How to Reach Roman Catholics with the Gospel (part 6 – Practical Stuff)

[This is the 6th post in this series, you can access the other posts by clicking in the following links. Part one. Part two. Part three. Part four. Part five]

Over the years, trying to share the good news of salvation through Jesus with Roman Catholic people, I have made many mistakes. Several times, I remember leaving a conversation and thinking to myself, “Why did I say that?” or “Why did I said it that way?” and even “Why didn’t I say this?”

Nevertheless, the Lord is gracious and He is very good in using our imperfections to produce great results. This way the glory will be given to Him. Through all the mistakes and missed opportunities, two questions remain that seem to work very well in generating the kind of conversation that will lead to Christ. There is nothing original with these. You have probably seen them somewhere else. Also, there is no power in these questions. The goal is to lead people to the written and living Word.

The first question is, “If you were to die today, where would you spend eternity?”

This is a very good question because it goes to the heart of one of the main problems in RC theology. The average RC person thinks you can never know for sure what happens when you die.

A very good friend of ours went to Ireland years ago as a single missionary. He was out door-knocking one night and a nice lady opened the door. He asked her this question and she answered, “Of course I know where I’m going when I die! I’m going to Purgatory!” If this happens to you, you should dismiss it immediately. The Bible says nothing about purgatory. The only Purgatory I know that exists for sure is a little town in Southern Portugal called, you guessed it, “Purgatory” (see image). By the way, that Irish lady accepted the missionary’s invitation to come to church, got saved, they got married and have a wonderful family. One more reason to go door-knocking, if you’re single!

Like the Irish lady, you might find Roman Catholics that seem to be certain that they are going to Heaven (or Purgatory) when they die. The second question is a way to deepen the conversation and get to the person’s real beliefs on eternity.

The second question is, “If today you came face to face with God and He asked you, what is special about you? Why should I let you in my Heaven?”

You might get answers like,

• “I’m not a bad person!” (follow with the reality and consequences of Universal sin)
• “There are many that are worse than me!” (follow with the fact that each person is individually responsible for their sin)
• “I have been baptized!” (follow with the fact that no amount of works can save)
• “I belong to the true Church!” (follow with the fact that it is repentance and trust in Jesus as Savior that will save, and not church membership) 

Remember, these questions are meant to drive the conversation to the Word and to the Savior. 

Don’t miss our last post in this series, with specific Bible references to use in this ministry and the conclusion to this series.

Thank you so much for all the good feedback we have been getting on these posts. Do you have more? Leave us a comment below.