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| The central theme of the Bible is God’s love for you and for all
people. This love was reveled when Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came
into the world as a human being, lived a sinless life, died on the cross,
and rose from the dead. Because Christ died, your sins can be forgiven,
and because he conquered death you can have eternal life. You can know
for sure what will become of you after you die.
You have probably heard the
story of god’s love referred to as the “Gospel.” The
word Gospel simply means “Good News.” The Gospel is the
Good News that, because of what Christ has done, we can be forgiven
and can live forever.
But this gift of forgiveness
and eternal life cannot be yours unless you willingly accept it. God
requires an individual response from you. The following verses from
the Bible show God’s part and yours in this process. |
| “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
– John 3:16
God loves you. He wants to bless
your life and make it full and complete. And he wants to give you a
life which will last forever, even after you experience physical death. |
| “For all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God.”
– Romans 3:23
You may have heard someone say
“I’m only human — nobodies perfect.” This Bible
verse says the same thing. We are all sinners. We all do things that
we know are wrong. And that’s why we feel estranged from God –
because God is holy and good, and we are not. |
| “For the wages of sin is death.” – Romans 6:23
Just as criminals must pay the
penalty for their crimes, sinners must pay the penalty for their sins.
If you continue to sin, you will pay the penalty of spiritual death.
You will not die physically; you will also be separated from our holy
God for all eternity. The Bible teaches that those who choose to remain
separated from God will spend eternity in a place called Hell. |
| “but God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were
still sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8
The Bible teaches that Jesus
Christ, the sinless Son of God, has paid the penalty for all your sins.
You may think you have to lead a good life and do good deeds before
God will love you. But the Bible says that Christ loved you enough to
die for you, even when you were rebelling against him. |
| “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith –
and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by
works, so that no one can boast.” – Ephesians 2:8-9
The word grace means “undeserved
favor.” It means God is offering you something you could never
provide for yourself: forgiveness of sins and eternal life, God’s
gift to you is free. You do not have to work for a gift. All you have
to do is joyfully receive it, Believe with all you heart that Jesus
Christ died for you. |
| “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my
voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with
me.” - Revelation 3:20
Jesus Christ wants to have a
personal relationship with you. Picture, if you will, Jesus Christ standing
at the door of your heart (the door of your emotions, intellect and
will). Invite him in; He is waiting for you to receive him into your
heart and life. |
| “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name,
he gave the right to become children of God.” – John 1:12
When you receive Christ into
your heart you become a child of God, and have the privilege of talking
to him in prayer at any time about anything. The Christian life is a
personal relationship to God through Jesus Christ. And best of all,
it is a relationship that will last for eternity. |
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To continue in Christ you need
to grow in your new relationship with him. Please begin to pursue Christ
through the following steps to deepen your relationship.
- Daily talk to him through
prayer, begin to set aside a daily time of prayer preferably early in
the morning before you start your day.
- Daily allow God to talk to you through study of his word. Begin to
set aside time to read God’s word; that is how he talks to us.
- Daily talk for God, witness to others by telling them how Christ
saved you and gave you a new start in life.
- Follow Christ in believers baptism and assemble with other believers
in a church that preaches the Bible and reaches out to the world with
his message and mission.
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