Do you Know Jesus?

Perhaps you even attend church regularly or pray to God.

You see, a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is possible and such a personal relationship is the only way to experience eternal, abundant life.  Jesus is the absolute truth; He is the life, and without Him, there is no hope for Heaven.

The Bible makes it plain that we will never be accepted by God if we trust in our own goodness.  Even the best of us are sinful people and every person has disobeyed some of God’s commands.  We've all done, said, and thought things that fall short of God's standard of holiness as outlined in the Word of God.  Scripture speaks about an appointed time when each person dies, and then stands before God for judgment. You may be surprised to hear that God will not be weighing our good deeds versus our bad deeds. As a Perfect Judge, he must punish even for 1 sin.  Yes, even 1 sin would be enough to receive a Guilty verdict from God.  The Bible says, "that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God." You see, every person in the world will be found guilty and what follows is an eternity of separation from God, in Hell.

However, the Bible also describes Jesus Christ as the world's only Hope & Savior, sent by a loving God who did not want the world to plunge itself to destruction. Jesus was born of the virgin Mary, and lived his entire human life in perfection. The only man who kept God's Law perfectly was the God-Man, Jesus Christ.  In the time period He lived, Jesus was recognized and accepted by some, but rejected and ridiculed by many others. Ultimately Jesus was crucified, and God accepted His innocent Son's death as a sacrifice and a substitute payment for the sins of mankind.

In the death of Jesus, God proves His justice that all sin must be punished; and God also proves His mercy in that He offered to take the punishment on Himself.

Jesus Christ did not remain dead. He was buried in a sepulchre, but He rose from the grave on the first Easter Sunday morning and showed Himself alive to many witnesses.  He later ascended to Heaven. Now Jesus sits at the right hand of God the Father, and He works as an advocate on our behalf. There is a promise that He will return one day. It could be soon!

If we want to receive God's offer of salvation, we must place our complete trust in Christ and we must repent from sin.  John 1:12 says, "But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the Son of God, even to them that believe on His name."   We can become the children of God. We can begin a new, life-long personal relationship with Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit.  Salvation is not intended to be a one-time prayer ritual; instead, salvation is a life-changing decision to follow Jesus. As a result of salvation, we are promised eternal life, which means a life lived following Jesus here on earth, and a future home with Him and the Father in Heaven when we die.

Do you know Jesus? If not, why not? It is certainly the most important relationship you can have. There is no other Savior. Why not turn from your sins to trust in Jesus Christ, and ask Him for forgiveness and salvation?

The following “steps to salvation” are taken directly from the Word of God:

1. Admit your sin to God.  “As it is written, there is none righteous, no not one” (Romans 3:10).

2. Acknowledge the penalty waiting for you because of your sin. “For the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23a).

3. Believe that God will accept Jesus’ death and resurrection as payment to cover the penalty for your sin. “But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23b).

4. Ask God to forgive your sins. “If thou shalt confess…thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9, 10).

5. Submit to Jesus Christ being the Lord of your life. “But as many as received Him, to them gave He the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name” (John 1:12).

Perhaps you would like to pray the following simple prayer. You don’t need fancy words, just an honest and open heart. Pray something like this:

If you are making this decision to follow Jesus, you should immediately get involved in a good, Bible-preaching church. This will help you grow as a Christian, by surrounding yourself with Christian friends, learning all you can about the Bible, and finding opportunities to serve God. If you are in the Pontiac, MI area, we invite you to visit our church fellowship, meet the friendly people, and find encouragement from God's Word.