The first are those trusting in their own goodness, the second are trusting in Christ's. You take all the religions, including Darwinism and secularism (yes they are religions) and they fall into one of these two categories. Funny thing is those trusting in their own goodness all believe they are great people, pretty convenient! Proverbs 20:6 “Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?” Even the unrepentant murderer has justified his crime and thinks overall he is a relatively good person. The facts are even the church going, bible reading, Sunday school teacher is just as vile as the murderer with out Christ's goodness imputed to their account.
By the grace of God I was able too see how my thoughts and actions are truly despicable. That being said; I think one of the worst things we can do is to start telling people about the glorious Gospel, until they see they are in serious transgression of the law and in danger of judgment. Go ask 10 people on the street if they think they are a good person. You will get 10 people to say they are. Very rarely will someone say they are not good, just like The Bible tells us, everyone is proclaiming their own goodness. Why in the world would anyone want to submit to Christ to wash away their sin when they are not a bad person? They won't.
If I gave you a strange looking beaker containing a steaming blue liquid and said drink this before you die you would look at me like I am nuts. Now if I said it's clear you have a horrible disease, I pointed out the symptoms and showed you the cure from a medical encyclopedia you would drink it up. It's no different with salvation. Without seeing the danger they are in; people will either tell you no thanks because they don't need it. Or even worse they will say the prayer with you for a number of different reasons (to be nice to you, to get you off their back etc) and you have just created a false convert. Now they have received the word; and Satan will come to ridicule them to shame their decision or pour lots of temptation to choke the word out (see parable of the sower in Matthew 17). Now that they "tried Jesus" their latter end is worse than their first because they already know it's a bunch of nonsense. We have to be real careful to make sure people see the disease they have before we give them the cure, otherwise we won't make any sense and no one will repent, and therefore never get saved. It would be better that we don't reach out to them at all, rather than make a disillusioned bitter "backslider" that will be much harder to reach than the man who was not reached at all.
The simplest way to make people see their sin is using God's word. Ask them if they have lied, stolen, lusted, blasphemed His name, always honored their parents, coveted, hated. If they have then tell them God sees them as a lying, thieving, blasphemous, coveting, dishonoring, murder/adulterer at heart (see Matthew 5:20-28). Then when they see they are guilty and learn that God is just (has to punish sin or He would not be good); they are glad to learn that He is also loving and came to pay the price of their sin debt. When they learn that Christ took a torturous brutal death to pay the fine of your sin they become a tear filled convert that truly loves The Lord Jesus Christ.
Remember everyone is ready to proclaim their own goodness. No matter what religion/world view they have, if they do not have Christ's blood covering their sin, they are trusting in their own goodness. Whether it's because they believe it’s what it takes to get into heaven (pretty much every religion but Christianity) or to be reincarnated as something good, or if they claim not to believe in God (they really know there is one but trust evolution to quiet their conscience they still try to be a good person as fire insurance just in case there is a God and they believe they will still be ok if God exists). Plain and simple there are only two types of people those trusting in their works, and those trusting in Christ. If we can point out their works are filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.) than we can get them to turn to Christ.
And just like breaking any other law it's important to remind them that no amount of good deeds can ever free them from the penalty that has to be paid on breaking the law, so if they see their sin but say they have made up for it over time remind them that a murderer has to get punished no matter how years have past and no matter what amount of good works they have done, justice has to be served. There is no scale that weighs your good deeds verses your bad and if you have more good you get in. Plain and simple even one transgression expels you from Heaven; God is perfect and he can’t have sin in His presence; luckily for us He is willing to give us Christ’s perfection to cover our filthy rags. Romans 3:[23] For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; [24] Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: [25] Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; [26] To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. [27] Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. [28] Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
