The following is a sample conversation showing the basics of leading a person to the Lord. In this conversation, I use the Romans Road plan to lead Rob Petrie to the Lord. Whichever plan you use, you want to make sure that the person understands four truths: First, he is a sinner; second, there is a penalty for sin; third, Jesus paid the penalty for sin; fourth, salvation is appropriated by placing one’s faith in Christ alone for salvation. For illustration sake, the person (Rob Petrie), has visited our church and I have called ahead of time to arrange this visit. Certain parts of the conversation will be either in italics or bold. Italicized words or phrases are key components to leading someone to the Lord. Bold words or phrases are explained elsewhere.

(Knock on door)

Mr. Convert: Hello

Bro. Johnie: How are you Mr. Petrie?

Rob: Fine, please come.

Johnie: Thank you. I noticed your Azalea bushes have started blooming. They’re beautiful.

Rob: Thank you. My wife had me plant those when we first moved here. I’m surprised they survived all of these years.

Johnie: How long have you lived here?

Rob: About 7 years.

Johnie: Are you from Evansville or did you move here from somewhere else?

Rob: I’m originally from here, but we lived in Illinois for a couple of years before moving back.

Johnie: Do you like to be called Rob, Robert, or Bob?

Rob: Rob is fine.

Johnie: So, Rob, where do you work?

Rob: I work for Alcoa.

Johnie: That’s hot work isn’t?

Rob: It can be in some areas. Actually, my job’s not too bad. I drive a forklift hauling materials from place to place.

Johnie: I noticed you have two kids, where are they?

Rob: They are in their rooms doing their homework.

Johnie: Could I meet them for a second?

Rob: Sure. Hey kids, come here for a minute.

Johnie: Hey guys. So you’re doing your homework?

Kids: Yeah.

Johnie: Well, I don’t want to keep you from it. But would you like a balloon?

Kids: Sure.

Johnie: Alright, I’ll make you a sword and you a swan. OK?

Rob: That’s pretty neat, isn’t it kids? What do you tell him?

Kids: Thank you.

Johnie: I’ll talk to you kids later. You’d better get back to your homework.

Johnie: I usually carry a few balloons for the kids. They get a kick out of it.

Rob: Where’d you learn to make those?

Johnie: I have a friend who is a full-time child evangelist and he taught me how to make a few simple things with the balloons. The hardest part was learning to blow them up.

Rob: It doesn’t look easy.

Johnie: Well, everyone says I’m full of hot air. So I guess it’s a little easier for me. I now that you visited our church last Sunday, how did you find out about it?

Rob: To be honest, we’ve never gone to church much, but when I was a kid, I used to go to a Baptist down the street from where I lived. So, we’ve been visiting a few Baptist churches. We felt like the kids really needed some religious training.

Johnie: You’re right. Kids need to be taught about the Lord, especially while they are young. You know, Bob, I’m glad that you visited our church. I’m always excited when new people visit and I want you to come back. In fact, I try to encourage everyone to keep coming to church. But you know, there is something that is more important than coming to church, that is knowing for sure you are going to heaven when you die. It is possible to attend church faithfully, and still not go to heaven. Rob, do you mind if I ask you an important question?

Rob: No, go ahead.

Johnie: Well, Rob, if you were to die tonight, are you 100% sure that you would go to heaven?

Rob: Well, I’m not 100% sure, but I would hope so. I’ve lived a pretty good life.

Johnie: Rob, let me ask you another question. If you could know for sure that you were going to go to heaven beyond a shadow of a doubt, would you be interested?

Rob: Sure, if it were possible.

Johnie: Well, I’ve got good news for you. It is possible to know for sure. The apostle John wrote in 1 John 5:13, "These things have I written unto that believe on the name of the son of God that ye may know that ye have eternal life." You see, God doesn’t want us to have any doubts about our eternal destiny. It is too important of a subject to be "in the dark" about.

Rob: I guess so.

Johnie: let me ask you one more question, "If I could show you from the Bible how you could know for sure that you are going to heaven after you die, would you be willing to do what the Bible says?"

Rob: well, maybe I don’t.

Johnie: Would you mind if I just showed you what the Bible says?

Rob: Well, no. Go ahead.

Johnie: First, the Bible says that "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Notice that it says "all have sinned." Does that mean me?

Rob: Well, yes. It does.

Johnie: You’re right. How Larry over here with me? Does that include him?

Rob: I guess so.

Johnie: Again, you’re right. Now, Rob. Does that include you?

Rob: Yes, I know I’ve sinned, but I haven’t done anything really bad.

Johnie: Notice what the verse says, we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. The word "sin" here means "to miss the mark." Suppose I were to draw a target on the wall. The center bulls eye is sinless perfection. We have all missed that mark. Some people, who have lived pretty good lives, have hit the ring around the bulls eye. Others have hit the edge of the target, and some of us have missed the target altogether. The point is, no matter who we are we have all missed the bulls eye.

