How to Reach a Muslim for Jesus Christ

While there have been a lot of books written with many different viewpoints about Muslim evangelism, my goal here is not to share all of that with you, but to give you some concise and practical training that can help you to reach a Muslim with the gospel. 

I want to share with you a video that covers six ways to reach a Muslim for Christ, and then I will add four more at the end. 

In the video below, Nathan Jones covers the following ways to win a Muslim for Christ:

1. The Bible is OK to Read.

The Quran says it is permitted for Muslims to read the Bible. Therefore this is a great way for them to come to know the Lord by reading Scripture and praying for God to show them the truth. There are testimonies of Muslims coming to Christ this way. If they do not have a Bible, which they probably don't, please consider giving them one, and recommending they begin by reading the gospel of John. But be sure to ask them to pray before each time they read, and ask God to show them the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

2. The Life of Christ

When they contrast the life of Christ with that of Mohammed they will see a huge difference, and they will discover that the real Jesus portrayed in Scripture is very different from the one (called "Isa") described in the Quran.  

3. The Love of God

Islam is a religion of hate, Allah is generally an angry God, and frankly the Quran doesn't speak enough about the love of God. Therefore, Muslims need to know about the love of God, which is spoken about so much in Scripture. They need to know that God demonstrated His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom 5:8).

4. The Assurance of Salvation

The man in the video, Nathan Jones, who is unknown to me, mentions the fact that Muslims don't have the assurance of their salvation that the Lord gives us when we give our lives to Christ, since the assurance of salvation is unknown in Islamic literature. I would agree with that completely, but not with his use of the term eternal security, which is a false teaching. There is a difference between having the assurance of your salvation as taught in Scripture, and the unbiblical teaching of eternal security, which I have proven false in my article The False Gospel of Eternal Security. I would advise you to steer clear of that heresy, but the rest of what the man in this video teaches is helpful, in my opinion.

A couple examples of verses that teach about our assurance of salvation are:

"He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life." (1 Jn 5:12-13)

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life." (John 5:24)

For more on that, see the Keeping Power of God.

5. Grace

Muslims believe that they must work to please God and to gain His favor. Living in the religion of Islam is like living in chains. The grace of God as taught in the Bible will set Muslims free from that prison. As the Scripture says, "He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time..." (2 Tim 1:9).

6. A Relationship with God

We as Christians enjoy a relationship with God in Christ, which is something unknown to Muslims. We personally experience the love that our heavenly Father has for each one of us, which is something that they long to experience, too.

Video 

Please watch the video at this link on Youtube or watch the embedded video below on this page.

In addition to the six ways to reach a Muslim for Christ that are covered in the video, I would also like to encourage you with six more:

7. Dreams and Visions from God

Many Muslims have come to know Christ through supernatural encounters they've had with the real Lord Jesus Christ in their dreams or in visions. Scripture teaches us that this is one of the supernatural things God promised to do in these last days.

"'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams." (Act 2:17)

In addition to praying for your Muslim friend to have such dreams and visions of Christ, you can challenge or encourage them to pray that if Jesus Christ is real that He would come and reveal Himself to them. You can also share with them some of those dreams that other Muslims around the world have had as well. 

One website that contains several of these video documentaries is called More Than Dreams, and you can suggest they check it out, as well provide them with the link. If you do so, let them know that you can watch the videos in different languages. (If you click on one of the videos, to the left, it will say "More Languages". If you click on that, it has a whole list you can choose from.). 

One Muslim source estimates that approximately six million Muslims per year are converting to Christianity. For more on this, please see the short, six-minute video called Millions of Muslims Convert to Christianity: Having Dreams & Visions of Christ.

8. The Power of the Holy Spirit

The kingdom of God is not merely a matter of talk but of power (1 Cor 4:20). When a Christian has been baptized with the Holy Spirit according to Acts 1:8 and 2:4, they will be endued with power to be a witness for Christ. This includes power to heal the sick and cast out demons (Mk 16:17-18). Look for opportunities to lay hands on your Muslim friend with their permission to release healing and miracles from God in the name of Jesus and by faith in His name. As they get healed and set free, they will come to experience firsthand that Jesus Christ is real, and know that He loves them. There are certainly testimonies of Muslims coming to Christ this way, as a result of healing.

For more on this, please see Baptized with the Spirit, Supernatural Power for All Disciples, Laying on of Hands, and especially The Power of God to Heal.

