Jesus: The One Worth Dying For

Preface:

As with all my writing, the content of this paper is based on the belief that the Bible is the word of God, and as such, is absolute truth that can be trusted. I am working on a separate paper on the reliability of God’s word, but this paper is written assuming that one already believes the truth of the Scriptures. Christianity is not based on blind faith, but rather is grounded in reason, logic, historical reality, rationality, a careful investigation of objective evidence, and personal experiences after radical encounters with God. The purpose of the paper you are about to read is to shed light on Jesus’ words in John 14:6 when He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” As I have attempted to show, there is no other way to God the Father except through Jesus, as any other attempt to have a relationship with God outside of Jesus does not have an answer for sin, the very thing that separated us from God in the first place. So how did it all start?

Romans 8:18

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing to the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

The Apostle Paul, circa AD 56, to fellow Christians facing persecution, even to death, for their faith in Jesus; many of whom were eye-witnesses of His resurrection, willing to suffer horrific deaths for what they knew to be true of Him.

The State of Mankind in the Garden of Eden: Naked, yet Unashamed

To understand the significance of who Jesus is and what he has done for us, we need to know how mankind was created and how things changed in the Garden of Eden. When God created Adam and Eve, they were perfect, and their relationship with God was perfect because sin had not yet entered God’s perfect creation! How perfect is that?! Because God is love and not a tyrant, He gave Adam and Eve free will, which means that although they were sinless, they had the ability to sin by exercising their free will. God did not create them as mindless robots, but rather as thinking creatures with their own minds and wills, capable of making choices. This was to show God’s love for mankind. Without free will, we would be forced to love and obey God, which is tyranny, not love. Love demands the ability to choose; love can not be demanded or it is no longer love.

While in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve walked and talked with God, enjoying a perfect relationship with Him. It is critical in understanding what Jesus has done for us, that one understands the state of man in the Garden of Eden as being one of perfect union with God, without sin, naked and unashamed (Genesis 2:25). So what changed?

The State of Mankind after Adam’s sin: Naked and Ashamed

In the Garden of Eden, the serpent entered and tempted Adam and Eve with the ability to “be like God,” if they would eat from the fruit of the one tree God forbade them to eat of. They chose to exercise their free will and disobeyed God by eating the forbidden fruit. Immediately upon Adam’s partaking of the fruit, their condition changed. Whereas before, they had lived in perfect union with God, walking and talking with Him in the magnificence of the Garden of Eden, when sin entered creation, their relationship with God was broken. They immediately knew they were naked, they were ashamed, they hid themselves from God, and then covered their nakedness with fig leaves.

In Genesis 3:21, we read about how God handled their sin and shame: “The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.” This verse is extremely significant as it not only foreshadows Jesus’ blood sacrifice on the cross to cover our sin and shame but also points to the fact that human attempts to cover sin are inadequate. How does it do this? Well, one needs to consider what God had to do to make garments of skin; He needed to kill an animal, of course! This is the first death in the history of mankind, the first sacrifice for sin. God killed an animal and used the skin to “cover” the shame of Adam and Eve. It is clear that the fig leaves Adam and Eve used to try and cover themselves were inadequate in God’s eyes, and instead, a death needed to take place. Hebrews 9:22 tells us that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin.” God gave us a picture of this truth right there in the Garden of Eden and, in doing so, foreshadowed Jesus’ future death on the cross to make atonement for our sins. Because of His abounding love for us, God already had a plan to deal with the issue of our sins and make a way for us to be reconciled to Him!

God not only killed an animal and covered them with a garment of skin, but He also banished them from the garden and pronounced a curse on the physical creation, which meant that Adam and Eve would no longer live in perfect harmony within a perfect creation, but would now toil in hard labor for their survival, and they would experience death. As soon as sin entered the world and therefore, death, they immediately experienced a spiritual death, and the process of their ultimate physical death began as well. They went from enjoying an intimate relationship with God, walking and talking with Him in the garden, to one of separation and death because of their sin. You can read all about this in Genesis 3.

