do i have eternal life ?

Who can say, "I have cleansed my heart, I am pure from my sin"? ~ Proverbs 20:9

We all live in a day and age where we have grown used to having a choice. When we go shopping we can choose between several varieties of apples. When we want to travel somewhere we have the choice of bus, train, car, airplane, or cruiseship. Choices abound. Despite all our choices - in life there are just some things that we don’t get a choice whatsoever. We don’t get choose who are parents, we don’t get to choose the day that we are born on, and we don’t even get to choose the moment that we will die. We could say that life’s most important decisions are made for us. Do I have eternal life? Well the answer is that God makes that decision and we need to respond to it by understanding 5 non-negotiable realities about eternal life.

God
GOD EXISTS AND REVEALS HIMSELF TO US IN THE BIBLE

We can say without a doubt that God exists. You may choose to disagree with this statement, but an opinion does not change the truth. One way that we can know or at least suspect that God exists is by looking at nature. When we look at the world around us we can observe that there is a great complexity to everything, from a single cell, or a tree, or the sun, or even our own bodies. We also have established that in nature there are unchangeable laws which we are governed by. These tangible things should lead us to the conclusion that there exists someone who is much greater than us, and who is capable of such an incredible and intricate design. We should be able at least come to reason that behind every design is a designer and every fathomable law there is a lawgiver.

Another way we can gather that God exists is through our own instinct. If we are honest and open enough we do know inherently that God exists because He made us to know Him. We also at least expect to meet God when we die. But many people deny these facts, but once again it doesn’t change the truth. Whether by surrounding nature or by instinct, this will only give us a partial knowledge of God, so these only point us to the knowledge that God exists.

So how can we confirm whether God exists or not? God reveals Himself to us through the Bible (which is also referred to as God’s Word or Scripture). The Bible, may be considered as a long letter from God to us, those He created. It is His way of communicating to us about Himself and the truth that He desires for us to know and believe, and how we are to respond to Him. In the Bible the words of God are recorded. The Bible also reveals the way that He views us and what He has done for us. What the Bible contains is absolute truth, and no one has ever been able to demonstrate that it is not true, that it contradicts itself, or contains any errors when it was given to us by God.

The self claim of the Bible is that it is true - Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth (John 17:17). In addition - All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16). The term inspired by God means that it is breathed out by God, or in simpler terms - that the contents of the Bible originate from God Himself. There is no other way, whether it be the Koran, The Book of Mormon, or any other writings by which we can definitively and personally know God, except through His Word, the Bible.

Who is God? What does the Bible tells us about God? The Bible begins without any suggestion that God was created, but instead He is the Creator. Genesis 1:1 states - In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth - God is the all powerful Creator having made all things according to nature and will. Since He created all things, He also is all knowing about everything without any limit otherwise he would not be God. In another place in the Bible God says this about Himself - I AM WHO I AM (Exodus 3:14). And in Isaiah 44:6b-7a - 'I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me. 'And who is like Me? What this means is that God is telling us that He always has existed, or in other words He is eternal - with no beginning or end.

There will never be a time that God will cease to exist. This also tells us that God is everywhere at once. There is no place where we can be that He is not present, and He sees everything that we do whether good or bad. In addition we understand that God is independent of His creation and exists without the power of any external influences. He is the highest authority and power and therefore reveals to us that He is - Almighty (Genesis17:1). In contrast all living creatures are dependent upon things, people, and the often forgotten bottom line - on God.

What is God like? We are told this in Genesis 1:26-27 - Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…. God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Now this passage reveals to us several important truths, of which we will examine a few of them. At the start of this statement, God uses the words ‘let us.’ This reveals to us, that God’s nature is one, yet He exists as a composite unity. The Bible expresses our Creator God as - One God in three Persons. There is only one true God in this world, who exists in three persons - any others who claim to be ‘God’ or a god, are indeed false. We have given this union the term ‘trinity’ to express this reality. God then is three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - and each of these three persons are God. We alternately express it in this way - God is: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

We also learn that not only is God the Creator of the heavens and the earth, He also created people - you and me in His own image. Therefore God is also a personal God, who is not some kind of force, power, or thing. He posses emotion, intellect, and will. God is a just and righteous Creator. He is a sovereign God who is the supreme ruler of the universe and everything that it contains, including you and me. Therefore God establishes what is right and wrong - and not man - and He calls people to obey Him, and establishes the just results for those who obey or disobey Him. God is so great we cannot know Him comprehensively, but what is revealed to us is sufficient for you to enter into a personal relationship with Him. He even has a unique personal name which is Yahweh (YHWH). Of greatest blessing for us is that we can come to know and understand God personally through the Bible.

