God created each of us out of His endless love.  God loves us and desires for us to love Him as well. However, when Adam bit into the fruit in the Garden of Eden, he introduced sin to the world and into the entire human race.  With sin in each one of us we are separated from God by a divide which we cannot cross apart from the gift offered in Jesus Christ.

This illustration describes the initial condition of man and what is required for those who desire eternal life. This is what it means to be Christian.

Every person exists with sin in their life. Romans 3:23 - "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Isaiah 53:6 - "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." However, in spite of this sin, God still loves us and wants us to know Him and love Him.

As the above verse indicates, the penalty for this sin is death. Hebrews 9:27 also indicates this - "Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment..."  God doesn't leave us, though. He provided a solution - a way to avoid that spiritual death.

Death:

This is a spiritual death. Spiritual death is eternal separation from God and eternal misery. Death is contrasted with eternal life, which is a spiritual eternal life and not a physical one.

Wages:

Wages are consequences that are earned. By our sin, we have earned the death that awaits. This is contrasted with a gift which is given,not earned.

Sin:

Sin is coming up short in doing what is right before God. When an arrow misses the bulls-eye this distance of the miss is referred to as the sin of the arrow. Similarly, when we miss the mark set before each one of us by God, we sin.

God became man in the person of Jesus Christ. Because we have sinned against God, only God can forgive us. Christ came that we might have fellowship with God once again. Romans 5:8 - "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Although Christ was crucified and killed, He came back to life on the third day. 1 Peter 3:18 - "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit."

Christ did this for us because we can't. Ephesians 2:8-9 - "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 one can boast." This is reiterated in Titus 3:5 - "He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit."

Gift:

A gift is something that is given and not earned. God has given us this gift free of charge; we only have to accept it. There is also no "halfway" in accepting a gift. In this illustration, a person cannot be somewhere between the two sides. Once God's gift is accepted, that person is on "God's side". If the gift has not been accepted, that person is still on "man's side".

Eternal life:

This is not only spiritual life, but physical also. Even though our bodies may die, our souls are, at the moment of death, immediately in the presence of the Lord, in conscious and perfect joy. We can also look forward to the day of our bodily resurrection. (1 Corinthians 15:15-58, Romans 6:4-5, John 17, 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18)

Accepting Christ as your Lord and Savior is the only way to receive salvation. In John 14:6 Jesus testified, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Referring to God, the apostle John wrote, "Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God." (John 1:12)

Once we accept Christ, we can be assured of our salvation. In John 5:24, Jesus also said, "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." In 1 John 5:13, John writes, "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know you have eternal life."

Where would you place yourself right now? Are you on man's side of the bridge or on God's side? If you are on the left side (man's side) is there any reason why you shouldn't cross over to God's side and experience His love and eternal life? If you have decided to accept Christ into your life, please continue to "How you can accept Christ". If you have more questions, please feel free to look around our web site and see if you find what you are looking for. Or let us know if you have any questions we could answer for you.

If you are ready to accept Christ as your personal Lord and Savior all you need to do is to confess your need for His redemption and ask Him to forgive you. The following is an example prayer. You do not need to use this exact one, but if you are not sure what to say you can follow this one. "

Dear Lord, I know I have done wrong and broken Your laws. I believe you died for my wrongdoings. I ask You to forgive me of all my sins. I want to turn from them. Please come into my life as You said You would. I trust you as Savior and I want to follow you as Lord. Amen.

What do you do now?

First of all, REJOICE! Welcome to the family!

One of the most important things you can do now is find someone who has been a Christian for a while and can help you grow. Find a local church to get involved in and talk with the pastor about your recent decision.

10 Things That Happen to You When You Are Saved

Saved

We've been delivered. 3 aspects of our deliverance:

1. Past - We were delivered from the penalty of sin (Eph 2:8, Titus 3:5)
2. Present - We are daily delivered from the power of sin (Rom 6:14, Phil 2:12)
3. Future - We will be delivered from the presence of sin (Rom 13:11)

Forgiven

It speaks of erasing the guilt of our sin from the record. It covers all of our sins: past, present, and future. (Col 2:13) There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ (Rom 8:1)

Justified

This is the judicial act of God in which He declares the believer righteous on the basis of the righteousness of Christ. It is impossible for us to justify ourselves by our personal character (Ps 143:2; Ps 130:3), by keeping the law (Gal 3:11-12; Rom 3:20), or by religious ceremonies (Rom 4:9-11). We are justified through Christ paying the penalty for our sin on the cross (Heb 9:26; Rom 6:16).

Redeemed

Redemption is the paying of a price to buy freedom for someone who is in bondage or slavery (Titus 2:14; Eph 1:7). The purchase price was the death of Christ (1 Peter 1:18-19) in order for us to be redeemed from the slavery of sin (John 8:34; Rom 6:17)

Reconciled

The broken relationship between us and God has been restored to proper fellowship. As a result, we are brought into spiritual fellowship with God (2 Cor 5:18-21), and we have peace with God (Rom 5:1).

Regenerated

We have been born again, this time to eternal life (Jn 3; 1 Peter 1:3,23) The results of this regeneration:

1. We are a new creation - 2 Cor 5:17
2. We have a new spiritual life - John 3:5-7
3. We have a new relationship with God - John 1:12
4. We are partakers of the divine nature - 2 Peter 1:4
5. We have a new heart and a new spirit - Ezekiel 36:20
6. We are given new spiritual insight - John 3:3

Adopted

We are placed as His children. Our privileges as children of God:

1. Freedom from the bondage of fear - Rom 8:15
2. Heirs with Christ Jesus - Rom 8:17; Gal 14:7
3. Assurance of future glory and completion of our adoption - Rom 8:23

Indwelt

The Holy Spirit resides within, or indwells, the believer from conversion to eternity (John 14:16-17; Rom 5:5). As a result we are guaranteed future blessing, have fellowship with the Holy Spirit, and can strive for holiness of life.

Baptized

The Holy spirit places the believer in union with Christ and His body, the Church (1 Cor 12:13; Rom 6:3-5).

Sealed

The Holy Spirit seals us to show that we are owned by God and that we are secure until the Day of Redemption (Eph 4:30).