Soul-Winning Tips
Soul-Winning Lesson 6
Tip #1: Be Observant
As you go soul-winning, you should always be looking around and scanning your surroundings for potential persons to preach to. We must know where we are and be prepared for whatever God sends our way.
John 4:35: Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.
When confronted with a decision of who to preach to from different and (usually) mutually exclusive options, it is important to use discernment in determining who we choose to begin speaking with.
Acts 14:8-10: And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother’s womb, who never had walked:9 The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed,10 Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked.
Tip #2: Compel Them to Listen
When we know that someone we are speaking with has an interest in hearing the plan of salvation, it is our duty to persuade (Acts 26:28; II Corinthians 5:11) and compel them to listen to the gospel. We should not let an interested person lightly reject the offer of the gospel. Moreover, if we have already begun preaching the gospel to someone, we must be diligent to retain their focus and interest. Zealously dismiss excuses they bring up for needing to leave.
Luke 14:23: And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
One way to compel people to listen to the gospel is to reason with them about the importance of the gospel and/or the non-importance/non-urgency of their excuse.
Another way to do this is to spiritually employ the “liers in wait strategy” that Joshua used in battling against Ai (Joshua 8), or that Israel used against the Benjamites (Judges 20:28-48). In this strategy, if someone you’ve approached is offering an excuse for why they cannot listen to the gospel message, you immediately “retreat” by saying, “Let me just leave you with one verse from the Bible before I go.” After explaining that verse (e.g., John 3:16; Acts 16:31), if the person displays any interest, the preacher again offers to preach the gospel to them: “Can I show you another verse like that one?” He then proceeds to preach the entire gospel.
Tip #3: Be Personal
If we are more personal with an individual, they are more likely to listen to our message. People are able to sense someone’s care and love towards them, and if we truly love those we give the gospel to, we ought to display it as we preach to them.
- Behold others in love. “Then Jesus beholding him loved him…” (Mark 10:21). As you approach and as you preach to the lost, spend time throughout the conversation (especially during times where they may speak a little) to think about them as a person. Meditate upon God’s love for them, Christ’s death for them, and the Spirit’s pull for them. Think about their spiritual past, their spiritual state, and their spiritual potential.
- Use their name. One way the Hebrews showed endearment or deep care for another was by using that person’s name twice in a row (e.g., Luke 10:41; Matthew 27:46; II Samuel 19:4). Before preaching the gospel to someone, ask for their name, and use their name frequently throughout the gospel presentation. This subconsciously conveys to the person our interest and thought towards them, which will result in their increased focus and interest. Like a good parent, we should desire the heart of the person: “My son, give me thine heart…” (Proverbs 23:26).
- Preach naturally. It is not good to preach the gospel robotically, in a rushed or non-relatable way. Though what you say from person to person may be the same, you should speak as if you were creating all phrases you say on the spot—that is, speak naturally.
Tip #4: Show and Quote Bible Verses
As preachers of the gospel, we should not only have a strong command of common gospel verses, but should also possess an arsenal of memorized Bible verses which could be utilized when contending for the faith. The apostles would often quote scriptures from memory as they preached (e.g., Acts 2:16-21, 25-28; 3:22-23; 4:11; 7:3). You should become someone who not only can turn to scripture with your hands, but also can quote it from your heart. While preaching, the best practice is to show the most important Bible verses that you want the person to see, and to quote other (shorter, less consequential) Bible verses to subtly add power and authority to the gospel message being presented.
Tip #5: Don’t Try to Be Unique
The best preachers of the gospel say the same things, use the same verses, and give the same illustrations over and over to each person they preach to (see Philippians 3:1). Because the gospel is perhaps the simplest of all Biblical mysteries, the desire to seek “some new thing” (Acts 17:21) and to be novel comes naturally to many. However, we ought never to become too complicated, but should rather “condescend to men of low estate” (Romans 12:16), so that even a child can understand our presentation of the gospel (Matthew 19:14).
