Soul-winning is more than handing out a tract or sharing a brief gospel presentation at someone’s doorstep. Those are good and right, but there is much more involved in the process that we must not overlook. The Bible uses many different words to describe how the gospel was given out and how the lost were urged to accept Christ as their Savior.
For instance, Acts 2:40 describes Peter’s evangelistic preaching this way: “And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.” To testify is to share what you have seen. It is what a witness does when they are sharing the facts about what they say.
To “exhort” is to summon or to invite someone to come to where you are. Peter exhorted those listening to him with a direct appeal to them to believe the truth that he had shared with them. He was sharing the gospel with a definite goal in mind. He wanted people to repent, believe the gospel, and be saved. Therefore, he invited them to make a decision about what they heard.
In our soul-winning efforts, we must always be working toward bringing people to the point of decision. If all we do is share the facts of the gospel and never invite them to believe it for themselves, we have not finished the job. For people to be saved, they must receive the gift of salvation by grace through faith, and we should invite them to do just that. We must “exhort” people to be saved.