The starting place.
A link to a film to help you see the problem we all face.
Please use the Bible in the sidebar if you would like to read the words in scripture for yourself.
From the outset to be saved from the judgment of God we must believe in Jesus Christ.
Jesus means Saviour and Christ means chosen one or anointed one. Matt 1:21-23 says this “And she (Mary) will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.” So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
Below you will find what it means to believe and why we need to be saved, who/what we are saved from. Getting all the information in the right order is sometimes difficult because it's all important and I don't want to miss anything you should know.
The thing is our sin has separated us from the Holy God who created us. It's a fact and the truth.
For us to be right with God we need to be made righteous and for us to be made right we need our sins forgiven by God and so we read that without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness of sins.
For this to be possible, the blood (shed in a sacrifice) had to come from the death of a perfect sacrifice. This was acomplished by God becoming a man, the man Jesus Christ- the only begotten son of God. He was also referred to as the lamb of God.
Whatever we believe about Christmas and Easter we all have some idea of what they are about.
The real message is found in the pages of Scripture. It had been prophecied that a savior would be born to a virgin, His name would be Jesus-immanuel (savior- God with us) God indeed became a man to save us from our sins and the consequences of it.
Jesus, who was without sin became our substitute, taking our place, paying the penalty for sin (which is death) with His life.
The place he died was at Golgotha (the place of the skull) outside of Jerusalem upon a cross. Matt 27:33.
After three days He was resurrected from the dead, having conquered sin and death. So that those believing in Him would be justified, made righteous.
Salvation is a gift from God. That means it is not something man can pay for or work for. The work of Jesus Christ was finished at the cross.
He not only overcome sin but His resurrection assures the believer of eternal life.
The amazing part about the Gospel (the good news) is that Jesus' first coming, His birth, death, and resurrection are all prophetic. That is to say that right from the beginning and even before the foundation of the world, God's plan was to provide a sacrifice (His son)to save man.
When John the Baptist saw Jesus coming he said " Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" Christians know that the message of the lamb's blood was also pertinent to the people of Israel when they were in captivity in Egypt under Pharaohs rule.
Moses (a type of Jesus) was sent by God to ask Pharaoh to let God's people go. Pharaoh, of course, does not let them go, so God sends various plagues upon the land the sea and the people. Before the final plague comes, the people of God are told this in Exodus 11 And the LORD said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. Afterward, he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will surely drive you out of here altogether. “Speak now in the hearing of the people, and let every man ask from his neighbor and every woman from her neighbor, articles of silver and articles of gold.” And the LORD gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and in the sight of the people. Then Moses said, “Thus says the LORD: ‘About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt; ‘and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the animals. ‘Then there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as was not like it before, nor shall be like it again. ‘But against none of the children of Israel shall a dog move its tongue, against man or beast, that you may know that the LORD does make a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.’ “And all these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, ‘Get out, and all the people who follow you!’ After that I will go out.” Then he went out from Pharaoh in great anger. But the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not heed you, so that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” So Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; and the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go out of his land. And this lead to how the Passover feast was instituted as the first to Israel. See Exodus 12 Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, “This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. “Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. ‘And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your count for the lamb. ‘Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. ‘Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. ‘And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. ‘Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. ‘Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire–its head with its legs and its entrails. ‘You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. ‘And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD’s Passover. ‘For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. ‘Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. ‘So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance. ‘Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. ‘On the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them; but that which everyone must eat–that only may be prepared by you. ‘So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I will have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance. ‘In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. ‘For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses, since whoever eats what is leavened, that same person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a stranger or a native of the land. ‘You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.’ ” Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. “And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. “For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. “And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. “It will come to pass when you come to the land which the LORD will give you, just as He promised, that you shall keep this service. “And it shall be, when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ “that you shall say, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice of the LORD, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.’ ” So the people bowed their heads and worshiped. Then the children of Israel went away and did so; just as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. And it came to pass at midnight that the LORD struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of livestock. So Pharaoh rose in the night, he, all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead. Then he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, “Rise, go out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel. And go, serve the LORD as you have said. “Also take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone; and bless me also.” And the Egyptians urged the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste. For they said, “We shall all be dead.” So the people took their dough before it was leavened, having their kneading bowls bound up in their clothes on their shoulders. Now the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, and they had asked from the Egyptians articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing. And the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians so that they granted them what they requested. Thus they plundered the Egyptians. Then the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children. A mixed multitude went up with them also, and flocks and herds–a great deal of livestock. And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they had brought out of Egypt; for it was not leavened, because they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared provisions for themselves. Now the sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years–on that very same day–it came to pass that all the armies of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. It is a night of solemn observance to the LORD for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. This is that night of the LORD, a solemn observance for all the children of Israel throughout their generations. And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover: No foreigner shall eat it. “But every man’s servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then he may eat it. “A sojourner and a hired servant shall not eat it. “In one house it shall be eaten; you shall not carry any of the flesh outside the house, nor shall you break one of its bones. “All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. “And when a stranger dwells with you and wants to keep the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as a native of the land. For no uncircumcised person shall eat it. “One law shall be for the native-born and for the stranger who dwells among you.” Thus all the children of Israel did; as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. And it came to pass, on that very same day, that the LORD brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt according to their armies.
AMAZING. God delivered the people of Israel by the blood of the lamb. The same pattern is revealed from the time of Adam to Abraham and Isaac to Jesus's first coming. (there is so much to say here but time will not allow)
Jesus will soon be coming back to judge the living and the dead and establish His kingdom on earth. Jesus who is God will one day be physically with us. Until then those believing in Him live as new creations as children of God, with Christ' Spirit in them, living to serve God. This is a reality. God's word tells us this and I believe His word, do you? Gal 2:20
As Christians, we have to use God's word as the basis for our authority. It is very difficult to give a minimalist answer when dealing with a subject, it is, therefore, important to quote chapter and verse even though they where not part of the original writings of scripture. Nevertheless, I will quote chapter & verse as much as I can and give a brief explanation if I think it will help. The important thing is to keep everything in its context, i.e what the subject matter is? Who is it about? What is it saying? How does it affect me?
Think for a minute if you where ill and needed an opinion on what you had and what was going to happen as a result of your illness, would you expect a doctor to be honest? I hope so. You would want the right diagnosis and a prescription/treatment for the cure. What about if it was terminal? Well, I am afraid that is the situation. The bottom line is one out of everyone dies, the question is why?
Why do we die?
Sin came through one man, salvation through another.
In the book of Romans chapter 5 it explains so much of what Christ has done, but we need to understand why He needed to come. Rom 5:12 says "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned–" We also read that "all have sinned," Rom 3:23 and that the penalty (or wages)for sin is death Rom 6:23
So sin has entered the human race and spread to all mankind through one man.
That one man was named Adam. See the beginning chapters of the Bible Gen 1; 2 ; 3. In particular,Gen 2:16-17, Gen 3:1-3, Gen 5:5, Rom 5, 1Cor15:22
God keeps His word, He said Adam would die if he ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and that's what happened.
Sin now permeates mankind. We are born into sin and it's going to come into effect as we get older. For example, a baby can't sin but I guarantee you will never have to teach that child, when it's 3 or 4 years old, to do wrong. In fact, you will spend a lot of time as a parent correcting children's sin. The word of God instructs parents to discipline their children as God does His children. Heb 12. And yes obeying parents is the right thing to do before God. Eph 6:1.
After we die
Why does it matter, surely we can just do the best we can in this life and when we die that's it, isn't it?
No. Gods word says "after death comes judgment" Heb 9:27.
John 8:24; 3:36 says that if a person does not believe in Jesus and who Jesus is, then they will be left in their sins and the wrath of God abides on them. This is without exeption.
