Jesus saves.
He says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
You were made for this.
The truth is that God created us to know Him. He lovingly crafted us in His image to have a relationship with Him, to dwell in the glorious light of His presence and enjoy His boundless goodness forever.
However, what separates us from God is sin. Sin is anything that is contrary to His nature, which is righteousness and selfless love. God loves us with all His heart, and He expects us to love Him, and to love one another, with the same intensity. But none of us has done that.
All of us have sinned, and the penalty for sin is death. Because God is perfectly holy and just, He cannot allow sinners to remain in His presence and partake of His life. In fact, He must ultimately punish all who serve sin in order to restore justice and peace to the world.
But He takes no pleasure in punishing sinners. God would much rather have mercy on us. Therefore, He has made a way for us to be forgiven and reconciled with Him through His Son.
Behold, the Lamb of God!
The Bible says that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” The penalty for sin must be paid. Someone must be called to account for every offense, great and small. Therefore, we can only be forgiven if an innocent person dies in our place.
That’s why God sent His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. Because of His great love for every one of us, God gave up His beloved Son to be a sacrifice to atone for our sins. Though He Himself was blameless, God incarnate, Jesus willingly laid down His life and suffered the punishment that we justly deserve!
He was crucified and He died for our sins, and His body was laid to rest in a tomb. But God raised Him from the dead and exalted Him to sit at His right hand in heaven. Jesus is coming back soon to judge the world in righteousness and repay every one of us according to what we have done. Whoever believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life through His name.
“But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
— Isaiah 53:5-6
What must I do to be saved?
There is nothing you could ever do to save yourself. Only the precious blood of Christ can wash away your sins and give you peace with God. All you must do to be saved is believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe what He has done for you, and receive Him as your Savior and Lord. His grace will always be enough for you.
Genuine faith results in action. So, because you trust in Jesus, there are two essential things you must do. First, you need to repent. Turn away from your sins and turn toward God to the best of your ability, and let your actions prove that you have really had a change of heart. That means humbly confessing your sins to God and other people (where appropriate) and abandoning sin to do what is right. He has promised to forgive you if you repent.
Second, you must devote your life to following Jesus. If He is to be your Savior, He must also be your Lord and Teacher. Become His disciple, and commit to live by His word and follow in His footsteps for the rest of your life. He says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Come to Jesus today. Don’t wait!
The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come.
The Bible says, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” Whoever belongs to Jesus is spiritually resurrected together with Him, declared perfectly righteous by God Himself, delivered from the power of darkness, transferred into the kingdom of Christ, granted the gift of everlasting life, and adopted as a beloved child of God. Praise God for the free gift of salvation in His Son!
Now, if you have decided to follow Jesus Christ, there are several more important steps He wants you to take. First, you need to join a church. You can’t just follow Jesus on your own. Try to find a church in your area that really loves the Lord and faithfully teaches the Bible.
Sadly, many churches today don’t do those things, so finding a good church can be difficult. Please be careful. You may contact us regarding general guidelines and possible recommendations for churches in your area, but the best advice we can give you is to ask your Father in heaven to guide you to a healthy church.
Second, you need to be baptized. Baptism is a required public confession of our faith which symbolizes our spiritual union with Christ and the new life that God has given us in Him.
Third, you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the Father’s gift to His children. He is a divine person that lives within us, teaches us, changes us to be more and more like Jesus, and empowers us to be His witnesses. Ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit, and believe that He fills you (even if you don’t feel anything). Then, let the Holy Spirit lead you from now on.
“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”
— Ezekiel 36:26-27
For the wandering one…
Maybe you’ve done all that before. Maybe you repented and trusted Christ and followed Him for a time, but something happened. Something caused you to wander from your Shepherd.
Maybe you fell into sin and destroyed your life, or you suffered a terrible tragedy that shook your faith in God, or you became disillusioned with church, or you were grievously hurt by people who claimed to be Christians. Or maybe you just got busy with other things, preoccupied with the cares of this life and everything that the world has to offer, and little by little you drifted away until there was hardly anything left of your relationship with Jesus.
Whatever the case might be, please know that you are not beyond hope. If God has brought you here, He wants you back! He is able and willing to forgive you and heal you and renew your relationship with Him. Actually, our God never gets tired of forgiving, and He desires that none should perish, but that all should come to repentance. So, dear brother or sister in Christ, please come home! There’s a place for you at the Father’s table.
Abide in me, and I in you.
All that remains is for you to remain in Jesus. Whether you’ve just started following Him or you’ve been walking with Him for decades, you must remember to remain in Him. Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches. Apart from Him, we can do nothing. He is our life.
So, if you’ve trusted in Christ to save you from your sins, keep trusting. Keep believing that His sacrifice is enough to make you right with God, and keep walking in love, just as He loved us and laid down His life for us at the cross. Keep following Jesus, no matter what!
Some people will tell you that being a Christian is easy, and that is partially correct. However, the truth is that following Christ will cost you everything, even your very life. Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” It cost Jesus His life to love you. Should it cost you less to love Him?
But don’t be afraid. There is nothing He expects of you that His Spirit will not enable you to fulfill. His grace will strengthen you when you’re weak and uphold you when you’re falling. Christ in you will do what you cannot. And He will never leave you nor forsake you.
Therefore, let us love Jesus Christ with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength. Let us always abide in Him and so bear much fruit for the glory of God our Father.
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
— Jeremiah 17:7-8
We’re here for you.
If you have decided to follow Jesus Christ or renew your relationship with Him, please let us know so we can rejoice with you, pray for you, and do everything we can to help you keep walking with Him. If you still have questions or you would like to talk with someone, we can help you with that too!
I’ve decided to follow Jesus.
I’m renewing my relationship with Jesus.
I need to talk with someone.