I always thought if I’d done more good than bad I’d be right with God and end up in heaven when I went belly-up. You know, be a good person. Earn my way there through my good works.
How tragic. Terrifying actually.
The Bible says it’s by grace you’ve been saved, through faith, and that not of yourself, it’s a gift from God and not of works lest anyone should boast.
The Bible also says we’re all sinners and what we earn from our sin is death, eternal separation from God. However, God’s gift (which cannot be earned) is eternal life through Jesus Christ.
According to the Bible, God loves you and me so much He sent His very Son Jesus to die for us. Jesus died a horrific, agonizing death on a cross to pay for your sins and mine. He took our sins, our punishment, our guilt, our shame – so that all who believe on Him could be forgiven and made right before God the Father. We can have forgiveness of our sins through His precious blood shed on the cross for us.
Jesus himself said we must be born again. It is through believing in Jesus, having faith in Him that we are born again. The word must means it is a requirement – it is essential – it is not optional. Jesus made that very clear.
Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Me. This is an extremely exclusive statement. There are not many ways to get to God – only one. But at the same time, it is a very inclusive statement because the invitation is open to everyone!
Jesus said we are to repent and believe the Gospel. To repent means to change one’s mind. To turn away from sin, and turn to Jesus. To believe the Gospel is to believe that Jesus is God’s Son and did indeed die on that cross for you, and that He rose again after three days and is alive today. Gospel means good news. Jesus taking the punishment and dying for our sins so we don’t have to is very good news indeed.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes on Him will never perish but have everlasting life.
If you might be thinking – there is no way God could ever forgive me for what I’ve done, Jesus Himself spoke about that very issue. He said if anyone comes to Me, I will never cast them aside. He makes no exceptions, He will forgive you and accept you if you repent and call out to Him.
He loves you far too much to reject you. The value of something is determined by the price paid for it. You’ve been bought with a price. A HUGE price. He paid too high a price to reject you. You have far too high a value in His eyes, regardless of what others, or even you, think about yourself. He will forgive you and accept you right now, just as you are.
You have His word on it.
God desires ALL men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.
God is not willing that ANY should perish, but that ALL should come to repentance. ANY and ALL. That is God’s will. I believe Him.
But He also gave you a free will. You can choose Him or reject Him. It is up to you. He created you for a reason, a purpose.
I hope you will make the right choice. I really do.
Ephesians 2:8-9
Romans 3:23 ; 6:23
John 3:7 ; 3:16 ; 6:37 ; 14:6
Mark 1:15
1 Timothy 2:4
2 Peter 3:9
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Thank you very much for your kind words.
Tom! You really were meant to pass on the Word! You have inspired me with your writing skills for years. And now you have a site to really inspire! I am so proud of you and your wife and what you both have done. I LOVE reading about your trip to Alaska! (also, you are a good photographer)
Hi Mel. Thank you very much for your kind words. I hope to write about the privilege of working with the wounded veterans in Alaska with Samaritan’s Purse. Need to catch up on a few other things first.
Here is a link to the SP site if you haven’t seen it:
http://www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/about-operation-heal-our-patriots/
Hope you and your family have your best year ever.
Thomas, It’s great to see you doing God’s work, I will definitely order your book. Keep up the good work brother, I miss you and your lovely wife, may have to visit your neck of the woods someday, I live in oregon, just west of Portland.
Thanks Marvin.
Good to hear from you. Keep the higher ground on the western front.
God Bless Thomas…. You do such a great service bringing Gods Word and hope to those who are going through such a hard time in their life…..
Thank you Lonnie!