How Evangelists Use the Law to Proclaim the Gospel

The gospel is the Good News of what Jesus Christ has already done for us. He was crucified, died, and rose again on our behalf. It is the power of the Holy Spirit working through this message that creates faith in an unbeliever’s heart.

While the saving work of the Holy Spirit comes through the gospel, the law plays a vital role in evangelism. When shared with love and discernment, the law prepares a person’s heart to receive the message that Christ has done it all.

How can we deliver this message from the Bible?

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) “Who then can be saved?” (Mark 10:26)

The challenge for any evangelist is learning to distinguish between symptoms and the actual disease.

When you talk to a friend or a stranger at their door, most people will readily admit their life isn’t perfect. They can list plenty of things going wrong. But those struggles are just symptoms of a much deeper problem. Applying the gospel to those individual struggles treats the symptoms without curing the actual disease. The true purpose of the law is to reveal the root cause behind all of life’s brokenness—a disease called sin.

To use the law with proper discernment, we must understand its objective. The law brings a person to the realization that they cannot save themselves from the consequences of sin. No matter how hard they try, they can never achieve righteousness in the eyes of God on their own. The law exposes sin and confronts us with eternal realities, prompting a person to finally cry out, “Help! What must I do to be saved?”

What does it look like to communicate this gently but clearly?

We could say:

“I’m sorry to hear you are dealing with that guilt and stress. Life is incredibly challenging, and these are symptoms that all of us face. But these struggles point to a deeper issue—a broken relationship with God.

God originally intended a perfect world free from suffering and death, where we lived in direct relationship with him. Sin broke that connection, and when our vertical relationship with God is fractured, our horizontal relationships with others suffer too. The key is getting right with God so we can find true freedom. Do you feel like you have that right relationship with God today? Would you like to know what the Bible says it takes to get there?”

There is no greater joy for an evangelist than answering that question with the message of salvation.

We can then share:

“I can’t promise God will instantly remove every hardship. We live in a fallen world and troubles will come. But finding freedom in Christ means we see God in those problems. Motivated by love, he wants us to see the gravity of sin. That is why Jesus died on the cross—to save us from eternal separation from God. The Bible promises, ‘Believe and you will be saved.’ Christ provides the ultimate remedy for the disease of sin, and the assurance that he will walk with you through everything this life throws at you.”

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Content from this post is in reference to the book, “We Believe – Therefore We Speak” by David J. Valleskey (pgs. 94-97).