The scripture is clear that wrath of God abides on all the ungodly and unrighteous, who have not believed in Jesus Rom 1:18, John 3:36. This is why as Christians we want to tell the world the message of the gospel so you the hearer will understand who to believe in to be saved. Romans 10, 1Thess 1:10.
Christian do not have a blind faith or faith in faith. We have believed the word of God by hearing the word of God. But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 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. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” Rom 10.
John 1:1-5 Says "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. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."
Jesus is the word of God.
You may start to justify yourself by saying "I am quite good, I have not hurt anyone, Or surely God is going to be sympathetic. Well the god of your imagination may say that, but God who created all things and who sent His only begotten Son Jesus into the world to save sinners doesn't say that because He is Just and righteous.
Not saved by works
“knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."Gal 2:16 See also Eph 2:8-9
Man can't save themselves from death or God's wrath and neither can they save themselves from eternity in the lake of fire. There is no escape from God even after death and those who are dead who have not put their faith in Jesus will be raised from the grave and stand before God. John 5:24-30, Rev 20:11-15
All judgment has been designated to Jesus. 2Tim 4:1, 1Pet 4:5
If you watched the video from the link at the top of this page you will see that your goodness is never good enough to save you from wrath or the lake of fire. Think for a minute, who's standard of good should we use in this life? Yours or mine. Jesus said "no one is good except God."
Isaiah the prophet knew this, he said "But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.
And there is no one who calls on Your name, Who stirs himself up to take hold of You;
For You have hidden Your face from us, And have consumed us because of our iniquities.
(Isa 64:6-7) Rom 3:10 says "there is not one who is righteous".
What is sin?
1John 3:4 says "Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. " Ultimately Whether Jew or Gentile sin is defined as those who disregard the commandments of God. Now I want to say here that those believing in Jesus are saved by grace through faith. Those putting ourselves under the confinements of the law of God by our own determination will fail. That is why we must be born again and receive the Spirit of Christ through whom we can live and please God. John 3:3-6, Rom 8
God is Love
Love is the fulfillment of the law, which is why Jesus commanded those believing in Him to Love God and love thy neighbour. Matt 22:37-40 says these two commandments are in effect equal. As Jesus said in verse "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." As Christians, our love of God is proven when we love our brothers. See 1 John1.
I should add here the Love of God so often gets misrepresented. What do I mean? Is God not love as the scripture says? Yes God is Love. God certainly Loves Israel and certainly, those who have believed in Christ. They who have been conveyed from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the son of His love. Col 1:13-23. So if the unsaved have not been conveyed to the Kingdom of the son of His love (Jesus the Christ) then they are not in His love are they?
However, God's love has been demonstrated in the giving of His son, once for all. Rom5: 8, Heb 9:24-28, Heb 10. God doesn't go on giving the sacrifice, there is no other sacrifice for sin except the one given. That's it.
There is a notion going around that God's love is unconditional, yet the scriptures teach us that all must repent and believe. Repentance starts with a change of mind and will led to turning from sin and therfore being changed in direction and being conformed to Christ. So although it's true that before a person believes and comes to the cross of Christ that they are coming unconditionally, but once they put their faith in Jesus the old man dies with Christ and is then raised to newness of life.
John 3:16 is often used as our quick fix to save the whole world. However, if not understood correctly, it gives a false hope to a condemned world. How so? Doesn't God love the world so much? NO.
This is where the problem lies. People of the world go round thinking how great they are and it's been confirmed by Christians who told them God loves them so much, just as they are. Is this true?
Well, let's see. We have just looked at the proof that Jesus the Christ gave himself as a ransom for many and shed His blood once for all, that was when God demonstrated His love to the world, once for all.
This event happened in a place called Golgotha, outside Jerusalem, on a cross, it was the 6th hour and Passover was fulfilled.
