Understanding the worldview of a Muslim equips us to share the gospel at a much more personal level. While not knowing enough about a religion should never keep us from obeying Christ’s command to preach the gospel, God can use us to greater effect if we understand not only what we believe, but what the other person believes as well.
Earning salvation
The most important thing to explain to a Muslim is that their good works can’t possibly save them. They live their lives in complete uncertainty, always wondering whether they’ve spent enough time doing good to cancel out a lifetime of bad. They need to see that they can’t save themselves.
The concept of “good works” is a vicious paradox. If one does good for the sake of earning merit, then they haven’t done good. They’ve merely done a task to benefit themselves. How can one possibly do good if the action comes from a selfish desire to earn favor with Allah?
For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
The truth is that their good works mean nothing. Why would God need their good deeds? What benefit is that to a being is who is in need of nothing? Our problem isn’t that we can’t do enough good, but that without God’s intervention we can do nothing but evil (Romans 6:11-12).
The depth of sin
When someone thinks they can outdo their evil, they often completely misunderstand how deep their wickedness truly goes. God’s wrath isn’t just against major sins like theft, adultery, and murder.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness (Romans 1:8)
And what earns God’s righteous wrath?
- Self-righteousness and pride (Isaiah 2:12)
- Anger and hurtful words (Matthew 5:21-23)
- Our wandering eye (Matthew 5:27-28)
- Making anything more important than God (Colossians 3:5)
- Fear and anxiety (Philippians 4:6-7)
- Jealousy (1 Corinthians 3:3)
When anyone, Muslim or otherwise, says they’re a good person and haven’t done much evil, we can be sure they aren’t thinking about these sorts of sins. Yet if their good works are like filthy rags to God, and their sin is beyond their capacity to atone for, what can be done?
The need for Christ
When the Quran directly states that Jesus was not God, the gospel can come to a screeching halt. Yet if a person is able to see that their previous world view is not only hopeless but genuinely impossible, they’re better able to see and accept truth.
If Christ wasn’t God, then the entirety of the Bible goes against all historical data that tells us how unchanging and cohesive it is. The entire Bible isn’t just a long story that eventually mentions Jesus. The entire thing, from Genesis to Revelation, points to Him!
Over and over we see the impossibility of Israel saving themselves, imperfect and temporary sacrifices, and the ever-present need for a savior. When we can see that the Bible can’t possibly have been corrupted, then the need for Christ becomes clear.
The Father loves the Son and has placed all things under his authority. The one who believes in the Son has eternal life. The one who rejects the Son will not see life, but God’s wrath remains on him. (John 3:35-36)
Every human’s good works are, in fact, selfish and wicked. No one can claim “I’m not a bad person” when they understand sin as God sees it. The reality of our sin against God leaves us completely without hope of saving ourselves.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you are saved! (Ephesians 2:4-5)
If we are to present the gospel to Muslims, we need nothing more than the gospel itself. Yet it is through understanding what they believe that we are able to present a more intimate and loving reality of their sin, what their good works are really worth, and why they so desperately need Christ.
