God’s Promise: Life (New Life Now and Eternal Life Later)
- God promises that those who repent and place their faith in Jesus
Christ for salvation will be born again to live a new life now and have a
certainty of eternal life later. The new life now is a result of God
forgiving all your sins past, present, and future. This is called
justification, because God as the ultimate justice declares you to be
justified (innocent) in His eyes of all sin.
God also marks all true believers as
belonging to Him as His adopted children by indwelling them with His
Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit regenerates (makes brand new) the new
believer by empowering them to resist and overcome the temptations of
sin that previously enslaved the sinner so that they were unable to
overcome or be free of sin’s hold and consequences on their own
strength.
The Holy Spirit also changes and
empowers the desires and actions of a believer to line up with God’s
Will, so that God is pleased and glorified. Thus, a new believer is born
again to live a new life that loves God and seeks to serve Him, know
Him, and worship Him. The Bible describes this in 2 Corinthians 5:17.
“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new
has come." God continues to sanctify (set apart) the true believer to
become progressively more and more like Jesus Christ in true
righteousness, so that a believer’s life is characterized by holiness,
blamelessness, and love.
Finally, a believer does not fear
death (or should not fear death) because after death they will be
received into the glory of the presence of God their Father in heaven.
The new spirit they received on earth will finally be matched with a new
body in heaven so that all remnants of the curse of sin (like our old
dieing bodies) will finally be history.
This is why the favorite verse of
many believers is Revelation 21:4-7 which says,”He will wipe every tear
from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or
pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on
the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this
down, for these words are trustworthy and true." He said to me: "It is
done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him
who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the
water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his
God and he will be my son.”
But also notice the very next verse
of this passage that sternly warns of the coming judgment and all who
reject Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. “But the cowardly, the
unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who
practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in
the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." So now that
you’ve heard a thorough explanation of the Gospel (good news) of Jesus
Christ - ask yourself four questions:
1. Do I have a relationship with God, because I love Him with all my heart, soul, and strength?
2. Have I truly died to my old life of sin, by repenting of all my rebellious sins against God, His Plan, and His Laws?
3. Have I truly made a marriage-like
covenant to the Lord by faith that commits my life to love, serve,
know, and worship Jesus as Lord?
4. Is there evidence in my life that
I have been born again and been completely changed by the presence and
power of the Holy Spirit in my life - marking me as a true child of God?
If you are not certain that you
would go to Heaven when you die and you are now ready to receive Jesus
Christ as Lord and Savior of your life, then repent right now of all
your sin, place all your faith in Jesus Christ to forgive your sins, and
commit to love God with all your heart, soul, and strength.
However you express this decision
(promise/covenant) to God, can be in your own words, but make sure it is
a sincere commitment of your heart. Romans 10:9-13 tells you exactly
how to be saved. "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. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified,
and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the
Scripture says, 'Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.'
For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord
of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, 'Everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.'"
When you repent and place in your
faith in Jesus to save/forgive you your sins and be your new Lord,
remember that the first evidence or proof of your new love and
relationship with God is by obedience to His commands (John 5:3). The
very first command the Lord gives His disciples to prove they now belong
to Him is to be baptized in water. Baptism is a public expression that
you have received Christ's gift of His blood to forgive your sins and
His righteousness to enter the Kingdom of heaven, and overall an outward
symbol that you now belong to Christ and sincerely believe in his
death, burial, and resurrection to save you. Baptism doesn't save you
but it is PROOF that Jesus truly is your new boss, owner, master, and
LORD.
Thanks for taking the time to read this gospel presentation as we have
strived to present the good news of Jesus Christ in a thorough, yet
concise and Biblical way. We pray you will print these pages out and
begin looking up the verses listed throughout in your own Bible. The
Scripture will come alive to you and you will be better able to count
the cost of following Jesus not just with words of repentance and faith
but with a life of ongoing repentance and faith as you commit to follow
Jesus as LORD (Romans 10:9-13)! If you are already saved we look forward
to meeting all of you in heaven and pray you better understand your
salvation, are reminded to worship the Lord all the more for all He that
He has done for us, and are better prepared to share the good news with
others. Please feel free to copy, email, and give this out to as many
people as you can.
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