The State of Mankind Today:

So what about us today; what is the condition of mankind today? Romans 5:12 tells us that we all inherit the sinful state of Adam. Even if we had not inherited Adam’s sinful nature, if we are honest with ourselves, we have to admit that we have all sinned against God in one way or another. At some point in our lives we have all lied, dishonored our parents, perhaps stolen, or even worse. In other words, we are no better than Adam. We are all sinners, separated from God, in need of reconciliation (Romans 3:23). You may ask, “Why do I need to be reconciled to God?” Well, apart from the fact that a life without an intimate relationship with God often feels empty, hopeless, and without purpose, Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages of sin are death. In other words, death is what we deserve to receive as payment for our sins. That may not seem so bad to someone who just wants to live their life on earth their way, apart from God, and then die one day, but Hebrews 9:27 (and many other Scriptures) tell us that after death comes the judgment. We don’t just die and cease to exist as some would like to believe. We were created with a mind and a soul and are more than just the makeup of our physical bodies; more than mere matter.

All of us on earth will one day stand before God and be held accountable for how we lived our lives on earth, including our sins. There is no way to escape this, but what if there is a way to escape the penalty of sin? What if there is a way for the Judge of all the earth to declare us “not guilty”? What if someone else would be willing and able to take the punishment we deserve?

What can we do? Are we doomed to stay separated from God forever? Is there anyone who can save us? Can we save ourselves?

Romans 6:23

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.”

In Romans 7:24-25 we read the words of Paul as he attempts to echo these sentiments when he says, “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” What Paul is essentially saying is this, “I know that I am a wretched sinner, that I deserve death. I know that I can not save myself. Thank you to God that Jesus can and did!” Paul is speaking of himself in the past tense as if he had not already encountered Christ and not already accepted His free offer of salvation, as he was speaking in a way to help his audience see their need for Jesus.

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 eternal life.”

Titus 2:14

“Who (Jesus) gave Himself for us that He might redeem us all from lawless deeds, and to purify for Himself people for His own possession, eager for good works.”

So, what do these verses mean? You may have heard of the Christian doctrine of substitution. In essence, it means that God sent Jesus to earth to take the penalty for our sins on Himself; He was not forced but willingly stood in our place as our replacement. People have a variety of reactions to this truth, ranging from awe, wonder, and thankfulness to curiosity, skepticism, disbelief, and even disdain. In the rest of this paper, I will attempt to answer some of the questions I have been asked over the years regarding this. Choosing to accept or reject Jesus is the most important decision we must make in our lifetime on earth.

Why can’t we just ask God for forgiveness and work hard enough to please Him to be reconciled to Him and gain entrance into heaven?

Remember what we already learned about sin? Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. God is a loving God, but He is also just. What does justice demand? It demands punishment. If a murderer were to go before the judge and ask for forgiveness and to be set free, and if the judge were to grant his request, we would cry foul! We would say, “That isn’t fair; it isn’t just! He’s guilty! He must pay for his crime!” Justice demands that sin is punished, and it’s no different with God as He set up the justice system in the first place. The difference is that God loves us so much that He sent Jesus to take our punishment for us because He is the only one who met the requirements of a perfect blood sacrifice. No one besides Jesus has ever lived a perfect, sinless life. Remember in the Garden of Eden how God killed an animal to cover the sins of Adam and Eve? This was to foreshadow the time when He would send Jesus as a perfect sacrifice for the sins of the entire world.

God also foreshadowed Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins when He gave instructions to the nation of Israel regarding temple sacrifices. In the Old Testament, Jewish priests were instructed by God to offer a blood sacrifice, a perfect lamb without spot or blemish, year after year, to atone for the sins of the people. This was a continual sacrifice (more on that to come) to point them to their Messiah who was to come, Jesus. When Jesus came, He offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice ONCE and for all, as He is the perfect Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29).

As a side note, of the three major religions that claim to follow the one true God: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, only Christianity offers a solution for sin. Islam teaches that in the afterlife, Muslims will be punished for their sins. If you ask a Muslim how this punishment will be carried out, or for how long, you will find that they do not know. I can’t image the agony of knowing that after death, I faced an unknown era of punishment where I would be paying for ALL of my sins on this earth until I was able to be united with God in heaven! I think I would be terrified! The Jewish view of sin is much more complex with a variety of teachings ranging from “there is no life after death” to “all you have to do is repent” to “God punishes us on earth and after death” to “it is not for us to know”. In Christianity, followers of Jesus experience great freedom, knowing that Jesus has already taken the penalty for our sins on Himself, and has offered us forgiveness. John 8:36 says, “If the Son (Jesus) shall make you free, you are free indeed!”

So who is Jesus?

Jesus is the 2nd person of the Trinity, equal with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. The Christian doctrine of the Trinity can be hard to wrap our minds around. It has been said that the Trinity shows us three different representations of God; all three members are distinct persons, but together they make up one essence, one God. Similarly, humans have 3 distinct parts: a physical body, a mind, and a soul. Each of these components is distinct from the others, but together make up the essence of who we are. Genesis 1:27 says we are made in the image of God, and this is part of what I think that means, but there is much more to it than just this!

