Therefore Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name
(John 20:30-31).
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Of the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John… John was written for the unbeliever… that the unbeliever may believe and have eternal life.
The phrase "eternal life" occurs 3 times in Matthew, 2 times in Mark, 3 times in Luke and 15 times in John. According to the Ryrie Study Bible, each of the four Gospels present the following number of miracles:
Matthew: 20 miracles
Mark: 18 miracles
Luke: 20 miracles
John: 9 Miracles
John has fewer miracles than the other books. But the ones revealed in John, were used to point the reader to eternal life. From a miracle, I can talk about God's power, God's love, eternal life, etc. In John, the miracles were used to point to eternal life.
Unbelievers become Christians by reading the Gospel of John and I recommend it to those who are seeking God.
John is Different from the other three Gospels
If you will read the fifteen scriptures in the Gospel of John which contain the phrase "eternal life" you will see that Jesus clearly and unequivocably states that eternal life comes by faith and faith alone... that eternal life comes from believing in him, not by doing certain things. And Jesus defines eternal life as knowing Jesus and knowing God the Father (17:3).
The other three Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke are called the Synoptic Gospels. This is because they are very similar to each other and also very different from the Gospel of John. In each case where the phrase "eternal life" is used in the book of John, Jesus or John the Baptist introduces it as a topic in the conversation. But in every case where the phrase "eternal life" is introduced into the conversation in the Synoptics, it is an inquirer who brings up the subject of eternal life because the inquirer wants to know what he can DO, to have or inherit eternal life (Matthew 19:16, Mark 10:17, Luke 10:25, 18:18). Jesus, in every case, tells the inquirer what to DO for eternal life... He says to keep the law. In each case Jesus discouraged the inquirer by revealing that keeping the law is very, very difficult. In Matthew 5: 21-22, 27-28, Jesus said that mere anger broke the commandment to not commit murder and than mere lust broke the commandment to not commit adultery. In other words, Jesus was saying that it is impossible to keep the law.
When the inquirers in the Synoptics asked "What can I DO?" they were asking how to acquire eternal life by works. Jesus in each case said that they had to keep all of the commandments. But in the Gospel of John we see that, throughout the ministry of Jesus, he was revealing another way, believe in Jesus. So, Jesus clearly presented two ways to eternal life. It's like saying that you can travel from the USA to China using by technology (by aircraft or boat) or you can travel there without technology (swim). When the inquirers in the Synoptics asked "what can I DO to inherit eternal life"... that was like asking "How can I get from the USA to China without technology?
The human body needs a little from technology help to get across the ocean from the USA to China. Technology can do things that we can't. We need help to enter eternal life as well. What we need is called grace. We can't enter eternal life by works. We enter by grace and through faith;
- " for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8).
Justification Before God
- "Now that no man is justified by the law before God is evident, for, "The righteous will live by faith' (Galatians 3:11)
- "Because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight; for through the law comes the knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20).
The Gospel of John says,
Therefore Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name
(John 20:30-31).
.
Of the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John… John was written for the unbeliever… that the unbeliever may believe and have eternal life. So, a primary goal in evangelism is to encourage the unbeliever to read the Gospel of John.
The scriptures tell us exactly which book of the Bible to use to bring about conversions... the Gospel of John!
So, unless you wish to do it the hard way... to cause much confusion... use the Gospel of John for evangelism!
How Can You Do This?
Develop friendships with unbelievers... followers of Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, atheists and other unbelievers. Pray for them regularly. Pray the disciple making prayer acronym HOW SO. Click here if you don't know these prayers. These are the prayers that scripture has instructed us to pray... for saving the lost. Anytime that you plan to meet with an unbeliever, ask another believer to pray for your meeting.
When you are with unbelievers, show interest in their beliefs, praying HOW SO before and during your conversation. If they show interest in your beliefs, offer to read the book of John with them. It often takes over two hours of conversation before the unbeliever will express interest in my beliefs. This is all very easy if you will pray the prayers from scripture in the acronym HOW SO as you talk. If you want to do it the hard way and pressure them into a spiritual conversation... resulting in lots of tension and conflict, go ahead. You will probably make them mad at you and Christians in general. But, if you want to do it the easy way, the way the Bible tells us to do it, click the link above to learn the prayers in HOW SO.
When you get together with the unbeliever to read John, tell the unbeliever that you are there to serve him or her, that anytime the unbeliever wants to take a break or stop, he or she should just say so.
Pray out loud for the unbeliever and ask God to grant understanding to both of you. Take one verse at a time. Ask the unbeliever to read each verse and ask what he or she sees or understands in the verse. Prayerfully answer any questions they have, if you can. At the end of the session, simply ask the unbeliever to let you know when he or she would like to get together again.
I did this with a young Hindu man, a research engineer from India. After each meeting I asked him to let me know when he wanted to get together again. Each day he said "tomorrow". He was in between semesters and had a lot of free time. We spent nearly five hours in John every day for seven days. We actually covered the entire book in those seven days. In day three I could see great joy and peace in him. I concluded silently that he had been born again in that moment... I concluded that from now on in our studies and prayers he would be finding out what had happened to him. A few weeks later he told me that he had, in fact, become a Christian on that day.
You may say... I can't lead an unbeliever through the Gospel of John. Let me tell you a story... a true story.
When I was in college I was in a Bible study led by a very effective evangelical ministry called Cru. It was led by another student who was majoring in Pre-med / Biomedical Engineering. His name was Sam. At one point Sam asked me to lead that study because he was about to graduate and head off to medical school. My response was "I can't do that." I didn't mean that I didn't want to or that I didn't have the time. I didn't believe that I was capable. It was like asking me to fly a spaceship. Sam looked me directly in the eyes and said firmly "It is not your words that you will speak. You will speak words of scripture, and His word will not return void. It is not your job to convict others of sin. The Holy Spirit will do that. Pray about it." I prayed about it and led the group. I had an internal witness that I should. Men in that group became Christians and then became evangelists.
You see, God's word is power. It is alive. It is enough. It is more than enough!
People are converted by reading God's word even though they don't have anyone to explain it to them.
Just ask the unbeliever to read the Gospel of John with you. Pray for and with him or her. Trust the results to God.
- "so is my word that goes out of my mouth: it will not return to me void, but it will accomplish that which I please, and it will prosper in the thing I sent it to do" (Isaiah 55:11).
- "For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit..." (Hebrews 4:12).
- " But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit... When he has come, he will convict the world about sin, about righteousness, and about judgment" (John 14:26, 16:7-8).
God's words can do what man's words can never do. Prayerfully persuade unbelievers to read the Gospel of John, with you or alone... or any way that they will read it.
God Bless,
Jim Phillips