After forty full weeks, our perfect, identical twin girls, Rebekah and Sara Evans, were stillborn in March of 1998. I remember thinking that this couldn’t be happening. The loss was overwhelming but our trust in the Lord remained unshaken. A few months later, we decided to continue our healing by taking a cruise. God immediately connected us with a wonderful Christian couple on the ship who graciously ministered to our broken hearts. We shared many laughs and many tears.
One day, while sitting outside on deck chairs, the man asked me, “What method do you use for personal evangelism?” Slightly embarrassed, I admitted that I had no real plan for sharing my faith. He then introduced me to what he called “the Roman road to evangelism.” Since that time, I’ve led many to Christ, using his suggested Scriptures from the book of Romans.
The Bible says, “There is no one righteous, not even one,” and “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:10 & 23, NIV). This means that all of us are sinners in need of forgiveness. Our sin separates us from God but God loves us so much that He made provision for our sin: “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). Jesus loves each of us enough to give His life in payment for our sins.
The result of all sin is separation from God and death, “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). Salvation is a free gift. It cannot be earned but it is available to anyone who humbly asks to receive it. Honestly, it sounds too good to be true but God made the process very simple so nobody would refuse His free gift of eternal life.
Romans also gives us the Bible’s most concise guide for accepting God’s forgiveness and eternal life through Jesus. “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved” (Rom. 10:9-10), meaning you must believe Jesus died for your sins and rose from the dead, and you must tell someone that He’s your Lord and Savior.
If you’re separated from God, you can ask for forgiveness and salvation right now.
Prayer: “Dear God, I know I have sinned and stand separated from You. I need Your forgiveness and I need you. I confess my sins and turn from them today. I ask You to come into my life and be my Lord and my Savior. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.”
Friends, if you’ve followed this simple Roman road to salvation, it’s legitimate and will be eternally life-changing. Tell someone the good news about about your faith in Jesus today. {eoa}
Pitts and Mary Evans met at the University of South Carolina and have been married since 1981. They have three adult children, a daughter in-law, a son in-law and eight grandchildren. Pitts first attended Whole Word Fellowship with his parents in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was later called to full-time ministry and currently serves as the senior pastor of WWF and the Northern Virginia House of Prayer. He is the voice of our weekday The Whole Word Podcast. Pastor Pitts also directs our international ministry, overseeing humanitarian efforts, combating human trafficking, ministering in pastor’s conferences, Bible schools and seminaries in other nations. His primary calling is for recruiting and equipping the bride of Christ through Bible teaching and preaching. His new book, The Wife of God, is available from Amazon.