KNOW CHRIST
The Bible is very clear–we could never earn a ticket to Heaven by trying to live a moral life; and we would never deserve it, no matter how “good” we might actually end up being. Heaven is a free gift from God, given only through His Son, Jesus. Having a personal relationship with Jesus is like having a relationship with anyone else- knowing about Him is not the same as knowing Him personally. Sometimes God has to lead us down a painful path before we get to the point where we recognize our need for Him. That can be difficult but, once we arrive there, the next step of placing our faith in Jesus becomes very natural. A simply act of humility makes all the difference:
A—ADMIT that you are a sinner who needs a Savior. Admitting our sin involves the Greek concept of confession. That’s homologeo (Gr.), “to agree with.” So you have to “agree with God” that you’re a sinner.
B—BELIEVE that Jesus is the only Savior available. The Bible says that salvation is found in no one else. No one else! If you need a Savior from your sinfulness, you have only one choice, and that is Jesus.
C—CHOOSE to follow Christ, to place your faith in Him alone. Repentance (metanoia, Gr.) requires that you make a conscious choice, actually change your mind about the way you’re going to live the rest of your life. It means that you get off the throne of your life and let Jesus sit there instead.
And if you have not yet admitted your sinfulness, and you believe that Jesus is the only option that can really save you; if you want to take care of the sin problem in your life, be delivered from it’s bondage; and if you have not yet chosen to place your faith in Jesus, then we would invite you to do that today by praying something like this:
“Jesus, thank you for loving me so much that you died on the cross to pay in full for all of my sins. I am sorry for going my own way for so long. I now admit that I am a sinner who needs a Savior. I believe that Heaven is a gift that you alone can give me, a gift that I cannot earn and will never deserve. Help me to become the individual you created me to be as I choose to follow you and become a worldchanger.”