STEP
1 : Understand that
God loves you and wants to have an intimate relationship with
you.
Jesus said, "For God so loved the
world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes
in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." (John
3:16)
God is not an angry old man in the sky trying to zap you for
being bad. He is your loving Creator who is trying desperately
to reconcile you to Himself despite your sin. He sent His only
Son to bridge the gap between you and Him.
One of my favorite T-Shirts shows a picture of some large nails
and an old fashioned hammer next to an ancient scroll letter.
The letter simply reads, “Dear Son, I want you to build
a bridge. Here are all the tools you will need. See you soon,
Love Dad.”
STEP
2: You must believe
that Jesus rose from the dead.
The Bible tells us, “Now if we have
died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never
to die again; death no longer is master over Him.” (Romans
6:8-9)
Only Jesus Christ can offer you eternal life. For two reasons:
One – Only Jesus lived a sinless life
and qualified to be the pure sacrifice for our sins. Other spiritual
leaders may have been good men and great teachers but they also
sinned.
Secondly – Only Jesus was raised from
the dead. We’re not talking about an out-of-body experience
here. Jesus didn’t faint on the operating table and see
a light at the end of a tunnel or envision angels then come out
of a coma. Jesus was completely dead for a solid three days. Christ
conquered death. He is as much alive today as He ever was. But
now we experience Him through the presence of His Holy Spirit.
Other religious leaders of old have gone on in death and are just
as much dead today as when they were buried.
STEP
3: You have to recognize
that because of your sin, you have become separated from God.
The Bible says, "All have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23). It also says,
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God
is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans
6:23)
Everyone has sinned. And we’re all destined to die eternally
because of our sin. However, Jesus is the only One who never sinned.
So He didn’t have to die for His sins because He never committed
any. That meant He could choose to die as a sacrifice for us so
we can live forever.
STEP
4: You must realize
that you can never be “good enough” to earn eternal
life.
“For by grace you have been saved
through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
not as a result of works, that no one should boast.” (Ephesians
2:8-9)
It doesn’t matter how good you are or how much community
service you do. You cannot wash away your sins by trying to outweigh
them with good deeds. If you helped little old ladies across the
street every day of your life you would still have to pay for
your sins. And that price is your eternal death.
“For all of us have become like one
who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy
garment;” (Isaiah 64:6)
STEP
5: You must ask
God to forgive you of your sins and turn away from your sinful
lifestyle.
This is called “repentance” in the Bible. It means
to turn in the opposite direction. You cannot hold onto God with
one hand and hold on to the pleasure of sin with the other. You
have to choose.
“And they (the apostles) went out
and preached that men should repent.” (Mark 6:12)
“And Jesus said to them, ‘Thus
it is written, that the Christ should suffer and rise again from
the dead the third day; and that repentance for forgiveness of
sins should be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning
from Jerusalem.’”(Luke 24:46-47)
“The Lord is…patient toward
you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”
(2 Peter 3:9)
There is no such thing as forgiveness without repentance. I would
be lying to you if I said you could just recite a little prayer
and presto you’ve got God in a headlock for eternal life
because you said the magic words. It doesn’t work that way.
God isn’t a genie in a bottle trapped into doing your bidding.
You have to really desire to give your life to Him. Remember,
He knows what you are really thinking. You have to truly turn
away from your sinful lifestyle to be forgiven.
Some people think that if they just “love God” they
will be saved. Yet they define love in a shallow way that has
no substance. They think it doesn’t matter if they deliberately
continue in a sinful lifestyle. Jesus said, “If
you love Me you will keep my commandments.”
(John 14:21) Jesus isn’t
fooled by a sticky sweet emotion that isn’t genuine. He
wants real commitment. That seems only fair since it took real
commitment for Him to die on the cross for us.
If a person continues to deliberately live in sin then their
repentance wasn’t genuine. Being truly sorry for your sins
produces a repentant heart.
“I now rejoice, not that you were
made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point
of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will
of God, in order that you might not suffer loss in anything through
us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces
a repentance without regret, leading to salvation; but the sorrow
of the world produces death.” (2 Corinthians 7:9-10)
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful
and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him
a liar, and His word is not in us.” (1 John 1:9)
STEP
6: You have to ask
Jesus into your heart.
The Bible instruct us, “that if you
confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart
that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with
the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the
mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” (Romans
10:9-10)
No one is automatically saved. You may have been prayed for as
a baby. Your parents might have been very active in church. Perhaps
you grew up going to Sunday School. While those things are good,
none of them mean that you have actively received the gift of
eternal life that God is offering you.
