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The Bible is the most powerful tool to share the Gospel with Muslims

The month of Ramadan has begun, and it's a good time for Christians to pray for and reach out to Muslims. A simple gift of a New Testament to a follower of Islam has the power to change a person's life forever, reports MNN.

"The Bible is clear: faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the Word of God," said Fouad Masri of Crescent Project.

He knows an Iranian-American who bought a Bible because he was nervous about Christians' reaction to the September 11 terrorist attacks. The man read a few chapters into Matthew and came face-to-face with the Sermon on the Mount.

"I was shocked; how beautiful are the words of Jesus," the man said. Within several weeks, he had become a Christian.

Masri explained why focusing on the Bible is so effective for sharing the Gospel with Muslims.

"When you offer a New Testament to a Muslim, you're not asking them to do anything wrong," he said. "The Qur'an says they have to follow it. So when I talk to Muslims, I don't argue with them about politics and religious ideas; I talk about one thing: Is the Bible from God, or not from God?"

Muslims believe in three holy books in addition to the Qur'an: the Torah, the Psalms, and the New Testament which they call the Injil. However, Muslims grow up with the teaching that the Qur'an takes precedence because the other books have been corrupted.

"The imams, from the beginning, taught that the Torah came first, and that was changed, so God sends the Psalms," Masri said. "The Psalms were changed, so God sends the Injil, the Injil was changed, so God sent the Qur'an. So if you ask the imams and the teacher, 'What if the Qur'an can be changed?' they say 'No, God keeps His Word.'"

This gives Christians an opening to explain the credibility of the Bible. If the Qur'an cannot be changed by human beings, then neither can the other holy books.

"Who's stronger, God or the Christians?" Masri said. "The answer is: God is stronger. And if God is stronger than anyone, then His word in the Injil will never be changed."

Christians are not responsible for whether Muslims accept this argument and receive the Gospel -- God is responsible for that. However, the argument is very effective.

"That approach always results in people asking for a New Testament, or at least never attacking a New Testament again," Masri explained. "Because if you love God, you shall not insult Him. You shall not insult Him by saying that humans are stronger than Him."

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TAGS: Middle East Ramadan share the Gospel with Muslims New Testament terrorist attacks the Injil

[08/27/2009]

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