When I was 21 years old, I became desperate through stressful circumstances I was going through. I had been raised in the church and had a God consciousness but had tried to live my life my way. I somehow knew that I had to find out how to really be saved. I visited with a pastor of a denominational church. I asked him how to be saved and how one could know they are saved. He leaned back in his chair and told me, "Doyle, I really don't know how a person can ever know for sure they are saved." That really blew me away. I am in no way criticizing that man. I just knew I had to keep up my search. Desperation is one of the traits of one who is ready for salvation. I was desperate! Two Christian friends of mine led me to the Lord weeks later. I was radically saved. My life changed from that night on. I knew I was born again!
When Adam and Eve fell in the garden and disobeyed the Lord by eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil man's spirit man died. Spiritual death doomed mankind, but God had a plan to redeem mankind! He sent Jesus to take back what the devil stole from man in the garden, his authority! Spiritual death occurred for mankind on that day. Jesus took back the authority which was given away by man to Satan in the garden. He did so by becoming the perfect sacrifice for the sins of mankind on the cross. He took our place and became a HOLY SACRIFICE for each of us!
God desires that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. He does not wish to see any perish. The Lord's desire for you to come to salvation is greater than you could ever know...
1 Timothy 2:4 ...who desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
THE DEMONS BELIEVE AND TREMBLE
James 2:19, 20 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe and-- tremble!
But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?
So if we only believe in God, believing only brings us up to a demonic level....that sounds harsh but many will not make heaven thinking that believing is enough..Please read on.
Believing with repentance!
Acts 3:19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, and times of refreshing can come from the presence of the Lord...
The word REPENT in the Greek text means to change your mind about a matter; change the way you think about a matter.
To be CONVERTED means to turn to the true worship of the true God and to turn oneself about or around. It means moving away from the old life and moving into the new creation that God makes you through salvation.
Through conversion or salvation the mind of Christ is available to you. A new way of thinking and living!
The Lord's heart toward you is open:
Romans 10:12 ....whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
THERE IS NO SALVATION ANY OTHER WAY THAN THROUGH JESUS!
Acts 4:2 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath through Him
Pluralism may exist but it is a lie! In other words, there are many ways to God. This is a lie from the pits of hell!!
Jesus said,
John 10:9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved....
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me
SALVATION IS A GIFT! YOU CAN'T EARN IT.
Ephesians 2:8 "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."
But what about my sin?
All have sinned....ALL!! If you argue this fact then you will have a problem ever getting saved. If people subscribe to the I'm okay and you're okay theory, they are fooling themselves.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God.
1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
So if we have sinned we need a savior....
Romans 10:9 "....if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation."
John 6:37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.
If you are reading this right now then the Father is likely drawing you to the Lord Jesus Christ. He has been waiting for you and this moment. The Lord will come into your life and save you today!
2 Corinthians 6:2 In the acceptable time I have heard you and in the day of salvation I have helped you. BEHOLD, NOW IS THE ACCEPTABLE TIME; BEHOLD, NOW IS THE DAY OF SALVATION.
Getting saved is not hard, but it is not cheap either. Jesus came to earth at the bidding of the Heavenly Father to die for your sins on the cross. He then rose again and lives today in Heaven.
You and I deserved death for the wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:23) BUT HERES GOOD NEWS!!! Listen, God is not angry with you. He loves you!
John 3:16 For God SO loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever BELIEVES in Him should not perish but have everlasting life! The word BELIEVES in the Greek means: To trust in, have faith in, be fully convinced of, RELY ON!
READ JOHN Chapter 3! You must be BORN AGAIN! That occurs through a complete heart surrender to Jesus! Holy Spirit comes in to your heart to live inside of you and your spirit is BORN AGAIN!
He loves you, I can't say that enough! This is a wow moment for us all. God isn't angry toward us!
In John 17:3 Jesus was praying to the Father and said, "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."
I always tell people when Jesus Christ says, "this is eternal life..." we need to pay special attention to whatever comes after those words!
KNOWING GOD IS A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD! Eternal life is KNOWING GOD!
There will be those who believe they are saved at the Judgement Day but will have a sad discovery. Matthew 7:23 AND I WILL DECLARE TO THEM, I NEVER KNEW YOU. DEPART FROM ME YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.
So KNOWING GOD is the issue. God wants a relationship with you through His Son Jesus.
If you would like to pray for salvation we offer the following prayer as a guideline....but this is you talking to God not just repeating something without your heart engaged. Engage your heart totally in this moment. God is listening and knows your heart before your mouth speaks the words. He is ready to save you! Salvation is by faith...so even though you can't see Him the Lord is closer than your next breath.....
SALVATION PRAYER:
Dear Father,
I now believe that Jesus Christ is Your only begotten Son, that He came to our earth in the flesh and died on the cross to take away all of my sins and the sins of this world. I believe that Jesus Christ then rose from the dead on the third day to give all of us eternal life.
Lord Jesus,
I now confess to You all of the wrong and sinful things I have ever done in my life. I ask that You please forgive me and wash away all of my sins by the blood that you have personally shed for me on the cross. I am now ready to accept You as my personal Lord and Savior. I now ask that you come into my life and live in Me for all eternity.
Father, Jesus, I now believe that I am truly saved and born again.
Teach me now to walk in Your ways.
Thank you Father for sending Jesus.
Thank you Jesus for saving me!
If you prayed this prayer then we welcome you to the family of God. Please let us know by email and we will rejoice and respond to you. If you have any questions we will be glad to minister to you.
