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IF YOU DIED TODAY
If you died today and God ask you why He should let you into heaven, what would you say?
Many people would say something like:
I have tried to be good
Or
I have been religious or baptized
These are all wrong answers - These answers reflect a lack of understanding of God's Holiness and the purpose of the cross.
See Video: This was Your Life
Preparation of the heart to understand the gospel:
****GODLY SORROW FOR SIN****
****HUNGER AND THIRST TO BE CLOSE TO GOD****
****FAITH THAT JESUS IS ENOUGH
No one can be trusting in their goodness and go to heaven. No man is good enough to go to heaven on his own merit. Being religious does not save anyone. Every person at the core of their being is selfish, corrupt, and sinful. That is why the cross was necessary.
The right answers would be something like:
The Blood of Jesus was shed to wash away my sin - He has cleansed me, and I belong to Jesus.
Or
I have given my heart to The Lord Jesus and received Him - He gave me new life
I have been born again.
When Jesus suffered and died, it was to give you His righteousness.
When you repent and believe,Jesus takes your sin and gives you His righteousness. That is a trade you can't go to heaven without. And that is the only way God can ever accept you into His Kingdom. True Repentance is truly turning to Jesus - It is trusting in Him and His work for you.
The Church is called the "BRIDE" of CHRIST. So we could say that Jesus Died to invite us to wed our spirits with HIS for eternity. The Cross is like a marriage proposal. And it is the proposal of the King to a poor orphan. And the invitation requires a humble response of faith...leading to deep gratitude and love.
God has made a way for you to be right with Him and to be with Him in peace for eternity. Don't get caught up with the fact that there is only one way, get excited that there is a way.
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to The Father, but by Me." John 14:6
Jesus also said, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.." Matthew 7:13-14
That narrow way is the way of the cross. The truth of the cross calls us to realize that we are sinners deserving of punishment.
The light of the cross shows that our sin is very very serious. Some are flippant about their sin. They are blind to the light of the cross. The way of the cross calls us to humility and gratitude that Jesus loved us so much as to be willing to bear the punishment for our sin.
The way of the cross calls us to quit depending on ourselves in pride and humbly accept that our only hope is to depend on the One that died for us. Jesus Saves! Praise the Lord !!!
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
I Corinthians 1:18
Jesus told a religious leader: "Unless a man is born again, He cannot see the Kingdom of God". John 3:3
There must be an internal change of the heart that is a work of God through the power of the cross. It is not about ritual. It is not about being religious. It is about coming to the cross - that means accepting what The Lord Jesus did on the cross - and humbly desiring a relationship with God and to be forgiven - it means turning to trust Jesus as Your personal Savior and Lord.
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,”and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. Romans 10:9-19
When a person believes and trusts Jesus to save them, then their position changes with God. They become children of God. They are transferred out of darkness into the marvelous light of God.
For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves
Colossians 1:13
As many as received Him, to them that believed in His name, He gave them the right to become children of God. John 1:12
In becoming a child of God, we can have assurance of salvation and know for sure that we are in God's Kingdom and have been accepted as His child. We are not saved by trying to do good or trying to obey rules or rituals. We are saved by grace to come into a personal relationship with God as His child.
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. I John 5:13
Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.
Hebrews 6:17,19
Our hope of salvation is sure - Those who are saved have a hope that is firm and secure. It is not based on our goodness or ability to obey rules and rituals. It is based on God's gift of grace. There is no good thing anyone can do to deserve it. It must be humbly received as a gift.
On the one hand, I am totally hopeless without Jesus, on the other hand, I have a sure hope in Jesus that will endure for eternity. Praise the Lord for His infinite grace and mercy.
By grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourself, it is the gift of God lest anyone should boast. We are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works.Ephesians 2:8-10
YOU NEED JESUS !!! -
Understanding the Gospel
You need Jesus to give new life to your dead spirit. If you had cancer, would you want the doctor to tell you the truth or hide it to make you feel good?
Those who have hope face the truth about their sin and spiritual cancer. The Bible says we are dead in sin. But Jesus can give new life to our dead spirits. He does that when you repent and trust Him to forgive you.
He paid the penalty for your sins on the cross. It was like if you broke out the window of my car, but you had nothing to pay. Then my son came and offered to pay for you so that you could be free from that penalty.
When Jesus forgives and saves any person, He sends His Holy Spirit to live in that persons life. He then brings the dead spirit to a new life. That causes any person to love God and hunger for God. A sign of life is hunger.
When a person is alive spiritually, they hunger for God in spirit and truth.
