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THESE FOUR PRINCIPLES WILL HELP YOU
DISCOVER HOW TO KNOW GOD
PERSONALLY
AND EXPERIENCE THE ABUNDANT LIFE
HE PROMISED
1. God LOVES you and created you to know Him personally.
GOD'S LOVE
"God so love the world, that He gave His
only begotten Son
that whoever believes in Him should not perish,
but have eternal life."
John 3:16
GOD'S PLAN
"Now this is eternal life: that they may
know you,
the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent"
John 17:3
2. Man is SINFUL and SEPARATED from God,
so we cannot know Him
personally or
experience His love.
MAN IS SINFUL
"For all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God."
Romans 3:23
MAN IS SEPARATED
"The wages of sin is death..." (spiritual
separation from God)
Romans 6:23a
3. Jesus Christ is God's ONLY provision for man's sin.
Through
Him alone we can know God personally and experience God's love.
HE DIED IN OUR PLACE
"God demonstrates His own love
toward us,
in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Romans 5:8
HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD
"Christ died for our sins... He
was buried... He was raised on
the third day according to the Scriptures... He appeared
to Peter, then to the twelve.
After that He appeared
to more than five hundred..."
1 Corinthians 15:3-6
HE IS THE ONLY WAY TO GOD
"Jesus said to him, 'I am
the way, the truth and the life;
no one comes to the Father, but through Me."
John 14:6
4. We must individually RECEIVE Jesus Christ as
Savior and Lord;
then we can know God personally
and experience His love.
WE MUST RECEIVE CHRIST
"As many as received Him, to
them He gave the right
to become children of God, even to those
who believe in His name."
John 1:12
WE RECEIVE CHRIST THROUGH FAITH
"By grace you have been
saved through faith;
and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
not as a result of works, that no one should
boast."
Ephesians 2:8,9
WHEN WE RECEIVE CHRIST,
WE EXPERIENCE A NEW BIRTH
Read
John 3:1-8
WE RECEIVE CHRIST BY PERSONAL INVITATION
"Behold, I
stand at the door and knock;
if anyone hears My voice and opens the door,
I will come in to him."
Revelation 3:20
+ + + + + + + +
YOU CAN RECEIVE CHRIST RIGHT NOW
BY FAITH THROUGH PRAYER
THE BIBLE SAYS:
"If you confess with your mouth the
Lord Jesus,
and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead,
you shall be saved."
Romans 10:9
"It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth...
salvation is found
in no one else, for there is no other name
under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
Acts 4:10-12
THE BIBLE PROMISES ETERNAL LIFE
TO ALL WHO RECEIVE CHRIST
"The witness is this, that God has given us eternal life,
and this
life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life;
he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.
These
things I have written to you who believe in the name
of the Son of God, in order that you may know
that you have eternal
life."
1 John 5:11-13
The above are excerpts from NewLife Publications, a ministry of Campus
Crusade For Christ
LOOKING FOR ANSWERS?
1. What is salvation?
Salvation is
deliverance from the penalty, pollution, and power of sin (Romans 6:14,23; Titus 3:4-6). It is eternally more important
than being saved from fire, deep water, illness, or loneliness.
2. What is sin?
Sin is any thought,
word, or deed that either violates or falls short of complete conformity to God's holy laws (Romans 3:23; James 4:17; 1 John
3:4). In short, Jesus and His apostles taught that sin is anything that doesn't reflect selfless love for God and others
(Matthew 22:34-40).
3. What has God done to provide salvation?
He
became a member of the human race in the person of Jesus (John 1:1,14), lived sinlessly as our substitute to fulfill God's
righteous demands (2 Corinthians 5:21), suffered and died on the cross to bear the penalty for our sins (Matthew 20:28; Romans
4:23-25; I Corinthians 15:3-4), and rose from the grave to break the power of death and defeat Satan (Acts 2:24; Hebrews 2:14-15).
In other words, He accepted full responsibility to pay the price for the consequences of our sins.
4. For whom did Christ die?
Jesus
died for all people (John 3:16; 2 Corinthians 5:14-15), for all have fallen short of their original purpose to know God (John
17:3), to glorify Him (1 Corinthians 10:31), and to enjoy Him forever (Revelation 7:15-17; Revelation 21:1-4). Christ
died for those who are sinners by nature (Psalm 51:5), disobedient by choice (Romans 3:23), spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1,
5), unable to please God (Romans 8:8), and under His wrath (John 3:36, Romans 1:18).
5. What is repentance?
It is a term
used by John the Baptist, Jesus, Paul, and Peter (Matthew 3:1-2; Matthew 4:17; Acts 2:38; Acts 20:21). Repentance is
that change of attitude about one's self, one's sin, and God, which involves the whole personality -- mind, emotions, and
will. In varying degrees, it always accompanies true faith. Sorrow for sin often accompanies it and helps give
evidence that genuine repentance has occurred (2 Corinthians 7:9-10).
6. Who will be saved?
Salvation is
offered to everyone and is freely given to all who believe on Jesus Christ (Matthew 11:28; John 1:12; John 3:15-16,36; John
6:40,47; John 11:25-26; John 20:31, Acts 16:31; Romans 10:9-10). Jesus said, "The one who comes to Me I will by no means
cast out" (John 6:37).
7. How do we receive salvation?
By
faith alone. Neither zealous commitment to good works (Ephesians 2:8-10; Romans 4:1-12) nor careful observance of religious
ritual (Galatians 3:1-9) play a part in obtaining salvation. Salvation is not found in our efforts for God but in trusting
what Jesus has done for us. All God requires is that we call out to Him in faith and ask Him to save us (Romans 10:13).
On that basis He gives salvation. Everything else follows.
8. What is saving faith?
It is personal
trust in the Lord Jesus. It is believing that God, on the basis of Christ's substitutionary death and resurrection,
forgives and accepts all who trust in Him and rely on Him alone for salvation (Romans 3:21-26; Romans 4:1-25; Romans 5:1-2;
Ephesians 2:8-10). It is therefore not what we do but what we believe that counts. If what we believe is right,
doing right will follow. Good works are the fruit and the evidence (Ephesians 2:10; John 3:7-10), not the ground or
the cause.
Adapted from the RBC Ministries booklet, What
We Believe.
c. 1989, 1996 RBC Ministries
'TWAS THE NIGHT JESUS CAME
'Twas the night Jesus came and all through the house
Not a person was praying,
not one in the house.
The Bibles were left on the shelf without care,
For no one thought that Jesus would come there.
The
children were dressing to crawl into bed,
Not once ever kneeling or bowing a head.
And mom in her rocker with baby in
her lap
Was watching the Late Show while I took a nap.
When out of the east there rose such a clatter,
I sprang to my feet to see
what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash
Tore open the shutters and lifted the sash!
When what
to my wondering eyes should appear
But angels proclaiming that Jesus was here!
The light of His face made me cover my head --
It was Jesus returning, just
as He said.
And though I possessed worldly wisdom and wealth,
I cried when I saw Him in spite of myself.
In the Book
of Life which He held in His hand
Was written the name of every saved man.
He spoke not a word as He searched for my
name;
When He said, "It's not here" my head hung in shame.
The people whose names had been written with love
He gathered to take to
His Father above.
With those who were ready He rose without a sound
While all the rest were left standing around.
I
fell to my knees, but it was too late;
I had waited too long and thus sealed my fate.
I stood and I cried as they rose
out of sight;
Oh, if only I'd known that this was the night.
In the words of this poem the meaning is clear;
The coming of Jesus is now
drawing near.
There's only one life and when comes the last call
We'll find that the Bible was true after all.
- Margie Knight
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