An  Invitation into a Relationship 

The most important issue you will ever face in your life pertains to where you will spend eternity. You may wonder how to get to heaven, have your sins forgiven and receive everlasting life. You may have been raised in the church, are a good person and believe in God. You may assume that acceptance by God is based on your own works and effort. What does the Bible say?

– God loves us and does not want any to perish.

“For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.” Jn 3:16

– Because of sin; we are separated from God. 

“But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.” Isaiah 59:2

“…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Rom 3:23

– God wants us to be brought back into a right relationship with Him. For this reason, Jesus paid the penalty for our sin when He died upon the Cross.

“But God shows and clearly proves His [own] love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) died for us. Therefore, since we are now justified (acquitted, made righteous, and brought into right   relationship with God) by Christ’s blood, how much more [certain is it that] we shall be saved by Him from the indignation and wrath of God.” (Rom 5:8-9)

– Heaven is a free gift, you cannot earn or deserve it. 

 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Rom 6:23

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the  gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Eph 2:8-9

– We receive God’s gift of eternal life by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. 

“Because if you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe (adhere to, trust in, and rely on the truth) that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart a person believes (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Christ) and so is justified (declared righteous, acceptable to God), and with the mouth he confesses (declares openly and speaks out freely his faith) and confirms [his] salvation.”  Rom 10:9-10

YOU CAN RECEIVE GOD’S FREE GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE RIGHT NOW.  I encourage you to agree with God’s Word and express your faith toward God by praying the following prayer: “Dear God, I come to You and acknowledge that I am a sinner. I need Your mercy and forgiveness. I turn to You now, and I repent of my sins. I believe that Your Son, Jesus, came to this earth and died on the Cross for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead so that I could receive forgiveness and the gift of eternal life. I accept you, Jesus, as my Savior, and I confess You now as my Lord. Thank you for taking away my sins, for making me Your child, and for placing me in right standing with you. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.” 

Now that you have received Jesus into your life as Lord and Savior, get a Bible and start to read about Him. The Bible is God’s love letter to you. I would suggest starting first by reading the Gospel of John. Next, ask the Holy Spirit to lead you to a place where you can worship and grow in God’s love and His Word with other believers. 

This entry was posted on Monday, September 3rd, 2007 at 6:10 pm and is filed under Invitation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.