“The Bible is Wrong!” – Salisbury Evangelism
Dark clouds lingered over Salisbury during today’s outreach. Due to the threat of rain, it was decided not to run the literature table. Instead, we just used the open-air board for preaching and engaged in tract work and one-to-one witnessing.
We had a good number on the team today, including a young man who joined us for the first time. One of the ‘problems’ with having so many on the team is that the small area is well and truly covered, with Christians handing out literature. Nearly everyone who passed through the area would have been offered a tract.
Paul was the first preacher for the day. He did a good job speaking on the topic, “Do You Believe These Lies about Heaven?” In this message, he addresses the common misconceptions people have about how to get to Heaven. It was a clear gospel message.
For my first open-air, I preached on “Wages or Gift?” from Romans 6:23. A few people would pause to listen to segments of the message, then move on. The good thing is that, since this talk is just a straightforward explanation of Scripture, all those who paused got to hear a portion of God’s Word.
Tony preached next. He shared how, in many sales, there is often small print which traps the buyer. He used this to illustrate that the gospel has no ‘small print’; what it says, it says. One man who listened to the preaching was greatly encouraged by what was said.
Between the messages, we left Romans 6:23 on the board. This caused one man to stop, read it, and then look at me oddly. I asked him, “What do you think about what it says?” He replied, “I’m a Roman Catholic.” I answered by saying, “That verse is in your Catholic Bible, so what do you think about it?” The man just shook his head and told me that I should read the Book of James. I assured him I had read it, and would commend people to read it, but that didn’t explain what he thought about Romans 6:23.
The man answered, “The problem with you evangelicals is that you focus too much on the free gift. You never focus on the good works we must do.” He then went on to say how bad evangelicals are for thinking they can be sure of their salvation. I asked the man if he had assurance of salvation, and he boasted that he didn’t, as that keeps him humble. He boldly declared that no one could know for sure if they’ll be saved.
I asked him what he thought about 1 John 5:12–13. He confessed he hadn’t read it, so I showed him in the Bible where it says we can know that we have eternal life. The man said, “Well, yes, it says that in English, but what does the Greek really say?” Using the Literal Word app on my phone, I showed him the Greek, and how, even in the original language, it speaks of us knowing and having assurance of eternal life.
The man was outraged and defiantly declared, “I believe Rome! The Bible is wrong!” I challenged his position, but he simply replied, “The Bible is wrong!” With that, he walked away. The man revealed that he was trusting in man-made religion, and not the God of the Bible. If he would follow his own advice to read the Book of James, he would see in James 1:16–25 the importance of the centrality of God’s Word in establishing truth and avoiding deception. Rejecting God’s Word will never make one wise for salvation (2 Timothy 3:15).
After all this, Paul preached again. This time, he preached on “How Can I Know if God is Real?” He did a great job dealing with common arguments and pointing people to Jesus.
Then I preached on “The Road to Heaven”. A couple of people listened, and two received copies of John’s Gospel.
Overall, it was a good day in Salisbury. Please pray for all those who heard the good news.
SDG!
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Josh Williamson is a full-time evangelist with The Open-Air Mission. Since 1853, OAM has been sharing the good news on the streets of the United Kingdom. To stay updated about the work of the Mission, please sign up for the free quarterly magazine and monthly prayer notes.SUBSCRIBE TO OUR MAGAZINE AND PRAYER NOTES