Salvation is Free.
Not many things are free in our world, so when you think of Heaven, there must be something we can do to earn our way there. Led Zeppelin has a song "Stairway to Heaven " one of the verses is "and she is buying a stairway to Heaven." Unfortunately no one can buy their way to Heaven, if this were true then God would be a partial God and the bible teaches that there is no partiality with him, (Romans 2:11). So what does God require of humans? He requires us to have faith and to believe. The gospel is simple, Jesus died in our place, so we wouldn't have to suffer for eternity in hell.
When we believe the Gospel, that Jesus died and was buried and on the third day rose from the dead, we can trust him as our Lord and Saviour. Salvation is a free gift, but God requires us to repent. Repentance means turning from our sin and agreeing with God about our true condition. The bible says that we are sinners, (Romans 3:23) repentance means agreeing with God that we are sinners. Jesus came to die for sinners, not the righteous. If we never really saw our sin as God sees it, then we would never need a Saviour. The bible says that Jesus is Lord, (Romans 10) 9because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.
So how do we receive salvation? First, we must repent or change our minds about who God says Jesus is. Jesus is Lord, (Romans 10:9) that means he is God. Next we need to believe in our hearts that Jesus the Lord was raised from the dead, (Romans 10:9). But before we do that we need to confess that we are sinners, and confess our sins to God. We don't have to confess all our sins, but we sure need to confess the big ones. If you are not sure what sin is, look to the Ten Commandments. Anything that breaks our fellowship with God is sin. There are obvious sins like stealing, and adultery and there are less obvious ones like lying and white lies. The Law of Moses was given so we could see our own sinfulness. Anything that robs God of the Glory that belongs to Him is sin. When we put people in the place of God that is called idolatry.
There are sins against our own conscience like hatred and anger, and even unforgiveness can be a sin. Before we can be right with God, we have to make sure we have forgiven our enemies. In the Our Father prayer, we are taught to ask God to forgive our sins as we forgive the trespasses of others, so before you ask God for His forgiveness and the gift of salvation, you must first forgive those who sinned against you. Forgiveness is a choice of the will, even if forgiveness means letting go of some pretty big hurts, it is worth it. You can just write down their names, and just write forgiven above them.
We also need to appropriate or apply Christ's death to our sins. We can do this by simply praying a prayer like this; Dear God in Heaven, I come to you today as a fallen sinner. I agree with you, that my sin separates me from You and I agree and confess that Jesus is Lord. I believe in my heart that You God raised Jesus the Lord from the dead, and I repent of my sins and receive the free gift of salvation. I by faith receive Jesus as my personal Lord and Saviour, for now and in eternity. Amen.
The bible talks about the law of God. In the Old Testament the Israelites were required to obey the law for their justification or right standing with God, but all the law could do was cover and reveal their sins. Jesus set up a New Testament, through his sacrifice on the cross of himself. The bible teaches that his sacrifice alone is what forgives our sins. It's not that the Old Testament was bad, Jesus came to complete the law. (The Old Testament, Matthew 5:17)
Not many things are free in our world, so when you think of Heaven, there must be something we can do to earn our way there. Led Zeppelin has a song "Stairway to Heaven " one of the verses is "and she is buying a stairway to Heaven." Unfortunately no one can buy their way to Heaven, if this were true then God would be a partial God and the bible teaches that there is no partiality with him, (Romans 2:11). So what does God require of humans? He requires us to have faith and to believe. The gospel is simple, Jesus died in our place, so we wouldn't have to suffer for eternity in hell.
When we believe the Gospel, that Jesus died and was buried and on the third day rose from the dead, we can trust him as our Lord and Saviour. Salvation is a free gift, but God requires us to repent. Repentance means turning from our sin and agreeing with God about our true condition. The bible says that we are sinners, (Romans 3:23) repentance means agreeing with God that we are sinners. Jesus came to die for sinners, not the righteous. If we never really saw our sin as God sees it, then we would never need a Saviour. The bible says that Jesus is Lord, (Romans 10) 9because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.
So how do we receive salvation? First, we must repent or change our minds about who God says Jesus is. Jesus is Lord, (Romans 10:9) that means he is God. Next we need to believe in our hearts that Jesus the Lord was raised from the dead, (Romans 10:9). But before we do that we need to confess that we are sinners, and confess our sins to God. We don't have to confess all our sins, but we sure need to confess the big ones. If you are not sure what sin is, look to the Ten Commandments. Anything that breaks our fellowship with God is sin. There are obvious sins like stealing, and adultery and there are less obvious ones like lying and white lies. The Law of Moses was given so we could see our own sinfulness. Anything that robs God of the Glory that belongs to Him is sin. When we put people in the place of God that is called idolatry.
There are sins against our own conscience like hatred and anger, and even unforgiveness can be a sin. Before we can be right with God, we have to make sure we have forgiven our enemies. In the Our Father prayer, we are taught to ask God to forgive our sins as we forgive the trespasses of others, so before you ask God for His forgiveness and the gift of salvation, you must first forgive those who sinned against you. Forgiveness is a choice of the will, even if forgiveness means letting go of some pretty big hurts, it is worth it. You can just write down their names, and just write forgiven above them.
We also need to appropriate or apply Christ's death to our sins. We can do this by simply praying a prayer like this; Dear God in Heaven, I come to you today as a fallen sinner. I agree with you, that my sin separates me from You and I agree and confess that Jesus is Lord. I believe in my heart that You God raised Jesus the Lord from the dead, and I repent of my sins and receive the free gift of salvation. I by faith receive Jesus as my personal Lord and Saviour, for now and in eternity. Amen.
The bible talks about the law of God. In the Old Testament the Israelites were required to obey the law for their justification or right standing with God, but all the law could do was cover and reveal their sins. Jesus set up a New Testament, through his sacrifice on the cross of himself. The bible teaches that his sacrifice alone is what forgives our sins. It's not that the Old Testament was bad, Jesus came to complete the law. (The Old Testament, Matthew 5:17)
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