Posted on 02/16/2012 3:57:28 PM PST by wmfights
You're not here by accident. God loves you. He wants you to have a personal relationship with Him through Jesus, His Son. There is just one thing that separates you from God. That one thing is sin.
The Bible describes sin in many ways. Most simply, sin is our failure to measure up to God’s holiness and His righteous standards. We sin by things we do, choices we make, attitudes we show, and thoughts we entertain. We also sin when we fail to do right things. The Bible affirms our own experience – “there is none righteous, not even one.” No matter how good we try to be, none of us does right things all the time.
People tend to divide themselves into groups - good people and bad people. But God says that every person who has ever lived is a sinner, and that any sin separates us from God. No matter how we might classify ourselves, this includes you and me. We are all sinners.
"For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23
Many people are confused about the way to God. Some think they will be punished or rewarded according to how good they are. Some think they should make things right in their lives before they try to come to God. Others find it hard to understand how Jesus could love them when other people don't seem to. But I have great news for you! God DOES love you! More than you can ever imagine! And there's nothing you can do to make Him stop! Yes, our sins demand punishment - the punishment of death and separation from God. But, because of His great love, God sent His only Son Jesus to die for our sins.
"God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8
For you to come to God you have to get rid of your sin problem. But, in our own strength, not one of us can do this! You can't make yourself right with God by being a better person. Only God can rescue us from our sins. He is willing to do this not because of anything you can offer Him, but JUST BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU!
"He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy." Titus 3:5
It's God's grace that allows you to come to Him - not your efforts to "clean up your life" or work your way to Heaven. You can't earn it. It's a free gift.
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9
For you to come to God, the penalty for your sin must be paid. God's gift to you is His son, Jesus, who paid the debt for you when He died on the Cross.
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23
Jesus paid the price for your sin and mine by giving His life on a cross at a place called Calvary, just outside of the city walls of Jerusalem in ancient Israel. God brought Jesus back from the dead. He provided the way for you to have a personal relationship with Him through Jesus. When we realize how deeply our sin grieves the heart of God and how desperately we need a Savior, we are ready to receive God's offer of salvation. To admit we are sinners means turning away from our sin and selfishness and turning to follow Jesus. The Bible word for this is "repentance" - to change our thinking about how grievous sin is, so our thinking is in line with God's.
All that's left for you to do is to accept the gift that Jesus is holding out for you right now.
"If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." Romans 10:9-10
God says that if you believe in His son, Jesus, you can live forever with Him in glory.
"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
Are you ready to accept the gift of eternal life that Jesus is offering you right now? Let's review what this commitment involves:
I acknowledge I am a sinner in need of a Savior - this is to repent or turn away from sin
I believe in my heart that God raised Jesus from the dead - this is to trust that Jesus paid the full penalty for my sins
I confess Jesus as my Lord and my God - this is to surrender control of my life to Jesus
I receive Jesus as my Savior forever - this is to accept that God has done for me and in me what He promised
If it is your sincere desire to receive Jesus into your heart as your personal Lord and Savior, then talk to God from your heart:
"If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." Romans 10:9-10
Awesome, wmfights.
Good News Ping!
You beat my ping.
Reading this I was reminded of Paul writing the Corinthians.
ICor. 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
(23) but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,
I recall a letter to Dr. Billy Graham one time:
“Dear Dr. Graham. I’ve invited Jesus into my heart several times. So far he’s not shown up. What am I doing wrong?”
Dr. Graham treated this as a serious letter and went on to answer it. I laughed.
Because the truth is... There is more to being saved than by simply asking Jesus into your heart and praying the “Believer’s Prayer”.
What more does a Christian have to do to be saved other than believe The Gospel?
What more does a Christian have to do to be saved other than believe The Gospel?
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How about obeying it?
Big difference between believing it and obeying it.
And I think you meant to say what does a sinner have to do.
Do you know what a Born Again Christian is referring to when they say believe The Gospel?
1st John 5:5 if memory serves lol - sorry in a rush but to bump the thread as well
Just curious..Exactly what is The Gospel to you?
Yes I do. It has something to do with water.
See John Chapter 3.
This article you posted? It mentions nothing about water or baptism. Therefore this article on being saved is very incomplete.
