums up, "You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matt. 5:21-48). This is language about our state of being as opposed to our behavior. The law is about more than individual sinful actions; it is about the sinful state of the heart that leads to those actions (Introduction to Law).

If sin is not personal, it will not be taken seriously nor will lead to “sorrow unto repentance” (2 Corinthians 7:10). Instead of viewing sin as a general problem, as one sees through the Law that he has lied, stolen, lusted, and blasphemed, sin will be specific and personal to him. This is important as Ray Comfort in his book, God Has a Wonderful Plan for Your Life, warns: “Without the entrance of the Law, sin is neither personal, nor is it a threat (Wonderful 59).” As sin is revealed through the Law, no longer will he feel “not as bad as everyone else,” but he will see how short he has fallen in the eyes of the One who requires perfection and that he is personally worthy of hell.

The Law is also essential to reveal sin because it speaks to the conscience. Because the Bible says that the Law is written on every heart and is therefore apart of every person (Romans 2:14-15), when we use the Law, we are merely isolating truth that people’s consciences will agree with. Instead of arguing and debating in circles with a person’s intellect, the Law allows the Christian to get straight to the crucial need of the gospel, by pin-pointing the device God has placed inside every human to verify his sin. As a person gives the lost the Ten Commandments, the Holy Spirit works with the conscience to reveal his guilt before God and to signal to his inner man that he is indeed guilty. Ray Comfort explains this beautifully:

When we use the Law to appeal to the conscience and bring the knowledge of sin, we merely work with the Holy Spirit to convince people of their transgression. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit "will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment" (John 16:8). (Wonderful, 55)."

As the Law convicts a person's conscience, the Bible says it causes their mouth to be stopped (Romans 3:19). Seeing specifically and personally their sin and guilt before God, the Law stops their mouth so they cannot justify themselves any longer. D.L. Moody exclaimed: “I can always tell a man who is near the kingdom of God; his mouth is stopped. This, then, is why God gives the Law---to show us ourselves in our true colors.” (Cahill, One thing, 131). The Law is a wonderful tool to humble the self-righteous, because before a person is humbled before God, he cannot come to Him in repentance, because as Ray Comfort stated, “It is the conviction of sin that causes godly sorrow and ‘godly sorrow produces repentance to salvation’ (2 Corinthians 7:10) (Wonderful 63).” A person cannot be born-again until he sees his sin, so we must show a person his need for righteousness through the Law before we give the gospel.

After the Law reveals a person their sin and brings them low, the next benefit of this tool is that it helps drive a person to Christ. Mark Cahill states: “The Law carries us right to Jesus. People attempt to be justified by their works, but the Law leads us to Jesus so we can be justified by our faith, not by our works (One Thing, 116).”

The first way that the Law drives a person to Christ is that it prepares his heart for the cross by making grace desirable. A person won’t come to Christ for grace without knowing why he needs it. Ray Comfort declares, “It is the Law that makes us thirst after a righteousness we have no desire for (Wonderful, 84).” To make the gospel good news, we must give him the disease before the cure. Mark Cahill makes a wonderful point: “It’s very important to get people lost before you can get them saved (One Thing, 126).” This is what the Law is for, to make the person needy before we give him hope and to help the person see their disease so they will desire the cure. We must use the Law as a preliminary work before we give the gospel to prepare the person’s heart by showing him his great need for grace. We must remember what Martin Luther said, “The Law is for the proud and the Gospel for the brokenhearted.” The Law makes grace desirable because it shows us how much we are in need of it.

The Law also prepares a heart for the gospel because it leaves the hearer helpless. This is one of the purposes of the Law---to show a person how helpless he is so he will run to Christ, the only solution, for help. The Law is simply a mirror: it reveals our sin but it cannot take that sin away. Because one sees that God requires perfection, something he knows he does not have, the Law will help make him desperate for grace. We use the Law to show sinners that in the mirror of God’s standards, he is dirty and he can never clean himself up and that he needs help, as Ray Comfort explains: “The Law doesn’t help us; it just leaves us helpless. It doesn’t justify us; it just leaves us guilty before the judgment bar of a holy God (Wonderful, 59).” When a person realizes this, it leaves him helpless and makes grace desirable to know of the one way to get himself out of his hole of sin, which will hopefully lead him to Christ.