9. Your Witness

Some Muslims see the hypocrisy of other Muslims and the violence within their religion. But when they see the life of a genuine disciple of Christ whom they know, and observe that person's godly character distinguished by the fruit of the Spirit, they are drawn to the Lord through that person's witness for Christ.

10. Confrontational Approach

Some people choose to use the confrontational evangelistic approach in their outreach to Muslims, whereby they proclaim the gospel to the person and/or seek to disprove Islam through a frontal attack on it (see The Truth About Islam). That can work to some extent on a limited basis. But keep in mind that a Muslim would typically think of himself as being born Muslim, and would assume that he can no more change his being Muslim than he can change his race. That's probably one reason why people typically experience limited success using a confrontational approach with Muslims. 

Another reason you may encounter resistance using this approach is that when you confront people's deeply held religious beliefs, they are likely to become defensive, which means they typically put up a wall to protect themselves and close their minds to what you are saying. 

One could argue that since we are at the end of the age, the merit of that approach is that it seeks to quickly deliver the gospel to anyone who will listen. After all, the gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Rom 1:16). I would agree that we no longer have the time to spend years seeking to influence them for Christ through long-range approaches. But let me encourage you to also consider trying other approaches that have been proven more effective.

11. Sharing Jesus without Fear

As I have written about in my article called Share Jesus without Fear, I have learned from an evangelist named Bill Fay a powerful and effective, non-confrontational way to share the Lord with anyone in any place that is not offensive and allows the Scripture to speak to them. Let me encourage you to study and learn that approach, so that you can use it to reach Muslims, as well as anyone else you meet, as the Lord gives opportunity to do so.

12. The Jesus Film

A wonderful way to share Jesus with Muslims is to show them the Jesus Film, which is offered in more than 1,120 languages. There are a number of ways to do this, including showing it to groups of people or sending someone the link to watch it online at home, if they have internet access. This allows them to see the life of Christ in living color, dramatized by actors according to the gospel of Luke. 

The Lord has used this project in a powerful way.  There have been over 6 billion recorded viewings of the film, and over 200 million recorded decisions for Christ connected with it. It's also a great way to help reach restricted areas with the gospel, such as the Mideast. Please see my article about The Jesus Film Project for more on how to use this approach.

Closing Words

I hope this has been helpful to you in your efforts to reach Muslims for Christ. May the Lord grant you great success in doing so for a greater harvest.

Attribution notice: Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zondervan, used by permission. Original video upon which the above video was based on is at this link.
  
Author's note: You are invited to read The Truth About Islam, Share Jesus without Fear, Rescue Souls!, Millions of Muslims Convert to Christianity: Having Dreams & Visions of Christ, Here I Am Send Me, Give Me Children or I'll Die!, The Sin of Silence, Confrontational Evangelism, and Being a Witness for Christ. You may find more articles about being fruitful and multiplying on the Home Page of this blog. You may also find my collection of blogs at Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe. 

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org. 

Fruit in Every Season

Culinary fruit. Picture by Bill Ebbesen

Let's consider the importance of fruit in our lives as members of God's kingdom.

God Desires Fruit
First of all, God desires fruit. I personally enjoy eating fruit, especially juicy grapes, pears, strawberries, pineapples, nectarines, oranges, grapefruits, watermelon, dates, figs, and bananas. Probably the main reason I like them is because they're so sweet. Likewise, the Lord desires fruit in our lives, and to Him it is sweet.

Jesus warned the Jews who were supposed to be heirs of God's kingdom, but were not producing its fruit, when He said to them, "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. (Mat 21:43). The warning was that God desires fruit and will give His kingdom to a people who produce the fruit of it.

This is a key aspect of kingdom life. Jesus said, "You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. (Joh 15:16). He chose us and appointed His people to bear fruit that would remain.

He expects to receive His produce at the proper season: "Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard and put a wall around it and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and rented it out to vine-growers and went on a journey. When the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his produce." (Mat 21:33-34)

He comes looking for His fruit. I am reminded of the time when Jesus was hungry for something to eat one morning, and went looking for fruit on a fig tree he saw. "Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, 'No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.' And at once the fig tree withered." (Mat 21:19).

Mark's gospel mentions the fact that "Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. He said to it, 'May no one ever eat fruit from you again!' And His disciples were listening." (Mar 11:13-14)

We know that He came to the tree for one purpose and that was to see if perhaps He would find any fruit on it to eat. When He did not find any, He cursed the tree.

