As we said before, the one way to get right with God is based completely on the Bible, not our opinion. This can be verified by reading the Bible yourself. That is why we inserted the Bible link above. Now, if we are going to follow what the Bible says about getting right with God, we have to answer three important questions.
Question 1: Why do I need Jesus?
Most people begin with a wrong view of their condition in relationship to God. If they believe in a life after this life, they think their own way of getting to heaven is “good enough” to make it through those “pearly gates.”Unfortunately, these beliefs measure these people against other people. None of these beliefs really explain those people’s condition when related to God. The Bible tells us that every person is totally separated from God by a thing called “sin.” (This is shown in the book of Romans, chapter 3, verse 23. People familiar with the Bible call this “Romans 3:23” as a type of “Bible shorthand.”) Sin is simply disobeying God. Since God is sinless, He can not stand sin, or people with sin (every one of us). We have to be perfect. The problem is that we can not be perfect, it is impossible.
Think of it this way. If three of us throw darts at a dart board and one gets two inches away from the bull’s eye, another four inches away, and another misses the board completely, which one of us hit the bull’s eye? No one, of course! This is how it is with us compared to God. The bull’s eye is what God demands (perfection, no sin—ever). Some will come closer to obeying God than others, but no one ever hits the bull’s eye of perfection. Thus, everyone is totally lost and they are (literally) enemies of God, even if they get close to the bull’s eye. Just one sin totally separates us from God. What makes this worse is that we know that if we sin we have to die. See Romans 6:23 (chapter 6, verse 23). We will also be separated from God and eternally in Hell. Needless to say, we have a problem.
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Question 2: How Do I Accept Jesus?
The Bible reveals four steps:
Believe in Jesus and put your faith in Him. See Ephesians 2:8-10 (chapter 2, verses 8 through 10).Christianity is not a blind faith, but rather a faith based on facts. That is, unlike other faiths, it can be verified and proven to be true.
Repent of your sins. (See Acts 17:30,31.)What does “repent” mean? Well, imagine that you were going to the store when you realized that you forgot your money. What would you do? You would probably be disappointed that you wasted so much time, but you would still turn around and go home to get your money. Repentance is like that. A repentant person simply says, “God, I behaved badly in my past, and I want to turn around and live the way that You want me to live from now on.” You can talk to God like you would talk to a respected friend and repent of any sin that has been a part of your life.
Confess Jesus as Lord to someone. (See Matthew 10:32,33 and Romans 10:9,10.)In the Bible, God always places emphasis on what we say—probably because whatever is in your heart determines what you say (Matthew 12:34). Therefore God wants us to verbally commit to Jesus (as Lord of our life) to someone.
Be Baptized (See Acts 2:38,39.)Being baptized means being immersed in water. Typically, a person would stand in water, be lowered into the water (by another Christian), and then be brought back up out of the water. The significance of this act can be seen in Romans 6:1-7 and an example of it in Acts 8:26-39.
Some people do not think that baptism is part of accepting Jesus. However one thing is clear in the Bible—belief and baptism are always together, never separated. Therefore, it is obvious that baptism is part of accepting Jesus. Any true Christian may baptize you.
According to the Bible, this four-step process gets you right with God. If you have chosen to do this, congratulations! You are now on the “straight and narrow” path and can begin developing and keeping a relationship with God. That leads us to our third and final question.
Question 3: How Do I Stay Right With God Through Jesus?
Many times people think that God is going to forgive their past sins, but after becoming a Christian, they can never sin again or God will reject them. This is not the case at all, so let’s get an understanding of how we are to live after accepting Christ as our Savior and Lord.1 John 1:5-2:6 (chapter 1, verse 5 through chapter 2, verse 6) gives the best answer. This passage describes people who are right with God, and explains to them that they will still struggle with and fall into sin at times. At these times, it says that the blood of Jesus cleanses them from all sin. However, it first qualifies how believers must live to apply this promise to themselves. It uses the terms “walking in the light” and “walking in the darkness.”
The big issues here are foundation, motivation, and consistency. If our foundation is the Bible, and if our motivation is being like Christ, and if we consistently seek to live like Christ, then we know that Jesus covers our sins, and we are still right with God. (See 1 John 2:5,6 and 1 John 5:13.) However, if we say that we know God, and yet do not consistently seek to live like Christ by obeying Him (that is, we continue to “walk in darkness”) God says that we are liars and the truth is not in us. (See 1 John 2:3,4 and 1 John 1:6.) Thus, if you make a decision to accept Christ, you must understand that it means a lifetime commitment toward seeking to be like Jesus in the way that you live. This is what “staying right with God” is all about—becoming more like Jesus! We certainly hope that you will choose Jesus!
If you would like more help getting right with God, please contact us
Rev. Adbhuta Rao. Garnepudi
Millinium Baptist Church
Nambur, Guntur (Dist), A.P
milliniumbaptistchurchministries@yahoo.com
mbcministries.india@gmail.com
(+91)9848150491, 9908054910
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