In John 3 Jesus said, "You must be born again". This is what He was talking about.
Jesus was your substitute. He was called the "Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world". The lamb would die as a sacrifice or a substitute. Abraham offered his son, but a lamb died as a substitute for the son.
You need a substitute to die for you. And there is only One possible substitute for you. No one can take your sins except Jesus. He was born without sin. He lived without sin. He died to be punished for your sin.
He will become your personal substitute if you will repent and believe.
For those who refuse Him until the end, He will reject them.
There is a living and true God that created all things. He made man special to have an eternal spirit. In the Words of Genesis One, "God made man in His own image".
Mankind was made to Worship God and walk with God. He was made to have an eternal spirit like God that will live forever. No one can cease to exist. Man was made to live forever in the image of God.
Originally mankind had beautiful peace with God. But when the first man sinned against God, his living spirit died. That means that he was separated from peace with God.
The price for sin was death.
If God left us in that condition, we would be eternally existing separated from Him. That is what the Bible calls "hell". Yet God made a plan to send His only Son to leave heaven and come to earth.
Jesus is the eternal Son of God. He was born from a virgin in order to become a man without sin on this earth. He was Son of God and Son of Man. He was born different from any man in order to become your substitute. He came to die in your place. He was alive in the spirit. He had right to fellowship with the Father. You had to die.
When He suffered and died, it was to give you His righteousness. He takes your sin and gives you His righteousness. And that is the only way God can ever accept you into His Kingdom.
When you put your trust in Jesus - you will be saved. He said on the cross, "It is Finished" - He did the work - Believe in Him. Period.
The moment God counts your faith as SAVING FAITH, then your dead spirit comes to new life by grace and you are saved forever - by GRACE - it is a GIFT of God.
When you call upon Jesus in faith, believing that He is the Son of God Who can save you, then your sins will be forgiven.
Jesus said,after He rose from the dead, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten, be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold I stand at the door and knock. If any one hears My voice,and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him and he with Me." Revelation 3:19-20.
Ask Jesus to save you in FAITH. Ask Him to send His spirit into your heart. He loves you and paid your penalty. Just as He rose again, He will give you new life.
You don't have to say any certain formula as a prayer. You must Believe.
But here is a prayer that is the kind of response God wants from sinners.
Humbly Pray Now Something Like This:
Dear Lord Jesus, I am sorry for my sin. There are things I do not understand, but I know I have sinned and I need forgiveness. I believe you are the Son of God and died to pay the penalty for my sin, and I accept You right now as my personal Savior and Lord.
I believe You rose again and can save me. Send Your Spirit to live in my heart.
I desire to repent of self ownership and surrender my heart to You. From this day forward, I belong to You....
The same power that raised Jesus from the dead will also raise you up to a new life. Then you will have peace with God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The same power that was at work in raising Jesus from the dead is working in believers to help them to grow. All things work together for good.
IS IT TRUE ?
I like to tell doubters that at the very least they should acknowledge this: That...
if this story is true, REALLY TRUE, then the only reasonable response is with all your heart. If it is true that God gave His only Son to leave the glory of heaven, become a human being without sin, and die to pay the penalty for your sin....
And if it is true that the Son of God, Who created all things, was willing to die a sacrificial death to bear the wrath of God against your sin...
---if that is all true, then the only reasonable response is with all the heart. It is only reasonable that you would be deeply sorry for your sin and embrace Jesus as Savior and Lord and be willing to serve Him joyfully and seek to Honor Him and be willing to suffer for Him and seek to glorify Him all the days of your life.
The First and Greatest command is to love God with all your heart. That is what God wants from you. He wants you to love Him with all your heart.
For Christian Growth, we seek to encourage all Christians to read the Bible every day. The best website for that is:
READ THE BIBLE AT BIBLEGATEWAY.COM
Evidence that Demands A Verdict youtube by Josh McDow
Check this website:
You need Jesus to give new life to your dead spirit. If you had cancer, would you want the doctor to tell you the truth or hide it to make you feel good?
Those who have hope face the truth about their sin and spiritual cancer. The Bible says we are dead in sin. But Jesus can give new life to our dead spirits. He does that when you repent and trust Him to forgive you.
He paid the penalty for your sins on the cross. It was like if you broke out the window of my car, but you had nothing to pay. Then my son came and offered to pay for you so that you could be free from that penalty.
When Jesus forgives and saves any person, He sends His Holy Spirit to live in that persons life. He then brings the dead spirit to a new life. That causes any person to love God and hunger for God. A sign of life is hunger.