The Bible says, "As many as received
Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even
to those who believe in His name" (John 1:12)
You have to take full responsibility and receive Christ for yourself.
STEP
7: Embrace your
new identity as a child of God and a follower (disciple) of Christ.
Once Jesus has washed away your sins they no longer exist. Sure,
there might be consequences of your past actions that you cannot
escape in this life but Jesus doesn’t hold them against
you in eternity.
“Therefore if any man is in Christ,
he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new
things have come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
One of the things the Devil (yes, there is a devil) tries to do
is to keep you feeling guilty and condemned over your past so
that he can cripple your future. He wants to steal the joy of
Christ away from you. When these feelings come over you, you must
remember God’s promises in the Bible.
“There is now no condemnation for
those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans
8:1)
Don’t live in guilt. Live in the freedom that only Jesus
Christ can provide. The Bible says, “It
was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing
firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.”
(Galatians 5:1)
Don’t
wait until you feel “good enough” to accept Christ
or until you “clean up your act.” You can’t
wash away your own sin. It would be like washing a pig in a mud
puddle. You could work hard but never get the job done.
God accepts you just as you are right now, imperfections and
all. The Bible says, "God demonstrates
His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us." (Romans 5:8)
Some will try to convince you that “all spiritual roads
lead to God.” and other such philosophies. They will tell
you that as long as you are sincere in your belief that you will
ultimately find eternal life. However, the Bible is very clear
that only Jesus Christ can save you.
“And there is salvation in no one
else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given
among men, by which we must be saved.” (Acts
4:12)
Even Jesus Christ taught that there was no other way to get to
God when He told His apostles in John
14:6, “I am the way,
the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through
Me.”
This proclamation from Jesus is very clear. He actually
clarified that other religions do not lead to God no matter how
sincere they may be. That is why it is so urgent for we as Christians
to help others understand God’s plan of salvation through
the cross of Christ.
“And being found in appearance as
a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of
death, even death on a cross. Therefore also God highly exalted
Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in
heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory
of God the Father.” (Philippians
2:8-11)
You see, everyone will one day bow before Jesus Christ and proclaim
that He is Lord. The question is will they do it before they die,
or after? The answer to that questions decides their place in
eternity.
Don’t
wait any longer. A decision to wait to receive Christ’s
gift of eternal life is the same thing as saying, “No”
to Him. Examining the evidence is one thing, but procrastination
is another.
There is no time like the present. None of us are promised tomorrow.
If your house was on fire, how long would you procrastinate before
running for your life? The Bible teaches us to have a sense of
urgency about accepting Christ. “Behold,
now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation.”
(2 Corinthians 6:2)
The fact is that Jesus is very patient toward you. And He is
also a gentleman. He will not push Himself on you. He politely
speaks to you in a quiet voice to open your heart to Him.
“Behold, I stand at the door and
knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come
in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me. He who overcomes,
I will grant to him to sit down with Me on my throne, as I also
overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”
(Revelation 3:20-21)
He will wait as long as you want Him to, but one day it will
be too late.
“And inasmuch as it is appointed
for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also,
having been offered once to bear the sins of many, shall appear
a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those
who eagerly await Him.” (Hebrews
9:27)
I hope you respond to the Lord’s invitation to receive
Him as your Lord and Savior. If you do, you will be the guest
of honor at a party thrown in heaven. “There
is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who
repents.” (Luke 15:10)
Just believe in your heart that Jesus is God’s Son and
died for you. Then pray this prayer, “Dear
God, I believe in you and in Your Son, Jesus Christ. I believe
He died for me and rose from the dead. I know that I am a sinner
and I cannot save myself. Please forgive me for my sins and come
into my heart and be my Savior. I give my life to you now. I want
to live with you forever in your Kingdom. Help me to live for
you and forgive me when I fail. In the name of Jesus Christ I
pray. Amen.”
If you prayed that prayer sincerely then the angels in heaven
are whooping and hollering with joy. Welcome to the family of
God.
Now you need to begin your walk with Christ. The Devil is going
to want to steal away your new faith. You need encouragement and
fellowship as well as more knowledge of God’s word and will
for your life.
God created you for the purpose of being a part of His family
(called the church). Here you will not only learn more about your
new faith but you will be able to discover God’s will for
your life and how you can find purpose and meaning.
Please contact us today to find out how you can take the next
steps that are so important in your spiritual journey. My email
is pastorjohnraymond@charter.net
and our church phone number is (985) 781-3172. Congratulations!
Talk to you soon,
Pastor John Raymond
