An Invitation

This is my story, and an invitation to you. Please read this with an open mind, and open heart, and an open Bible.

Hopeless

Once upon a time, I was lost and without hope in the world. Although I grew up in a “Christian home”, I did not know God or His Son, Jesus Christ. I went to church, graduated from a parochial school, and was even serious about my brand of faith. Yet I ran away from God.

At every turn of my life, I looked to myself for the answers. Looking back, I knew then that I was not saved. Although I understood a lot of “facts” about God, and was familiar with the stories in the Bible, and even took my religion seriously, I knew that there was something wrong. God was faithful in pursuing me by His Holy Spirit, and led me to the end of myself, to the end of my strength, and to exhaust my own resources in dealing with the struggles of this life.

It was at that moment that He intervened, and rescued me from the grip of sin. It was not just that I had some messed up life, or that I had a difficult time coping. No, I was sinner and I knew it, and the effects of sin had me on the highway to hell. The details of my life before Christ are not important, or worth repeating here. What IS important is that I was led to recognize the depth of my sin, and my need for salvation.

God led me to understand that I was a sinner at the core of my being, and that I need the free gift of salvation available only through faith in Jesus Christ alone to solve my sin problem. No one can be saved who does not first recognize that he or she first needs to be saved from something. That something is sin. You were born with it, you live everyday with it, and if you don’t do something about it, you will die in sin and be united with it for all eternity in a place that you don’t want to go. 

All men (people) everywhere are called to repent of their sin, (Acts 17: 30-31) and to place their trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. Reconciliation to a Holy God is only possible through faith in Christ. There is no other way for you to be saved. ( John 14:6, John 6:47) Eventually when you leave this world, you will be saved from the presence of sin if you are trusting in Christ alone for forgiveness. It is not faith in your own effort, good works, religious rituals, or some other god of your own making that is required. Only faith in Jesus alone can save you.

If you do not trust in Him, you will be united with the penalty, power, and presence of sin for all eternity. Yes, there is a literal hell, and all those who reject Jesus Christ will spend eternity there. (John 3:18-19, Romans 3:23, 6:23, Matthew 25:46, Revelation 20:14-15) Does that sound harsh? Yes. Do you deserve to be punished because you are a sinner, disobedient to God, rejecting His goodness, excluding Him from your life? Yes. Do you have to go there when you die? 

NO!

If you confess that you are a sinner, acknowledge your need for salvation from your sin, and accept the free gift of salvation that comes through faith in Jesus Christ alone, based solely upon what He accomplished for you at the cross and through His resurrection from the dead, then you will be saved. (Romans 10:9-10) 

You see, its not about you and what you have done. Its not about your good deeds, religious practices, lifestyle, wealth, or just because you are a nice person that you will be able to solve your sin problem. You can not buy your way to heaven by giving to the poor, giving to the church, or leaving an endowment.

Being nice is not enough. Following the rules of some religion – even all of the rules in the Bible – is not enough. Not one human being is capable of keeping God’s law and obtaining salvation. (Galatians 2:16, 3:10-14,22,24) The standard is perfection, 100% compliance, 24 / 7, 365 days per year, every year for your entire life. Can you do that? The honest answer is no.

Hope

Salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ and what He has done for you. Only He has done all that is required to solve your sin problem. The work is finished. All you need do is embrace Him and you will have hope.  In Romans chapter 6, you can see three aspects of this great salvation. Through faith in Jesus Christ, we:

• Have been saved from the penalty of sin
• Are being saved from the power of sin
• Will ultimately be saved from the presence of sin

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Penalty)

Romans 6:3— 11 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too might live a new life. (Power) If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. (Presence)
For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin– because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. (Penalty / Power) Now if we died with Christ. we believe that we will also live with him. (Power / Presence) For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Penalty, Power, & Presence)

Romans 6:22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. (Penalty, Power & Presence)

Faith

By accepting the finished work of Jesus Christ on your behalf, you can be saved. (John 5:24) Belief is all about trust. Placing your trust in Jesus Christ solves your sin problem and answers the question of your eternal destiny. (John 6:47) Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will have hope, in this life now, and in the one to come. I invite you to believe the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ alone, and ask you to be reconciled to God, today while you are reading this invitation.  If you recognize your sin believing that you need someone to save you, and believe that you can not solve your sin problem on your own but only though trusting Christ, all you need do is to confess that to God and believe in your heart what the Bible says about Jesus and His resurrection. (Roman 10:9-10) You will be saved. At that moment you are saved.

You can then follow the pattern of the early church, who invited people to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of their sin, identifying themselves with Christ death and resurrection. (Acts 2:38-39, Acts 8:35-39, Acts 9:17-20)  This baptism involved a confession of faith, and being identified as a believer in union with Christ. Salvation comes by faith, and baptism serves to identify us as God’s own because of that faith in Christ. (Ephesians 2:8-9) By our baptism into Christ, we are permanently immersed into Him, so as to be made one with Him. This is what our water baptism symbolizes. Our permanent union in Christ.

New Life

If you believe these things, then I invite you find a church that believes the Bible is God’s Word, preaches the Gospel to both saints and sinners, and is able to help you grow in your new life in Christ. Get a copy of God’s Word for yourself, read it, stay reading it, and compare everything that you hear, read, and encounter in the church with it. Following God’s Word will keep you grounded in the faith, and will lead to maturity in Christ.

If you have made a profession of faith because of what you read here, I would like to hear about it so that I can pray for you in your new life. I leave you with my favorite passage from God’s Word as an encouragement. May God bless you!

Romans 5:1-2 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

May God grant you the peace that comes only through faith in Jesus Christ.