1. Recognize
that you are a sinner. Romans 3:23 says we all
have sinned and fallen short of God's standard of holiness. Romans
3:10 says that there is no one without sin. In other words, we
all make mistakes. We sin against God. We blow it...and have
since the day we were born!
2. Understand that your sin demands payment. Romans 6:23 tells
us that the wages of sin is death - physical and eternal. "For
the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life
in Christ Jesus our Lord." It also promises that the gift
of God is eternal life. In other words, Jesus Christ went to
the cross for you...and for me...to make the payment for sin
that you and I should have made. He took our place! What a
great love! Romans 5:8 describes that love in this way, “But
God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were
still sinners, Christ died for us”.
3. Confess
your sin right now to God. To confess means to agree with God about
your sin and choose to turn away or "repent" of
your sin. You are choosing to step away from your old life and
ways in order to follow God and live out His amazing plan for
your life. 4. Receive
His gift of forgiveness. Understand that His forgiveness
is a gift. You can't merit it by being good enough or earn it
by doing good things.
Romans 3:21-22 “But God has a way to make people right
with him without the law. And God has now shown us that
way which the law and the prophets told us about. God makes
people
right
with himself through their faith in Jesus Christ. This
is true for all who believe in Christ, because all are the
same.” 5. Accept
God’s
forgiveness as His gift to you and thank Him for coming into
your life. Surrender everything you know
about you...to everything you know about Him.
Romans 10:10 tells us "We believe with our hearts, and so
we are made right with God. And we use our mouths to say that
we believe, and so we are saved." In other words, we must
believe in our hearts that Jesus died on the cross for our sins
and that He rose from the grave. We confess that truth in our
hearts and with our lives. 6. Turn your life over to Him and choose to follow Him from
this day on. Romans 8:38 promises: “Yes,
I am sure that nothing can separate us from the love God has
for us. Not death, not life,
not angels, not ruling spirits, nothing now, nothing in the future,
no powers, nothing above us, nothing below us, or anything else
in the whole world will ever be able to separate us from the
love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 7. Share your
decision with someone. And celebrate the fact
that God has taken up residence in your heart and life and will,
from this moment on, be with you.
Friend, we celebrate with you this new relationship with your
living God. It is the most important decision you will ever make.
We encourage you to join a church that teaches the Bible. Look
for a small group Bible study in which you can participate. Begin
spending a few minutes every day, praying to God and reading
His Word. Start with the book of John. It tells you so much about
who God is and why Jesus came.
We pray that you will follow Him and experience all the blessings
He has for you...on your journey.
(Written by Mary Southerland) www.marysoutherland.com |
