Without
a doubt the most important message of all times is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
There is no other name on Earth, beneath the Earth or in the Heavens above by
which a person can be saved except through the name of Jesus.
Man was originally created by God as a perfect being. God gave man all good
things at creation including a free will to make his own decisions. In one
instance of Satanic temptation, man chose to
disbelieve what God had commanded him thus disobeying God and falling from his
sinless state of perfection. The Bible says, Wherefore, as by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for
that all have sinned: (Romans 5:12). Every man, woman and child has sinned.
There is none righteous, no, not one. Romans 3:10. That day Satan was
cursed by God for deceiving Adam and Eve: And the Lord God said unto the
serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and
above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt
thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy
life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed
and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt
bruise his heel (Genesis 3:14, 15). Verse 15 is the first verse to contain
a prophecy of the coming Redeemer.
The only way sin could be atoned for was through a perfect, sinless sacrifice.
The events, sacrificial offerings and prophecies of the Old Testament looked
forward to the day when Messiah would come and redeem the world from sin. Jesus
Christ is that perfect, sinless Messiah; the Son of God born of a human virgin,
the sinless God/Man.
It is my prayer
that you have already made the most important decision to accept Christ into
your own life. There is only one way of salvation and it is through Jesus
Christ.
Becoming a
Christian is an act of faith. Jesus Christ willingly died for your sins and
calls upon you to trust him as your personal Savior.
Knowing Jesus
Christ as your personal Savior is the most exciting experience of life. Yet
millions of people live today as if there were no God at all. They live as
though the death and resurrection of Christ made no difference for them. He
does not matter to them because they have never come to know Him as their
personal Savior.
One does not
become a Christian by merely attending church or religious services. Sitting in
church will not make you a Christian any more than sitting in your garage will
make you an automobile!
To become a true
Christian believer, you must come to know Jesus Christ. This involves a
personal encounter with Christ. Such an encounter may happen anywhere: at a
church altar, in your car, or at home. The place is incidental. The personal
experience with Christ is what really matters. Jesus said, I am come that they
might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly (John
We need
forgiveness. The Bible clearly teaches that we are all sinners by nature and by
choice. Sin is the transgression of God's law. To sin is to voluntarily disobey
God's law. The Scripture says, For all have sinned, and
come short of the glory of God (Romans
Sin is a problem
with which we all must deal because its consequences are so devastating. The
Scripture says, For the wages of sin is
death (Romans
We are all
guilty of sin. The degree or intensity of our sins may vary, but we are all
guilty of sinning. The Bible reminds us, If we say that we have
no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8). The prophet Isaiah
illustrated it this way: All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every
one to his own way (Isaiah 53:6).
Doing the best
we can or trying to "balance the books" is not sufficient to remove
even one of our sins. That is why the payment for sin always involved a blood
sacrifice. In the Old Testament, animals were sacrificed for sin. In the New
Testament, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, became the ultimate sacrifice for the
sins of mankind.
Sin is an
offense against a holy God. It separates us from God and keeps us from
experiencing all that God has for us in life. Since we cannot save ourselves,
nor remove the fact of our sin, we need to be forgiven.
We need a
Savior. A savior rescues someone else from dire consequences. Jesus Christ is
called the Savior because He died to rescue us from the consequences of our
sin. The Bible says, Christ died for our sins... was buried,
and... rose again the third day according to the
Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). The apostle Peter put it this way: For Christ also hath
once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God,
being put to death in the flesh, but quickened [raised] by the Spirit (I Peter
Jesus died in
our place and took the punishment for our sins. Trusting Him as your personal
Savior means that you accept his death on the cross as the sufficient payment
for your sins. The Bible declares, The blood of Jesus Christ
his Son cleanseth us from all sin (I John 1:7).
Christ's payment
for our sins is so complete and sufficient that we can add nothing to it. We
cannot save ourselves, and we need not try, because He has already paid for our
sins. That is why the apostle Paul said, For by grace are ye saved
through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works,
lest any man should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Salvation is a
free gift of God made possible by His grace to undeserving sinners. It is not a
reward for our good deeds. Nor is it something we must spend a lifetime trying
to earn. It is a gift that we must receive by simple faith.
We need to
receive salvation by faith. Knowing that Christ died in our place and that God
is willing to pardon our sins will not save us until we receive that pardon by
faith. If a prisoner was condemned to die and was given a pardon, he would have
to receive it in order to be set free. Saving faith is simply receiving God's
pardon for sin. That pardon was secured by Christ's death on the cross.
Faith is the
placing of one's trust in someone or something. It is
believing a chair will hold you up when you sit on it. It is believing the word or promise of someone when he gives it
to you. Saving faith is believing in the promise of
God. It is accepting the offer of salvation as a free gift from God to you
personally.
The Bible is the
instrument of our faith. It is the inspired Word of God, which declares the
message of God to mankind. The apostle Paul said, Faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans
The Holy Spirit
is the agent of our faith. He is the one who convicts us of our sin and causes
us to see our need of a Savior (John 16:8). He is also the one who guides us into all
truth (John
Jesus Christ is
the object of our faith. Having faith alone cannot save anyone. It is the
object of one's faith that really matters. In relation to our salvation, our
faith rests in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He alone is the
object of our faith. To trust Him as your Savior means to believe by faith that
He died for your sins and that the price has been paid.
We need a
spiritual rebirth. The New Birth is not an improvement on our old nature. It is
the imparting of an entirely new nature. By the creative act of the Holy Spirit
at salvation, the believer becomes a new creature in Christ (2 Corinthians
Jesus said, Except a man be born again,
he cannot see the
Spiritual
rebirth occurs when God is born in us and unites His Spirit with our spirit.
The marvelous truth of Scripture is that God lives within your soul. When you
receive Jesus Christ, He comes to live within you forever (John
In the last
night of His earthly ministry, Jesus prayed for all who would come to believe
in Him: That
they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also
may be one in us (John 17:21). Our union with Christ is to be exemplified by
our unity with other believers. The New Birth makes us children of God and adds
us to the family of God. By the New Birth we actually receive the divine nature
of God Himself.
We need to call
upon God to save us. The invitation of the gospel is clear. The Bible says, Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans
Right now, while
you are visiting this web page, give your life to Christ and receive Him as
your personal Savior. The Bible says, But as many as received him, to them gave he
power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name (John
1:12).
If you have
never really accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, would you do it right now?
Do not delay or put it off. If you would like to receive Christ by faith, pray
this simple prayer in your heart:
Dear Lord, I
acknowledge that I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died for my sins on the cross,
and rose again the third day. I repent of my sins. By faith I receive the Lord
Jesus as my Savior. You promised to save me, and I believe You,
because You are God and cannot lie. I believe right now that the Lord Jesus is
my personal Savior, and that all my sins are forgiven through His precious
blood. I thank You, dear Lord, for saving me. In Jesus' name, Amen.
If you prayed
that prayer, God heard you and saved you. I personally want to welcome you to
the family of God. If you have any questions or would like to have some
literature about living the Christian life please
contact us, tell us about your salvation
experience so that we can rejoice with you and get you started on a joyful
Christian walk with God.
Thank you and
God bless you,
Pastor Shahn
Wilburn