Presenting Your Testimony – The Best Way to Give a Testimony

Summary

Grace in Focus – “Presenting Your Testimony – The Best Way to Give a Testimony”

Podcast: Grace in Focus
Host(s): Bob Wilkin with guest Katharine Wright
Date: July 24, 2026
Duration: 13 minutes

Episode Overview

This episode of Grace in Focus centers on the best practices for giving a Christian testimony, especially within the context of evangelism and Free Grace Theology. Bob Wilkin and Katharine Wright address how to ensure testimonies are clear and Christ-centered, steering listeners away from potential confusion or misplaced emphasis on personal experience over gospel truth. A three-step framework for presenting a testimony is outlined, interspersed with biblical examples and practical advice.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

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Why the Clarity of Testimonies Matters

• Testimonies are not Biblically commanded:

  • There's no Scripture that dictates exactly how to share personal testimonies. (01:23)
  • Often testimonies are seen as helpful, but if unclear, it may be better not to share:
    • Bob: “If a person's testimony is unclear, better off not to say it.” (01:47)

• Is testimony the best evangelism method?

  • The ultimate focus should not be on personal stories but on God’s testimony about His Son (from 1 John 5). (02:00)
  • Katharine: “Maybe we should look to Christ as the example and what God says about His Son… Believe in him for eternal life.” (02:17)
  • Pointing to Scripture aligns the message with the assurance of salvation by faith alone.

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Three-Step Framework for a Clear Testimony (03:18–06:48)

1. Describe What You Used to Believe

   • Emphasize former beliefs, especially regarding salvation (03:18)
   • Relate to Paul’s testimony—he “believed in works salvation” before Christ (03:54)
   • Adapt if you became a believer as a child; focus on what you remember, not irrelevant details like dates (04:37)
   • Katharine: “If you came to faith as a child, that's probably gonna be hard… if you don't remember, then say that, that's fine too.” (04:37)
   • Avoid sharing specific dates (“it can be really confusing to people”). (04:38)

2. Explain What You Believe Now

   • Clearly state current faith: eternal life through Jesus by faith alone, not by works (05:19)
   • Point to passages like 1 John 5:11–13, emphasizing assurance (05:20)
   • Katharine: “Tell them what you believe now, what it is that you've been convinced of now which is that Jesus has given you eternal life by faith alone as a free gift that can never be lost.” (05:19)
   • Bob: “If they believe in the Son, they have the life… not a matter of works, simply believing.” (05:35)

3. Share What Convinced You

   • Detail the evidence or experience that led to faith (06:13)
   • Allows for unique, compelling personal elements without overshadowing the gospel (06:48)
   • Katharine: “That's where I think our unique stories can come in.…I'm not pointing to my works, I'm pointing to the evidence.” (06:48)
   • Examples can include a passage of Scripture, observing creation, wrestling with doubts, etc.

• Bob summarizes:
  • “There’s only one way to be born again…by faith in Christ…But how you get there, there might be thousands of ways.” (07:19)
  • While everyone’s route is unique, the destination—faith alone in Christ—is the same.

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Biblical Examples & Theological Insights

John’s Gospel & Testimonies (08:08–10:29)

• The Gospel of John presents numerous people who come to faith via different evidence:

  • Katharine: “There’s a lot of things that prove that he is the one that can give you eternal life as a free gift. But what convinced you is not what convinced me.” (10:44)
  • The story of the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:28–39):
    • Her testimony was simply, “Come see a man who told me all things I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” (09:10)
    • Many believed because of her word, and others after hearing Jesus themselves.
  • Different forms of evidence: supernatural knowledge (woman at the well), miracles (Lazarus), scriptural explanations (Nicodemus).