Likewise, we are like fruit trees. The Lord comes to us looking for fruit in our lives. It's as if He is hungry for something sweet. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." (Gal 5:22-23). When we know someone with these virtues, we think of him or her as a sweet person. In the same way, the Lord also considers such people and the fruit of the Spirit to be sweet.

As my daughter Charity said in her poem, Fruit in Every Season:

"When Jesus comes looking for fruit on our tree,
Regardless of the season that it may be,
May He find our branches with something to offer --
Something delightful to Him and the Father."

What if He Finds No Fruit?
When the Lord does not find fruit in our lives, the ability to bear fruit is taken away.

First of all, it did not go well for that fig tree, when Jesus did not find any fruit on it to eat. He cursed it, so that it never bore fruit again. “...He said to it, 'No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.' And at once the fig tree withered.” (Mat 21:19b).

Secondly, the kingdom was taken away from the religious leaders, when they did not produce the fruit of it. "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it.” (Mat 21:43)

The religious leaders knew Jesus was talking about them, but rather than repent, their response to this message was to try to stop Jesus (arrest Him). It says, "When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest Him..." (Mt 21:45-46a, NIV). People still try to stop Him today, rather than listen to Him.

The amazing thing about this was that by trying to stop Jesus, they were actually fulfilling the parable He had just spoken against them. They knew what the proper punishment should be for those wicked men in the parable. "They said to him, 'He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons." (Mat 21:41, ESV).  They correctly understood that the Lord would ultimately destroy such evil people and entrust His vineyard to vine-growers, who would pay Him the proceeds by giving back to Him the fruits in their seasons.

Thirdly, as the Master Gardener, the Father removes the branches that are without fruit. "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.” (Joh 15:2)

Fourthly, abiding in Christ is the only way to bear fruit, but those who fail to abide in Him are thrown away as a branch into the fire to be burned up. "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.” (Joh 15:6)

This agrees with the words of John the Baptist, who said, "The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."  (Mat 3:10).

In Ezekiel Moses' Testimony of Heaven and Hell, he died and stood at the final judgment. He said that if the fruit of the Spirit is not complete in your life – all nine fruit – forget about heaven.  They are completed in holiness, since they are the fruit of the HOLY Spirit.  He said, “You must have complete holiness!” 

Fruit Produced as You Abide in Him
As I have just mentioned, fruit can only be produced as you abide in Him. The Lord said, "Apart from Him you can do nothing. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 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."  (Joh 15:4-5)

This aspect of abiding in Christ was Hudson Taylor's spiritual secret. Until he discovered it in the Word in John 15, he was unable to produce the fruit that God desired in his life, as a missionary to China. But once he discovered it and began to practice abiding, he found that he was able to produce good fruit. In his biography called, Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret, there is a quote from a poem called The Friend, written by Gertrude of Hellfde in the year 1330, that says, "He told me of the River bright that flows from Him to me, that I might be for His delight a fair and fruitful tree." What a beautiful verse that is! The entire poem tells about the secret of abiding with the Lord Jesus, our Friend. I recommend reading it at this link.

Abiding is all about God's love. Jesus said, "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." (Joh 15:12-13)

"Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love." (Joh 15:9-10)

The reason we cannot produce good fruit apart from Jesus is that it is the fruit "of the Spirit". It is the Spirit's fruit, not ours! When we produce fruit, it is evidence of the Spirit's presence in our lives. That is the only power in which Christians really can do their work. The word "of" means "from or out of; proceeding from, as the cause, source, means, author or agent bestowing." Therefore, the fruit of the Spirit comes from and proceeds from the Holy Spirit, who is the Source of it and the Agent bestowing it.

Yet there is a crucial role that we each have in bearing fruit. While the fruit comes from the Spirit, the River bright that flows from Him to me, as I abide in Him, there is still an active role that I must play. In my article, The Wardrobe of the Saints, I explained that the fruit of the Spirit are among the garments of righteousness the saints must put on each day and wear at all times. It is our responsibility to do so. The expressions "clothe yourself," "adorn yourself," "put on," are all actions that we must personally take (Col 3:12-14; Rom 13:12,14; 1 Thes 5:8; ; 1 Ti 2:9-10; 1 Pe 5:5; Rev 3:18). They are not automatically done for us and are not a one-time occurrence. I strongly recommend reading that article on the Christian wardrobe for the full understanding of my point.

