CLIMBING THE ROMAN ROAD

 

(“He who wins souls is wise.” Proverbs 11:30 NKJV)

Dear Readers:

Last week we discussed how to ‘build a bridge’ to reach out to other people, first to try to understand them, then to present, in a meaningful way, the wonderful love of Jesus. We used Greg Laurie’s BLAST acronym and questions I developed into a reference tract to be used by myself, and if desired, by other Christians.

The goal is to begin getting our feet wet in engaging non-Christians to talk about their belief systems, and to begin introducing them to Jesus in a systematic way.

Today, I’m going a bit further to introduce a step I referenced at the end of my last post, and that is using ‘The Roman Road’ approach to reach lost people. I’m not sure when ‘The Roman Road’ to salvation was first developed and used, but I feel it’s an effective, relatively straightforward, and uncomplicated way to introduce people to the gospel.

I developed a Roman Road tract after I got permission from The Tract League to use their Roman Road image any way that I like because they were going out of business. That was a blessing to me.

I then developed the ‘Climbing the Roman Road’ tract, and have been using it, and giving it out to unsaved people for several years now, although in reality I have witnessed to relatively few people, and also have given out the tract to relatively few people. But I want to change that.

I’m not doing this post to try to promote my tracts. They are fairly unprofessionally made. Instead, I’m promoting the effectiveness of using ‘The Roman Road’ SCRIPTURES, to reach lost souls for Jesus.

The full title of the tract I developed is ‘Climbing the Roman Road, The Most Important Climb You’ll Ever Make!’ Below is the front of the tract. I’m not, however, going to get into all the details of the first page. I instead want to focus on The Roman Road image and the Book of Romans Bible scriptures associated with the image.

There are seven Bible scriptures tied to The Roman Road image.

1. The first scripture verse is a fundamental truth that’s vital for a person to understand that everyone has sin in their life. It’s found in Romans 3:23. It states, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The picture on the image representing this verse is a broken heart caused by sin. See the picture in the image.
2. The second scripture verse is a very stark reality. It’s found in the first part of Romans 6:23. It says, “For the wages of sin is death.” This verse is a reminder that at the end of sin is eternal death, which means an eternity in hell. That should be a wakeup call to all people, especially unsaved ones. The picture on the image representing this verse about eternal death is a tombstone.
3. The third scripture verse is one that gives us some hope. It’s the second part of Romans 6:23, and states, “But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The picture on the image representing this verse is a wrapped gift package.
4. The fourth scripture verse explains what Jesus did to give us hope. It’s found in Romans 5:8 and says, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” This verse tells us that Christ provided a bridge to safely cross the chasm of hell toward an eternity in heaven. The picture on the image representing this verse is the well-known cross about ½ way up the mountain.
5. The fifth scripture verse is the action required to be saved from the wages of sin. It’s found in Romans 10:13 and states, “For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” The picture on the image representing this verse is a man on his knees praying as he's calling on the name of the Lord.
6. The sixth verse, Romans 10:9, further defines the outcome of that action. It reads, “That if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” The picture on the image representing this verse is a wonderful restored heart which is no longer broken.
7. The seventh set of two scripture verses crescendo into a profound appeal that's found in Romans 12:1-2. They say, “I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Not all Roman Road tracts include these final verses. The picture on the image representing these two verses is a #1 symbol at the peak of the mountain with God's name there.

I think becoming familiar with and memorizing the Roman Road to salvation is a great tool to reach out to unsaved people with the gospel, and in conclusion, I think The Roman Road verses tie in very well with the BLAST tract, and I want to utilize them more and more in my quest as a soulwinner. How about you?

See you next time,

Arlen