Monday, May 17, 2010

The Gospel and How to be Born Again

Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God. It is through Him and Him alone that one can have forgiveness of sin and eternal life (Matt 16:15-17, John 14:6, Acts 13:38, John 3:16).

God, the creator of heaven and earth, is a holy God (Gen 1:1, 1 Peter 1:15-16). He is a just God and demands that sin (disobedience to Him) be judged and the one who commits sin be punished (Rom 2:11-12, Rom 6:23).

He demands that all in His presence be without sin (Heb 12:14). That, of course, is humanly impossible to achieve because as Romans 3:23 states, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

God prepared hell, a place of torment, for Satan and his angels (Matt 25:41) because they rebelled and sinned against God. All people who die in their sins will also go there for all eternity as punishment for having rebelled (sinned) against God (Matt 25:41, Rom 6:23).

God does not desire that for you. He wants you to be with Him. God made a way for you to be forgiven of your sins so you can be with Him for all eternity. (Rom 5:8, John 3:16)

Since God is a just God and demands that sin be punished, He chose to have His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, who knew no sin, to take God's judgment for your sins. In other words, Jesus Christ paid the penalty for your sins so you would not have to (Heb 4:15,1 John 2:2, 1 John 3:5).
God did not leave Jesus dead; He rose Him from the dead (1 Cor 15:4) and He sits at the right hand of the Father.(Acts 2:32-33).

You can have forgiveness of sin and eternal life if you

1) BELIEVE that Jesus died for you and rose from the dead.(John 3:16, Rom 5:8, Rom 10:9-10).
2) RECEIVE (accept) what Jesus did for you (John 1:12).
3) CONFESS this to God in prayer (Rom 10:13) and publicly to man (Matt 10:32).
4) OBEY God [Lordship] (Heb 5:9)

Every person who has ever lived, lives now, or will live will stand before God and give an account of their life to Him (Heb 9:27, Rom 14:12).

If a person dies in his/her sins because he/she rejected Christ then he/she will be judged a sinner and cast into the Lake of Fire to suffer conscious torment day and night for all eternity (Rev 20:10,15).

If a person dies in the Jesus, meaning that he/she has believed on and received Jesus as Savior and Lord, then he/she will inherit eternal life where he/she will be in God's presence forever and will know without measure the love of God (1 Cor 2:9).

Have you been born-again? If not, do you want to be? If you do, you can be.

Do you believe in your heart that you are a sinner? That Jesus died for your sins to satisfy God's judgment for your sins? Do you believe Jesus rose from the dead? Do you want Jesus to save you from the penalty of sin (hell) and to give you eternal life? If you do, then turn to God in prayer and confess that to Him and ask Him to save you.

Here is a sample prayer:

Lord Jesus, I am a sinner deserving of God's judgment and punishment. I know that you died for my sins so I could be forgiven and that You rose from the dead. I ask that you forgive me of my sins, come live in my heart, and be the Lord of my life. Thank you for saving me and helping me live the life you would have me to live. Amen."

If you have done this from your heart, then God will come live inside of you. He will change your heart and give you a new nature (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Everyday pray and read God's Holy Word, the Bible (KJV).  Ask God to lead you to the Church He would have you be a part of.  Let the Pastor and Church congregation know that you ask Jesus to save you.  Be water baptized.  Seek God's will for your life and walk in obedience to Him.