Anyone—regardless of age, church experience, or Bible knowledge—who has understood the Gospel well enough to believe it should be able to communicate the Gospel to others. Otherwise how can we be assured that they have understood it well enough to believe it themselves? Having gone through the experience of hearing the Gospel, comprehending its implications, and responding to it with repentance and faith, they should be able to describe that message and response (on their own age and theological level, of course) to someone else.

For example, if someone explains to me "the message" of changing a tire, and I go through the experience of changing a tire, I should be able to relate the essence of that message to you when you have a flat, even if I don't know the precise terms of components like "jack," "wheel cover," and "lug nut." If I am unable to tell you the basics of changing a tire, you have a right to question whether I've really been through the experience myself. That's why it looks darkly on the experience of any professing Christian who maintains that he does not know enough to speak to someone about the salvation of their soul.

I'm convinced that many true Christians doubt their ability to verbalize the gospel because after their conversion they were never asked, in the words of 1 Peter 3:15, to "give an account of the hope that is in" them. From the very beginning of their own relationship with Him they've never had to talk to anyone about knowing Christ, so now they've come to believe they can't.

In my own experience, when I presented myself to make a public profession of faith in Christ and to become a candidate for baptism, all that was required of me was to nod my head at the right time to certain questions. No one ever asked me why I had presented myself or what I believed. Everyone assumed that I adequately understood the gospel and had responded with true repentance and faith.

Then there are those who think they cannot adequately share the Gospel unless they've had formal training in evangelism. I'm for evangelism training, but training is not necessary before you can tell someone about Jesus and your own testimony. In John 9 we read of a man born blind who, within an hour after his conversion, is witnessing to Ph.D.'s in religion (the Pharisees). Obviously he'd had no evangelism training, but he was able to talk about Jesus and his own conversion. As Martyn Lloyd-Jones used to say, after being saved and after hearing countless presentations of the Gospel in sermons, if Christians still believe they need massive amounts of specialized training before they can evangelize, then either they have heard very poor preaching or they have been very poor listeners.

But it does boost one's confidence in sharing the gospel to know a general outline of what to say and to have some appropriate verses of Scripture committed to memory. Several years ago I developed an outline to hang my thoughts on, along with at least two key verses for each section. I don't follow it woodenly in every situation, for each evangelistic encounter is unique. And sometimes I condense it a bit. But having a full presentation of the gospel ready on my lips does give me a sense of direction and a feeling of preparedness.

You're welcome to adapt the outline for use in your own personal evangelism, and you can find it by clicking here. And if you aren't sure of the Gospel yourself, or would just like to read one of the greatest messages of the most influential Book in the world, you are warmly invited to read the outline as well.