Fortunately, Jesus lovingly made this
transformation process very simple, so simple that even those
who are retarded or not educated can understand. There are several
steps to becoming Born Again which I have listed below:
1. Understand that ALL men ever born are sinners. Romans 3:23, says, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." This message that all men are sinners is amply repeated through Scripture, both Old and New Testaments.
This means you are a sinner in the eyes
of an angry God, Who must punish all sin. Do you believe you are
a sinner?
2. Since man is an imperfect sinner,
and God is a perfect God, no man can save himself. Jesus made
this fact very plain in Matthew 5:48, when He said, "Be ye,
therefore, perfect, even as your Heavenly Father is perfect."!!!
If we all have to be perfect in God's
eyes, how can there be anyone in Heaven, especially since the
Bible declares, repeatedly, that ALL people are sinners? Obviously,
no one is going to get to Heaven this way, by trying to be 'good
enough' to merit Heaven. Since the Bible says there are going
to be untold millions of people in Heaven, there must be some
other way to get there, other than by trying to be 'good enough'.
You must also be very sorry for your
sins, and want to have them forgiven. This is known as Repentance.
The word Repent means to both be very sorry for your sins, and
to want to not sin anymore. Repentance means the desire to turn
your life around 180 degrees. This does not mean you will never
sin again, but it does mean that sin will become the exception
in your life, not the rule. Don't worry -- the Holy Spirit will
give you the spiritual power to become this type of person]
3. Jesus Christ, offering His shed blood
on Calvary, died as a substitute punishment for your sins, and
is now offering eternal life in Heaven to you as a Free Gift!!
Sound too good to be true? In Romans 6:23, we read, "For
the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord." Wow!! Eternal life is a gift,
a free gift, of God through Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross. You
can't earn it, and you sure don't deserve it, but it is yours
as a FREE GIFT.
4. In Ephesians 2:8-9, the Apostle Paul
reiterates this teaching that eternal life with God is a free
gift. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that
not of yourselves: it is the gift of God; Not of works, lest any
man should boast." No man can stand before God in eternity,
and boast that they 'earned' their way to Heaven. Rather, all
people in Heaven will be there only because of Jesus' FREE Gift,
which He obtained from God because of His substitutionary death
sacrifice on the Cross. Rather than punishing each person's individual
sins, God heaped all those sins on Jesus on the Cross Isaiah 53:2-12]
Now, you are probably thinking, 'How
can I receive this free gift of eternal life'? Again, the Bible
is not silent. In Acts 16:25-33, the jailer anxiously asked Paul,
"What must I do to be saved"? Paul answered "Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved ..." verse
31" But, what exactly must we believe about Jesus Christ
that will attain us unto Salvation? We must believe what the Bible
teaches about Him.
5. In John 1:1, 14, we see that Jesus
Christ is God, equal with God, present with God from before the
beginning of time, and the actual Creator of the Universe and
all that is within it. Jesus repeatedly made these claims during
His ministry. He is 100% God and 100% human at the same time,
which is why He used both titles during His ministry, Son of God
and Son of Man. To become Born Again, you must believe this about
Jesus Christ.
Verse 14 is most important, the teaching
that Jesus God became man. This teaching becomes a point of separation
between the followers of Christ and Antichrist. In 1 John 4:1-3,
we see that anyone who denies that Jesus has come in the flesh
is the spirit of antichrist. Of course, that is just what the
Gnostics of that day were saying, i.e., that Jesus the human was
not God Messiah come in the flesh; rather, the 'Christ Consciousness'
the 'Messiah' Consciousness, came on Jesus at His baptism and
left Him on the Cross. But, they believe Jesus was not God and
Man. The New Age Movement has resurrected this blasphemy with
a vengeance.
