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"For
whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved."
- Romans
10:13
How You Can Know
God's Love
"There is a God in Heaven who loves you as you are and not as you should
be."
Yes... you are right... there is a God. You know that must be true. The
heart of the human being longs for God, and logic demands divine
existence.
While everyone believes God is... most sense separation from God. We
know God must be holy and good. We see ourselves as unholy and not good.
We conclude that God is angry with us and we cannot know Him.
Good News! This Testament of God's love is His Word to tell us that He
loves us as we are. That love will save us from our sin and make us what
we should be as God's children.
John 3:16
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His
only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but
have eternal life."
We hear Jesus say,
"God so loved the world."
God's love has no limitations. He loves "so".
More than we can imagine. He loves everyone - not just some ones.
Romans 5:8 tells us that God loved us so that,
"When we were in our sin Christ Jesus came to die for us."
Romans 3:23
"For all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God,"
This verse tells us
that all people have sinned. We have fallen short of God's intended
purpose for us. God made us to know Him.... to receive His love and to
love him in return.
For love to be love... for God to be God... and for humans to be
humans.... God gave us a choice. We can choose to love ourselves and
turn to our selfish pursuits. That is sin. In our sin we cannot know God
and His love. The result of sin is that we are lost... separated from
God.
Romans 6:23
"For the wages of sin is death, but the free
gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Wages are just payment... due reward... what one has coming because of
labor. The just payment for our sin is death.
Death here means spiritual insensitivity. When we are still in our sin,
we have no life with God. We are alive physically but dead spiritually.
If we continue in that condition, we will be separated from God for all
eternity.
The wages of sin is death. but God's free gift is eternal life. While
wages are earned, a gift is offered... no strings attached. God says He
will give us eternal life - life with Him - in the place of sin's
payment of death.
How can God remain true to His holiness and forgive unholy sinners?
Because Jesus, His Son, has paid the price for sin by His death on the
cross.
Second Corinthians 5:21 says,
"He who knew no
sin became sin for us, that we may be made the righteousness of God
through Him."
Jesus arose from the grave to conquer sin and death for all who receive
Him as God's free gift.
How can you receive God's free gift of love and life?
Romans 10:9-10
"That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as
Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you
will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in
righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."
A person receives God's free gift of love and life by placing faith in
Jesus Christ. To believe is simply to take God at His word. With our
heart (whole believing) we believe that Jesus is God's Son who died for
our sin on the cross and arose from the grave to live in us as Savior
and Lord.
To believe in Jesus will result in confessing that faith with one's
mouth.
Do you acknowledge that your are a sinner?
Do you believe by faith that Jesus, God's Son, died for your sin on the
cross?
Will you now confess Him as your Savior and Lord?
Romans 10:13
"For Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be
saved."
This verse says that any person who will call upon the name of Jesus,
the Lord, shall be saved.
To call means simply to ask in prayer. The verse does not require one to
know more... do better... clean up one's life... or in any way try to
add to what Jesus has done for us.
Will you now call upon Jesus to save you from
your sin so that you can know God's love and forgiveness?
Pray like this:
"Dear God, I confess that I am a sinner, and I am sorry. I need a
Savior. I know I cannot save myself. I believe by faith that Jesus, your
Son, died on the cross to be my Savior. I believe He arose from the
grave to live as my Lord. I turn from my sin. I ask You, Lord Jesus, to
forgive my sin and come into my heart. I trust you as my Savior and
receive you as my Lord. Thank you, Jesus, for saving me."
When anyone calls on the Lord in this manner, that one is saved
according to God's Word. If you pray a prayer of repentance and
faith, you are saved. You have God's word on it.
If you have prayed this prayer to receive Christ as your Lord and
Savoir, why not record your decision to follow Jesus as follows. Often
times, a good place to write this would be inside the cover of your
bible:
Believing by faith that God loves me and sent
His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for my sin and arise from the grave to
live in me, I, _______, do this day, ________, repent of my sin and
accept Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. According to the
promise of God in Romans
10:13, I have called
upon His name and have His word for the assurance of my salvation. |