I was sharing the Gospel with someone at my work place today and I have a key point I wanted to share that I think is essential in witnessing. One thing that I feel is essential is telling people why they need Jesus. I think so many people are told to believe in Jesus but have no idea why they should.
First, imagine you are in a court of law with a million dollar fine in front of you. There is nothing you can do to pay the fine and the judge is about to send you to jail for the rest of your life. You plead with the judge that you are a good person, that you have done many good deeds.
"That may be so," says the judge, "but you have broken the law, and there must be payment for your actions." The judge is about to pass sentence on you when at the last second, someone comes in and places a million dollars in front of the judge.
The judge looks at you and says, "You are free to go. Not because you are a good person, not because you deserve it, but because your fine has been paid." That is what Jesus did for us on the cross. He lived a perfect, sinless life and died in our place. At His death on the cross, our sins were placed on Him and He paid the fine in our place.
After explaining substitutionary atonement, explain that people are not going to hell for their disbelief of Jesus. People are going to hell because they have sinned against God and God demands payment for their sins. There are two options for that payment- your soul in hell for eternity or the blood of Jesus on the cross.
At this point, you can also explain why all other religions do not provide for salvation. There is no payment for their sins- only Christianity provides a complete removal of sins through the blood of Jesus Christ.
I believe a big stumbling block preventing people from accepting the gospel is all the other "options" world religions offer to them. If you eliminate disbelief in Jesus, you have leveled the playing field. Once people understand Jesus is the payment for their sins, the gospel makes complete sense. This is the reason they need to repent and trust in Jesus.
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Your story is remarkably familiar, I having heard similar stories for over 40 years out of the Baptist faith. Unfortunately, it just doesn't carry much weight anymore with the vast majority of educated individuals that I know. History shows the origins of this theory; Anselm was a Norman in a conquered Anglo-Saxon England, appointed Bishop by the Norman king. He actually developed this atonement theory in an attempt to explain the crucifixion without scripture. It actually isn't validated in scripture. Jewish sacrifices WERE NOT about substitutionary forgiveness. Rather, they came from the idea of making a sacrifice, to literally "make sacred," and offer this up to God as an offering, and also, as a meal with God. Jewish thinking would find that God has to take his anger out on the goat abhorrent.
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