The context of John 3:16 is from looking at Numbers 21:5-9 The people of Israel had sinned against God and God was angry so He sent fiery serpents among the people of Israel and they bit them and they died. So Moses ( a type of Christ ) asks God for help on behalf of the people. So God tells Moses to make a bronze serpent and fix it to a poll. Then Moses was to lift it up and those who looked upon it were saved. So likewise God LOVED (not loves) the world that He gave His only begotten son to be like the bronze serpent on the pole (cross).
The original written text of John 3:16 actually starts with the words "So for". Meaning in like manner or thus. But it's been written in a word order that says God so loved the world as though it's a quantity of love.
Let me again ask you the reader this question. Have
you believed in Jesus Christ? Listen to what Jesus told His disciples
when speaking about the sending of the Holy Spirit. John 16:1-12
Now there is a lot of detail in scripture that is helpful to know but the most important is to understand Who Jesus is? Why He came to save us? How He is able to save us
and give us eternal life? And what we must do to be saved? (this needs studying)
Remember sin is disobeying God and not believing in Jesus Christ.
(John 8:24; 3:18, 36, 1 John3:4; 5:17).
I should stress here that Salvation is
more than just a rescue mission. To just tell someone they must be saved from going to hell not only gets the wrong response, but it will give a person the wrong idea that they can just become a christian to save themselves from something they don't like the idea of and that wrong motive will lead to a false conversion and a false hope. The end will then indeed led to eternity in the lake of fire.
Salvation is something God does in a person by the working of the Holy Spirit. It it a tranformation process, not a self improvement plan. The scripture exhorts believrs to take up their cross and follow Christ. It's our life laid down and Christ living in us to work according to the will of God in ourlives.
God intends to make us complete in His
Son, we are a work in progress until the day of redeption, we are being made whole and will be glorified. Yes, we will one day receive an incorruptible body at the resurrection and the rapture. (but that's
another whole study)
God's law
God's law (given to Israel) is the way we can determine if we are sinners or not. (Rom7:7)
Before looking at the verses we must think of it like this. If you take a shortcut to work every day across a particular piece of land, that is marked "trespasses will be prosecuted" then you would expect that one day you will be caught and have to go to stand before a judge in court and will have to pay a fine for your wrongdoing. However. If there is no sign then no one has the right to say you have trespassed. (hope this simple illustration makes the point)
Rom 3:19-20 says "Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin".
Here are the ten commandments after going through them ask yourself based on what God says (as He is the Judge) 'have I trespassed'? if so you are a sinner.
The ten commandments
Exodus 20:1 And God spoke all these words, saying:
2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image–any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.
13 “You shall not murder.
14 “You shall not commit adultery.
15 “You shall not steal.
16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”
So have you lied? what does that make you?----------------
Have you stolen anything? even something small? what does that make you?-----------------
The Spirit of God goes even further with regard to murder. Even if we have hatred for our brother in our heart as far as God is concerned we have murdered them. 1John 3:15
Don't think that maybe you can start doing all these laws every day hoping in some way to be saved.
You might become a good moral person but it will just be a work of man and you will still be an unbeliever who will still die in sin and face God's wrath and eternal judgment. Because God has determined the only means through which a person must be saved. (Acts 4:12)
Even if you want to say that the law given to Israel doesn't apply to you. God word says “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life, and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” John 3:36.
As Christians we are under a higher law than that given to Moses and Israel, it is the law of Love which comes by the Spirit of Christ working in us. This is how we are to obey God in Christ. We realize that we can not be saved by keeping the whole law because it's impossible James 2: 8-11 says this "If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. 11 For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law".
Furthermore, James 2:10 "For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all."
So if you were honest enough, you should by now have concluded that based on the above commandments that you are a sinner and keeping the Law of Moses will not save you from the penalty of sin.
Now you might not be (as you see it) a very bad sinner but the fact remains you are a sinner. If you have stolen a pencil you are a thief, if you have exaggerated your speech about a particular thing then you are a liar, you may be married and yet lusted in your heart about another man's wife, that makes you an adulterer. That also makes you as condemned to eternal torment in the lake of fire as with everyone else. So how are you going to be saved?
