Sharing your faith or leading people to Jesus?

As of late I have come to realize that these two statements, "Sharing your faith" and "Leading people to Jesus" are similar but not the same.

Sharing your faith is sharing what Christ has done in you to create faith. What Christ has done in you should be what is commonly known as a "testimony." This is a giving of the experience in which Jesus Christ was brought into your life by preaching, teaching or testimony of another then God through the work of the Holy Spirit convicted you of sin and you confessed that sin, repented (turned away from) that sin, and surrendered your heart to Jesus for Him to be Lord. Your testimony is the account of where you were, how you were and where you were going - to - where you are, how you are and where you are going. Coupled that with scripture of who Christ is and what He has done and THAT is sharing your faith.

Leading people to Jesus may very well have the previous encapsulated within it but I would say leading people to Jesus, is primarily focusing on their opportunity to confess, repent and surrender. This takes place through clear and precise combing through the Bible to use its power to persuade men to come to Christ. Paul says, "knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences." Paul is to talking to the church at Corinth in the 2 letter chapter 5 verse 11. Paul is referring to the work we are called to do. We are called to persuade men because of their frail, fragile and hell bound lives. Throughout the first 4 verses of the chapter Paul is speaking of the body, "the tabernacle." In the next 4 verses Paul is speaking of the Spirit in spite of the body and in verses 9 and 10 Paul is speaking of the "labor" we must do for the Lord regardless of the physical or spiritual.

To me, this clearly points to Paul encouraging us to get off our pride, self-centered, lazy and depressed states and serve or labor for the Lord. The Terror of the Lord should cause us to persuade men.

There is a two-fold reason for leading people to Jesus: 1. The Terror of the Lord on the soul that rejects salvation and 2. The Terror of the Lord on the soul who, although saved, does not labor for the Lord. Our love for God should compel our love for people. Our love for God should compel our attitude toward telling. In no situation does the Christian have any excuse for not laboring to lead people to Jesus.

The rest of 2 Corinthians 5 speaks very clearly to this very thought. I encourage you to take up the sword of Truth and read for yourself the plans and purposes of God for this world, you and His kingdom.

Grace and Peace,
Blake Prater