6. Isaiah 53:6 foretells exactly what
Jesus Christ did for us on the Cross; "the Lord [God
the Father] has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Praise
God!! Only the Wisdom, Grace, and Power of God Almighty could
conceive of such a gracious Plan of Salvation!! God's Nature is
such that sin must be punished. Period! But, God set up a Plan
whereby an innocent substitute was to be punished instead of the
guilty person. In the Old Testament, God allowed the lamb to be
the substitute sacrifice for sin; Jesus then became the ultimate
substitute sacrifice, for all the sins of the world. His was the
Perfect sacrifice, that never needs to be repeated, and that saves
all people forever more.
You must believe in, and understand,
this principle of Substitute Punishment, before you can become
Born Again. And, you must believe that Jesus Christ became the
Perfect Substitute Punishment for YOU, before you can become Born
Again.
Now that you understand these Truths,
and believe them for your life, you now need to understand how
you can receive this FREE Gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ.
After all, if I were to attempt to give you a FREE gift, that
gift would not become yours if you were to refuse to reach out
and take that gift from my hand. So it is here. You must reach
out and take this FREE Gift of Eternal Life from the hand of Jesus
Christ. How is this done?
Through Saving Faith.
Notice I said Saving Faith. There are
types of faith that will not get you saved. You may have faith
that merely intellectually assents to the facts of Jesus Christ's
person, but that is not Saving Faith. You may be in a 'church'
or a cult that teaches many truths about Jesus Christ, but who
teach that you must do many things to earn your way to Heaven.
This is not Saving Faith.
Saving Faith is trusting in Jesus Christ,
and Him alone, for your Salvation. If you think you need to do
anything for Salvation except trust in Jesus work on the cross,
you are guilty of violating Ephesians 2:8-9 and Isaiah 53:6b.
Does this make sense to you? Most cults
and false Christian religions err at this point; they add things
that are "necessary" for Salvation, or they offer a
counterfeit way to Heaven, i.e., Salvation by Baptism.
You receive this wonderful FREE Gift
of Eternal Life by reaching out in Saving Faith and accepting
it. This is the greatest story ever told, about the greatest offer
ever made, by the Greatest Person who ever lived. Truly, only
an all Wise, Gracious God could conceive of such a wonderful Plan
whereby men could have their sins forgiven, and obtain eternal
life. Think of it!! Since God must punish sin, but because He
is Merciful, He offered this Plan of Substitutionary Punishment,
through Jesus Christ. We have historically called this wonderful
Plan the Gospel, i.e., Good News!!
Do you want to receive this Gift of
Eternal Life that Jesus left Heaven and died on a cross to give
you? If your answer is, 'Yes', you can immediately receive Eternal
Life.
Let me clarify exactly what this involves.
First, you are going to transfer your trust, your hope of eternal
life from what you have been doing to what Jesus Christ has done
for you on the cross. Jesus will take your sin and transfer TO
YOU His right standing with God the Father, what we call His righteousness.
This means that though we have failed repeatedly to keep God's
commandments and to live consistently by the Golden Rule, Christ
perfectly obeyed all the laws of God. He lived the perfect life,
so He could be the perfect, innocent substitutionary sacrifice
that God would accept for your sins, and the sin of the entire
world, for all who will accept this gift.
Are you willing to repent of your sins
right now, and become a responsible member of God's forever family,
following Him and serving Him as a member of His forever family,
following Him and serving Him as a member of His body, the Church?
If your heartfelt answer is, "Yes", then we can go to
Him now in prayer, and we can tell Him that you want to cease
trusting in anything else for Eternal Salvation, especially in
what you can do for yourself. You can place your trust in Him
and Him alone for salvation, receiving Him now as your personal
Savior. Before we pray this simple prayer, I need to point our
that the Lord Jesus Christ is looking at your heart more than
His is listening to your lips. As He promised, "Ye shall
seek Me, and find Me, when [after] ye shall search for
Me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13).
If this is what you mean, then the Lord
will hear your prayer and grant you eternal life, right now, in
the privacy of your home. Let me pray.
"Father, I pray that You would
grant the FREE gift of eternal life. May thy Holy Spirit draw
him or her unto Thyself. Grant him faith to believe Thy wonderful
promises. Grant him or her repentance to turn from his sins. Reveal
unto him Jesus Christ crucified as the perfect substitutionary
sacrifice, today."
