So
many people today consider themselves
Christians, usually because they have
had some association with a particular
religious organization, but many of
those same people do not have a real,
personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Sometimes a person acknowledges the
existence of God, believes the Christian
God is the one true God, and believes
that Jesus Christ lived on earth and
died for their sins, but that's as far
as it goes. James addressed this issue
in his letter to the Jewish believers:
Jam
2:19
Thou believest that there is
one God; thou doest well: the devils
also believe, and tremble.
What
James was saying, is that it is not
enough to just believe an all powerful
God exists, created the heaven and the
earth, and exists and intervenes in
peoples lives everyday. In fact, Satan
and the devils also believe these same
things… but they tremble at the
thought of it because they understand
who He really is.
Phillip, one of the Apostles in Jesus'
time, understood that it was not enough
to just believe that God exists, he
wanted to know Him and understand Him:
John
14:8 Philip
saith unto him, Lord, shew us the
Father, and it sufficeth us.
John
14:9 Jesus
saith unto him, Have I been so long
time with you, and yet hast thou not
known me, Philip? he that hath seen me
hath seen the Father; and how sayest
thou [then],
Shew us the Father?
Jesus
told Philip that He was one with the
Father… Jesus is God. Earlier in that
same chapter we can see that Jesus
alluded to that same fact by this
statement:
John 14:1
Let not your heart be troubled: ye
believe in God, believe also in me.
In order
to truly understand God, we have to look
to Jesus; who is God Himself, and came
to earth in the form of a man so we
could know Him. The best way to
understand God, is to understand His
attributes. So let's look at what Jesus
says about Himself. Just before Jesus'
testimony to Philip that He was one with
the Father, He addressed another one of
the apostles, Thomas…
John
14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way,
the truth, and the life: no man cometh
unto the Father, but by me.
The
Truth:
Jesus said He is the Truth. There are
many philosophies out there, you may
have some of your own. There is no
guarantee that any one philosophy has
any truth to it or not, in fact, most
philosophies are not grounded in truth
at all, but are only the imaginations of
those who developed them.
Jesus though, didn't claim to have a
philosophy, and in John 14:6 He didn't
even claim to be telling the truth
(although He did). It goes deeper than
that. He IS the truth. Jesus is the
personification of truth itself. He is
the embodiment of all knowledge and
understanding. You can listen to Dr.
Phil, or read the self-help books, or
listen to preachers that may tell a
certain amount of truth, but if they
don't give credit to Jesus they are not
telling the whole truth.
If
you want the whole truth and nothing but
the truth, you must know Jesus. Without
Him there is no chance of understanding
anything for what it truly is, whether
it be science, psychology, or religion.
The
Life:
Jesus
also said He is the Life. He is the
author and giver of life. This is
another evidence that Jesus is God
himself.
There is no other way to gain eternal
life but through Jesus, but He is also
the way to live. Like I said earlier,
many people who claim to be Christians
try to live morally and righteously, but
all those works are really counted as
nothing to God. It does not make up for
any sin. Jesus himself is the
personification of righteousness, He is
perfect holiness, there is no wrong in
Him because He is the embodiment of
righteousness. Anything short of Jesus
is merely morality, and anything we do
as righteous acts are nothing more than
socially acceptable behavior.
All
other religions apart from genuine
Christianity teach that high moral
standards are necessary for you to be
accepted. But that is not the case with
Jesus. He IS the standard.
The
Way:
Jesus
said "I am the way", this is
to say… He is the only way to heaven,
and the only way to the Father. There is
no other way! We could spend all day
talking about all the different ways
people strive to earn a place in heaven,
or to appease God in some way. But, this
attribute of Jesus sets Him apart from
every other religion in the world. Every
other religion in the world incorporates
some kind of motivation or work by its
adherents to achieve favor with their
God.
If you
think you have to do any good deeds,
abstain from anything immoral, or change
your motives in order to be accepted by
God, you have it wrong. Jesus is the
only way; He did it all when He died on
the cross for your sins.
1John
2:2 And he is
the propitiation for our sins: and not
for ours only, but also for [the
sins of] the whole
world.
Because
of your sins (disobedience), God has
turned His back on you. God is perfect
and Holy (without fault) and He cannot
stand sin. If you are honest with
yourself, you can say you have
intentionally made decisions that you
knew were contrary to what God would
have you to do. That is sin, and you are
guilty, actually no-one but Jesus has
ever lived a sinless life.
Rom
3:23
For all have sinned, and come short of
the glory of God;
The
Bible also tells us that God will judge
those that sin. In order for God to be a
just God He must give consequences for
sin. The Bible tells us that those who
have sinned, and have not received
redemption for their sins will be
punished for eternity in a place called
the lake of fire:
Revelation
21:8
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and
the abominable, and murderers, and
whoremongers, and sorcerers, and
idolaters, and all liars, shall have
their part in the lake which burneth
with fire and brimstone: which is the
second death.
This
lake of fire is called hell. This is
where a lot of people stop believing,
and say; "how can a merciful God
throw people in hell forever?" The
truth is, God's judgment by condemning
sinners to hell is the most merciful
thing He could do. Can you imagine being
forced to serve God, without a choice in
the matter at all? God has given us all
a choice to make. We can either continue
in unbelief, and live to please
ourselves and suffer the consequences
for our decision, or we can accept His
offer for redemption in Christ Jesus:
John
3:16
For God so loved the world, that he
gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have everlasting life.
God
loves you, and wants you to have
everlasting life. He doesn't want you to
spend eternity in hell.
Romans
5:8
But God commendeth his love toward us,
in that, while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us.
But
the choice is yours. All you have to do
is accept the free gift
Romans
10:13
For whosoever shall call upon the name
of the Lord shall be saved.
Romans
10:9
That if thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt
believe in thine heart that God hath
raised him from the dead, thou shalt
be saved.
If you would like to be saved, and
accept God's offer for redemption, all
you have to do is call on Him and ask
Him to be your Lord and Saviour. You
could say a simple prayer such as this:
Jesus, I know I am a sinner, and
destined for hell. But I accept the
payment you made for my sins on the
cross, and I am asking you to save me
and take me to heaven when I die.
If you
have just accepted Jesus into you heart,
you are saved. God doesn't want us to
wonder if we are saved or not, He wants
us to be assured so He has given His
Holy Spirit to live in you and give you
assurance of your salvation.
1John
4:13
Hereby know we that we dwell in him,
and he in us, because he hath given us
of his Spirit.
1John
5:11
And this is the record, that God hath
given to us eternal life, and this
life is in his Son.
1John
5:12 He that
hath the Son hath life; [and]
he that hath not the Son of God hath
not life.
1John
5:13
These things have I written
unto you that believe on the name of
the Son of God; that ye may know that
ye have eternal life, and that ye may
believe on the name of the Son of God.
If you
have just accepted Jesus as your Saviour,
we would like to know. If possible, we
would like to send you some resources to
help you as a new Christian. Please
e-mail us and tell us about it!
E-mail
us
If you still don't
understand how you can be saved, or you would like
to speak with someone personally, I can contact a
good Bible Believing Pastor in your local area that
would be happy to meet with you personally to
discuss these matters. If you would like for
us to contact someone for you please E-mail
us and include your Name and Street Address.
