Have you ever felt like there was something missing in your life? Have you ever wondered why am I here? What is the purpose? Do you feel overwhelmed with the difficulties of life? Have you tried to escape the pain and pressure through drugs, alcohol, sex, or other releases only to be left with that feeling of emptiness? Are you unhappy and unfulfilled, lonely in a way that no one can seem to cure? Are you often consumed with feelings of anger, jealousy, desperateness, and depression? Maybe you have considered suicide or just suffered the loss of a loved one and don’t understand why.
There is an answer and that answer is Jesus Christ! Jesus is the light that illuminates our lives and brings peace and meaning where there was once only misery and emptiness. He is the one friend that will never forsake you, the one person whose love is unconditional. The confessor that will always listen, understand and forgive. Jesus is the balm that can heal any wound. He is the one helper who can lighten any load and is always there for you. Jesus Christ is the only way to fill that void in our lives, in our hearts, which causes so much anxiety and despair. All we have to do is accept Him and allow Him to be Lord of our lives. The great news is that anyone who believes in Him, regardless of what you have done in the past, or what your present circumstances are, can have this wonderful gift from God. God loves His children so much that He gave us a way to be saved from our lost state. This way is through the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Gospel is a word which means “good news.” The gospel is the plan of salvation in Jesus Christ. As Paul wrote in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” It is the “good tidings” that was predicted by the prophet in Isaiah 40:9. The gospel of the New Testament is the culmination of God’s plan for our salvation that began with Israel. Before sharing the gospel with you however, it is important to understand that the gospel is not just a step-by-step program that ends with eternal life, it is a call to a lasting relationship with Jesus Christ. It is faith in a person and not in a plan. Therefore the gospel we believe in and teach must contain the entire truth of Jesus Christ as taught in Scripture.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever! (Psalm 111:10)
We must begin our presentation of the gospel by understanding that God is holy. Holy is a word that denotes moral and ethical perfection, a complete lack of evil in any sense. It is often used in the Bible to describe “God’s righteous nature.”
For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. (Leviticus 11:44)
There is none holy like the LORD; there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God. (1 Samuel 2:2)
Who is able to stand before the LORD, this holy God? (1 Samuel 6:20)
Sin is anything we do (in thought, word or deed) which transgresses the will, the law, of God. And because God is holy, He despises sin. He punishes sin relentlessly.
You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, (Exodus 20:5)
Because of God’s holiness and His judgments upon sin, sinners cannot stand before Him.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; (Psalm 1:5)
Because of our sin, we remain forever cut off from God holiness. Without that holiness we can never have peace in our hearts.
“There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.” (Isaiah 57:21)
And no matter how good we may think of ourselves, no matter how hard we try, every single person is a sinner.
as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.”, “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:10-18)
Sin is sin. The righteousness of God allows for no differentiation between various sins. Stealing is as heinous as murder before the holiness of God.
For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. (James 2:10)
Because of our sin we are worthy only of death before God’s holiness.
Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. (James 1:15)
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
When God first created mankind He made us without sin but with the capacity for free choice. By choosing to disobey God and succumb to the temptations of Satan we became, by nature, sinful beings (Genesis 3). Because human beings are inherently sinful, there is nothing that we can do to earn our own salvation.
We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. (Isaiah 64:6)
For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. (Romans 3:20)
Because we cannot earn our salvation and are deserving of death we are in a helpless state.
And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, (Hebrews 9:27)
For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. (Luke 12:2)
“But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8)
But the good news is Jesus Christ. Jesus was not just a man; the Scriptures clearly reveal to us that He is God.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. (John 1:1-3,18)
…of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen. (Romans 9:5)
For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; (Colossians 2:9)
He is our Lord.
for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.” (Revelation 17:14)
and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:11)
The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ; He is Lord of all; (Acts 10:36)
As part of God’s divine plan, He became man.
who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. (Philippians 2:6,7)
While Jesus lived as a man, He was without sin.
For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15)
And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. (1 John 3:5)
Jesus became the sacrifice for our sin.
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
He “gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.” (Titus 2:14)
He shed His blood as atonement for our sins.
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, (Ephesians 1:8)
To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, (Revelation 1:5)
Jesus died on the cross, and through His sacrificial death He provided us with a means to eternal salvation.
who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed. (1 Peter 2:24)
and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. (Colossians 1:20)
Jesus, after His sacrifice on the cross, rose triumphantly from the dead.
and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. (Romans 1:4)
For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, (1 Corinthians 15:3,4)
How do we accept Jesus as our savior? It is not merely an intellectual or emotional decision to believe, to trust in Him. We must turn wholeheartedly to Jesus Christ as both our Lord and our Savior. We must turn from the things of the world. God demands that we must have a repentant faith. We must first repent.
Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. (Ezekiel 18:30)
“For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord GOD. “Therefore turn and live!” (Ezekiel 18:32)
Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, (Acts 17:30)
they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. (Acts 26:20)
We must turn from everything that dishonors God.
Turn “to God from idols to serve the living and true God,” (1 Thessalonians 1:9)
We must follow Jesus no matter how difficult it may seem at times.
Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” (Luke 9:23)
If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor. (John 12:26)
And we must trust in Him as Lord and Savior.
So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved (Acts 16:31)
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)
But there is a cost to following Christ and we must be prepared too pay it. It is a price that could include friends, family, job, and even our very lives.
If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. (Luke 14:26, 27)
He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. (John 12:25)
So, if we are willing to count the cost, to believe and follow Jesus, we can be saved. But we must remember that it is not enough to simply believe, we must be willing to follow, to obey Jesus as our Lord. We must follow His commandments and live as Scripture instructs us.
And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, (Hebrews 5:9)
Salvation is a free gift from God, one that is entirely dependant upon our willingness to accept it.
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: (John 1:12)
For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13)
And the gift of God, the result of salvation, is eternal life.
And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. (1 John 5:11,12)
There is no set formula for receiving salvation. You do not need to pray a special prayer or stand in front of a church. Becoming a Christian doesn’t require witnesses or for you to sign your name anywhere. All that is required is that you place your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Acknowledge that you are a sinner, and make the heartfelt decision to follow Christ regardless of the cost. This means that you must have a willingness to obey what Christ has commanded of us in His word, the Holy Bible.
When you do this, and mean it, you become a child of God, you are born-again.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
There are four things that you should begin to do in order to deepen your new relationship with God:
- Pray. Pray continuously. There is nothing more effective than daily heart-felt prayer. But don’t be discouraged if you have never prayed before, prayer is not a difficult or mystical process, simply speak to God. As a model prayer you might want to look at how Christ taught us to pray in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 6 verses 9-13. Do not simply repeat this prayer word for word but use it as a model or guide for your own prayers.
- Read the Bible. You should begin by reading and studying the Gospel of John. Never make the mistake of simply reading the Bible however. You must take what God says in His word and apply it to your life. One of your first acts of obedience to Christ should be for you to be baptized, an act which any good church will be glad to arrange for you.
- Witness. Share with other people your new relationship with God. Do not be afraid of the reactions of others when they reject you but remember that it is not people but God that we must please.
- Fellowship. Spend time with other Christians. Find a solid Bible-believing Christian church to join and begin attending.
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
If you have made a commitment and decided to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, but really aren’t sure what to do next, please contact me. I would love to hear from you and can assist you in locating a local church for you to attend as well as answer any questions that you might have.