Thanks for the input. Great verse!
Man, I could be here all night answering that question!
And to pare it down to 25 words or less would not do it justice.
No this is not what a Born Again Christian is referring to when they say believe The Gospel.
The article does explain what we mean but two passages explain it pretty well. Roms. 10:9 and ICor. 15:1-4.
If you are of the opinion that more is involved you are not yet one of us, but there is always hope.
No this is not what a Born Again Christian is referring to when they say believe The Gospel.
The article does explain what we mean but two passages explain it pretty well. Roms. 10:9 and ICor. 15:1-4.
If you are of the opinion that more is involved you are not yet one of us, but there is always hope.
Luke 10:25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Luke 10:27 He answered: “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Seems sort of cut and dry to me. Unless you think Jesus left something out or got it wrong.
What is a christian?...
Just constructing a definition is a bit of dogma..
Did you read John Chapter 3 like I asked you to?
Here. I’ll post it.
John 3
Jesus Teaches Nicodemus
1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.[a]”
4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit[b] gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You[c] must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”[d]
9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.[e] 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,[f] 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”[g]
16 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.
more. much more....
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Anytime anyone tells me they have been “Born Again”; I ask them if they know what that means? Nicodemus didn’t know. But I trust you do.
And as I said. It has something to do with water.
If so did it leave anything out?
As I said before this is not what a Born Again Christian is referring to when they ask if you believe The Gospel.
85. What is the difference between the Law and the Gospel?
(A) The Law teaces what we are to do & not to do; the Gospel teaches what God has done, and still does, for our salvation.
(B) The Law shows us our sin and the wrath of God; the Gospel shows us our Savior and the grace of God.
(C) The Law must be proclaimed to all people, but especially to impenitent sinners; the Gospel must be proclaimed to sinners who are troubled in their minds because of their sins.
OK, I get it. You are ignoring my point. You don’t want to define Born Again. OK.
Your point: You must believe the Gospel to be saved. I get that. That is true. As generic and non specific as it is.
If you are depending on baptism for salvation, then GRACE is no longer GRACE.
Baptism is an epression of obedience.
Okee dokee then I won’t be baptized.
And I won’t repent either. Because if I’m depending on repentance for salvation, then GRACE is no longer GRACE.
Repeat for Confessing.
Etc. Etc.
“And he brought them out [of the dungeon] and said, Men, what is it necessary for me to do that I may be saved? And they answered, Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ [[a]give yourself up to Him, [b] take yourself out of your own keeping and entrust yourself into His keeping] and you will be saved, [and this applies both to] you and your household as well.” Acts 16:30-31
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2016:30-31&version=AMP
Finally made it to a laptop for a sec:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20John%205:4-5&version=KJV
1 John 5:4-5
King James Version (KJV)
4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
[ Have you read the article? / If so did it leave anything out? ]
Yes.. Who(what) God is..
The old testament says God is a mystery..
The new testament imply’s God is a Committee.. but still mysterious..
God does not have a name but he/it is given a “handle”..
Personally I think how could a human even conceive of what God(a real one) actually is?..
Those that try seem to be arrogant.. or scamming the simple.. with simplistic answers..
Keep reading that passage.
You know what happens next, don’t you?
Here. I’ll post if for you.
31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. 34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.
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When Paul and Silas “spoke the word of the Lord” to him, that included the command to be baptized. And he and his household were!
“You must believe the Gospel to be saved. I get that. That is true.”
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2015:1-5&version=AMP
“AND NOW let me remind you [since it seems to have escaped you], brethren, of the Gospel (the glad tidings of salvation) which I proclaimed to you, which you welcomed and accepted and upon which your faith rests, And by which you are saved, if you hold fast and keep firmly what I preached to you, unless you believed at first without effect and all for nothing. For I passed on to you first of all what I also had received, that Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) died for our sins in accordance with [what] the Scriptures [foretold], That He was buried, that He arose on the third day as the Scriptures foretold, And [also] that He appeared to Cephas (Peter), then to the Twelve.”
‘When Paul and Silas “spoke the word of the Lord” to him, that included the command to be baptized. And he and his household were!’
