I can remember teaching our children how to ride their bikes. They looked forward to getting outside and riding up and down the sidewalk for hours. Then came the real day of decision: Do I take the training wheels off or leave them on?
Trying to be a good dad, I knew the kids had to be stretched in their bike skills, so, off came the training wheels. Now their confidence was deflated, and they thought they would never be able to ride a bike again. I even remember one of our kids sneaking into the garage and trying to put the training wheels back on.
Some Christians view the role of the Holy Spirit in soulwinning something like the role of training wheels on a bike—helpful for a time, but a need we outgrow as we gain experience in our witness. Nothing could be further from the truth. The role of the Holy Spirit in our witness is essential. We don’t get anywhere without Him. And the sooner we learn to depend on the Spirit as we share the gospel, the more effective our witness for Christ will be.
The Holy Spirit Reveals Sin
As Jesus prepared His disciples for His departure, He told them that He would send the Holy Spirit in His absence: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (John 16:7–8). Notice that Jesus says that one function of the Holy Spirit is to “reprove the world of sin.” The word reprove means “to convict.” And one of the ways the Holy Spirit does this is by exposing to the unsaved person the reality of sin in their lives.
I remember my first real job. I worked at Caesars Inn restaurant where I washed the dishes and closed up the kitchen at the end of each night. I was always the last person to leave. The lead chef was long gone, and so were the servers. Only I was left. It was my job to clean all the pots, pans, and dishes and to prep for the breakfast team.
One night after I finished mopping the floor and had made everything shiny, I was ready to go home. I turned off the lights and started to ride home on my bike. Partway there, however, I remembered I forgot to turn off the fryer. So, I turned back, made my way into that dark kitchen, and turned on the lights. To my horror, I saw six rats race across the floor. Those rats were already there before I turned the lights on, but the lights exposed them.
Similarly, as the soulwinner shares Scripture, the Holy Spirit uses His Word to expose to the lost person their need for forgiveness. It is not the soulwinner’s responsibility to be the revealer. That is the responsibility of the Holy Spirit, and He certainly can do a better job than you and me. Our job is to use His Word, and He will do the convicting.
The Holy Spirit Regenerates the Lost Soul
From Scripture, we understand the importance of being born again. We also learn that the Holy Spirit performs a great work in us once we are born again. Titus 3:5–7 declares, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
The moment a person turns from his sin and puts his faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross and His resurrection, that person becomes a child of God.
Every person has physical genes that were given to them by their parents. Spiritually, our genes have been contaminated by sin, and that’s why we need to be born again. It is the Holy Spirit who works this miracle the moment a lost sinner puts his faith in Jesus Christ.
As soulwinners, our job is not to regenerate a soul. Our job is to share the gospel through the Word of God. The Holy Spirit uses His Word to bring faith (“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God,” Romans 10:17), and when a sinner turns to Christ in faith, the Holy Spirit brings new life.
Soulwinning, then, is not a matter of learning slick ways to persuade people to call out to the Lord for salvation. It is a matter of sharing the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. Those who respond are “born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever” (1 Peter 1:23).
The Holy Spirit Reenergizes Us
The Holy Spirit gives us power to speak. So many Christians are silent when they should be speaking for Jesus. We don’t have to worry about the words we’re going to say. We can rely on the promises of the Spirit. In fact, Jesus promised His disciples that the Holy Spirit would make them witnesses for Him: “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me . . .” (Acts 1:8).
How does this work? When our flesh says, “I don’t want to share the truth of Jesus with that person,” the Spirit reminds us by His still small voice within to speak for Christ. There have been many times in my life that I had a wrestling match in my heart about sharing the gospel with someone. The Spirit nudges me to speak, but my flesh is weak. I have learned that it is better to allow the Spirit of God to direct my life than to do the leading myself. When I submit to His leading and speak, it’s a joy to see how He uses a fickle, fearful, and fragile person like me. I stand in awe of how He uses someone like me.
My friend, God desires to use you as a witness for Him. I encourage you to yield to His leading in sharing His amazing salvation with others. Remember, it’s not all up to you. The Spirit of God will work in you and through you.
