“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.” John 3:16
That is a very true statement. It shows how much God loves us. So much that He would give up His son, Jesus Christ, for us. God is the creator of the heavens and the earth. He created us. He created everything in existence in seven days, just by the word of His mouth. He knows us from the inside out – all of the good and the bad, even our thoughts. His goal for us is to have a personal relationship with Him. In that relationship, He wants to transform us into an entirely different person – one of love and compassion. That relationship is one of forgiveness and salvation, but only one thing gets in the way, our biggest problem, sin.
“For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23
God wants us to have the gift of eternal life with Him in heaven rather than pay the price of sin in hell. But how does one receive this gift if sin leads to death and all have sinned? These next verses have the answer.
“But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” Romans 5:8 NLT
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:13
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.” Romans 10:9-10 NLT
That’s what God wants you to do. He wants you to pray for Him to enter your heart, to confess that you have sinned, to believe in what Jesus did for you, and to turn away from your sins to follow Jesus. That’s not to say that you will never mess up again. We all mess up every single day, but you will have God’s grace and forgiveness to help you make it through each new challenge and hardship.
Salvation isn’t just a “get out of hell free card”. It involves a life change where you live your life for God, give glory to Him in everything you do, and tell others about Him so that they may have a relationship with Him.
“Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19 NLT
“What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions?” James 2:14a NLT
“So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.” James 2:17 NLT
Therefore you show others your faith and salvation by the good deeds that you do through God. Tell others about Him so they will have a chance to know Him and receive the gift of salvation through a relationship with Jesus. Then they will follow Him and tell more people in the world. Nearly 60% of the world has never even heard of Jesus. That doesn’t even include those who have rejected Him. So let’s get started. We have a lot of work on our hands.
Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