• Key point: The core of every testimony is faith in Christ—not transformative life changes or works (11:39)

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Guarding the Focus: Assurance and the True Subject

• Testimonies should not emphasize transformation or works—these topics better fit the area of discipleship (10:44)
• Katharine: “At the heart of it, it should always be that we're pointing people to the promise of eternal life through our Savior, not looking at our works at all.” (10:44)
• Personal experience or “my truth” is useful if it serves the gospel, never as validation of salvation (11:39)
• Testimonies impact families and communities; clarity preserves assurance (11:50)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Bob: “If a person's testimony is unclear, better off not to say it.” (01:47)
• Katharine: “Maybe we should look to Christ as the example...what God says about His Son… Believe in him for eternal life.” (02:17)
• Katharine: “If you know the date that you were saved, don't share it, just don't share it. It's not relevant and it can be really confusing to people.” (04:38)
• Bob: “There’s only one way to be born again, that's by faith in Christ…But how you get there, there might be thousands of ways.” (07:19)
• Katharine: “What convinced you is not what convinced me. We don’t want to rob people of the uniqueness of our stories…But at the heart of it…it should always be that we're pointing people to the promise of eternal life through our Savior, not looking at our works at all.” (10:44)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:23 – Why there’s no “biblical template” for sharing testimonies
• 03:18 – Introduction of the three-step framework
• 04:37 – Handling testimonies from those who came to faith as children; avoiding confusing details
• 05:19 – The essential point of Christian testimony: assurance by faith alone
• 06:48 – The value of “what convinced you” and the uniqueness of stories
• 08:08 – The Gospel of John as a case study in varied testimonies
• 09:10 – The testimony of the Samaritan woman
• 10:44 – On not focusing on transformation or works, maintaining the centrality of Christ’s promise
• 11:39 – Cultural issues with testimonies: “my truth” vs. gospel truth
• 11:50 – Encouragement to thoughtfully evaluate the clarity of our testimonies

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Summary Takeaways

• Clarity over tradition: Follow a simple, gospel-centered structure for testimonies if you choose to share.
• Content, not conversion story: Focus on what you believe about Jesus now (faith alone for eternal life), not on dramatic life change or “validation” by personal transformation.
• Individual paths, one destination: While everyone’s journey to faith differs, only belief in Christ’s promise secures salvation—this unity should be the heart of your testimony.
• Keep assurance central: Testimonies that muddy the clarity of the gospel can harm, not help; point always to Christ and His promise.
• Test your testimony: Periodically re-examine your story to ensure it reflects the biblical gospel and not merely personal experience.

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Whether or not you share your testimony, let the core always be Jesus’ offer of eternal life—free, secure, and by faith alone.

Transcript

[A]

The following is a listener supported ministry from the Grace Evangelical Society. Welcome to Grace in Focus this podcast radio broadcast. Thank you so much for letting us come into your space. Now today Katharine Wright is going to give some almost concluding thoughts on this topic of giving your testimony. What is the most clear way to share a testimony? Kathryn outlines three steps that will help you give a clear testimony that will point those who hear it to Christ to His promise of eternal salvation. If you have missed this series so far, you can go to faithalone.org, find the podcast there and you can listen to past episodes. Also on faithalone.org I would like to invite you to have a look at the information that is there about our online seminary, Grace Evangelical Theological Seminary, which is underwritten by our generous donors and offers scholarships for those who want to study and earn an M. Div. Degree. If this sounds interesting to you, we are right now in our application window and also in our registration window for the fall semester. So why don't you go to our website and get the information you need, go through the application process and get signed up. We would love to hear from you. It is faithalone.org seminary now. Here is Kathryn and Bob with today's discussion.

[B]

Kathryn, good to have you back.

[C]

Thanks for having me.

[B]

We're at the stage we're going to talk about the correct way a testimony should be done. And this is difficult because there's no verse we can turn to in the Bible that says do a testimony this way. In fact, we're not even commanded to tell people, this is how I came to faith in Christ.

[C]

I know that is kind of after all of these conversations, the conclusion is just don't give your testimony. No, I'm just kidding.

[B]

Well, actually you shouldn't be kidding because if a person's testimony is unclear, better off not to say it.

[C]

I think there is kind of a side conversation to ask about. Is that really the best way to evangelize?

[B]

Well, that's right. In fact, First John 5, 11, 13 or 9:13. And that's where it's called God's testimony.

[C]

That's right.

[B]

And so instead of saying here's my testimony, let's see what God testifies about his son. What does God the Father say about his son? That's the ultimate testimony, right?

[C]

Exactly right. We talked in a previous episode about how we look to Paul as the example, but I tend to think that maybe we should look to Christ as the example and what God to say about his son. And it's that we Believe in him for the eternal life. And that's what he has said, that's his testimony and that's final.

[B]

That's right. Now we probably could say, look, the Bible doesn't forbid giving testimonies and Paul does give some sort of a testimony in the book of Acts, right?

[C]

Sure.