One important and defining character of God is that He is holy - this means that God is set apart from - exhaustively unlike any other entity that claims to be divine, or even a deity. In the book of Isaiah 6:3 we have a declaration about God, it states - "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory" (Isaiah 6:3). God’s holiness speaks to the fact that He is righteous in all His ways. This means that God is perfect, that everything that He does and thinks is pure. There is nothing that He does which is evil. Because God is holy, and when we look around us and even at our self, we find that there is some disconnect between the way that God is and the way that we are. Therefore we need to understand something about mankind.

Man
MAN IS MADE IN GOD’S IMAGE AND WE ARE SUBJECT TO HIM

Since God created us, we might ask and answer this question at this point - Are we holy, since God made us in His image? When God originally created man and woman, they were holy - that is they were altogether different than anything else that God had made - set apart to God, morally pure, and righteous. We did not come out of some evolutionary process. We are not animals, but are God’s pinnacle of creation - made in His image. To be made in God’s image does not mean that we have every single attribute of God, so therefore we are ‘gods’ or can become a god. Remember that God said - ‘And who is like Me?’ (Isaiah 44:7). Instead this does mean that God created us to have His communicable attributes - thus we for example we are persons who possess a will, are moral, rational, and relational beings. Because people are made in God’s image we also have a spirit or soul which is created eternal. This means that though we die physically, our soul will never die.

When the first people were created - Adam and Eve - they were perfect and were created to live eternally in a glorious and perfect union with God, one another, and all that was created. Adam and Eve were given immense freedom and one command that they needed to obey. Genesis 2:16 tells us - And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die. " Because God created man with the ability to choose, this was a test for them to see whether they would obey or disobey God’s clear command. Satan appearing in the form of a serpent went to Eve and tempted her to disbelieve and disobey God’s Word.

We pick up in Genesis 3:6 - When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. But then something went wrong. It was through this single act of disobedience that - through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men (Romans 5:12). Man’s perfect relationship with God was now broken. The destructive consequence of disobedience became a reality, and man died spiritually. Instead of perfect fellowship and love for God, their sin brought about shame, guilt, fear, separation from God, and physical death. And so death spread to all men.

How does God view man now? What does God think of you? In order to answer this question we must look to God’s Word to understand our own nature. The Bible says ‘for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’ (Romans 3:23). It also says, ‘There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one’ (Romans 3:10-12). This describes us and how we appear before God. What keeps you from Him is sin, therefore you do not do what God desires. In fact you could not do what God wants because of your sin - you are spiritually dead - ‘The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God’ (Rom. 8:6-8 NIV).

Sin
SIN HAS BROKEN OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AND NOW THERE ARE CONSEQUENCES

God clearly explains to us why we are now all sinners and constantly disobey His Word. When we examine sin, we must remember that God is sovereign and He is the one who rules over all things including us. He is the one who establishes right and wrong and by virtue of who He is - demands that we the creature submit to the Creator.

A definition for sin is missing the mark, picturing an archer firing an arrow at the bull’s eye yet missing every time. In our life sin is evidenced consistently by missing God’s standard of holiness through rebellion, transgression, perversion, impiety, unrighteousness, lawlessness, depravity, and evil desire. Because of our sin we are not able to have a right relationship with God. So we reject His right to hold us accountable to His divine standards and His authority over us. Therefore God’s right to be who He is as Lord is denied. Sin is an act of disobedience to God’s revealed truth. It is the absence of righteousness in one’s life and the enmity towards our Creator. Yet, we are all still held to account for our sin by God.

Everyone is born in a sinful state and condition. Sin permeates our innermost being and is at the core of the human soul (Matthew 15:19-20). The root cause of sin is man’s rebellion against God. Sin places man at the center of all activity and removes God from His rightful place as Creator and Lord. It affects our intellect (2 Corinthians 4:4), conscience (1 Timothy 4:2), will (Romans 1:28), and heart (Ephesians 4:18). Sin is not just failure and lack on our behalf, or even a deficiency of some sort, but it is the lack and rejection of true knowledge. Sin would also consist of acts that we do and fail to do. The result of sin is that man is totally depraved (Ephesians 2:1-3).

