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Belief in
Jesus Christ as your savior and developing a personal
relationship with Him is the ONLY way to get into
heaven. In John 14:6, Jesus states, "I am the way and
the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through me." God is "the Father" talked about in
this passage. The Bible is clear that the only way to
get into heaven is through an active belief in God's
son, Jesus Christ.
Every human being since Adam and Eve has been born with
sin. We cannot get into heaven by our own merit. There
is no amount of good deeds we can do in order to "buy"
our way into heaven. The only person who can cleanse us
of our sins before God's sight is Jesus.
In the Old Testament, the Hebrew people made animal
sacrifices to cover over their sins and to appear
temporarily clean before God. But the blood of an animal
was only temporary. A perfect sacrifice was required to
completely cleanse us of all our sin. This perfect
sacrifice came from heaven in the person of Jesus. Jesus
is God who came from heaven and was born as a human in
order to share in our sufferings and to fully understand
what we go through in our struggles. Jesus was fully God
and fully human. Since He was fully God, he could not
sin, but since he was fully man, he was also able to
experience the temptation to sin.
He knows and understands our struggles, but He was able
to overcome them so that all humans who have ever lived
and ever shall live can also be cleansed and overcome
sin so we can enter into God's presence unashamed.
Hebrews 4:15-16 states, "For we do not have a high
priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,
but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just
as we are–yet was without sin. Let us then approach the
throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive
mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."
The first step in accepting Christ as Lord and Savior of
your life is to realize that you are sinful and to
acknowledge that as a sinful person you are going to
hell (which is a place of eternal separation from the
fellowship of God) if you do not repent of your sins.
Unlike what the media portrays, hell is not a place of
partying with Satan and his demons. The Bible clearly
says hell is a place of "weeping and gnashing of teeth"
which signifies utter anguish and despair, for all
eternity. We as humans cannot be completely separated
from our Creator and be well off.
Neither can any of God's creation. Since Satan is also
God's creation, and hell is a place of utter separation
from God, Satan and all his demons will also be in
complete torment for all eternity. In order to escape
such a horrible existence, we must come before God in
prayer and confess that we know we are sinful. Romans
3:23 states, "For all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God" and in Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin
is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ
Jesus our Lord." The death spoken of here is not a
physical death, since all humans die a physical death,
it is a spiritual death in which we will be eternally
separated from God. 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our
sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our
sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
The second step in accepting Jesus into your heart is to
acknowledge that Christ died on the cross for you and to
make a commitment to follow Him for the rest of your
life. Romans 10:9 states, "That if you confess with your
mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that
God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Also,
Jesus says in John 12:26 "Whoever serves me must follow
me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father
will honour the one who serves me." So you see, it is
not just a recognition of what Christ did for us, it is
also a commitment to follow Jesus Christ and His
teachings through God's Word, the Bible, for the rest of
your life.
If you wish to make this commitment today, here's a
basic prayer you can pray. Feel free to say these words
and just end with talking with God about anything you
want to talk about. He loves us and wants to hear us
talk to him. If you are angry, do not be afraid to tell
that to God and tell Him why. He already knows our
thoughts and our hearts, but wants us to communicate
those thoughts in fellowship with Him.
Please pray this prayer: |
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"Lord, I realize that I am
a sinner and I always have been. I know that I will go
to hell if I do not believe in you. I believe that you
came to this earth, to die for me so that I may appear
sinless before the Father and have eternal life. Please
forgive me of my sins. I want to follow you and your
commands for the rest of my life. Thank you for your
sacrifice. Amen" |
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If you prayed this prayer
sincerely in your heart, you are now a new creation and
a brother or sister of Jesus Christ in God's eyes.
2 Corinthians 5:17 " Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,
he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has
come!"
Hosea 1:10b "They will be called 'sons of the living
God.'"
Welcome to God's family! |
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