God’s Plan for Salvation
Meet Jesus — Lived to Serve, Died to Save, Risen to Reign
The central theme of the Bible is God’s love for you and for all people. This love was revealed when Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came into this world as a human being, lived a sinless life, died on the cross, and rose from the dead after three days. Because Jesus Christ died, our sins can be forgiven, and because He conquered death we can have eternal life. We can know for sure what will become of us after we die.
You may have heard the story of God’s love referred to as the “Gospel.” The word Gospel simply means “Good News.” The Gospel is Good News because of what Christ has done, we can be forgiven and can live forever in Heaven.
While this is a FREE GIFT, this gift of forgiveness and eternal life cannot be yours unless you willingly accept it. God requires an individual response from us. The following verses from the Bible show God’s part and our responsibility in this process:
God’s love is revealed in the Bible
When I was a child in a Jewish home, I thought that everyone who wasn’t Jewish, Buddhist, or Muslim was a Christian. According to the Bible, that’s not true. A person doesn’t become a Christian until he or she receives Jesus Christ as his or her personal Savior. People are not Christians merely because they go to church, have been baptized, or even because their dad was a preacher.
John 1:12, “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God”
Regarding becoming a Christian, the Bible teaches about KNOWING that Heaven will be your home for all eternity after your life on this earth is over.
1) WE HAVE ALL SINNED
Romans 3:10, “As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one;”
Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
That means that I have sinned and you have sinned. We have ALL sinned. Now folks, that is BAD NEWS. I have some more bad news for you.
THERE IS A PENALTY FOR SIN THAT MUST BE PAID
Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Certainly this means physical death, where our physical lives will end; it also means a spiritual death, where one will be separated from God for all eternity in Hell. Hell is a real and horrible place.
Now I have some very, very good news.
John 3:16 “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.”
Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Jesus died on the cross to pay the sin debt. This was not to cover His sins, because He was sinless. It pays for my sins and yours.
YOU CAN RECEIVE HIS
FREE GIFT OF SALVATION RIGHT NOW.
Ephesians 2:8-9, ” * 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.”
Romans 10:9-13, “That 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. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame. For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile–the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”
When I was 12 years old and living in Chattanooga, Tennessee, some dear godly people took my father’s Jewish Bible and showed me what I have just shown you. I knew that what they were telling me was true, and I prayed a prayer something like this:
Dear God, I do know that I am a sinner and I am sorry for my sins. Please forgive me for my sins and come into my heart and life and be my personal Savior. I am trusting you to save me from Hell and to take me to Heaven when I die. Thank you for saving me. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.
That was it. I did what Romans 10:13 told me to do. I called on His name and He saved me. A very important verse to keep in mind is Romans 10:9. It is not enough to just call on Him for salvation; we must really believe as well. We may be able to fool parents, teachers, and others, but we will NEVER trick God. He knows if we are sincere when we call on His name for salvation.
If you have ever sincerely, from your heart, prayed and asked Jesus to be your Savior, you can rest assured that He did save you and that Heaven will be your home for all eternity after you die.
1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
If you just prayed and received Jesus into your heart, please write me or email me me so that I can rejoice with you.
You know, if I were to offer you 1 MILLION dollars with no strings attached, just as a free gift to you, you WOULD TAKE IT. God’s free gift is worth much, much more than 1 MILLION DOLLARS. It is priceless. It costs you nothing, but it cost Jesus everything.