I Corinthians 2:4-5: And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
II Corinthians 11:3: But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
Tip #6: Stay with Clear Scriptures
When the person you are preaching to begins to quote unclear scriptures out of context to try to prove a works-based salvation, in most cases you should not turn with them to that verse. It is better to respond with clear, easier-to-understand scriptures, than to attempt at explaining the unclear, harder-to-understand scriptures. They usually won’t agree with your explanation of that unclear verse anyway. This is how Jesus dealt with the devil when the devil quoted Psalm 91 out of context to tempt Jesus to sin:
Matthew 4:6-7: And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God (see Psalm 91:11-12; Deuteronomy 6:16).
Tip #7: Preaching to Groups
As we go soul-winning, we will sometimes have the opportunity to preach to several people at once. There are a few differences between how one preaches to a group as opposed to just an individual. When preaching to a group, the preacher should:
- Focus on the person who is most interested, and don’t try to engage everyone with questions.
- Speak loudly and boldly so that everyone can hear.
- Tightly control the conversation, disallowing anyone to take over the conversation through talking or excessive questioning. When you notice someone is viciously unreceptive and distracting, try blocking them from the conversation physically by interposing your body between them and the other person(s) you are preaching to. If they attempt to pull the other person(s) away, be sure to verbally rebuke them in a harsh way to insure (as best as possible) that the receptive one doesn’t get convinced by them to leave (see Mark 8:32-33; Acts 13:7-11; see also I Timothy 5:20).
Tip #8: Preaching to Households
After we get someone saved at their house (supposing we are going door to door, or happen upon someone on a road abutting their home), a good way to maximize the amount of people we get saved at that given time is to ask, “Is there someone else here I/we can speak to?” While preaching to the initial person, we may spot another person inside, and may more forcefully ask afterward instead, “I saw [such and such a person] back there. Who is that? Can you call them here for me? Can I ask them the same question I asked you?”
Acts 16:31-32: And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. 32 And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.
Tip #9: Speak While You Turn In the Bible
Every moment we spend out soul-winning is precious and valuable. Do not let there be long moments of silence as you turn in the Bible to your next verse. When locating scriptures or thinking about something as we preach, we should redeem the time by continuing to preach. Idle time unnecessarily lengthens the conversation, reduces the force of the gospel, lowers the hearer’s opinion of you, and provides the hearer’s mind time to wander and consider leaving.
Tip #10 Use Biblical Words
When speaking for God, the words which we speak should be God’s words, not our own.
I Peter 4:11: If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Therefore, we should utilize strictly Biblical terminology when telling people what they must do to be saved. We should not use extra-Biblical, un-Biblical, or misunderstood Biblical words.
I Corinthians 2:13: Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
| Biblical Words | Extra-Biblical Words | Un-Biblical Words | Misunderstood Biblical Words |
| “Believe”
“faith” |
“Ask Jesus to come into your heart”
“Accept Jesus as your personal Savior” |
“Give your life to Christ”
“Surrender to Jesus” |
“Repent”
“Confess” |
Tip #11: Use Biblical Illustrations
The most powerful illustrations and analogies we can use are those which are based upon the Bible. Although it is not wrong to make up our own illustrations, we should strive to be as Biblical as possible, as this will be more likely to clarify our point and convince someone.
The GIFT illustration: salvation is a gift (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8), and in the same way a gift is received freely and cannot be taken back (see also Romans 11:29), salvation is received freely and cannot be lost.
The PROMISE illustration: eternal life is a promise (I John 2:25; Titus 1:2), so just as someone is bound by their word, God will keep his promise of eternal life, and will never let us go to hell.
The CHILD illustration: we become children of God when we get saved (John 1:12; Galatians 3:26; I John 5:1). A child does no work in order to be born, nor can he ever cease to be a part of the family once he is born. As children of God, we are saved by faith, and, although God will punish us for our sins on the earth, he will never send us to hell.
Tip #12: Preach Repentance
The word “repent” simply means “change/turn” According to the Bible, the only repentance required for salvation is a change of beliefs (II Timothy 2:25; Matthew 21:29; see also Acts 3:19), not a change of habit, behavior, or deeds. For example, John the Baptist preached the “baptism of repentance” (Acts 19:4), teaching that people should change what they believe (repent) and trust in the coming Savior (John 3:36).
Matthew 21:32: For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.