An outplaying of sin upon people is that they attempt to erase the memory of God or change the existence or nature of God into something else. God clearly reveals what sin does upon the knowledge of Him in our world. This is what Romans 1:18-25 states - For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever.

What happens when I die? Some people think that we just end - cease to be - are annihilated, but this is not true. God made us in His image so therefore your physical body will die due to sin, but our soul lives on. Others think that if we live a good life, are kind, and haven’t done too much wrong, then we will go to heaven, but this is not true either. Things we do on our own merit - these ‘good deeds’ cannot bring you into a right relationship with God. God tells us this very clearly - 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 NIV). Hebrews 11:6 clearly explains that - without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. No matter how good we are, without Christ all the things we do are meaningless dead works.

What is the consequence of sin? Once again this determined only by God, the Creator. The Bible says, ‘the wages of sin is death’ (Romans 6:23). Not only are you not right with God because of your sins, you are going to die, and will forever be separated from God (Ephesians 4:18). What awaits you is that you will face an eternity of unimaginable anguish, torment, and unrelieved darkness. Your place of eternal punishment in payment for the sin you have amassed in your life is hell. Hell is a real place, and it is described in the Bible as ‘the furnace of fire; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth’ (Matthew 13:42); and as ‘the unquenchable fire, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched ‘ (Mark 9:43-44); it is a place where ‘the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; and they have no rest day and night’ (Revelation 14:11), and as ‘the lake of fire and brimstone,’ where the man who rejects God, that is the sinner, will be ‘tormented day and night for ever and ever’ (Revelation 20:10,15; 21:8).

Eternal punishment, God’s judgement through Christ for what we choose in this life is fair because God has made Himself known through nature, our God given instinct, and the Bible. Because God is holy and just, and that we are sinners and choose to be, people deserve to be judged by God. Jeremiah a prophet of God records the Words of God - ‘The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds’ (Jeremiah 17:9-10).

God is a loving God, but we must remember that He is a Holy and just God who hates sin. Therefore God will deal with sin in your life, by virtue of His sovereignty over us and of His character of justice. God will do this through Jesus Christ. All people will one day meet Jesus Christ face to face. God - has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead (Acts 17:31). If you choose to reject God in this life - God will reject you in the life to come. Since you choose to live an ungodly life in this temporal place - God will confirm your choice forever. God’s judgement is just, right, perfect, and without error, and we should not expect anything less from a holy God.

So if people are by nature children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3), we are doomed. You may at this moment sense a great deal of hopelessness and despair. Therefore we need to seriously consider this question - ‘how shall you escape the sentence of hell ? (Matthew 23:33). God clearly reveals to us that you cannot do anything to save yourself. There is no way you can work your way to salvation. There is nothing in and of yourself that can be done to gain any merit or favour from God. Only God can help you, with your problem of sin.

Jesus Christ
JESUS CHRIST IS GOD VEILED IN HUMAN FLESH COMING TO SAVE US FROM OUR SINS

God requires us to be holy so that we can be restored back to Him. God tells us through the Bible - ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’ ( 1 Pet. 1:16). No man on the face of the earth is holy, and sin keeps us apart from God. Yet, in and of ourselves we cannot rid ourselves of sin and therefore please God. It is impossible to save ourselves and we are in a helpless and condemned state. There is no way that we can generate peace with God.

This is what God did for all of us - ‘But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us’ (Romans5:8).

Who is Jesus Christ? Jesus Christ is the most influential and well known name in history. Even when Jesus was here on earth there was some confusion and misunderstanding of who He really was. Some thought He was a great prophet, a wise man, a great moral teacher, others thought He was an up and coming political ruler, some even thought He was a madman. Yet the Bible is clear that He is the Son of God (John 20:31). We find Jesus and His claims revealed to us in the Bible. The greatest claim that He ever made was that He is God - Jesus said - ‘I and the Father are one’ (Jn. 10:30), thereby declaring His Deity. We also find in the opening verses of the Gospel of John these revelations of truth - ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men’ (John 1:1-4). This passage should bring to mind Genesis 1:1 which was cited earlier - ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.’

Another important truth about Jesus is that - ‘in Him all the fulness of Deity dwells in bodily form, … and He is the head over all rule and authority‘ (Colossians 2:9-10). Therefore what is important to understand is that Jesus, who is the Word is eternal, He is eternally God, He is the creator of all things, and that He is the source of life. As such we are subject to Him because He has divine authority over us - Jesus Christ, He is Lord of all (Acts 10:36). Philippians 2:6-7 tells us this about Jesus - ‘although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.’ What this tells us is that the eternal Word, God the Son, became fully man.

