Gospel First Aid

When I attended my initial first aid training, I was told that my job was simply to keep the patient alive until the ambulance arrives.

I needed to learn how to react automatically so that I could stop the bleeding, cool the burn, or keep oxygen-filled blood moving to the brain.

There’s no time in an emergency to consult books or watch ‘how-to’ videos… you’ve got to react fast so that you can keep someone alive until help arrives.

But what about spiritual first aid?

If someone wants to find out how to become a follower of Jesus, then what ‘gospel first aid’ would you administer to them?

As a young Christian I was trained in the ‘Two Ways to Live’ gospel outline, and it’s something that every follower of Jesus can benefit from.

But if you’ve got ten seconds to tell someone how to be saved from God’s judgement and receive eternal life, then what would you say?

Well, probably the simplest, most direct summary is, “Jesus is Lord”.

For we read in the Bible that:

If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)

So, just say, “Jesus is Lord”.

And then you can easily flesh that out a little bit by telling the person that they need to ask Jesus to be their Lord.

Then, when they come to follow Jesus, they can start to learn more about the amazing way that Jesus brought reconciliation through his death and resurrection.

But to give people the gospel first aid to help them survive God’s judgement, they just need to know and believe that Jesus is Lord.

And because Jesus rose from the dead, they can have totally confidence in him, for eternity.

JODIE McNEILL

(Photo credit: The NRMA via flickr.com)