How to have a relationship with God
Do you want to have a real relationship with God? We are not talking about a religion here, but a real relationship.
There is only one way and His name is JESUS. He has come to bring SALVATION. He sets us FREE from the terrible power of sin and death. You can have that freedom through Him. It doesn’t come through any other person or religion.
“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 4:12
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
Deciding on a personal relationship with God through Jesus is the most important decision you will ever make. There are some things to understand in making this decision that we would like to share with you.
God Wants A Relationship With You
The first thing to know is that God desires a personal relationship with you and loves you. God made you (Genesis 1:27) and has a plan for you (Jeremiah 29:11). He wants to have fellowship with you (I John 1:5-7), and loves you (John 3:16).
Our forefather and foremother, Adam and Eve, had a relationship with God (Genesis 3:8-19), but they chose to sin against God, and through their decision, sin and death entered the world.
“…sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin” (Romans 5: 12).
“…through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners” (Romans 5:19).
“…death came through a man…in Adam all die” (I Corinthians 15:21-22).
Jesus used metaphors to illustrate the terror of sin and how it destroys life. He said it was
like:
Blindness – Matthew 23:16-26
Sickness – Matthew 9:12
Enslavement – John 8:34
Living In Darkness – John 8: 12; 12:35-46
Jesus said that everyone is infected with sin and stands guilty before God – Luke 7:37-48
Jesus also taught that our inner thoughts are equal to our external actions regarding sin, so
that hate in the heart is no different than murder, as far as the guiltiness of a person –
Matthew 5: 28
Jesus taught that our hearts are the source of our sin, and from within us come the evil
thoughts that produce evil actions – Mark 7: 21-23
Jesus taught that God is aware of every sin of our lives, inward and outward – Matthew22:
18; Luke 6:8; John 4:17-19
“…for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23
No one is exempt from this horrible condition. We are all sinners before God. Without His Grace and Kindness and Love, we would have no hope. Our destination is a place the Bible calls HELL. It is real and those that have no relationship with God through Jesus will go to this place. The Bible speaks of Hell in many Scriptures. Several are: Matthew 5:22-30; 10:28; 18:9; Luke 12:5; 16:23. JESUS CHRIST is the ONLY escape from HELL!
God Has A Problem
The bible teaches that sin is universal so we are all infected. Sin separates us from God and hell is the place where sinners will be sent. God is just and will punish sin but He loves us, sinners, and does not want to punish us. That is God’s problem. He solved the problem through Jesus.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” – John 3:16-18
The purpose for which Jesus came into the world the first time was to die for the sins of mankind. Jesus affirms this – John 12:27
His death was a sacrificial offering for the sins of humanity – Matthew 26: 26-28
Other Scriptures to consider regarding this – Matthew 10: 28; 11:23; 16:25; 23:33; 25:41; Luke 16:22-28; John 3:16
“The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28
“The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost” Luke 19:10
Jesus Died For All But Not All Shall Be Saved!
He died so that anyone and everyone could be saved and have a relationship with God, but not all will receive the benefit of His sacrifice. Some will reject Him. Some will refuse Him. What about you?
How To Receive Jesus Christ?
Well, we do not receive salvation because we are good, or do good works.
“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
Salvation is a free gift but each person must personally receive it in order to make it his or her own. We receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior when we… Believe
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
“For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” John 6: 40
“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies” John 11:25
Repent
“I tell you the truth, no! But unless you repent, you too will perish.” Luke 13:3
“ Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins will be forgiven. And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:38
“In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.” Acts 17:30
Confess
“That 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. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” Romans 10:9, 10
“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” I Timothy 6:12
Are Baptized
“Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven.” Acts 2:38
“Those who accepted his message were baptized…” Acts 2:41
“And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.” Acts 22:16
Also read: Acts 8:26-39; Romans 6:1-14
Salvation is ours by virtue of the finished work of Christ. He died on the cross, was buried, raised, ascended, and is coming again! His work saves us when we receive Him in faith (Ephesians 2:8,9)
To believe that Jesus is the Son of God, but NOT accept Him through faith as personal Lord
and Savior, will NOT save you.