1.) Jesus is the eternal, creator God, present with God the Father and God the Spirit at creation; in fact, Jesus created everything!

John 1:1-3

“In the beginning was the Word (Jesus) and the Word (Jesus) was with God, and the Word(Jesus) was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him, not one thing came into being that has come into being.”

2.) Jesus is the Son of God, born of the virgin Mary, through a miracle of God

Luke 1:35

“The Holy Spirit will come on you (Mary), and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; for that reason also the Child (Jesus) will be called the Son of God.”

3.) Jesus is the physical representation on earth of God in heaven. Jesus told His followers that if they had seen Him, they had seen God the Father (John 14:9). He could say this because He is one with His Father (John 10:30).

Hebrews 1:3

“And He (Jesus) is the radiance of His (God the Father’s) glory and the exact representation of His nature, and He upholds all things by the word of His power).

4.) Jesus is the One through whom God communicated with humanity on earth. Before Jesus, God spoke to His people through the fathers of Isreal (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,etc) and the prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, etc).

Hebrews 1:1-2

“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days, has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.”

5.) Jesus is not only God, and the Son of God; He is our entrance ticket into the throne room of God the Father! It is only through Jesus that we can be reconciled to God! Sin separates us from God the Father, but Jesus offers us reconciliation; a chance to be made right with God!

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.”

2 Corinthians 5:18a

“All this is from God, who through Christ, reconciled us to Himself.”

Romans 5:10

“For if, while we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life.”

So, to recap, Jesus is the eternal creator God, sent by God the Father to be His representative spokesperson on earth. He did this by humbling Himself, taking on the form of a baby, living a sinless life on earth to offer HIs life as the perfect sacrifice for our sins, thus fulfilling God’s requirements for the atonement of sin and saving us from the penalty of our sins. In the next few sections, I have shared some things about Christ that will hopefully add further insight into the verse in Acts 4:12, which says, “There is no way to be saved from the punishment of sin for there is no other name under heaven, given by men, whereby we must be saved.” It is only by the power of the name of Jesus that we can be saved!

Jesus: The Mediator Between Mankind and God

I Timothy 2:5-6

“For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.”

A Jewish audience would have fully understood what it meant that Jesus was “a ransom for all” because the custom of needing someone to pay a ransom to free another was a part of ancient Jewish culture. This concept is a bit lost on modern readers. Think of it this way: before we accept Christ as our savior, all of us sin and are powerless on our own to resist our sinful tendencies. Because of this, we are slaves to our sin as it has become our master rather than God (see Romans Ch. 6). As such, we are powerless to save ourselves and need a Savior to redeem us, to free us from sin. Jesus is our mediator with God. More on this is to come…

Jesus: our Great High Priest

To understand Jesus’ role as our Great High Priest, we need to understand the role of the High Priest in the Old Testament. The primary role of Old Testament priests was that of an intercessor between God and His people, acting as their representative before God. Priests offered sacrifices on behalf of the people for the forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God. Not only did Jesus fulfill this role, but He did it perfectly, once and for all. When Jesus sacrificed Himself on the cross, it satisfied God forever; He did not have to continually lay down His life as a sacrifice each year as the High Priests of the Old Testament did. Jesus’ onetime, perfect sacrifice is explained in the doctrine of propitiation that the author of Hebrews writes about:

Hebrews 2:17

“Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brothers so that He might become a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.”

Hebrews 10:14

“For by one offering, He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.”

Propitiation in the original Greek is hilaskomai which means to appease, to cause to be reconciled to God, and to satisfy. In other words, God was fully satisfied with Jesus’ sacrifice once and for evermore. Imagine God as the righteous judge in the courtroom of heaven saying to Jesus, “You have fully paid the debt for the sins of mankind. All who accept this gift from you on their behalf can walk out of the courtroom on judgment day as free men and women, having had their sin debt paid in full and canceled. I am satisfied.”

Jesus did what no earthly high priest could do; He fully fulfilled God’s desire for justice by taking the punishment for the sins of mankind on Himself, thus appeasing God and reconciling us to Him. Adam and Eve couldn’t restore their relationship with God by any of their own efforts, and neither can we. They needed Jesus, just like we need Jesus! See my paper on How Were People in The Old Testament Saved Before Jesus Was Born? Hint: the answer is still Jesus!