The repentance that Jesus and the apostles preached for salvation was to turn from trusting in the law or trusting in other gods and toward believing in the true gospel and the true God (see Acts 20:21):
Mark 1:15: And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Acts 17:29-30: Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent. (see also Acts 20:21)
Therefore, when we preach the gospel, we must help people understand their need to change what they believe in order to be saved (Mark 6:12). At the end of our gospel presentation, we can do this by:
- Explaining the difference of beliefs––get them to understand that before, they were trusting in themselves, and not in Jesus. For example, “Before, you were thinking you had to keep the commandments to go to heaven. So were you trusting in Jesus, or in yourself?”
- Explaining the difference of eternal destinies––get them to understand that before, they were going to hell, not to heaven. For example, “If you would have died one hour ago, would you have gone to heaven or to hell?”
- Explaining the difference of religious affiliation––get them to understand that the church (or, religious meeting) they go to is a false church preaching a false gospel. You could, and really should, show them verses like Galatians 1:9, Romans 16:17-18, I John 4:1, Matthew 7:15, etc. Preaching against their false religion must happen before you lead them in the sinner’s prayer––it is occasionally at this point that unreceptive people will remove their façade and show you they really don’t believe the gospel you preached at all. Sometimes they will even, amazingly, make an openly complete 180o turn: “My church is not fake! You are a liar; we have to keep the commandments to be saved!”
Tip #13: Preaching to Other Religions
The same gospel of Jesus Christ can be used to save anyone, regardless of their religion: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16). However, in addition to the basic soul-winning presentation that we preach, when we encounter those of certain religions, it is necessary to prove some other doctrines that we do not otherwise have to prove with those of most Christian religions. Also, the emphasis will differ based upon their religion.
Most adherents to most false religions do not have very strong reasons for believing the way they do, and are therefore very easy to convince. Thus, the “religion strategy” will only be really necessary if you encounter a zealous and strong adherent to that particular false religion (e.g., a Somali Muslim, or a trained JW). Nevertheless, knowing exactly how to deal with a real Catholic or a real Muslim, for instance, will still help you in preaching to a watered-down or ignorant Catholic or Muslim.
When preaching to CATHOLICS/ORTHODOX, emphasize (as needed) that we do not need to confess our sins to a priest (see I Timothy 2:5), pray the rosary (see Matthew 6:7), or take communion (see Hebrews 10:10, 14) to be saved. If they get saved, further preach against a couple Catholic/Orthodox heresies, like idolatry (Exodus 20:4-5), priestly titles of “father” or “Holy Father” (Matthew 23:9; cf. John 17:11), the worship of Mary (Luke 4:8; Luke 11:27-28; see also, Mary was a sinner, Luke 1:47) or the demonic doctrine of forbidding clergy to get married and of the forbidding of the laity to eat meat on certain days (I Timothy 4:1-3).
When preaching to PENTECOSTALS, be sure to refute the false idea that we have to repent of our sins or confess our sins to go to heaven. Here is the threefold case against repentance of sin for salvation:
- Repentance of sin is a work, and we are not saved by our works (e.g., Romans 3:28). Turning from one’s evil way is “works” (Jonah 3:10), something we do of ourselves (see Ephesians 2:8), and not a suitable requirement for a gift (see Romans 6:23). Repentance of sin is part of the very definition of “the works of the law” (but see Galatians 2:16). Much effort is expended in repenting of one’s sins, which is a daily sacrifice (contrast: Hebrews 10:14), and thus is a part of our “works of righteousness which we have done” (Titus 3:5), and which therefore could never save our soul.
- Repentance of sin is a work God did not command for salvation (e.g., Acts 16:31; John 3:16). Believing in Jesus is sufficient to save someone, and there is no verse in the Bible which teaches we have to repent of our sins to go to heaven—there are verses which tell us to repent (see above), to repent of our sins (e.g., Ezekiel 18:21; II Corinthians 12:21), and even to repent of our sins to avoid God’s punishments (e.g. Jeremiah 4:14), but never that we must repent of our sins to go to heaven.
