Witnessing to Muslims from Mark 12

I have written previously about witnessing to Muslims (see also this BLOG). These articles have covered dealing with the concept of the trinity and other common objections. In the Share Jesus article, I also mentioned witnessing to a Muslim by having him read from the New Testament. He had indicated that the Bible and the quran had the same basic message. However, once we covered a few of the verses he said the message was indeed different. A recent online discussions with a Muslim on Facebook lead me to an interesting observance which I thought it would be good to share here.

I should first note that I have witnessed to this guy a number of times over the last six to nine months. He will readily admit that he has broken any number of the Ten Commandments. He does not believe Jesus is who Jesus claimed to be, namely God. To prove his point, the man took me to Mark 12:29 which says:

Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”

Here is how I responded to him. First, I explained from Genesis 1 how the trinity is One God.

Them, I explained that Mark 12:29 is the first of a two part answer that Jesus give when he was asked “”Which commandment is the most important of all?” The people that Jesus was talking to were religious people. They not only had the Law of God, but had made up even more law to make sure they did not break the law. The Jews have something like 613 different laws that they try to keep. They made a special point to keep the most important ones. So they asked him which ones are the most important. It should be noted that the thought is not complete in verse 29 alone. In verse 30 Jesus says:

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

He continues in Verse 31

The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

This lead me back to the Ten Commandments. This is something I really like about using The Way of the Master Biblical Evangelism. You start with “Would you consider yourself to be a good person?” and then move to “Do you think you’ve kept the Ten Commandments?” Sometimes the conversations get side tracked with things like discussions about Melchizidek or the Trinity. So in those cases, the goal is to bring the conversation back to the Law and eventually back to “Judgment” and “Do you think you will be innocent or guilty”

The fact that this man brought the discussion right back to Mark 12 allowed me to go right back to the Ten Commandments. I explained that the first four of the Ten Commandments tell how to “love God”

1) you shall have no other God’s before the God of the Bible
2) you shall not make an idol
3) you shall not use the name of the Lord God in vain – blasphemy
4) remember the sabbath day and keep it holy

And the last six tell how to love “your neighbor as yourself”

5) honor your mother and father
6) do not murder – in matthew 5, Jesus includes hatred and calling someone a fool
7) do not commit adultery – In matthew 5, Jesus includes looking with lust
8) do not steal
9) do not lie
10) do not covet

I referred him to Exodus 20 and reminded him that the Law is from the Prophet Moses. This is important to remind him that even as a Muslim he is to revere the other prophets that came before.

I then reminded him that he has already told me previously that he has not kept these commandments. Therefore on judgment day (Hebrews 9:27) he will stand guilty before God. I reminded him that Revelation 21:8 says he will end up in the lake of fire (which is Hell)…

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers (6th commandment), the sexually immoral (7th commandment), sorcerers, idolaters (2nd commandment), and all liars (9th commandment) their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

I concluded by asking him again “does it concern you that your eternal destiny is Hell? It concerns me. It should concern you too. I am merely the messenger. The watchmen on the wall. (See Ezekiel 33). I pray that you will repent and trust Jesus alone to save you.”

As you witness, pray for opportunities to go back tot he Law to convict the person of their sin. Don’t be side tracked by hundreds of objections. Yes, you may need to (and I have) answer some of the objections. But, ultimately as a watchmen we need to bring the person back to face their sin that separates them from God. In this case, he has already heard the Gospel. I did leave the message where it is. I will often conclude with Mark 1:15 and or Luke 13:5 to call them to repentance. I pray this is helpful in discussions not only with Muslims but also others.