The second way that the Law drives a person to Christ is that it gives understanding to the cross. After one uses the Law as a preliminary tool to open a person’s eyes to sin and strip him of his own self-righteousness, the most exciting part is to follow with the gospel because the preaching of the cross can be better grasped. I love telling people about Jesus’ death and His love for them after taking them through the Law because the cross finally seems to be understood. Ray Comfort said, “The Law magnifies grace and opens sinner’s eyes to the gospel so that the cross makes sense (Wonderful, 103).” A person may have heard for years that Jesus loves him and died for him, but when one uses the Law to expose his need, the message of Jesus’ death takes on a new and personal meaning. Paul said that the Law is a schoolmaster to bring the lost to Christ (Galatians 3:24). Because the person sees specifically why he needs a Savior, Christ can be no longer just a religious figure or His death just a historical fact, but it can now be personal, beautiful, and desirable. The cross will no longer be “foolishness” to him but hopefully the “power of God until salvation.” (1 Corinthians 1:18). Charles Spurgeon declared about the power of the Law:

The Law is meant to lead the sinner to faith in Christ, by showing the impossibility of any other way. It is the black dog to fetch the sheep to the shepherd, the burning heat which drives the traveler to the shadow of the great rock in a weary land…Apart from the deadening effect of the Law, no one would feel the need to cast himself at the mercy of Christ (Wonderful, 113).

One cannot understand God’s mercy until he is first exposed to His wrath. The Law, through the working of the Holy Spirit, can help drive sinners to the cross in utter helplessness where they can be met by Christ.

People cannot understand the cross without first knowing its purpose. Mark Cahill pleaded, “Make sure that you share Jesus only after people recognize their need for Him…Identify the problem first, and then give the answer (One Thing 122).”

Without the Law and identifying the consequences of sin, Christ’s death will not be a desperate need. Dr. Jack B. Scott declares: “You have to convince people that they are sinners under the judgment of God before you can ever offer them the gospel of salvation. If they don’t come to a point of seeing that they need Christ, then they will never accept Him” (Lecture 30). When you take a person through the Law and show them exactly why God’s wrath abides on him, referring to the cross and what Jesus has done will be much more understood and appreciated. He will see beauty that his guilt can be removed by the suffering and death of a substitute (Hendrickson 214), and hopefully by God’s grace, he will repent of his sins and run straight into Christ’s arms.

The Law does so many wonderful things in our labor in evangelism. Not only does it show a person their sin and help to lead him to Christ, but it is also an essential tool because it helps to protect the gospel.

Unfortunately, because the Law has been deleted from modern evangelism, instead of sin, righteousness, and the judgment to come, people have promoted different reasons to turn to Christ which in turn has watered-down the truth and beauty of the gospel. The Law aids in protecting from many of these errors by helping to keep truth in perspective.

First, the Law aids to protect the gospel because it helps to give a correct view of the character of God. If God’s nature is incorrect in the mind of a person, it can keep him from understanding the way to eternal life. A great example is how God’s forgiveness today is abused; Dwelling primarily on God’s love, the greatest danger in modern evangelism is that it tends to focus too much on God’s forgiveness, almost eliminating His holiness and justice. This is dangerous and serious. Bill Bright in Heaven or Hell warned: “Although God is loving and merciful, He is also holy, righteous, and just. To emphasize some of His attributes at the expense of others creates a distorted view of who God is and therefore creates false expectations of what He will do at the judgment seat (35).”

Deceptively, some people possess a false peace believing that after they die, God will simply over look their sins and forgive them. The truth is, however, that God’s forgiveness cannot be separated from His justice and can only be given through the person and work of Jesus Christ. Ray Comfort convincingly stated: “The thing that sinners are hoping will save them on the Day of Judgment---the goodness of God---will be the very thing that will condemn them. Because if God is good, He must by nature punish (Wonderful, 93).” When people see God’s goodness through His righteousness as a Holy Judge, it is only then that His love and mercy through Christ can be fully appreciated. We risk the gospel and the salvation of souls when we deviated from true knowledge of who God is (Dewitt). That’s why the Law is important because it is what exposes God’s righteousness and wrath, which are the two things that will help us appreciate His love so much more. The Law protects the gospel because it gives a more realistic view of God and prepares a soul for His mercy after being exposed to the truth of His wrath.

