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A Relationship with God
God created every single person with a purpose – to have a personal relationship with Him, both here on earth and afterwards in heaven for eternity. Do you know God in this special, personal way?
God’s Character
God is holy (1 Peter 1: 15) and loves righteousness and justice (Psalm 33:5). God knows our very thoughts, and even the altitudes of our hearts (Jeremiah 12:3). What does God see inside us? God says that there is not a single righteous person on earth (Romans 10:3) because all of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). Sin is not only disobeying God’s commands such as not to worship idols or not to commit murder or adultery or to steal or to lie (Exodus 20) but also to reject God and to fail to do what He wants us to do (James 4: 17). Jesus shows us that even our thoughts are judged (Mark 7:21-23). God says that we are like those who are unclean or diseased, and that even our good deeds – our best efforts – are as filthy rags. This is because God is perfect and cannot tolerate un-holiness in His presence; and so our sins have separated us from God (Isaiah 59:2) and the reward for our sins is death (Romans 6:23). Death, which means eternal separation from God, is the penalty for our sin, and all the good deeds we could ever do cannot save us (Ephesians 2:9).
The Good News
Here is the good news! God also loves each one of us, even while we are still sinners (Romans 5:8). The Bible says this is how God has shown His love for us; He sent His only son Jesus into the world to die as a sacrifice to pay for our sins, so that through acceptance of this we may be saved (1 John 4:9-10). Jesus died and rose again, proving that He had conquered death and that God would raise us too (1 Corinthians 15:3-6 and 12- 13). This is how God reconciled His love for righteousness and justice (and therefore the requirement that our sin be punished) and His love for us. He sent Jesus to die as a sacrifice for us and by his death to pay for our sins (Hebrews 9:27-28). This gift from God is for everyone who repents (turn his back on and determines in his heart to do his best to leave his previous sinful life without Jesus) and accepts Jesus as both the lord of his life and as his Saviour, for Jesus said He would not drive away anyone who came to Him (John 6:37) no matter what sins he had committed (Isaiah 1:18). Furthermore Jesus said there is no other way to be accepted by God except through faith (believing in) Him (John 14:6). This means we are not to trust in anyone or anything else for our salvation or to worship any other god or person or thing, because the Bible says there is only one God (1 Timothy 2:5) and to do so would be to deny this and the sacrifice of Jesus as being sufficient for all our sins (1 Peter 3:18).
Receiving Your Salvation
How do we receive this great gift of salvation? By believing that God did just this for us – that out of His love, He sent His son Jesus (John 3:16) and by receiving Jesus into our hearts (John 1:12). How do we do this? The Bible says we must repent of our sinful lives and openly confess with our mouths that Jesus is our Lord, and that we must believe that God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9-10) after He died as a sacrifice for our sins. Unless we acknowledge Jesus before other people, Jesus says that when we die He will not acknowledge us before His Father in heaven (Mathew 10:32- 33). The choice now is yours. Jesus says “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20). Now you must decide. If you wait too long and die before you have decided, it will be too late (Hebrews 9:27).
Your Prayers to God
The exact words you use in praying to God are not so important, because God looks at our hearts (1Thessalonians 2:4). Here is a suggested prayer which you can say to God right now: “Lord Jesus, I realise that my sins have separated me from the love of the Father. I believe that you died and rose again so that I could be forgiven and receive everlasting life. I ask you now to forgive my sins and to come into my heart as my Saviour and the Lord of my life from now onwards. Thank you for forgiving all my sins and for giving me eternal life, according to your word. I now turn away from sin and ask you, Lord Jesus, to direct my life. Amen”
Dr Brian Drury