[B]

And he does say in first Timothy 1:16, and he's an example of those who are going to believe on him forever last. So we get some clues. But it would probably be best to say if you never shared your testimony with anybody, it probably wouldn't be some terrible thing, other than it seems to me you would want to obviously share your testimony with your children or with your parents or with your brothers and sisters. Yeah. Especially if people are interested, which people generally are. So what does a clear testimony look like?

[C]

Well, we've been talking about the standard three step process. So we're going to give our new revised version a three step process. So again, just suggestions, right? These are just suggestions. And so step one, we'd suggest maybe describing what you used to believe. Talk about what it was that you believed before coming to faith. And so the emphasis is on belief, which is something that will be a theme throughout these three steps, which by

[B]

the way is implicit in Paul's testimony in Acts, correct?

[C]

Yes.

[B]

Because when he says, I was a Pharisee, I was a Hebrew of Hebrews, I was a persecutor of the Church, he was basically talking about, I believed what you believe. I believed in work, salvation.

[C]

Exactly. And so, you know, if you were an atheist before you were saved, talk about that.

[B]

Say that.

[C]

Yeah, say that and say I didn't believe in a God and whatever. Or if you were maybe Catholic and were believing in your word, if you were a legalist like Paul, maybe you were a Jew and you were basing your salvation on something related to that, or if you were Hindu or whatever it was, talk about what it is you believed before. Now I will say slight disclaimer on that. If you came to faith as a child, that's probably gonna be hard.

[B]

Right.

[C]

This is why, this is just a suggestion. Right. You know, I was saved as a kid and I don't, I don't remember that moment. I don't remember any of that. Which kind of a slight detour on that. You know, a lot of the time with testimonies, dates are a big deal. And can I just say, if you know the date that you were saved, don't share it, just don't share it. It's not relevant and it can be really confusing to people, especially those that came to faith as children. Describe what you believed before. If you were a kid and you don't remember, then say that you know, that's fine too. And then step two I would say tell them what you believe now, what it is that you've been convinced of now which is that Jesus has given you eternal life by faith alone as a free gift that can never be lost.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

Go to 1 John 5:11 through 13ish and talk about the testimony of God, which is the most important. And point them to the truth which is that they can know that they can know that they have eternal life by faith alone in Jesus.

[B]

Right. If they believe in the Son, they have the life. And it's not a matter of works, it's simply a matter of believing. Yeah, I like that. I used to believe this, now I believe this. Is that a two step approach then?

[C]

Now I will tell you. I used to have. That was my original two step approach. I have added a third step and again just a suggestion. Now you had an interesting suggestion earlier that maybe we can share. But my version would be tell them what convinced you. So basically you tell them what you used to believe. Tell them what you believe now and then you tell them why you believe. Gotcha too of it.

[A]

The Grace Evangelical Society's recently published old testament commentary volume one is now available. Find [e-mail] store. It's where you can also find Bob Wilkins latest book the Gospel is Still Under Siege as well as many other titles by Grace Evangelical Society authors. Please come by and have a look today. You'll find the GES store at our website or faithalone.org that's faithalone.org store. Now back to today's topic.

[C]

The reason I add this third step is because that's where I think our unique stories can come in. Where you can say I was convinced. Bob, you were Convinced by Ephesians 2, 8, 9, right? Somebody else may have been convinced because creation spurred you to look and then you started studying and then you were convinced whatever it was that convinced you. And that's where I think our unique stories can be helpful. I'm not pointing to my works, I'm pointing to the evidence. And the evidence can be as broad or as small as you want it to be.

[B]

See, this is a good point. I like this three step approach with third being what convinced you. Because I've often said this, there's only one way to be born again, that's by faith in Christ. For what he promises everlasting life. But how you get there, there might be thousands of ways. Exactly right. Like you say, some people may come through atheism, some people may come through agnosticism, some people may come to believe in young earth creationism and then somehow stumble upon the writings of Zane Hodges or stumble upon Grace Evangelical society and come to understand that it's simply by faith, apart from works. But there's a host of other ways people could come to faith. Yet there's only one way, and that's by faith in Christ. People can tell their different stories, and then all the different testimonies are centering around believing.