Hebrews 4:14-16

“Therefore, since we have a Great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who can not sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace (God’s throne), so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Those of us who are “in Christ” can confidently approach God’s throne knowing that Jesus has fulfilled His mission of making us right with God.

Jesus: the Savior of the world!

Hebrews 7:25 tells us that Jesus is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him. In fact, Jesus’ very name means “Jehovah is Salvation”.

I John 4:14

“And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.”

John 3:16

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

What happens if I choose Jesus?: Our condition after faith in Jesus

Remember that sin separates us from God, but after we put our faith and trust in Jesus as our Great High Priest, our Redeemer, and our Savior, we are fully reconciled to God through His shed blood on the cross for our sins. To “put our faith and trust in Jesus” means to show that we trust that Jesus can and did accomplish the mission He was sent to complete, reconciling us to God by taking on Himself the punishment we deserve.

Hebrews 9:22b

“…and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness (of sin).”

Hebrews 10:19-22

“Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

Again, to a Jewish audience, this verse takes on such depth of meaning! First, we need to understand that the veil in the temple separated the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place. The Holy of Holies was the place where the ark of the covenant was kept and where God’s presence was. No one could enter the presence of God in the Holy of Holies except the High Priest once a year on the Day of Atonement when he entered to offer a sin sacrifice for the sins of the people. It is important to understand that he had to continually offer sacrifices year after year for their sins, but as we read in Hebrews 10 above, Jesus inaugurated a new way!

In Matthew 27, we read what happened to the temple veil at the crucifixion of Christ:

Matthew 27:51

“And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and gave up His Spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth shook and the rocks were split.”

This woven temple veil was 60 feet high, 30 feet wide, and an incredible 4 inches thick! The tearing of the veil from top to bottom was God’s visual representation that the barrier of sin that separated man from God had now been split wide open with Jesus’ blood sacrifice. We can now have access to God through the blood of Jesus! This is incredibly exciting news! Praise our good, merciful, and loving God!!!

What does this mean for us?

So, what do all these verses mean? They explain that it is Jesus who, through His blood sacrifice on the cross, has satisfied God’s requirement for a blood sacrifice as payment for our sins. Jesus took on Himself all the sins of the world and stood in our place as a substitute. He paid the ransom, the price of our sins to buy us our freedom. He took the punishment we rightly earned by sinning against God, and instead offers us forgiveness and reconciliation to God the Father through Him! Oh Beloved, do you see what He has done for you?

Romans 5:8-9

“But God demonstrates His great love for us in this: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more will we be saved from God’s wrath through Him?”

This good news means that…

• Where we were formerly enemies of God, now we are reconciled and have peace with God!

Romans 5:10

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”

• Where we once were dead in our sins, we are now alive in Christ!

Ephesians 2:5

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our sin, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved”

• Where before we were slaves in a kingdom of darkness, we are now free in Jesus’ kingdom of light!

Colossians 1:13

“He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and has transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.”

(See also I Peter 2:9, Ephesians 5:8, Isaiah 60:1-3)

• Where before we could not approach our holy God, now we can with full assurance of faith, with Jesus as our Intercessor!

Hebrews 7:25

“Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”

Romans 8:34b

“…Jesus Christ…who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.”

• Where our hearts were dirty before, now we are made clean!

Hebrews 10:22

“Let’s approach God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed pure with water.”

• Where before we were stuck in our old life of sin, now we are new creations in Jesus!

2 Corinthians 5:17

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

• Where before God refers to us as children of the devil/Satan, now we are children of God.

John 8:44

Jesus said, “You are of your father, the devil, and your will is to do your Father’s desires.”

I John 3:10a

“By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God nor is the one who does not love his brother.”

John 1:12-13

“To all who receive Him (Jesus), to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.”

Note: this implies that not everyone is a child of God. Everyone is a creation of God, but not a child of God. Whose child are you?

So what is the inheritance we are due as heirs of God through Christ?

Because we are fully reconciled to God through Jesus, we are called children of God, and if we are children of God, then we have the right to an inheritance as heirs of God through Jesus.