Another way that the Law protects the gospel is that it helps to prevent false conversions. The difference between using the Law in evangelism and leaving it out can greatly affect the unbeliever’s response and motivation to the gospel. Because sin and the wrath to come are not emphasized in modern evangelism, believers are using the benefits of Christianity, such as peace, joy, and happiness, to convince people to come to Christ. Since sin is not being brought to light through the Law and being used to show the true need for the cross, repentance is thus lacking---which is the very ingredient that is essential for a man to be born-again (Luke 13:3).

Because the Law has been overlooked and many people are not coming to Christ in repentance, this has resulted in many false conversions. Ray Comfort states, "There are many today who name the name of Christ, but who have failed to "depart from iniquity [lawlessness]" (2 Timothy 2:19). They are false converts who have "asked Jesus into their hearts," yet they remain unconverted cause they have never truly repented (Wonderful, 14).” Without the Law, people are more likely to come to Christ for the wrong reasons and without repentance, becoming false converts who will later “fall away from the faith,” or will be deceived until God tells them “I never knew you” (Matthew 7:13-23).

Without using the Law, we are in danger of creating false conversions. When we give the Law, however, and we show the truth of why a person needs God, it will better assist his motivation to get saved not for selfish earthly benefits, but rather to flee the wrath to come. The Law protects the gospel because it emphasizes the true intent of the gospel---to get right with God and to protect us from the judgment we are to face in the future---which the Holy Spirit will hopefully use to spur repentance.

The Law is a powerful tool. Because it is “to revel our true states before God, bring the knowledge of sin, make sin appear exceedingly sinful, convict the conscience, magnify the grace of God, and serve as a schoolmaster to lead sinners to Christ (Comfort, Wonderful 122),” it is a tool we simply should not neglect in our evangelism. We should keep in mind the warnings of great Christian men of old, such as John Grecham Machen, who argued:

A new and more powerful proclamation of [the] law is perhaps the most pressing need of the hour; men would have little difficulty with the gospel if they had only learned the lesson of the law….So it always is; a low view of the law always brings legalism in religion; a high view of the law makes a man seek after grace. Pray God that the high view may again prevail (What is Faith? 141-142).

And Spurgeon who warns:

Lower the Law and you dim the light by which man perceives his guilt; this is a very serious loss to the sinner rather than a gain; for it lessens the likelihood of his conviction and conversion. I say you have deprived the gospel of its ablest auxiliary [its most powerful weapon] when you have set aside the Law. You have taken away from it the schoolmaster that is to bring men to Christ...They will never accept grace till they tremble before a just and holy Law. Therefore the Law serves a most necessary purpose, and it must not be removed from its place (Wonderful, 97-98).

We must give the Law before we give the Good News because people will not cry out for mercy and forgiveness until they see their sin. Just like a patient will not desire the cure until he knows his disease, in the same way people will not desire grace until they know their disease of sin. We must stop giving the solution without first addressing the problem by using the very tool God has given which function is to “convert the soul” (Psalm 19:7). If we use the Law before the gospel, we can better prepare the way of sinners to the Savior which will hopefully cause them to run and fall into the gracious arms of Christ.

Works Cited

An introduction to the Law and the Gospel. Sean Norris. September/October 2010.

Bright, Bill, Heaven or Hell: Your Ultimate Choice. Orlando, Florida: New Life Publications, 2002.

Cahill, Mark, One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven. Rockwell, Texas: Biblical Discipleship Publishers, 2009.

Comfort, Ray, God Has a Wonderful Plan For Your Life. Bellflower, California: Living Waters Publications, 2010.

Dr. DeWitt, Of God and of the Holy Trinity, Lecture 3. SYS 103 Christian Doctrine. Lakeland, FL: Whitefield College.

Dr. Jack B. Scott, Jeremiah, Lecture 30. OTS 105 Old Testament Survey. Lakeland, FL: Whitefield College.

Hendrickson, William, Survey of the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1976

Machen, John, What is Faith? Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1969.