Or look at this way, suppose I were to build a pier stretching a little ways onto the Ohio River. I then asked your kids to jump off the pier across the river. Of course, they wouldn’t make it. Next, I run and jump. Since I am bigger, I will probably jump a little farther than your kids, but I am still not going to jump all the way across. Finally, I ask Carl Lewis to jump. Being the world record holder, he will jump farther I can, but he will still not make it across. That is how heaven is, some people may be "better" than others, but we are all sinners and none of us can get to heaven on our own. Does that make sense?

Rob: Yes.

Johnie: One other thing, notice here that it says, "There is none, righteous, no not one." Not only do we commit sin, but we are sinners by nature. It is this sin nature that causes us to sin. For example, suppose you had two apple trees. One of the trees produced a lot of apples while the other one only produced a few apples. Now, the fact that one tree produces a lot of apples and the other only produces a few apples, doesn’t change the fact that they are both apple trees. The kind of tree is not determined by the amount of fruit, but by the kind of fruit. We are sinners because we are "sinner kind" of people by nature. Does that make sense?

Rob: Yes.

Johnie: So you realize that we are all sinners and that you are a sinner?

Rob: Yes.

Johnie: Now, since we are sinners, we owe a penalty. Notice in Romans 6:23 that it says, "The wages of sin is death." A wage is a payment. When you work at Alcoa, each week they pay you a wage for the work that you have done. The Bible says that there is a payment that we will receive for sin¾ death. Now this is speaking, not only of a physical death, such as dying of a heart attack, but of a spiritual death as well. In Rev. 20:10 we read, "And whosoever’s name was not found written in the Lamb’s book of life was cast into the lake of fire which is the second death." The penalty for being a sinner is both physical death and spiritual death in hell. That’s not a very pretty picture, is it?

Rob: No, it’s not.

Johnie: But if you will notice, I only read half of the verse. Notice the "but" that comes next. I am sure glad that God butts in here. It goes on to say, "but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." There are a couple of important points to notice here. First, eternal life (going to heaven) is through Jesus Christ, a person. Notice, it is not through good works, through going to church, through giving money, but through a person. Now, why is this? If you will remember, the wages of sin is what? Death! You see, the wages of sin is not going to church. It is not reformation, becoming a good person. It is not giving money. It is death. That means you must die, both physically and spiritually, for your sins. That is the only payment. This is where Jesus comes in. You see, Jesus was both God and man. John tells us, speaking of Jesus, that "the Word was God." Jesus, was God in the flesh and He lived a sinless life. When he died on the cross he cried out, "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Why did God the Father forsake Jesus? Because, when Jesus was dying on the cross, He was suffering the penalty for my sin and your sin. As God, he is infinite and could suffer in three to six hours on the cross what it would take you and me an eternity to suffer. Then, He cried out, "It is finished." In the Greek, this is one word, tetelestai, which means, "paid in full." Sometimes when you pay a bill, the clerk will stamp the invoice with the words "paid in full." This is what Jesus did. When He died on the cross, He paid in full the penalty or wage for sin. That is why it says in Romans 5:8 "But commendeth His love toward u sin that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Jesus loved us so much that He suffered the torments of hell in our place. That is why salvation is through Jesus, not through the church. You see the Baptist church didn’t die for you. The Catholic church didn’t die for you. Only Jesus, as the God-man could do that. Does that make since?

Rob: Yeah. I’ve never quite had it explained to me like that before.

Johnie: Notice also, that eternal life is "a gift." It is not something we earn by good works. Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us, "For by grace are ye saved through faith and not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast." There are a couple of reasons that "works" cannot save us. First, doing good works does not pay the "wage" for sin. Remember, the wage or payment for sin is death, not good works. Second, Jesus said, "It is finished." He paid it all. There is nothing you can add to it. He paid the full price for you. In fact, He is the only one who could have paid the price. Do you understand this?

Rob: I think so.

Johnie: To put it in simple words, there is nothing that you could do to save yourself. You could not pay the penalty. But Jesus did pay the penalty for you if you are willing to accept His payment on your behalf. This brings us to two of the most exciting verses in Romans, 10:9 and 10:13. Notice that it says, "That if thou" you can put your name there, I’m going to put my name there. "That if Johnie, shall confess with his mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in His heart that God has raised Him from the dead, Johnie shalt be saved." Does it say, "might be saved?"

Rob: No.

Johnie: Does it say, "Hopefully he will be saved?"

Rob: No.

Johnie: What does it mean then.

Rob: That he will be saved for sure.

Johnie: Good. We can know if we are saved. Now, what does it say that we must do to be saved? We smut confess with our mouth and believe in our heart. This is more than mere mental assent. Some people believe the truths about Jesus, but they have not sincerely trusted Him as their Savior. They know about Jesus, but they don’t know Jesus.

Rob: Well, I pray everyday that God will help me.