When Jesus started God's work He taught repent and believe. Mark 1:14-15
But even if we want to argue that the law is not for non-believers then we read John 8:21-24. Then Jesus said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek Me and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come.” So the Jews said, “Will He kill Himself, because He says, ‘Where I go you cannot come’?” And He said to them, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
Repentance
The term repentance ( Greek metanoia) means to change one's mind. The bible also tells us that true repentance will result in a change of actions (Luke 3:8-14; Acts 3:19). Acts 26:20 declares, “but
declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the
region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God,
and do works befitting repentance.
Therefore the full biblical definition of repentance is a change of mind that
results in a change of action.
In Acts 17:30-31 we read “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,“ because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him (Jesus)from the dead.”
For us to be right with God we must be forgiven, reconciled and made right.
Seeking God is something man does not do naturally but as the Holy Spirit of God works in convicting us (the sinner) of our sinfulness we are able to change our mind acknowledging that we have sinned against God and at that moment turn to God and believe in Jesus.
We are turning to God as He is the Saviour of man but the way He acted to save man was through the giving of His only begotten son. So we must accept the sacrifice that He has given for the forgiveness of our sins, His Son Jesus Christ. Those who believe have trusted that His Blood has cleansed them from all unrighteousness.
For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”
Made Righteous
A sinner outside Christ is unrighteous and condemned. But in Christ, they are made righteous.
But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, Rom 4:5
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2Cor 5:21
No longer condemned
John 3:18 Says this “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20 “For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 “But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
Are you one of those who prefers to practice evil and hate the light? (who is Christ)
Many say "I believe there was a man named Jesus who died on a cross but so what He's dead now".
Actually, we read "For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God".
Who's sin could that be? It was not His own because Jesus was without sin.
But we read that He became sin for us, taking our punishment from God, The prophecy in Isaiah 53
spells it out. (we will look at this prophecy in the gospel continued at the end of this section)
Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2Cor 5:20)
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, 1Pet3:18
Resurrection
Then we read that He rose again from the dead on the 3rd day according to scripture. (1Cor 15:1-3)
This was to fulfill prophecy written about the death and resurrection of Christ (Ps 16:10)
New Life, never thirst again.
Jesus said " we must be born again if we are to and enter the kingdom of God.
One day Jesus is coming to establish His kingdom on earth and those whom He saves in this life will be fit for that kingdom which is to come. This is the training ground. When a person believes in Jesus they are not only saved but they become new creations 2Cor 5:17. The Spirit of God gives us eternal life and power to overcome sin. Furthermore, we shall never thirst again. (John 4: 1-15)
Things in the world never satisfy our thirst, however when we put our trust in Christ we have to die to self but we can not do that so we need God to do it for us, so He gave his son to die in our place so our sin is taken to the cross with Christ and so to is our life, but as Christ was raised from the dead so are we, and so now we live in Christ having been baptized into His death and raised up with Him See Romans 6.
Why did Jesus do this?
To obey God
To pay the penalty or the wages of sin for us (becoming a substitute)
To demonstrate the Love of God
To save sinners and provide a way to be reconciled to God and to have peace with Him.
To make believers righteous
To justify the unjust
To give eternal life to all who believe
To overcome sin and death.
To save believers from God's wrath and eternity in the Lake of fire.
To give believers His Spirit to enable them to live a holy life through Him, therefore pleasing God. (being New creations, living by faith )
To allow believers entry into the kingdom of God
Friend, there is nothing left for God to do. Let this be the day of your salvation.
Repent -believe-walk in newness of life by the spirit of Christ- tell others the good news of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,
Who bring glad tidings of good things!” Rom10:8-14
The means through which forgiveness comes
In the old covenant, we read of the deliverance of Israel from Pharaoh & Egypt. These typify Satan and the world.
