If you have come to the point where you feel you want to ask God to forgive you of your sins and to allow you into His family then read what follows. It will help you understand the basics of a relationship with God.
Romans (NIV 1984)
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
This bible verse tells us that all of us are sinners and we fall short of God’s glory or His holiness, His purity, His sinlessness. So God is sinless and all of us are sinful. This creates a problem for any relationship we may want to have with God. Our sin places a barrier between us and God. But God made a way to remove that barrier.
Romans (NIV 1984)
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
This bible versesays that because of our sins we deserve death. Now everybody physically dies so what death is this referring to? It is referring to the fact that even though our body dies our spirit lives on for eternity. And if we die without our sins being forgiven then we live in eternity where there is no life but only punishment and suffering. On the other hand, eternal life is relating to us being forgiven of our sins and getting to live with God in heaven. Most people have heard of heaven and hell. Heaven is where God lives and where there is love, joy, peace and many other good things. On the other hand, hell is where there is eternal punishment. Jesus said there is weeping and gnashing of teeth there. It is a place filled with fear, pain, anger and many other bad things. Hell is the place we deserve to be after we die because of our sins. However, the verse then states that there is a free gift of eternal life. Eternal life is in heaven where God is and where all good things are. God is telling us that we can have a free pass to heaven even though we are sinners. All because of the sacrifice Christ Jesus made for us.
John (NIV 1984)
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
This bible verse states that God loves us so much that He had Jesus, His son, come to earth and live a perfect sinless life for us. That way we could be considered righteous in the eyes of God. Then He had Jesus punished and died on the cross as a substitute for us because of our sin. This means that even though we could not live a sinless life, Jesus lived it for us. That way God could allow us into heaven even though we were sinful. Then God had Jesus punished for our sins so that we would not even have to be punished for our own sins. He did all of this so that when we die we do not have to be punished for our sins instead we get to go live with Him in heaven. And this life with God is for eternity. And this life is a free gift. We only have to believe that Jesus really did those things for us.
Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV 1984)
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
This bible verse tells us that we get saved by “grace” or by a free gift. This verse then says that we receive the free gift through faith. So we need to have faith that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died for our sins. The verse goes on to say that we can not work for our salvation because it is free. So we must not think that we can be really good so that God will let us in heaven. No, God wants us to know we can never do enough good deeds or have enough righteousness on our own to go to heaven. We can only be saved because God gave us the free gift of salvation because of what Jesus did.
Romans 4:4-5 (NIV 1984)
4 Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. 5 However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.
We see in this bible verse that if we work for something then we deserve to get paid for our efforts. But in the case of our salvation God says we can not work for it because we are sinful. It can only be received as a free gift. So if we just trust God to save us and make us righteous then we don’t have to work for it, we just receive it. He gives us a free gift of righteousness even though we are sinful if we just trust Him. All because Jesus Christ lived a sinless life for us so that we could be considered righteous by God. And He died on the cross and was punished for our sins so that we would not have to be punished for our sins.
Romans 10:9-10 (NIV 1984)
9 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
God in this verse tells us that if we speak out about Jesus being our Lord and believe in our heart that Jesus was raised from the dead we will be saved. It goes on to tell us that we believe with our heart. We don’t believe with our head we believe with our heart or another way to say it is we believe in our spirit. This is a very important aspect of salvation. We must believe in our heart not our head.
Romans (NIV 1984)
13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
This is a really great verse because it says that everyone that calls on the Lord will be saved.So if you really want to have Jesus as your Lord and Savior then you just ask Him to forgive you and save you. And if you ask by faith from your heart you will be saved.
John 3:1-8 (NIV 1984)
1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
In this bible story Jesus tells a religious leader that we must be “born again” to see or enter the kingdom of God. He explains that we are born of water at our physical birth and then we are “born again” when we are born of the spirit. Notice that in the last part of the scripture above Jesus talks about when we are born of the spirit it is like the wind blowing. We see the results of the wind but we don’t actually see the wind. We see trees moving and leaves blowing around but we don't see the wind. Jesus said that being spiritually born again is similar to the wind blowing. Basically, when we get born again we don’t see the Holy Spirit coming into us or working in us. But we later see how it has changed our life. Because when we get born again we suddenly change our thoughts about sin and righteousness. We start turning away from our old sinful ways and we start wanting to do the right thing or become righteous. We all of a sudden want to do what is right so that we can please God. And we do that because God was so kind to us by forgiving us of our sins.
If you would like to ask God to forgive you of your sins and allow you to join His family then just ask Him. You can ask Him by repeating the sample prayer below. Remember all of this happens by faith. You must believe in your heart that God really does exist and Jesus really died for you on the cross.
Sample Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father, please forgive me of all my sins. Help me to believe that Jesus lived a sinless life on earth for my righteousness and he died on the cross for the punishment of my sins. Help me to understand that I can not earn my salvation by being a good person. I have to receive your free gift of salvation by faith. Help me in the future to live a life that is pleasing to you. I ask you now to let me be born again and allow the Holy Spirit to come into my life. Thank you Heavenly Father for your grace and your mercy. Amen
Now that you have asked God to forgive you of your sins, start reading the bible every day. The New International Version Bible is the most popular bible because it is easy to read. You might want to buy one if you do not already have one. A paperback bible is very inexpensive and can be purchased at most stores.
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