*He said, "Unless one is born again, he cannot see the
kingdom of God."
*He said, " I am the truth, and the life, no one comes to
the Father, but through Me."
*He Said, "Whosoever believes in Him is not condemned,
but whosoever does not believe stands condemned
already because he has not believed in the name of
God's one and only Son."
Listen to some of the things He did NOT say:
*He did NOT say that being a nice person is all that is
really necessary.
- If that were true, we wouldn't need a Savior. But God
says, "ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of
God." All of us have failed to live up to God's law and
therefore stand guilty before Him.
*He did NOT say being religious and going to the right church is what really counts.
- The need to be "born again" was originally presented,
not to a criminal off the street, but to Nicodemus, a
sincere, respected religious leader of his day. A man
who prayed an kept the commandments. To such a man
Jesus said, "You must be born again." And He says the
same to you and me.
*He did NOT say if you just live by the golden rule, you
will make it to heaven.
- God does expect us to live by the golden rule, but good
works can never be the basis of salvation. The Bible
says of the born again Christians, "You have been saved
through faith;..........not as a result of works."
*He did NOT say a loving God would never condemn
anyone to hell.
- God is perfect love. But, He is also perfectly just. And
that justice makes it impossiblefor him to allow our
sinfulness to go unpunished. "The wages of sin is death,
but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus
our Lord." When Christ died on the cross, He paid the
penalty for the sins of people like you and me in order
to forgive us.
The Bible says, "God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
What we need to do to be born again is to turn from our sins and wholeheartedly put our faith and trust in Jesus.
If we refuse His offer of forgiveness, then we must suffer the penalty for our own sins.
I am not talking about a religion nor a denomination, but a personal relationship with the Living God who "so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."
In Revelation 3:20, Jesus says, "Behold I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into him." He is offering you that opportunity right now. If you would like to open the door of your life to Jesus, here's what to do.
Pray:
Honestly tell Him that you realize that you need His forgiveness and that you want to turn away from your sins. Tell Him that from this moment on, you will trust Him as your Savior who died for you, and as your Lord whom you will obey. Then, thank Him for forgiving you and giving you eternal life. In Jesus' name, Amen.
My hope and prayer is that you will make this commitment if you haven't already done so and that God will do for you, what He is doing for me.