Romans 8:16-17

“The Spirit bears witness with our Spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”

Galatians 4:7

“Therefore you are no longer a slave (to sin), but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”

I Timothy 4:8b tells us that, “godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”

In this life:

• Reconciliation; in right standing with God

• A new identity: a new life clothed in Jesus’ righteousness

• A new home: a place in the kingdom of God

• Prayer: access to God through Jesus

• Power: indwelling of the Holy Spirit to overcome temptation and obey God

• Peace: the kind that surpasses all human understanding, as from God

• Knowledge: ability to know and understand God’s word through the Holy Spirit

• Transformation: cleansing, a clear conscience, a completely new life in Jesus

• Spiritual gifts: unique gifts from God to be used to do His will for His kingdom

• An inheritance: rights as children of God and an eternal inheritance in heaven

In the life to come:

• Perfect Relationships: with God and others

• Glorified Body: free from death, disease, pain

• Joy: “He will wipe away all the tears from our eyes” Rev. 21:4

• Increased Knowledge: God will expand our minds, revealing new truths for all of eternity!

• Eternal Life: we will be in the presence of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit for all eternity!

• A new name: Revelation 2:17 tells us that we will receive from God a new name that only we know (see also Isaiah 62:2)

And so much more beyond our imagination…

I Corinthians 2:9

“No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him- “

What is the inheritance due to those who are heirs (sons) of the devil/Satan? (What if I don’t choose Jesus?)

Before you read the next session, I want to point out that truth is often hard to hear. I pray that if you have not chosen Jesus, you receive the words to come in the spirit in which they were written: that of love and concern for you. My intention is not to offend, but rather to speak the truth in love.

God has made it clear in His word that just as His children will be welcomed into HIs heavenly home, the children of Satan will be sent to his domain.

Matthew 25:41

“Then He will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’”

2 Thessalonians 1:9

“They (those who do not accept Jesus as their Savior) will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might.”

Matthew 25:46

“And these (those who do not accept Jesus) will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

John 3:36

“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

Revelation 20:15

“And if anyone’s name was not found in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

God, acting out of His divine justice, must punish sin. But God, acting out of His divine love and mercy, sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins on Himself and offer us forgiveness. There is no greater love than this: that Jesus laid down His life for us (John 15:13)!

A Short Recap

In conclusion, Jesus is everything! Before accepting Jesus’ gift of salvation and reconciliation with God, we were slaves to sin, separated from God, called enemies of God, unable to free ourselves, and destined for eternal fire.

When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we receive the Holy Spirit as a seal, a sign from Jesus that we belong to Him (Ephesians 1:13). The indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our lives not only identifies us with Jesus, but He is our power source! He is the One who gives us the power to live a life of holiness to God!

Are you an enemy of God, or a friend of God?

Romans 5:10 tells us that before a person is reconciled to God, they are considered an enemy of God. What is your status before God? Have you accepted Jesus’ free offer of salvation to be reconciled to God? There is no third option in God’s kingdom: we must all choose to either accept or reject Jesus.

What do I need to do to be saved?

Salvation involves 3 components: repentance, belief, and confession

You must repent:

A major theme in the Book of Acts is repentance for forgiveness of sins. The pattern of the apostles in the first Christian churches, first in Jerusalem and then elsewhere, was to call people to repent and then to be baptized. To see our need for Jesus, we must first acknowledge that we have sinned, that our sin separates us from God, that we can not save ourselves, and we need Jesus to take away our sins. In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” To be poor in spirit means to recognize that you are spiritually destitute, unable to save yourself, and in need of Jesus. This is the condition in which all people must come to Jesus. Notice that the second beatitude in Matthew 5 is this, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” There is a reason Jesus said this directly after “Blessed are those who are poor in spirit.” If you are poor in spirit, recognizing you are a sinner in need of a Savior, what is the natural reaction to your sin? Mourning, of course! No one comes to Jesus who has not first recognized his or her sin, and then mourned because of it.

You must confess and believe:

Romans 10:9-10

“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord (Master) and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with the heart that you believe and are justified, and with your mouth, you confess and are saved.”

The Greek word for Lord is kyrios, which is translated as “Master”. It is not enough to simply believe, we must also confess (admit or declare) that Jesus is the Master of our lives. This implies that we give up our own will and right to govern ourselves and submit to His authority in our lives. Jesus said if we love Him, we will keep His commandments (John 14:15), in other words, we will obey Him.

James also cautions us against stopping at head knowledge of Jesus, without it becoming heart knowledge, which leads to a changed life.

James 2:19

“You believe there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that and shudder!”

We must do more than simply believe, we must declare Jesus as Lord (Master) of our life!

I don’t know how to do this? Is there a prayer I should say?

Below I have written out a prayer for you as a guideline. It is just that, a guideline. The main components of your prayer should include these components: admitting your sin, recognizing you can’t save yourself and need Jesus, showing you believe that He took the punishment for your sin though His death, burial and resurrection, and confessing your desire to make Him Lord (Master) of your life.