As one reads through the details we come the last of God's plagues that He brings upon Egypt. The only escape is to do what God commands. And so we see the Passover for the first time
Exodus12:1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,
2 “This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.
3 “Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household.4 ‘And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your count for the lamb.5 ‘Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats.6 ‘Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight.8 ‘Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.9 ‘Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire–its head with its legs and its entrails.
10 ‘You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire.
11 ‘And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD’s Passover.
12 ‘For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.
See Hebrews 9 Blood has to be shed for the forgiveness of sins, but the blood of animals was only temporary.
In Isaiah53:2-8 we read this prophecy concerning Jesus
2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes, we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep, before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
In verses 4 we see that He (Jesus) was "smitten by God and afflicted" we have just read what Jesus has accomplished by His obedience to God and by the shedding of His blood
"Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin" this was true under of the Jews under the Law who kept the Passover feast from year to year and its fulfillment of cause was at the cross when The Lamb of God the perfect sacrifice was given once for all. See Heb 9; 10
But the blood is not shed whilst something or someone was alive. Death came to Christ because of man's sin. (Rom 6:10) and with His death came His Fathers wrath.
So we see verse Isaiah 53:5-8 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes, we are healed. etc
God did not leave anything out He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him shall have eternal life.
What must someone do to be saved?
Believe, in Jesus Christ, our faith must be in Him alone. The scripture says "But without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."
When we understand our condition before God, that we deserve His judgment leading to death and eternity in the lake of fire. Then to hear and understand God's word that says He is merciful and that by His grace the gift of salvation is offered to all through the giving of His only begotten son Jesus. He who knew no sin became sin for us. This Jesus did in obedience to The Father. So that the dept of sin would be paid " for without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin" and the just punishment would be accepted. All who believe in Him receive eternal life and a new life now.
When we try to understand these things from a human perspective things won't add up. God will never seem great enough or close enough. But when we understand God became a man in order to save man then He is no longer out there and far away.
Jesus' work is one of substitution, justification, sanctification, righteousness, redemption, and glorification.
He does all that is required to make us right with God but then says "you must believe in Him" Jesus died for your sin and was then raised from the dead. He has defeated death and overcome sin. He calls us to repent, that is to turn our minds and hearts from sin and the works of sin and to walk in faith towards God in Christ. Those believing are then justified and made righteous being in Christ. The Holy Spirit gives us new life and adoption into the family of God. We will then live to please God and not ourselves, this is the work of sanctification or holiness, one day we will be completed when Jesus returns our bodies and spirits will be glorified (made perfect) being like Christ.
Furthermore, a believer in Jesus becomes a part of Christ's body the church and becomes a child, (son/daughter) of God and as Jesus did believers will live to do the will of the Father, to serve and minister to other members of the church body when you come together.
Church
People honestly think the church is a building. When in fact it's the people of God. Care must be taken regarding the church. We live in deceptive times. If you have turned to God in faith and trusted (put your faith) in Jesus to save you, pray to the Father in Jesus name, ask Him to lead you to find true Christians. You might find that you are going to meet in someone's house and there will be few who come but trust in God no matter how small your fellowship meetings are.
As Christians we must follow the teaching of Jesus as learned by His first disciples who were later sent out to establish the words of Jesus before the scriptures where established, hence the teaching of the Apostles must be the same as the teaching of Jesus as found in the epistles.
Prayer
Prayer is a hard thing, it's a humble act to take our selves away from life's distractions and communicate with our Father.
We intend to do God's will, so taking Jesus' example when He prayed to the Father just prior to going to die on the cross and said "not my will be done but yours"
Life as a Christian is not our own as we should understand that our lives are no longer ours. Gal 2:19-20.
We need to read His word and learn by the Holy Spirit (working through the word) to help us understand how God is, past, present an future. (He is unchanging) So prayer and studying His word helps us grow in faith and our relationship with God.
Please take the time to listen to this by someone who was seeking to find out if Christianity was just another religion. Link Here