The following Bible study can be used for preparing your own testimony or with a class. This testimony model is very effective for anyone who has grown up in the church and who came to Christ at an early age. It is also useful for anyone who wishes to prepare a brief God-glorifying testimony which focuses on the work of Christ in your life to bring you to salvation.
I spent two class periods going through this lesson with the girls in my Sunday School class, and following week each of them shared a 3 to 5 minute testimony based on the Roots/Fruits model.
BIBLE STUDY:
It is valuable to prepare a brief testimony that you can share whenever given the opportunity.
1 Peter 3:15 “…but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.”
- Keep it short–3 to 5 minutes.
- Keep it memorable–no more than 2 to 3 main points.
- Keep it focused on the Lord–not on yourself.
There are many examples of testimonies on the web. The following example came up at the top of my Google search on “how to share a Christian testimony.” It was sadly similar to many other examples that I also found. What is wrong with it?
“Skeptics may debate the validity of Scripture or argue the existence of God, but no one can deny your personal experiences with him. When you tell your story of how God has worked a miracle in your life, or how he has blessed you, transformed you, lifted and encouraged you, perhaps even broken and healed you, no one can argue or debate it. You go beyond the realm of knowledge into the realm of relationship with God.” (emphases theirs, not mine)
- These statements undermine Scripture and elevate personal experience. What if my experience was that my cat turned to me and said “repent and believe the Gospel”? Our experiences need to be interpreted in the light of Scripture, and just because someone says “I experienced it” that doesn’t necessarily validate their experience. Also, and even more importantly, God has promised that it is His Word which will not return void. God uses the preaching of the Gospel–His Word–to save sinners, and we are starting off on the wrong foot if we begin with a belief that our experiences trump God’s word.
- Our message is foolishness to those who are perishing. These statements assert that skeptics may not believe Scripture but no one can debate my experience–but the truth is that there is a reason why they do not believe the Scriptures, and that reason has nothing to do with the validity of the Scriptures themselves and everything to do with the state of the sinner’s heart.
- These statements are very man-centered. The Westminster catechism tells us in question 1 that man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. We exist for God’s glory, and everything we do is to the glory of God. Our testimony should not be man focused–our testimony needs to be God-focused and it should bring glory to God.
- Our testimony should be truthful, not embellished to seem more dramatic.
ROOTS
TRANSITION
Before the second section (FRUITS) take a moment to transition with a scripture relating to the Gospel. Even if you don’t remember your life without Christ you still know that you are a sinner who desperately needs a savior, and that you are not a good person outside of Christ. You would be going to hell if it weren’t for Christ’s finished work on the cross on your behalf. You may have come to Christ at 4 years old, but you are just as much a sinner saved by grace as the drug dealer who came to Christ late in life.
If you do remember when you put your trust in Christ you can share about that at this point. You may have a favorite scripture you would want to share at this point which illustrates God’s work in your salvation. Here are some scriptures you might use to transition from Roots (what God did in your life in the past) to Fruits (the evidence of what God is doing in your life now, through Christ).
- To illustrate that everyone has sinned, including you, and no one is righteous before God: Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”
- To illustrate that no one is saved by good works. Romans 3:28 “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.”
- To illustrate that Jesus died for us while we were still his enemies, saving us from eternity in hell. Romans 5:8-9 “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.”
The Roots section of your testimony focuses on what God has done in your life in the past to ingraft you into his family–what is your ingrafting story?
FRUITS
Matthew 7:15-20
“What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good[a] is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.”
What do these verses tell us about works in the life of the believer? Works do not save us, but works are the evidence of our salvation. Even the demons believe, but they do not have saving faith.
If you have ROOT you will have FRUIT.
John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”
The parable of the soils in Matthew 13 shows us why we have to have both root and fruit.
Matthew 13: 1-9 “That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears,[a] let him hear.”
Matthew 13: 18-23 “Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
The parable of the soils in Matthew 13 shows us that we have to have both root and fruit. Some believers will yield more fruit than others–some will yield a hundred fold while others may only yield thirty–but everyone who is truly saved will bear fruit. After teaching the parable of the soils Jesus goes on in Matthew 13 to talk about the weeds which the enemy sows among the wheat.
There will be some among us who will say “Lord, Lord” on the final day and He will say, “depart from me, I never knew you.” If you have root, you will bear fruit. If you are not bearing any fruit, you need to question whether you are truly rooted in Christ. We will still see traces of the old man, but we should be increasing in the fruits of the Spirit (see Galatians 5) as we grow more mature in our Christian walk.
WHAT FRUIT WILL THE BELIEVER SHOW?
Galatians 5:16-26 “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”
We will still see traces of the old man, but we should be increasing in the fruits of the Spirit as we grow more mature in our Christian walk.
HOMEWORK
Prepare and share your testimony with another believer (or with your class if you are working through this together).
1) What is your ingrafting story? What has God done in your life in the past and how did He bring you into His family?
2) Transition with the Gospel: We are all sinners and no one can be saved apart from Christ. He lived a perfectly righteous life on our behalf, dying on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins to appease the wrath of a Holy God, and He conquered death by rising from the grave. Jesus will forgive all who put their trust in his finished work, and who repent of sin and follow Him. He will save them from an eternity in Hell and they will become children of God and co-heirs with Christ.
3) What is God doing in your life now, through the power of the Holy Spirit? What is the fruit of your salvation?
Speak Your Mind