His birth was in the ordinary fashion as we were all born, but His conception was unique. This what took place: Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit…. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for that which has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. "And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins." Now all this took place that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which translated means, "God with us." And Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took her as his wife, and kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus (Matthew 1:18-25). Jesus was conceived in a virgin’s womb by the power of the Holy Spirit in order to fulfill God’s promise of the One who would be our Saviour. In God’s infinite wisdom Jesus was born this way in order that He would be free from sin. Therefore His nature and character was also unique in that - He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin (1 John 3:5).

There were times as found in the Scriptures that we find Jesus reflecting His humanity such as He slept, got hungry, and wept. he was so much a man that He was - One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). At other times we see Jesus reflecting His Deity in that He did miracles, healed people of physical ailments, and He even raised the dead. In this we know that Jesus is fully a perfect human, yet He also is fully God.

Jesus is absolutely pure and sinless. No other person in history can make this claim no matter how spiritual or morally upright that they may have appeared. And because of this Jesus Christ is the only One who can forgive us of our sin and change us, thereby delivering us from our sin and guilt, and God’s wrath. The perfect solution to take away sin had to be perfectly sinless. True salvation is found only in Jesus Christ for - ‘There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved’ (Acts 4:12).

The Bible repeatedly, from cover to cover, points to the coming of Jesus Christ who would die for our sins. Why is His death so important? It is utterly important because Jesus became the sinless sacrifice for our sins - ‘Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God’ (1 Peter 3:18). This was God’s foreordained plan so at the precise time - He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus was not a victim at the hands of vicious men, but - We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us (1 John 3:16). Jesus voluntarily - gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deed (Titus 2:14). Jesus willingly took the place of sinners and bore upon Himself the wrath of God for their sins, so that we could be forgiven. Upon the cross Jesus’ blood was shed which served as an atonement for sin. Those who believe in Christ - In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him (Ephesians 1:7-9). This is the divine purpose of the cross. 1 Peter 2:24 tells us that - He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

Earlier we noted that it is impossible to save ourselves, we are condemned, with no way to generate peace with God? But in Christ’s death, God through Christ reconciles - all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross (Colossians 1:20). Only if we are found in Christ, will we have peace with God, because our sins were fully paid for by Christ. As Jesus lay dying on the cross every and all sin was laid upon Him as if He were accountable for all of them, despite His sinlessness. In this, those who are saved by Christ receive the righteousness of Christ. God therefore no longer sees the sinner, but instead He sees the perfection of His Son credited to the saved. The saved are reconciled to God, eternally forgiven of their sins, never to be punished, receiving a full pardon - whereas they would have been doomed wretched sinners condemned to an eternity in hell.

Equally important is that Christ was - declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness (Romans 1:4). Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scripture (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). No other person in history, except for Christ, has been bodily resurrected, never to die again - all people who have died still remain in their graves. Jesus Christ not only died but He rose from the dead.

This is the resurrection of the Man Jesus Christ from the dead, demonstrating that He was victorious over death. Therefore the saved can echo these words of Scripture - "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:55-57). Through the resurrection of Christ, God demonstrated powerfully that He accepted Christ’s death in the place of the sinner.

Why did all this take place? Because ‘God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life’ (John 3:16). Jesus Christ ‘loves us, and released us from our sins by His blood’ (Rev. 1:5). Jesus alone is ‘our great God and Savior ’ (Titus 2:13). In Christ, we have eternal life that begins at the moment that He saves you, and though we die physically, we will be with God - spending an eternity with Him in heaven.

Discipleship
FOLLOWING JESUS IS A HARD AND NARROW ROAD

Salvation is a free gift from God. Yet Jesus’ offer of salvation is accompanied by many hard demands. Jesus said in John 12:25-26 - ‘He who loves his life loses it; and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal. "If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall My servant also be; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.’ In His words Jesus lays down the foundation of being a disciple of Christ - which is death. If Jesus did not die upon the cross there would be no need for discipleship. The implications of being a disciple of Christ must be thought through carefully. We need to count the cost of following Christ. Jesus asks His disciples to follow Him wholeheartedly, humbling yourself, setting your own interests aside for His glory, sacrificially serving Him, and ultimately placing your life on the line for Him.
Having Jesus as your Lord and Saviour is going to be tough. 2 Timothy 3:12 - tells us - indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Being saved does not always make your life easier, but you can have true peace in all circumstances - ‘For He Himself is our peace’ (Ephesians2:14). This peace is anchored in the reality of an eternal hope in Christ with God, enjoying His presence and blessings.