Keys to Abiding in Christ
Please allow me to share some keys to abiding in Christ, which I myself am still learning to practice. Walk by the Spirit (Gal 5:16). Walk humbly (Mic 6:8; Col 3:12; 1 Pe 5:5). Walk in love (Eph 5:2; 1 Cor 16:14). Do everything for the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31; Col 3:17). Keep His Words (Joh 14:15). Do all things as unto the Lord, not for men (Col. 3:23). Give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thes. 5:8). Pray on all occasions (Eph. 6:18). Fix the eyes of your heart on Jesus (Heb. 12:2). Take every thought captive (2 Cor. 10:5). By doing so, you will remain in God's presence as you go about your daily activities, which is known as practicing His presence. I have covered some of these in more depth in my other articles, The Practice of Abiding, Whatever You Do, Do All Like This, For the Glory of God Alone, Holding Fast the Faithful Word, Keeping a Good Conscience, Practicing the Presence of the Lord, and Obedience by the Spirit.

Fruit In Every Season
Here on earth, fruit trees usually bear their crop during a particular season of the year. And each fruit tree bears only one kind of fruit. However, in heaven, the tree of life bears twelve crops of fruit, one for each month. So it is always bearing fruit.

The apostle John wrote, "Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." (Rev 22:1-2)

This agrees with the words of the prophet Ezekiel, who wrote, "By the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither and their fruit will not fail. They will bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing." (Eze 47:12)

Putting it All Together
God desires fruit! We can see from the trees in heaven that He likes fruit in every season. It's fair to look upon and sweet to the taste. But it only comes as we abide in Christ, so let's do that. May He find us fruitful when He inspects our lives, and not find us to be without any fruit.

Let's ask ourselves some closing questions. What do we do if we are not bearing fruit? Repent. What do you do if you are already bearing fruit? Ask the Lord to help you bear more fruit. Pray earnestly for all nine fruit of the Spirit. What can we do to ensure we bear fruit? Abide in Him.  Walk in the Spirit. What does the Lord need to do to help you bear more fruit? Prune you. What does pruning involve? Cutting away of the parts of us that do not produce fruit, so that the parts that do can be more fruitful. Is this a painless process? No. It is not without pain, hardship, and difficulty.

As Andrew Murray once stated: "Do let us believe that as the owner of a vine does everything to make the fruitage as rich and large as possible, the divine Husbandman will do all that is needed to make us bear more fruit. All He asks is, that we set our heart's desire on it, entrust ourselves to His working and care, and joyfully look to Him to do His perfect work in us. God has set His heart on more fruit; Christ waits to work it in us; let us joyfully look up to our divine Husbandman and our heavenly Vine, to ensure our bearing more fruit."

The prophet Isaiah wrote, “In that day --- sing about a fruitful vineyard.  I, the Lord, watch over it; I water it continually. I guard it day and night so that no one may harm it.” (Isaiah 27:2-3). Therefore, let us sing about a fruitful vineyard, which is what we should be. And let us remember that the Lord watches over us as we abide in Him, and waters us continually. He guards us day and night so that no one may harm His fruitful vineyard.

Attribution Notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Other Scriptures taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®. Culinary fruit photo by Bill Ebbesen. Courtesy Wikimedia.

Author's note: If you would like to be equipped to become a fruitful disciple for God's glory, please consider enrolling in our international Doulos Training School. You are invited to read the companion poem to this message written by my eighteen year old daughter Charity Lacroix, called Fruit in Every Season, as well as my articles, Gifts and Fruit of the Spirit: What's the Difference?, Bearing Fruit in Every Good Work, The Practice of Abiding, The Wardrobe of the Saints, Baptized with the Spirit, The River of God, Led by the Spirit, Obedience by the Spirit, Whatever You Do, Do All Like This, For the Glory of God Alone, Holding Fast the Faithful Word, Keeping a Good Conscience, Practicing the Presence of the Lord, Faith Works!, Ezekiel Moses' Testimony of Heaven and Hell, Multiplication, The Kingdom of God is Like This, Living a Life Worthy of the Lord, Pleasing the Lord, The Difference Between a Disciple and a Believer, Testing the Spirits of False Prophets, and Covenant Prayer. You may find more articles about being fruitful and multiplying on the Home Page of this blog. You may also find my collection of blogs at Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.