| "How should I witness to someone 
                          who belongs to a denomination, who I suspect isn’t 
                          trusting the Savior?" The most effective way to 
                          speak about the issues of eternity to a religious person 
                          is not to get sidetracked from the essentials of salvation. 
                          Upon hearing a person’s background, we may feel 
                          an obligation to speak to issues such as infant baptism, 
                          transubstantiation, etc. However, it is wise rather 
                          to build on the points of agreement between the Bible 
                          and the person’s denomination, such as the virgin 
                          birth, the cross, and so on. One point of agreement 
                          will almost certainly be the Ten Commandments. They 
                          are the key to bringing any religious person to a saving 
                          knowledge of the gospel.  After someone is converted 
                          to Jesus Christ, the Bible will come alive and he will 
                          be led into all truth by the indwelling Holy Spirit. 
                          God’s Word will then give him light, and he will 
                          forsake religious tradition as he is led by God. While 
                          there are strong biblical arguments that may convince 
                          unregenerate people that their church’s traditions 
                          contradict Holy Scripture, there is a difficulty. Some 
                          religious people hold the teachings of their church 
                          to be on a par with, or of greater authority than, Holy 
                          Scripture. It is therefore often futile to try to convince 
                          them intellectually that their trust should be in the 
                          person of Jesus Christ, rather than in their own righteousness 
                          or in their church traditions. For this reason we should 
                          aim at the conscience, rather than the intellect. Take 
                          them through the Law of God (the Commandments) to show 
                          that they are condemned despite their works, and strongly 
                          emphasize that we are saved by grace, and grace alone, 
                          rather than by trusting in our own righteousness or 
                          religious traditions.  If they are open to the 
                          gospel, and are interested in what God’s Word 
                          says in reference to their church’s teachings, 
                          they will listen to Scripture. For example, in Matthew 
                          8:14 we see that Peter (whom the Roman Catholic church 
                          maintains was the first pope) was married, as were many 
                          of the other apostles (see 1 Corinthians 9:5). |