What is it? …Does it really exist? …How can I be sure?
Hard questions, but questions that need to be answered. Rest assured, there are answers to these and many other difficult questions about life and what comes next. If you’ve visited this page, chances are that you’re struggling with one or more of these questions and maybe even some others. Or perhaps you came here purely out of curiosity. In either case, know that there is a God, He’s real, He loves you and He wants you to have the answers that you’re looking for.
The Bible says “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
What exactly does that mean? It certainly isn’t hard to understand or believe the first part that all have sinned. You…me…everyone has imperfections. We all do things we know we shouldn’t. One popular theory says that as long as you do more good than bad, you’ll go to heaven when you die. Sounds reasonable enough, until you examine it more closely. Who decides what’s good and what’s bad? Who’s keeping score and what is the score anyway? We need assurance. We need standards. Something to measure our progress as we go. God provided the standard. Any time we fall short of God’s standard, we sin. And the Bible clearly says that all of us have sinned.
No one is capable of perfection. We all make mistakes. After all, we’re only human. God created us so He’s well aware of our shortcomings. Since no one can possibly live up to God’s perfect standard, He provided a way.
“But God proves His own love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
Think about that. God provided a way for us to experience eternal life while we were yet sinners. That means that He didn’t wait for us to clean up or get our act together. He made a way for us, even though we’re imperfect.
So what can we do?
Confess. It’s not something that we will readily do. The word itself conjures up images of coming clean about something that we’d rather not have anyone know about. In the Bible, however, the word confess simply means to agree.
Agree with who?...God.
Let’s face it, if God was capable of creating us, He’s capable of watching over us, which means that nothing is hidden from God. If that’s the case, then there would never be any reason to tell Him what He already knows.
The Bible says “…if you confess with your mouth ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9
Agree. That’s all God asks us to do. Just agree with Him. He already knows where you’ve failed in life and is waiting anxiously for you to come to Him. The result? Eternal life.
“For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
Eternal life is real and it begins the moment you agree with God about your own sin and accept His Son, Jesus. It continues on into eternity with the promise to every believer of eternal life with God in Heaven. You may be wondering at this point, “Can it really be that simple?”. The answer is yes, it really is that simple. God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, loves you so much that He was willing to give up His only Son so that you could be forgiven of your sins and have eternal life. All you have to do is believe.
There are no strings attached. God offers the gift of eternal life freely and unconditionally to everyone who will accept it. If you’d like to experience God’s forgiveness and have the assurance of spending eternity in Heaven with Him, just pray this simple prayer right now, wherever you are. The words of the prayer have no special power, but if they express the attitude of your heart then you, too, can have eternal life. Feel free to use your own words if you like. Know that God will hear you.
Pray something like this:
Dear God. I know that I’ve sinned. Please forgive me. I do believe that Jesus died for my sins and that He is Lord. I recognize my need for You and ask that You would come into my life and save me. Thank you for loving me so much. I ask that You would change my life and make me into the person that You created me to be. You were not ashamed to die for me, help me to never be ashamed of You. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.
If you prayed this prayer today, there are a few simple things you should do:
- Tell someone. Chances are that you know some people who have prayed a similar prayer at some point. They may refer to themselves as Christians, Believers or Born Again. They would love to hear your story and can help you begin your new life.
- Read the Bible. Get yourself a copy of God’s word (the Bible) and begin reading regularly. Remember that it’s not a race and God doesn’t expect you to understand it all at once. Take your time and be patient. A good place to start is the book of John. You can locate it by using the table of contents that is found in the front of most Bibles. Read slowly and think about what God is saying through His word. Find someone who can answer your questions and help you better understand what you’re reading.
- Pray. God allows us to speak to and listen to Him through prayer. Don’t worry that you don’t know how to pray. There is no special formula or vocabulary that you need. Just talk to God. Be honest with Him.
- Find a church home. Ask around, look in the phone book or just drive through your community. Find a Bible believing church and begin attending regularly. Through the preaching of God’s word and the fellowship with other believers you’ll begin to grow in your new relationship with Christ.
Finally, know that we at Northside Baptist Church would love to hear from you. You may have just asked Jesus into your life, or maybe you have questions about spiritual matters in general or our church. No matter, we’re available and will do our best to encourage you in your relationship with Jesus or answer questions you may have. Feel free to contact the church during normal business hours or reach us via email. We’ll get back to you as soon as is humanly possible.
(All scriptures are quoted from the Holman Christian Standard Bible)