You could say something like this:

“Dear Heavenly Father,

I recognize that I have sinned against you and deserve punishment. I am so sorry for all my sins. I believe that because You love me so much, You sent Jesus to take the punishment for my sins, the punishment I deserve. Thank you, Father! I believe that Jesus died on the cross, was buried, and was resurrected from the dead for the forgiveness of my sins. Thank You for your sacrifice, Lord! Thank You that Jesus did for me, what I could not do on my own, so that I can have a right relationship with You! I know that my sin separates me from You, and I thank You for making a way for me to be reconciled to you through Jesus. I accept Your gift of salvation through Jesus. I declare that I want to make Jesus the Master of my life. I know this will involve a change of direction for me as I turn from serving myself to serving You. I know I can not do this in my own power, and I thank You that You will send the Holy Spirit to help me live a life of obedience to you.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen”

If you prayed that prayer and truly meant it from the heart, then welcome to the family of God! Do you know that Luke 15:10 says the angels in heaven sing when one person turns to God? If you prayed this prayer sincerely from your heart, then they are singing right now because of you! Can you hear them?

That’s it? That’s all I have to do? Don’t I have to take a class, promise to attend church weekly, pay my tithe, do good deeds, etc to make God happy and secure my place in heaven?

Ephesians 2:8

“For by grace you have been saved by grace through faith (in Jesus); and this is not of your own doing, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one can boast.”

While all of those things are good things that will naturally come as a result of your growing love for God and the Holy Spirit working in your life, they are not the means of salvation. Paul speaks of “good works” as evidence of true faith but not the way we gain salvation. Ephesians 2:8-9 explains that salvation is a gift by God’s grace and not based on our good works “so that we cannot boast.”

Another way to think of it is this, if we could do enough good things to earn our way to heaven, then why did Jesus need to die an agonizing death on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins? By trying to add good works (or any traditions of man) to what Jesus already did, we minimize His sacrifice and essentially say, “I don’t think what You did for me was enough, I think I also need to do these things…”. If God called Jesus’ sacrifice enough, then trying to add anything to salvation is in essence, trying to say you know better than God what He requires for entrance into His kingdom. Think about that for a moment.

Now, I don’t want to minimize the need for good works. As stated above, good works are a sign of true faith in Jesus, and God says that anyone who truly loves Him, will obey Him and will “bear much fruit” (fruit = good works). Good works are evidence of true salvation in Jesus, but not the means of salvation. More on that in another paper!

Security of the Believer: How can I know I am now a child of God?

Because our salvation rests not on our own efforts, but on Jesus’ finished work on the cross we can have complete confidence in our salvation. We do not have to wonder, but can know without any doubt that we are saved from our sins, and are children of God and if children, then heirs to His kingdom. This is what Paul and other gospel writers mean when they say there is freedom in Christ Jesus our Lord! We don’t have to doubt; we don’t have to fret and worry, we don’t have to constantly strive to please God or worry that we won’t be allowed into heaven. Why? Because we can know we are His children, and if we are His children, then we are heirs to His kingdom (Romans 8:17). How? Because salvation is not based on anything we do, but on what He has already done! This is why Jesus declared on the cross, “It is finished! (John 19:30)” He didn’t say, “It is started”, but rather, “It is finished!”; there is nothing we can add to Jesus’ perfect work of salvation on our behalf. If you aren’t sure about this, I am working on another paper about this too.

What if I’m not ready?

If you are not ready to accept Christ as your Savior, then pray that God would reveal Himself to you and that He would help you to believe. I firmly believe that if you are truly seeking to know God, then He will reveal Himself to you and help you to believe. But be aware that tomorrow is not guaranteed, so don’t delay as no one but God knows when you will pass from this life into the next. And if you die without Jesus, without being called a child of God, then your eternal inheritance is in the fire with the devil and his angels. This is the very reason I am writing this paper. cr It is my prayer and deep desire that you choose God today while there is still time.

Isaiah 55:6

“Seek the LORD while He may be found, call on Him while He is near.”

2 Corinthians 6:2

“For He says, ‘In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, NOW is the favorable time, behold, NOW is the day of salvation.”

Hebews 3:15

“As it is said, ‘TODAY, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart as in the rebellion.’”

Remember, everyone must make a choice. In God’s mind, not choosing Jesus is choosing Satan; He doesn’t offer a third choice. Who have you chosen?