Man’s Gospel Excuses & God’s Answers
The following is a list of 12 common objections or excuses people sometimes have in response to a gospel presentation and the answers God gives in Scripture. Don’t just quote the verse to squash further discussion; but instead, explain how the verse citedrelates to their question.If when talking with someone, they parade one objectionafter another, in all likelihood the problem is not an intellectual difficulty with understanding the gospel but their unwillingness to face and deal with their own spiritual and moral failure. John 3:19says, “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”Not everysalvation decision is a result from a 15-minute conversation. Remember God has been very patient with you in the past, so be patient with your friend or family member. Remember too our goal is not to win the argument but to win a precious soul for the Lord; and that requires a heart that knows compassion for the lost and a tongue that speaks the truth with love. Discuss their concern or question, but always turn the conversation back to the question of “What will you do with Jesus?”
- Excuse: Loved Ones in Hell
Answer: They Wouldn’tWant You There Too
Luke 16:27-28 “Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.”
- Excuse: Procrastinationwith Salvation
Answer: Urgency of the Present Opportunity
2 Corinthians 6:1-2 “We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. 2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)”
- Excuse: Hard to Give Up (Particular) Sin
Answer: No Sinful Pleasure Is Worth Hell
Matthew 18:8 “Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.”
- Excuse: Don’t We All Go to Heaven?
Answer: No, God Judges Sin
John 5:28–29 “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”
- Excuse: Will God Judge the Heathen?
Answer: All Fall Short of Light Given
(This Is Why We Send Missionaries)
Romans 2:14-15 “For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 15Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)”
- Excuse: All Religions-Morally Equivalent
Answer: ChristIs Only Way into Heaven
John 3:36 “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on them.”
- Excuse: What About the Hypocrites?
Answer: God Knows & Judges the Heart
Job 27:8 “For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained,When God taketh away his soul?”
- Excuse: Scripture Is Full of Errors
Answer: God’s Truth Doesn’t Change
Totally Dependable
Matthew 24:35 “Heaven and earth shall pass away; but my words shall not pass away.”
- Excuse: I’ve Always Been a Christian
(I’m Too Good to Be Lost)
Answer: You Must Be Born Again
John 3:6-7 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”
- Excuse: God Could Never Forgive Me
(I’m Too Bad to Be Saved)
Answer: Christ Came to Save Sinners
Matthew 9:12-13 “But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
- Excuse: I Couldn’t Live the Christian Life
Answer: True – But God Will Enable You
Ezekiel 36:26–27 “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.”
- Excuse: I Don’t Have Salvation Feelings
Answer: God’s Orderin Salvation (Fact – Faith – Feelings)
1 Peter 1:8 “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory; 9Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.”