SALVATION

John 3:3  Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

First, you must admit that you are a sinner. Romans 3:10-18  "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes."  Romans 3:23  "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"  All men are born sinners. You don't have to teach a baby to sin, or a young child to lie. They are born with the sin nature. We get our sin nature from Adam. Romans 5:12  "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:"  Some say that they have never sinned. The Bible says, in  1 John 1:8-10,  "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us."  Before you  can come to Jesus you must admit that you are a sinner. Before you can ever be saved you must admit that you are lost. Being lost is one of the requirements of being saved.

Secondly, you must recognize that your sin demands a payment. The Bible says in Romans 6:23  "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."  The word "wages" means payment. Someone has to pay for our sin. There has to be a Perfect sacrifice. We are sinners and far from being perfect, therefore, we cannot die for our own sins, or anyone else's.  James 1:15  "Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death."  This death is not just physical death. It certainly is not spiritual since the unsaved man is already spiritually dead. It is a physical death, separated from God for all eternity in the lake of fire. Revelation 21:8  "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." 

Thirdly, you must acknowledge that Christ died for you and your sins. Jesus is the payment for our sins. Since you cannot die for yourself, someone who was the perfect sacrifice had to die in your place. Romans 5:6-9  "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him." Because Jesus died for our sins we are saved from the wrath of God, and the payment for sin. We no longer have to die and go to hell. Our debt has been paid. 1 John 4:10  "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." The word propitiation means that God is satisfied with the payment for our sins, and for the sins of the whole world.   1 John 2:2  "And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world."  God is fully satisfied by what Jesus Christ did on the Cross. The penalty for His broken law and man's sin has been fully satisfied. 

Fourthly, you must confess your sins and repent. The word confess means to say the same thing about sin that God does. That you are a sinner, and deserve to go to hell. 1 John 1:9  "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." It is not enough to forgive others or to ask others to forgive you. It must be confession toward God, with a repentant heart. Proverbs 28:13  "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy."  The word repent means to turn from your sin to serve God. Luke 13:3  "I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."  Acts 17:30  "...God... now commandeth all men every where to repent:"  God will forgive all of your sins, your past, present, and future.

Lastly, you must ask Jesus to come into your heart and be your Lord and Saviour. Romans 10:13  "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."  John 3:15-16  "That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Friend you don't have to die and go to hell. God has done everything for you. All you have to do now is ask Him. Romans 10:9-10  "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

If you accept Christ as your Saviour please contact us so we can rejoice with you. We will also send you some information concerning your decision. agbckjv@aol.com

John 3:18  "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."  First of all, just simply do nothing, and hell will be your eternal destination. The Bible says that all of us are, "condemmed already."  Romans 3:23  "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;."  For those who wait to make a decision, hell will become their dwelling place if they die. Because in not making a decision, in all reality, you are making a decision. A decision to reject Christ. 2 Corinthians 6:2 "(...behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)"  The only person in the Bible that made a decision to trust Christ as their Saviour at the last minute was the thief on the cross. NO one else.

Secondly, trust in your good deeds or good works. Don't dare trust in God's grace. Ephesians 2:8-9  "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."  Grace is the free, unmerited favor of God. Grace cannot be purchased or worked for. If it could, it would not be called grace. Think about it! What could you possibilly do to earn salvation? Get baptized, join a church, take communion, give your tithe and offering, forgive others, be a good citizen, etc. None of these works of rightiousness will save you. They are as "filthy rags" when it comes to earning salvation. Isaiah 64:6  "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags..." You may be asking, "why do Christian do works then?" That is because they are saved. Works are not to get saved but because you are saved and you want to serve God. In fact, that is proof that they are saved. It's impossible to get saved and not want to serve your Saviour.