- Repentance of sin is a work that cannot save. Repentance of all sin is impossible: we are unable to remember all of our past sins, we are unable to know the depth and extent of our present sin (see Jeremiah 17:9), and we cannot fully remove future sin from our lives (Proverbs 20:9; Ecclesiastes 7:20). Moreover, one is still legally guilty of sins which they repent of—to stop doing a crime does not mean you are no longer guilty for having done it (see Jeremiah 2:22; 17:1; Hosea 7:2; see also Hebrews 10:10-11). Men like Judas Iscariot repented of his sin (Matthew 27:3-4), but he did not go to heaven (Mark 14:21; Acts 1:25).
Have a strong understanding of the doctrine of cessationism (the doctrine that all the prophetic and miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit have ceased, and that no one has them today), and be ready to defend it if needed.
- Against the prophetic/miraculous gift continuation: Hebrews 1:1-2 and I Corinthians 13:8.
- Against the apostle/prophet office continuation: I Corinthians 15:8 (cf. Acts 1:21-22; I Corinthians 9:1) and Ephesians 2:20 (see also Revelation 2:2).
When preaching to SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS, be prepared to defend the doctrine of hell, and to refute the false doctrine of “soul-sleep” (II Corinthians 5:6-8; Philippians 1:21-23; Luke 16:22-23; I Kings 17:20-22), as needed. Emphasize that we do not have to keep the law (use the term, “law”) to be saved (Romans 3:28; Galatians 2:16, 21; 5:4), and be prepared to refute the false idea that we should keep the sabbath day as Christians (Colossians 2:16-17; Mark 2:27-28; Galatians 4:9-11).
When preaching to JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES, be prepared to defend the doctrine of hell, which is best done against the JWs by using two verses that they neglected to corrupt in their false Bible version (NWT): Revelation 20:10 and Luke 16:22-25. JWs claim to believe that Jesus is the “Son of God,” but that he is not God. You can try:
(a) Explaining that “Son of God” is a divine title (see John 5:17-18; Hebrews 1:8 (KJV)).
(b) Plainly showing them some verses (KJV) that prove Jesus is God (e.g., John 1:1-3; 20:28; Philippians 2:5-6; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:8; see also Matthew 19:17 with John 10:11).
(c) Cleverly getting them to agree that Jesus is Jehovah: (1) read (KJV) Isaiah 45:23, confirm that it is Jehovah God talking, and then show them Philippians 2:10-11, where it is quoted as referring to Jesus; and/or (2) read Psalm 102:25-27, confirm that it is talking about Jehovah God, and then show them Hebrews 1:8-12, especially verses 10-12, where it is there quoted as a description of Jesus.
Be ready to defend the fact that Jesus died on a cross, not a torture stake (e.g., “crucified” Mark 15:25; “cross” Matthew 27:32 and Philippians 2:8; see also John 20:25), and that Jesus bodily rose from the dead, not just “spiritually” (Luke 24:39-43).
When preaching to MUSLIMS, be sure to explain that even just one sin will send someone to hell (James 2:10), and that, even if God balanced our good works with our bad works (see Quran 101:6-11), we would still go to hell (see Psalm 130:3). When talking about Jesus, try to use proofs of his Sonship (John 9:35-38; 10:36-37; Mark 14:61-64) and deity (Mark 2:5-7; Matthew 28:9; John 20:28) exclusively from the four gospels, assuring the Muslim that these are Jesus’ words, and that the Quran says that they are required to believe in them (Quran 2:136; 10:94; 29:46).
When preaching to ATHEISTS/AGNOSTICS, do not waste time trying to “prove” the existence of God or the truth of the Bible. If they seem moderately receptive, just simply offer the gospel to them to listen to as hypothetically true. Say something like, “Let’s just assume that God exists and the Bible is God’s word, and I’ll show you what it says you have to do to go to heaven. At the end, you can decide whether you want to believe it or not.” If you do indeed finish the gospel, you could (if needed) spend a little bit of time giving some proofs of God’s existence (e.g., Romans 1:20; Hebrews 3:4) or of the Bible’s truth (II Timothy 3:16; II Peter 1:20-21). It is important to always use the scripture to reason with them (Acts 17:2), because “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).