Jesus Christ is right with you right
now. You are not talking to anyone now, but to Him. If you really
want to be Born Again, into the Eternal Family of God through
Jesus Christ, pray this prayer, from your heart.
"Lord Jesus, I want you to come
in and take over my life right now. I am a sinner. I have been
trusting in myself and my own good works, and in other things.
But, now I place my trust in you. I accept You as my own personal
Savior. I believe You died for me. I receive You as Lord and Master
of my life. Help me to turn from my sins and follow You. I accept
Your offer of the FREE gift of eternal life. I am not worthy of
it, but I thank You for it. Amen."
Now, allow me to pray. "Father, you have heard the prayer which has been prayed. I ask that in this quiet moment, Thy Holy Spirit will grant unto him Your absolute assurance of life eternal; grant unto him the certainty that his sins are forgiven. Grant that he may hear, in the depths of his soul, Thy voice saying, 'Thy sins be forgiven thee. Go in peace'. Grant, O Jesus, that he may hear Thy voice saying, 'As far as the east is from the west, so far have I put thy sins from thee, never to remember them against thee anymore. [The person] that believeth on Me shall not come into condemnation. He that trusts in Me is passed from death unto life. He that believeth on Me shall not perish but has everlasting life [paraphrased from Psalm 103:12; John 3:1
8; 5:24; 3:16]. In Jesus' Name, I pray.
Amen."
You have just prayed the most important
prayer you have ever prayed in your life. If you were sincere
in this prayer, I want you to see what Jesus says about what you
have just done. In John 6:47, Jesus says, "Verily, verily,
I say unto you, he that believeth on Me has everlasting life."
In your prayer, you didn't hear any angel choirs or see any visions;
however, by a simple act of faith, you have placed your trust
for your eternal salvation in Jesus Christ.
Saving Faith is trusting in Jesus Christ
ALONE for your salvation. If you meant with your heart what you
just said with your lips, you have the promise of Jesus Christ
that He has forgiven your sins, and has adopted you into the kingdom,
and has given you eternal life in Heaven with Him.
If this sounds so simple you have trouble
believing that it could be true, the Bible assures you that it
is most definitely true. Over the centuries, man has deliberately
complicated this simple Plan of Salvation that most people simply
do not know how simple and uncomplicated God has planned Salvation
through Jesus Christ to be!! If you were genuine in your prayer,
you now have eternal life, and are as assured of it as if you
were already there!! This is why Jesus said, that no person can
ever take any of His who are Born Again out of the Father's hand.
You are now in the Father's hand, and no power on Earth or in
Heaven can take you back out!!
But, He has done much more!! In Revelation
3:20, Jesus promised, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock
He has been knocking at the door of your heart, and you have just
opened that door to let Him in]; if anyone hears and listens and
heeds My voice, and opens the door I WILL come in to him and will
eat with him, and he will eat with Me." Jesus Christ has
just entered INTO YOUR HEART through the work of the Holy Spirit,
to live in your heart for the rest of your life!! What great news,
for now we have the same Holy Spirit power within us that raised
Jesus from the dead [Romans 8:11]. In fact, I encourage
you to read Romans 8 to see all the advantages we have because
the Holy Spirit indwells us daily.
Salvation through Jesus shed blood on
Calvary gives you a deep, abiding Personal Relationship with His
Holy Spirit while you live on this Earth!! As you read the New
Testament, you will come to understand the wonderful depth you
can reach between you and your Creator!! Salvation produces a
relationship that will deeply enrich your life daily!! You will
never have believed, prior to becoming Born Again, what kind of
life you have been missing out on for so long!
Please write back to tell us if you
have decided to become Born Again. We need to give you some practical
advice on how to ensure your continued maturity and productivity
in the Lord. When you e-mail us, please put "Born Again" in the subject field.
We love you in the Lord. Pray for us
in this ministry, in warning people all over the world about the
impending New World Order. Satan has been so strong in attacking
this ministry.
Because of His Love On Calvary,
David Bay
Cutting Edge
