1. RECOGNIZE YOUR CONDITION.

You cannot have a relationship with God until you first admit how much you desperately need him. Do you acknowledge that you are a sinner who has disobeyed God's law? The Bible teaches us in Romans 5:12 that since Adam and Eve, the first man and woman on earth, a sin nature has been present in all people. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Sin is any act contrary to God’s laws and commandments, and those sins that I have committed separate me from God. The Bible says in Ephesians 2:3 that all of us by our very nature are children of wrath. Condemnation is hanging over us. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death." That is what we justly deserve for our treason against our Maker, but there is hope. That verse continues: "but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The “wage” or payment for our sin is death, even eternal death in hell, but there is a Rescuer, whose name is Jesus.

2. RELIGION AND GOOD WORKS ARE NOT THE ANSWER.

Religions try to create their own ways to God. Their systems may seem logical, but they cannot bridge the gap created by our sin. The Bible says in Proverbs 14:12, “There is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” In other words, our thoughts and ways are not what matter. God’s Word, the Bible, provides true answers of grace and forgiveness. In Ephesians 2:8–9, the Bible says, “By grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” You cannot be good enough or religious enough to save yourself, for none of us has the ability to be as holy as God is holy. Our only hope is to trust in the only man who is also holy God--Jesus Christ.

3. THE GOOD NEWS: JESUS CHRIST PROVIDED THE WAY.

Even though we were lost and separated from God, he loved us, and because he is love, God sent his Son to live the perfect life we could not live, to die on the cross to pay the death penalty for our sin, and to rise again from the dead in victory over the consequences of our sin. The Bible explains in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” In Romans 5:8, the Bible says, “But God commended [meaning proved or demonstrated] his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” For you! Jesus is God's substitute for the repentant sinner. His righteous life becomes our righteous life by faith so that God is pleased with us. Jesus' death becomes our death, so that the penalty on our account has been erased. And Jesus' resurrection becomes our resurrection so that we now have eternal life, all by faith in him. 

4. REPENT AND BELIEVE.

The Bible says in Roman 10:13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” That is a promise directly from God that if you will look to the Lord Jesus as your only hope, knowing that you as a sinner cannot save yourself, then you will be saved. And God does not go back on his promises.

Just know that you can't desire both Jesus and the sin that killed him, so your faith in him is not a genuine saving faith unless it is accompanied by godly sorrow for sin, something the Bible calls repentance. You can't say you believe in Jesus and choose to live however you please. There will be a change, a transformation, that takes place in your life when you truly come to Christ. Yes, you will still sin, even after your conversion, but you'll hate that sin, and the general direction of your life will be that of ongoing repentance. You will increasingly see your sin as God sees it, desiring deliverance from it. We thank God that the future is bright for the Christian, because one day we will be completely delivered from sin in the life to come.

If you have any questions about God, the Bible, or salvation in Jesus Christ, we would love to talk to you, answer your questions, and even provide a Bible for you to read if you don't already own one. Give us a call at 724-867-5911 today!