I agree. However, check Mark 16:16
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%2016:16&version=AMP
“He who believes [who adheres to and trusts in and relies on the Gospel and Him Whom it sets forth] and is baptized will be saved [[a]from the penalty of eternal death]; but he who does not believe [who does not adhere to and trust in and rely on the Gospel and Him Whom it sets forth] will be condemned.”
“It is only unbelief that condemns. Faith cannot exist in the heart of a person who despises and rejects baptism against better knowledge.” Martin Luther’s Small Catechism with explanation, question #251.
Amen and Amen!!!!!
The Bible is clear that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God who died on the cross as our substitute. He paid the penalty for our sins. He took the punishment that we deserve.
God’s provision of salvation is a free gift (Eph. 2:8,9). God, through Jesus Christ, did everything. All you do is accept that free gift. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.
How to be saved (how to receive the free gift of eternal salvation):
John 3:16-18
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. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He who BELIEVES on 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.
Romans 4:5
But to the one who does not work, but BELIEVES in Him who justifies the ungodly, his FAITH is reckoned as righteousness
Romans 5:1
Therefore being justified by FAITH, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 3:28
Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by FAITH without the deeds of the law
John 6:28-29
Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to BELIEVE in the one he has sent.”
John 6:47
(Jesus Christ said) He who BELIEVES in me has everlasting life.
Acts 16:31
BELIEVE in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved
Acts 10:43
Every one who BELIEVES in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.
John 11:25-26
(Jesus Christ said) I am the resurrection and the life. He who BELIEVES in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and BELIEVES in me will never die. Do you BELIEVE this?
My own view is that baptism, prior to the Resurrection, was a publicly symbolic act of death and rebirth, When John the Baptist baptized Jesus, the Holy Spirit came down to Him in the form of a dove so that the mortal Jesus would be indwelt and thus began His ministry.
After the Resurrection, the Holy Spirit came down to live inside the many who began speaking in tongues. So salvation and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit comes at the time of confession of sin and asking Christ into our hearts but we are still commanded to be baptized as a public testimony of our private, personal conversion.
I was not baptized until many years after receiving Christ and believe I was saved from the moment of receiving Christ and the Holy Spirit, not when I was baptized.
In addition, what is to become of the person who receives Christ in the desert and dies before he finds water? Tough luck?
Thank you for posting the gospel!
Self examination includes not only what one will but also intends. Temptations will follow because evil cannot be removed unless it appears, like breaking a bad habit.
That would be a Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
The problem Jonah, is that no one (in their own strength) “loves God with all their heart” or always “loves their neighbor as yourself”..
Answer me have you ALWAYS and every second done both of these-every second of your life?
If not, then Jesus was pointing out that it is impossible for men to do this- that is why we needed to recieve His sacrifice in faith! -J.S.
Ephesians 2:4-7
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
Context, dear Jonah. Jesus also said:
John 6:27-29
Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
“If you are depending on baptism for salvation, then GRACE is no longer GRACE.”
Huh?
ph
wmfights wrote:
“Are you ready to accept the gift of eternal life that Jesus is offering you right now? Let’s review what this commitment involves:”
My question would be this: What precisely is it that accepts the gift God offers? In other words, what makes the gift He offers ours?
I am not asking frivolously.
bttt
Which is precisely the definition of obedience. If you're "in Christ's keeping," you're no longer your own master. You have a master, because you have been "bought at a price," and you owe him your obedience. That's why Paul writes in Romans that he came to bring "the obedience of faith to all the nations" (Rom 1:5)
It's very dangerous to take single Scripture verses out of context and string them together to try to justify a theological point.
A classic case is Ps 14:3 ("there is none who does good, no, not one"), which wmfights "Gospel" quotes almost immediately. Looking at it in context (which is certainly how Paul understood it), you find that it's hyperbolic. Ps 14 contrasts the wicked, of whom "none [do] good" with "my people" (verse 4) and "the generation of the righteous" (verse 5), so 14:3 is clearly not talking about all people, everywhere, without exception, for all time.
Placehold post.
You’re very welcome. Thank you for your input.
Amen, Amen, Amen.
Thank you for taking the time to read it. FWIW, I've found that when you post threads there are a fair number of posters who jump in without having read the thread and that's usually where the animus begins. I think your summary of the article is spot on.
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