[C]

Exactly. It's what I believed before, what I believe now, and what convinced me to believe that this is true. And I think that this reflects the Gospel of John. Yes, because John tells us in his gospel why he wrote. He wrote to tell unbelievers how they can be saved, how they can receive eternal life by believing. And he says, John, chapter 20, verses 30 through 31, that the miracles, the signs that he has presented in his gospel were for this purpose, were to convince his readers of something. And so what do we see in the Gospel of John is all types of people who come to faith by different evidence.

[B]

That's great. All right, I've got a testimony for you that most people wouldn't think of. It's a woman. It's the woman at the well.

[C]

Yes, sir.

[B]

And in John 4, verse 28, she left her water pot, which some commentators think is her old religion. Right. Work, salvation, water, and she went into the city and she said to the men, come see a man who told me all things I ever did. This is her testimony.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

I met a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ? And a lot of commentators suggest the reason she asked it as a question instead of making an emphatic statement is because she had a low reputation. And so then the story goes on, and in verse 39, it says many of the Samaritans of the city believed in him because of the word of the woman who testified. He told me all things I ever did. That was her testimony.

[C]

That's exactly right. And what's interesting is that the men of Sychar later say we believed not just because of what she has said, but now we've listened to the Lord. Right, but what's so significant about that passage is that they didn't come to faith because of a miracle.

[B]

Right.

[C]

They came to faith just by the words that were spoken to them. But in chapter 11, we're told that after the Lord resurrected Lazarus, many people came to faith.

[B]

Right.

[C]

So what convinced the men of Sychar or what convinced the woman at the well or what convinced the people in John 11 are all different.

[B]

Yeah. Or Nicodemus in John 3. It seems to be because Jesus explanation of the Old Testament is convincing.

[C]

Yes. There's a variety of evidence that John presents his readers.

[B]

Yeah. Seven or eight signs, depending on how you take it. And all are designed to lead people to faith. But in some cases they come to faith without a sign.

[C]

That's exactly right.

[B]

Although when Jesus tells the woman you've had five husbands and the one you're living with is not your husband, even though it's not called a sign in John's gospel, and even though it's not called a miracle, it's supernatural, it is some kind of supernatural knowledge.

[C]

You know, somebody could come to faith in John chapter one just with that evidence. Right. Somebody may have to read all through chapter four. Somebody may read the Lord turning the water into wine, and that's what convinces them. Or maybe they have to read the whole story. They have to get all the way to chapter 21. So that's what we mean by evidence. There's a lot of things to know about Christ. There's a lot of things that prove that he is the one that can give you eternal life as a free gift. But what convinced you is not what convinced me. We don't want to rob people of, you know, the uniqueness of our stories because there is a unique quality to everybody's testimony. But at the heart of it, it should always be that we're pointing people to the promise of eternal life through our Savior, not looking at our works at all. None of that is talking about transformation. That should be reserved for when we're talking about discipleship. And that sounds really harsh sometimes because we live in a culture where people want to look to their truth.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And their experience is validation. And while that's not to undermine our experiences, it can support the truth. But we should be pointing people to Christ.

[B]

That's great.

[C]

First and foremost, let's test our testimonies. Let's look at them and really have a discerning eye, because realized it's important. It's powerful. It impacts your family, it impacts you. Don't let people rob you of your assurance.

[B]

So we've been talking about testimonies and we've gotten down to where we've given the sample testimony. We'll kind of wrap things up in the next show an overview of everything we've said about testimonies, so keep Grace in focus.

[A]

Thank you both for that informative discussion. Our goal at the Grace Evangelical Society is to teach Scripture clearly and without confusion. One of the best tools for that clarity, we believe, is our website. It's faithalone.org that's faithalone.org on our site we have all kinds of materials that are designed to help you mature and grow in your faith and your understanding of Scripture. Please come Visit [e-mail] that's faithalone.org you'll be glad you did. God loves a cheerful giver and that's why we think our financial partners are some of the happiest people in the world. If you would like to learn how to become a financial partner with Grace and Focus, we would very much appreciate it. Learn more@grace faithalone.org it's really exciting to hear from our listeners, so if you've got a question, comment or feedback, I hope you'll reach out to us. Best way to do that is through email. Here is our email address. It's radioaithalone.org that's radioaithalone.org and on the next Grace in Focus, we will wrap up this short series that we've been presenting testimonies. Join us again next time for Grace in Focus. The proceeding has been a listener supported ministry from the Grace Evangelical Society.