Johnie: that’s good, but praying to God for our needs is not saving faith. Saving faith is trusting Jesus and Him alone to save us from our sins. Let me illustrate it this way. Let’s pretend that this book here is the penalty for my sin. My left hand represents me under the load of sin. Now, Jesus is the only one who can take this load of sin off my hand. No matter how hard I try, I can’t remove it. Many people are trying to remove the load by going to church, by praying, by doing good deeds, but it doesn’t work. What I have to do is trust Jesus and Him alone to remove the load. You see, the Bible says that the "Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." Now the Book is on my right hand. My right hand represents Jesus. He is the only one who can remove it. Saving faith is trusting Him and Him alone to remove that load of sin. That’s what it means to "call on the Lord." Do you understand this?

Rob: Yeah. I think so.

Johnie: Notice first of all it says that, "Whosoever…" Now "whosoever" means anybody, young, old, black, white, rich, poor. That includes you Rob.

Rob: yes, it does.

Johnie: Now, let me review. In order to know for sure that you would go to heaven, the Bible says that we must realize that we are sinners, that there is a penalty for sin, the Jesus paid that penalty, and we must accept His payment on our behalf. Is there any part of this that you don’t understand?

Rob: Well, how do I accept Him?

Johnie: I’m glad you asked. When I was in seminary, I worked at McKee Baking Company. This is the place that makes Little Debbie Snack Cakes. The company had a policy in which they would pay a portion of the school bill for students who were employed by them. Each semester they set money aside for this purpose. Any employee who was a student could use this money. All He or she had to do was to fill out a one-page application and ask for the money. My first semester working there, I did not get any money. You know why? Because it wasn’t provided? No! Because I didn’t know about it and didn’t ask. The next semester I filled out the paperwork and they gave me money for my school bill. Salvation works the same way. Jesus has already provided it. All you have to do is go ask for it. You trust Him to pay the penalty for you. Would you be willing to do this?

Rob: I think so.

Johnie: This is what we will do. I am going to pray. Then I want you pray. If you want, I will lead you in the prayer. In this prayer you are going to admit to God that you have sinned and tell him that you are trusting Him and Him alone to save you. Now, it is not the prayer that saves you, but trusting Him. Would you be willing to do this?

Rob: Yes, I will.

Johnie: Great! Let’s pray. "Dear Lord, Rob here has been given the plan of salvation. I pray right now that he will understand the plan and accept you as His Savior." (I keep my head bowed and proceed) Now Rob, if you are willing to trust Christ, pray this prayer, "Dear Lord, I admit that I have sinned. Please forgive me. I believe you died in my place and as best as I know how, I am trusting you as my Savior. Amen." Now Rob, if you prayed that prayer, would you just take my hand as a testimony? Amen. God bless you. Now, Rob, let’s look again at Romans 10:9, 13. Notice that it says "if you call on the Lord you shall be saved." Did you just call on the Lord to save you?

Rob: Yes.

Johnie: Then, Rob, according to these verses, what would happen to you if you were to die right now?

Rob: I guess I would go to heaven.

Johnie: Look again, does it say that if you call on the Lord you can guess that you will go to heaven?

Rob: No. It says you shall go to heaven.

Johnie: Right, so according to the Bible, where would you go?

Rob: To heaven.

Johnie: Great. Rob, your salvation is not based on how you feel, but on the Word of God. You see, God can’t lie. He has promised to save you and He did!

Rob: I see.

Johnie: Now, I don’t want to burden you with too much tonight, but I would like to take just a couple of minutes to show you what comes after salvation. Would that be all right?

Rob: Sure.

Johnie: Look at Romans 10:10, "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed." This means that after being saved we shouldn’t be ashamed to tell others. In fact, we should confess Jesus openly before others. Now, we could do this in several ways. You could run out into the street and stop every car and tell everyone you were just saved. Or you could get on the CB radio and broadcast it on all of the CB channels. But probably the best way is to do it at church. In fact, there are two ways we confess Jesus publicly at our church. The first is what we call making a public profession. What we do is this. After I preach I give what is called an invitation. Do you know what that it?

Rob: yes. The Baptist church I went to as a kid had an invitation.

Johnie: During the invitation I would like you to come forward. I promise not to embarrass you. I just want to tell the folks that you have accepted Christ and that you want to make it public. They will be excited for you. Would you be willing to do that?

Rob: I’m a little shy.

Johnie: That’s understandable. I tell you what, what if I got someone to sit with you and to come with you down the aisle. Would you be willing to do that?

Rob: Yes, I guess.

Johnie: Great, I tell you what. I will give you a call this Saturday to remind you about church. If you need a ride I’ll even swing by and pick you up.

Rob: No, that’s not necessary.

Johnie: Well, I’ll see you Sunday. Do you have any questions?

Rob: No.

Johnie: One more thing. Another way we make our profession public is through baptism. Very Christian ought to be baptized. Now, I am going to leave you a little booklet on baptism and I’ll go over that with you later. But I want you to think about being baptized. OK?

Rob: Sure.