I am so encouraged by your desire to see your loved converted to Christ! Let me begin by saying the conversion of the soul occurs by the power of God’s Word. In Psalm 19:7 we read, “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple” (NKJV). In this verse “the law” does not refer merely to “the Law of Moses” but to the entire Word of God. The word “converting” means “bringing back.” We learn in this verse that God’s Word has the power to bring the sinner, who is in a state of rebellion towards God due to sin, “back to God.” It can convict him of sin; create a desire in his heart to be saved, and then give him the very faith to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ for their soul’s salvation. The Apostle Paul declared this truth in Romans 1:16 and 10:17, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes….Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”

So, if you want to be used of God in the conversion of your loved one, you must have full confidence in the power of the Word. You must see yourself simply as a “messenger of God,” yet you are equipped with a “message from God” that God uses to save a soul. You must faithfully proclaim the gospel to your loved one and then pray for God to use it for their salvation. Don’t try to pressure him into confessing Christ but rather allow the Holy Spirit to do His work of bringing the Word to fruition. The Apostle Paul taught this in 1st Corinthians 3:5-7, “Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each? I planted, Apollos watered, but God GAVE THE INCREASE. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who GIVES THE INCREASE.”

You ask, “What verses should I use?” I have learned, from my study of the scriptures, that there are MANY scriptures which God can use to convert the sinner. I don’t believe there are certain scriptures for Catholics, or Protestants, atheists, etc. I have seen souls that fall into all of those categories converted through John 1:12; 3:16, 36; 5:24; 10:9; 14:6; 19:30; Acts 10:43; 13:38-39; 16:31; Romans 3:21-26; 5:6-8; 10:9-10 and many other verses/passages of Scripture. We must pray to our heavenly Father and ask Him to guide us as to exactly what scriptures we should use. Perhaps, as you are witnessing to your loved one, he will say or ask something that may bring a verse to your mind that will be just what he needs to hear to bring him to “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21).

Having said that, you will find that when dealing with some who have been taught that one must “work their way to heaven” (like a Catholic, most Protestants, and other ‘religious people’), it is often helpful to show them that one is NOT saved by their good works. They must see this in order to know they are a lost, guilty sinner in need of a Savior. In those cases there are scriptures we can use to expose to them the folly of trusting in their works instead of trusting solely in Christ’s finished work on the cross. Two examples of this are Ephesians 2:8-9 and Titus 3:5: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that NOT OF YOURSELVES; it is the gift of God, NOT OF WORKS, lest anyone should boast….NOT BY WORKS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us.” When one tells me they believe Christ died for them yet they also believe they must “do their part,” I like to show them from scripture that if they ADD anything to Christ’s finished work He can’t save them. A case in point is Galatians 5:2 where Paul said, “Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing.” The Galatians were being told it wasn’t enough to simply ‘believe on the Lord Jesus Christ”; they must also KEEP THE LAW OF MOSES (including being circumcised) to be saved. Paul was telling them, “If you ADD THE LAW for salvation, you aren’t really trusting in Christ and thus the work of Christ will be of no benefit to you.” Today people are adding baptism, confirmation, observing the Lord’s Supper, keeping the Ten Commandments, living by the Golden Rule, and many other “good works” in order to be saved. We must present Scripture to them to expose to them the utter vanity of trusting in anything but Christ alone for their eternal salvation.

In closing, I just prayed for you to be helped by the answer given. I have prayed for you to be given wisdom from the Lord in witnessing to this precious soul. And I have also prayed for the Spirit of God to work in the heart of your loved one so he will take heed to the message of the gospel that you will present to him. May God GIVE THE INCREASE and make him a trophy of His wonderful grace!  (394.1)  (DO)