Jesus also gives us two paradoxical truths. The first paradox is that a person who loves his life loses it - if a person is not willing to give up his/her love for this world - earthly treasures - then he /she cannot become a disciple of Christ. In fact you will lose the greatest treasure - eternal life.

On the contrary the second paradox is presented - that a person who hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal. The person who is to be a disciple of Christ must demonstrate saving grace daily through the denial of your self - and the exaltation of Christ. A strong contrast is made - that a Christian’s love for the Lord must be supreme - and your love for the dearest things the world has to offer you - in contrast will be hated - in order to let your love for the Lord rise to the greatest heights.

This is not the first time that Jesus had taught what the cost of discipleship is. Jesus said in Matthew 16:24 - "Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me"

Many people have come to Christ to get healthy and wealthy, and as a fix all - and therefore many have reduced the gospel to a genie in a bottle. What we must understand is that the cross was the ultimate denial of self and the call for utter humility, and sacrifice - forsaking all for Christ - having a God centered life, and being led by His Spirit. A disciple cannot live out both paradoxes. As in the companion passage - Mark 8:36 states - What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?

May we praise God today and every moment of our lives, that we who have been chosen by Him to be His disciples, that we will see that through death we gain eternal life.

How can I respond to God’s offer of Salvation ?

Without the saving intervention of Christ you are guilty because of your sin and are counted an enemy of God, because God is a Holy God. Without holiness no one will be able to see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14 NIV). So what does God demand of you? We can answer that with two words - repentant faith. Salvation is not a simple choice, nor is it merely a momentary decision one makes at a certain point of time - it is a life long commitment. It is God who empowers the sinner’s will to receive Him, to count the cost, and to make an across the board forsaking of everything that we trust in. It is a turning to Christ to make Him the Lord in all things and your Saviour. This involves that you confess to Christ that you are a sinner - ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins and He will cleanse you from your guilt, and free you from the power of sin over you. You must humbly accept, understand, and be responsible for the gravity of your sin before Christ.

In faith, you must respond to the gift of grace God has offered through Jesus Christ His Son, and believe that He died on the cross for your sins, and was resurrected physically from the dead, to everlasting life defeating sin. Acts 17:30 tells us - Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent. God demands that you repent - which literally means - to change your mind - about your love of sin. We then agree with God about our sinful nature, rejecting anything that does not honour God - demonstrating that you have - turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God (1 Thessalonians 1:9).
In coming to Christ you must adorn a righteous life, living according to the way that God commands you to live, in word, thought, and deed, as a new creation in Christ. This witness is a continued state of increasing obedience and submission to Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour, through God’s Word - the Bible. Yes, you must - repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance (Acts 26:20).

Isaiah 55:6 states - Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the Lord, And He will have compassion on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.
Romans 10:9-11 says - if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed." Because our life is brief, God’s offer of salvation is important and urgent - "At the acceptable time I listened to you, And on the day of salvation I helped you;" behold, now is "the acceptable time," behold, now is "the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2).

If this is what God has placed upon your heart to do, then talk with Him right now (pray). Ask Christ to forgive you of your sins - and that He be your Lord and Saviour and live the rest of your life for Him.

Are Christians perfect people? No, but daily as God changes you, you will please God by submitting and being obedient to Him in everything. Being in a right relationship with God brings peace and joy to your life. When God looks at you, after He saves you, He sees you as holy, because Christ’s righteousness is credited to your account. Having done this you now follow Jesus, for He is your Lord and King (Revelation 17:14). Because of God’s saving work in your life, He will give you His Holy Spirit to live and make changes in you (Rom.8:9). Through God’s Spirit, He will help you to please Christ.

Thankfully Jesus set the example, and Jesus will enable us to meet the challenges. If you have been saved unto eternal life, He is going to help you with living your life for His glory. This is the very purpose of our life, that we are made in the image of God and we are to reflect it in our life. With Christ as our Master, we are not going to see self denial and even death as the end, but in Christ we are going to see it as the beginning of unending glory and fellowship towards Christ.
This is the ‘Good News’ Jesus offers.

If you have asked Jesus to be your Lord and Saviour please let me know so that I can get you started on the road of discipleship.
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If you have received God’s saving grace, or have any questions please visit us at our new dedicated site at - http://www.cornerstonecommunitychurch.ca/