HOW CAN I BE SAVED?
For those of you who have actually read through this argument for Christianity article by article, congratulations, you've almost arrived at the end. Some of you reading this may have already been ready to accept Christ, and you've just skipped to this article to learn how. Either way, I promise to make this the shortest article on this site so we can get to the point quickly.
If you read the last article, you know that I explained that Jesus is the Messiah. This means that God has punished Him for our sins. In fact, Jesus was God. Because He was God, He had enough moral worth to atone (i.e., pay the price) for the sins of all believers for all time. The punishment we all deserve is death. Before Jesus came to Earth, the Jews atoned for their sins by laying their hands on an animal (thereby transferring their sins to the animal) and sacrificing the animal in their place. We know that under the New Covenant, Jesus took the place of the sacrificial animal. But what we haven't learned yet is what took the place of the laying on of the hands. In other words, how are our sins transferred to Christ just as the sins of the Hebrews were transferred to the animal under the Old Covenant? Put more simply, how can you be saved?
Sometimes it seems like most people today think they can get to heaven by simply leading a good enough life. Do enough good deeds, treat people nicely, and you'll get to heaven. The problem with this lies in the difficulty in defining the term "good." What does it mean to be "good". Good by whose standard? In the last article I mentioned the standard God measures us against. It's Him. "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Matthew 5:48. Someone may seem good when you measure them against other humans, but none of us are good when measured against God. Inevitably we all fall woefully short of perfection. That means none of us are getting into heaven by simply living a good life. Unless you are perfect, you will fail to meet minimum entry requirements.
So if we are going to get into Heaven, it will simply be a gift from God. It will be a present God gives us that we frankly do not deserve. But if God just freely gives this gift to everyone, regardless of whether the price has been paid for their sins, He would not be just. So only those people who have had their sins paid for can enter Heaven. As we learned in the last article, Christ willingly took our sins upon Himself so that the punishment that we deserved was placed upon Him. But we also know that not everyone will be saved and destined for Heaven. So how are our sins transferred to Christ so that they are paid for and we can benefit from His sacrifice?
The answer is the most important thing you will ever encounter in your life, because your eternal destiny literally depends upon it. The answer is faith. Faith in Jesus Christ. This includes knowledge that you are a sinner, and that it is impossible to live up to God's perfect standard on your own. Knowledge that there is no way you can ever enter Heaven without God's help, without a savior. You need to acknowledge that you need a savior and realize that Jesus was it. Not simply from an intellectual standpoint, but a real heartfelt devotion for Christ. Do you understand in your soul the horrible fate that awaits you without Christ's help? This should inspire more gratitude than anything you've ever experienced in this life, because Jesus saved you from something worse than you have ever experienced in this life. Read the article "Turning Over a New Leaf: Getting Emotionally Involved in Christ" under the "Discipleship Articles" to get a more detailed idea of what I mean by this. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9.
Do you believe it? Do you really believe it? If not, if you still have lingering doubts, please click on the "Contact Us" link and ask us any of your questions. We'd love to try to help you work through them with the help of the Holy Spirit. If you are ready, then all you need to do is say a simple prayer and you will know that you are written in God's Book of Life. There's no specific prayer necessary. You just need to confess to God that you are a sinner, that you know you cannot enter Heaven without His help, and acknowledge Jesus Christ as your savior who died for your sins so that you may live. Because I know that not everyone is comfortable right off the bat coming up with a prayer off the top of their head, here is a suggested one you can use if you want to:
Dear Heavenly Father. I confess that I am a sinner at heart. Throughout my life I have rebelled against Your will. I know that I cannot possibly live up to your standard for me of my own power. I will never be able to join you in Heaven by my own good works. I need a savior. I thank you God for sending me Jesus to pay the price for my sins. I accept Christ as my personal savior and ask that You write Your law on my heart. Thank you God. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
If you just prayed that prayer from your heart, I believe you've just been saved. If we never get to meet in this life, I look forward to meeting you in the next.
Now it's time to figure out how you are going to respond to God's gift. I encourage you to read some of the Discipleship articles. But most importantly, get yourself a Bible and get into a good Bible-based church. We grow in our faith throughout our lives, and the Bible and the church are your best resources for this. If you want help finding a church, please contact us and we'd be glad to help.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
|