|
An Important Ingredient To Marriage
This is not only marriage advice, but it is for anyone interested in how you can know that you're going to heaven. I pray you'll take the time to read this.
The Bible contains both bad and good news. The bad news is something about you and me. The good news is something about God. Let's discuss the bad news first.
You and I are sinners. That's why we sometimes are selfish with our spouse.
There is a book in God's Holy word the Bible, called Romans. In Chapter 3 verse 23 it says, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
When the Bible says that you and I have sinned, it says this because God knows all of us have lied, He knows sometimes we may lust or hate someone, or do other things that God does not approve of. The word sin in the Bible actually means "to miss the mark." In other words, God is perfect and we aren't. Let me explain.
Suppose each of us were to pick up a rock, and I say to you, "We'll throw our rocks and hit the North Pole." Well, you might throw farther than I or I might throw farther than you, but neither of us would hit the North Pole. Both of us would fall short. When the Bible says, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," it means that God has set a standard He expects every one of us to meet. That standard is God Himself. He expects us to be as holy as He is holy, as perfect as He is perfect. But it doesn't matter how religiously we live, how good we are, or how hard we work, we cannot meet that standard. All of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
God says the penalty for sin is death. Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death."
Suppose you were to work for me one day and I were to pay you fifty dollars. Fifty dollars would be your wages. That's what you've earned. The Bible is saying that because you and I have sinned, we have earned death. We are going to die and be eternally separated from God.
Since there was no way you could come to God, the Bible says that God decided to come to you. So the good news is:
Christ died for you. Christ took the penalty for your sins so you can now go to heaven and live with God. This is a wonderful thing you will not want to miss!
Romans 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Let's say that you were in the hospital dying of cancer. I could come to you and say, "I want to do something for you. We'll take the cancer cells from your body and put them into my body." What would happen to me?
Right! I would die. What would happen to you?
Right! You would live. Why? Because I took the thing that was causing your death and placed it upon myself, and I died as your substitute.
The Bible is saying that Christ came into the world, and He took the sin that was causing your death. He placed it upon Himself, and He actually died in your place. He was your substitute! The third day, He arose, as proof that sin, death, and the devil had been conquered.
So how can you get your hands on this free gift of life in heaven; after your life on earth?
You can be saved through faith.
Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."
Now you may be wondering, What is faith? The word faith means "trust." For example, you weren't there when your favorite chair was made and you didn't examine how it was built before you ever sat down in it. You simply trust the chair to hold you. Putting your faith in Christ means trusting Him to save you-not trusting your church membership, your good life, or your baptism to get you to heaven, but trusting Christ and Him alone. Your trust has to be in the One who dies for you and arose. It is then that God gives you heaven as a free gift.
Is there anything keeping you from trusting Christ right now? I hope you can realize that there is nothing more important than trusting Christ.
Will you pray right now and tell God you are trusting His Son as your Savior?
Saying a prayer has never saved anyone, but praying is a way of telling God that you believe and want to accept His free gift of forgiveness for your sins, and you want to go to heaven after you leave this earth.
Prayer means talking to God, and so that is the means by which we tell God that we are trusting Jesus Christ as our Savior. So please pray this prayer now:
"Dear God, I come to you now. I know that I am a sinner. I believe Christ died for me and rose from the grave. Right now, I trust Jesus Christ as my Savior. Thank you for the forgiveness and everlasting life I now have. In Jesus' name, Amen."
John 5:24 says, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life."
Now let's examine all of the verbs in that verse by asking the following questions:
"he who hears My word" Did you hear (or read) His word? Yes, by reading this article you heard God's word.
"and believes in Him who sent Me" - Did you believe what God said and trust Christ as your Savior? Yes, if you believe Jesus was God's Son and He died for you you believe!
"has everlasting life" -- This means you will live forever in heaven with God!
"and shall not come into judgment" This means you won't have to pay for your sin!
"but has passed from death into life" This means you going to hell, but now you are going to heaven!
In other words, you now have everlasting life on the basis of fact, not feeling.
I encourage you to memorize John 5:24 so that when doubtful feelings creep in, you can stand on the fact that you believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior.
If you did say this prayer, we would like to help you find a church in your local area, where you can begin to learn about God and about how God wants to bless you and your family as you obey Him.
Please send us an email at Saved@MarriageRomance.com with your contact information and any questions you have. We would like to contact you and encourage you and tell you how happy we are that you have accepted Christ as your Savior!
|
|