The Christian Life-How does it Begin?
To understand how the Christian Life begins we must realize the following:
1. God loves us-
Probably the most well know verse in the Bible is John 3:16 –For God so loved the world that he gave his only son so that anyone who believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
a. God’s love is unconditional.
His love is not based on if we do everything exactly right. The love of people increases with performance and decreases with mistakes. Thank goodness that’s not so with God’s Love. He loves us right where we are but he refuses to leave us that way.
b. God’s love is underserved.
Ephesians Ch: 2, Verse’s 8-9 -says because of his kindness we have been saved through trusting Christ. And even trusting is not of us, it too is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good we have done. So we can’t take any credit for it.
2. That we are sinners-
Romans Ch3, verse 23 says yes, all have sinned, all fall short of God’s glorious ideal.
3. That sin has wages (debt)- Romans Ch 6, verse 23 says -For the wages of sin is death.
4. (Here’s the good News) Jesus Christ paid the debt for our sin. Roman Ch 6, verse 23 states the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ our Lord. Also- Romans Ch 5, verse 8 states- But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners-those are amazing words! God sent Jesus Christ to die for us, not because we were good enough but because he loved us so much. Whenever you feel uncertain about God’s love for you, just remember that he loved you even before you turned to him.
a. What we received- John Ch 1, verse 12 says -But to all who received him, he gave the right to become children of God. So if you’ve accepted the Lord as your savior he gives you the right to become a child of God. 1st John Ch 1, verse 9 say’s But if we confess our sins to him he can be depended on to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. And it is perfectly proper for God to do this for us because Christ died to wash away our sins.
Question to ponder- Has there ever been a time in your life that you’ve asked Jesus Christ to be Lord of your life? If not, there’s no greater decision that you’ll ever make! I pray you do so today!
