GOD'S GIFT TO YOU

Dear friend the Bible declares that someday you are going to die and will stand face to face with God. As this is true, nothing could be more important than your preparation for that day. Please notice what God's word says about being ready to stand before a righteous God. For our first scripture, let us read Romans 5:12 "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned."
This took place back in the Garden of Eden. We know that the "one man" was Adam. God put a penalty upon him, and that penalty was death.
Read Genesis 2:16, 17:
"And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."
Now as soon as Adam ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, death came upon him, and upon all mankind. Immediately Adam died spiritually. Late, he died physically; thus the penalty of death was upon him, and upon all mankind.
"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Romans 5:12
Romans 3:23 tells us that:
"All have sinned, and come short of the Glory of God." "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life."Romans 6:23 "Behold the lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." John 1:29
We are all sinners, for "all have sinned," and the "wages of sin is death," eternal death; thus we are to look to Jesus Christ, the "Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world," He was the One who offered Himself as a sacrifice, as a substitute for you, and for me. Let me offer this illustration:
Every sinner is in the prison house of Satan. For instance, if a man should commit a crime, is caught, arrested, and brought into the courts and tried, and the sentence of death be put upon him then he would be taken and put in the prison house, the death cell, awaiting the time of his execution. When the time of his execution arrives, he would pay the penalty, which would be death.

That is exactly where every sinner is; he is in the prison house of Satan, the sentence of death has been put upon him, he must pay the penalty of death, or someone pay it for him. Jesus Christ is the One that loved us so much that He came along and said, "I will pay the price for you, if you will only accept me as your substitute, let me take your place, and you can go free, you can live, you can have eternal life." Thus you see how simple it is.

Man's Determination

Salvation is so simple that many intelligent people stumble over it. Every man can do what he wills to do. When an intelligent man determines to do something, he does that very thing. Friend, you too regardless of your condition, can say, "I will accept Christ by faith and have eternal life." Or you can say, "I will not," and pay the penalty, which is death. It is a matter of your own personal will and determination.

Take for instance the Prodigal Son, in the fifteenth chapter of Luke's Gospel. There the Prodigal son was, down in the hog pen, realizing it meant death if he stayed there. he said, "I will arise and go to my father." he was determined to get out of the hog pen. He was determined to go to the father, and have the good things that his father had for him.
This is a picture of a sinner. That is what the Lord is doing, drawing a picture of a sinner. You can say, "I will arise and go to Jesus; I will arise and trust in Him; I will say, " I will not," and stay where you are, go on and die and suffer the sin penalty, which is eternal death.

Salvation A Matter Of Receiving

"He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name." John 1: 11,12
Notice the word "received." To "as many as received Him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name."
It is a matter of receiving. If I should come into your home with a fifty or a hundred dollar bill in my hand, and say, "This is yours for the receiving of it. All you have to do is just reach out and receive it," it would be yours if you would reach out and take it. This is exactly how simple salvation is. All you need do is reach out by faith and receive Jesus Christ as your substitute, realizing that you are a sinner, and that there is nothing in the world you can possibly do to save yourself; realizing that you are lost and doomed; then by simple child-like faith, trusting Jesus Christ as your personal Savior.

Salvation A Matter of Belief

Let us consider a few scriptures pertaining to the matter of believing.
"For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16
Notice, "Whosoever believeth in His should not perish, but have everlasting life."
There is the matter of believing, and the moment that you believe, you have everlasting life' not that you will have it in the future, but you have everlasting life.

Notice John 3:18:
"He that believeth on Him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. "He that believeth on Him is not condemned," so you see, it is all depending upon believing. "But he that believeth not is condemned already." The sentence of death is already passed upon you.
" He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." John 3:36
Many are confused about a feeling and say, "I hope to have eternal life." Once a man said to me as I was dealing with him about his soul, "I hope that I have eternal life." I showed him this verse of Scripture. He read it over and said, "Well, I hope so." I asked him to read it again, and still he could not seem to grasp it. I said, "Listen, what you are reading there is 'h-a-t-h' spells 'hope'. And so he read it over again. Just as soon as he saw that, the light of understanding shone upon his face. he was satisfied.
Take God at His promise, not he that believeth on the Son shall hope to have eternal life; not he that believeth on the Son shall have a feeling come over him therefore depending upon feeling, or some great sensation to experience in the future. Take God at His word in FAITH, and not ask questions about it. So friend, it says "He that believeth on the Son hath (h-a-t-h) hath everlasting life." This is present tense. All of it taking place the very moment that you believe.
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is past from death unto life." John 5:24
The very moment that you hear the Word, He says, believe it. "Believe on Him that sent me," and you have everlasting life. H-a-t-h, "hath everlasting life, and shall not come into (judgement); but is (there is present tense again) past from death unto life." Therefore friend, you see that every verse of Scripture in the Bible concerning salvation, is a matter of receiving and believing.

Two Things For You To Do

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Romans 10:9,10
There are two things for you to do, dear friend, Notice in verse nine; "Confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead." This is none other than believing in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and confessing with your mouth that you are a sinner, and that you cannot save yourself. you believe in the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ; that He took your place as a substitute; that He died for you; and the moment that you believe, and confess, it us up to God to do the saving. He said, "Thou shalt be saved."

Asking God to Save You

"For whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Romans 10:13
"Whosoever" includes you, me, or anyone else that calls on Him. My friend, have you ever called on the Lord? Have you ever prayed the sinner's prayer,

LORD, BE MERCIFUL TO ME, A SINNER, AND SAVE ME, FOR JESUS' SAKE? Have you ever done this" If you have, can you not take God at His word? If you have asked God to save you, and really and truly believed it and sincerely meant it when you prayed, then God said he would do the saving. You can take God at his word. You can stand on His word knowing that it is true. Either God saves you when you call upon Him out of a sincere heart, or he is a liar, and surely God is no liar.

"Let God be true, but every man a liar." Romans 3:4 Surely God will save you, if you will only call upon Him. Regardless of what your problems are, Christ will save you. It does not make any difference whether you have been a murderer, lived the most wicked life in all the world, or whether you are the best moral person in all the world, regardless of your state, He is willing to save all who call upon the name of the Lord.

Cannot Be Lost Again

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them to me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand," John 10:27

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." I John 1:9

Freedom In Jesus Ministries

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