To repent of your sin, but NOT accept Him through faith as personal Lord and Savior, will
NOT save you.
To confess Jesus, but NOT accept Him through faith as personal Lord and Savior, will NOT
save you.
To be baptized, but NOT accept Him through faith as personal Lord and Savior, will NOT
save you.
Only when you accept Jesus as Lord and Savior in faith, that is, turn your whole life over to Him, asking for forgiveness of your sin, do belief, repentance, confession, and baptism have any meaning!
In FAITH you must…
Believe in Christ
Repent of sin and turn to Christ
Confess Christ
Be baptized into Christ
Freedom Is Yours In Christ
The freedom we receive as Christians is complete. We are no longer held guilty of our sins. If we falter and commit sin as Christians, we can gain forgiveness by asking God to forgive us (I John 1:9).
The Bible informs us that as a Christian we are made new.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.” II. Cor.5: 17
We do not need to fear being condemned.
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” Romans 8:1
The Church
As Christians, we grow in relationship with Christ by being in relationship with other Christians in a local church. God works to grow us up in many ways but the Church is still the means by which He primarily uses. How?
We read this of the 1st Century Church that… “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Acts 2:42
Apostles’ Teaching
The new Christian must read and study the Word of God. It is to our spirit and soul what physical food is to the body (Matthew 4:4). The Word of God is consumed by each of us individually and corporately when we come together.
Fellowship
The new Christian finds in a local church people in various stages of spiritual growth. The relationships developed help the new Christian as they grow. A part of the benefit is the conflict. The local church will have people of varied backgrounds and levels of maturity. God calls for us to fellowship with them. We are called to love them has brothers and sisters. We will not always like them. Just as brothers and sisters have conflict and thereby, when correctly responded to, grow up, we will too.
The Church is family, the family of God. By applying the Word of God to our lives, we learn to get along and we learn to love. God uses the Church to provide what we need to mature. The Church is also the means by which the mission of God is carried out. What is that mission? To reach the world with the Good News that Jesus Saves. Jesus commissioned us saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28: 18-20
We are to carry the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. We do this individually but our efforts are divinely multiplied when we work together in the Church.
Breaking Of Bread
Sharing a meal with someone is a means of experiencing intimacy unsurpassed among humans with the exception of the marriage relationship. Jesus asked that we remember Him by partaking of unleavened bread and the fruit of the vine. This is called Communion, or the Lord’s Supper. The 1st Century Church often would gather and have a large meal they called Love Feasts. At the end of such a meal they would pass unleavened bread and a cup with the fruit of the vine amongst themselves and reflect upon Christ’s sacrifice for them and their relationship with one another. It is a way of intimacy with one another and with Christ.
Prayer
God gives the Christian the privilege of working with Him in His great purposes for the world. One of the most vital and blessed of such privilege is to pray. We can pray for ourselves, others, family, and government leaders. We can pray our praise of God. We can pray for direction, provision, and a host of other needs and concerns. It has been said that prayer is the most you can do and the least you can do.
Relationships grow through communication. God speaks to us via His Word and we speak to Him via prayer. Prayer is an important ingredient in maturing in our relationship with Christ. The Church comes together and prays, thus multiplied prayer occurs.
Be like those early 1st Century Christians and devote yourselves to these four crucial means of growth.
The Church exists to WORSHIP. We do this in our individual lives and we do this as we corporately gather. Praising, praying, singing, giving, communing, teaching, preaching, studying and applying, are all means of worshiping when we do what we do to glorify God. All of our life is to be worship in that our desire is to bring Him glory.
“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” I Corinthians 10:31
If you accept Jesus Christ as YOUR Lord and Savior, then you have the promise of forgiveness of sin and eternal life.
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace” Ephesians 1:7
“Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more” Hebrews 10:17,18
“Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.” Psalm 32:1, 2
“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” Psalm 103:11,12
The Christian Knows They Are Saved!
“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” I John 5:13
If you would like to know more about being a Christian, please feel free to contact us.