Precious one ... how important is it to you to get to know God? Above all else, God wants you and I to get to know Him. Yet there is a barrier that keeps that from happening. That barrier is called sin. Yet God loves us so much that in His mercy, He provided a way for our sin barrier to be removed. What was that way?
Maybe you have heard this before, or maybe it’s the first time you have ever heard it: Jesus Christ died for your sins so all your sins can be forgiven - so that no barrier now has to remain between you and God.
Have you ever heard this: God Himself died for your sins so they can all be forgiven - so the barrier of sin between you and Him can be removed?
Simply stated, when you ask God to save you from your sins, and trust that He has (and He truly wants you to believe that He has, but the devil doesn’t!), you immediately are spiritually “reconciled back to God” in good standing. It requires nothing else! You don’t have to try to be “good enough” to ask Him, because there is nothing so bad you may have done that He won’t forgive. We are not lying to you.
However … sooner the better … you need to understand how you became spiritually separated from God in the first place. Here is what the New Testament Bible communicates:
Every person born on this planet is spiritually separated from God at birth, because of the sinful disobedience of the first two created people, Adam and Eve. All offspring of Adam and Eve was born with (inherited) this same disobedient nature to God, separating us spiritually from Him. It is our sin (and our sinfully rebellious nature) we inherited at birth that separates us from a holy God.
That's why Jesus tells us in John 3:5 that: "We must be born again to enter the Kingdom of God." We need to be spiritual reunited with God, because our sins – our sinful nature – God cannot tolerate and will not allow in His presence ...and furthermore, must judge it. An all-righteous Judge must give punishment for wrongdoing against Him and others.
Is there any way then, we can be saved from being punished in hell for eternity for our sins?
Do you want to hear some incredibly Good News? God the Father judged all our sins on the Cross! God the Father dumped His anger and wrath against our sins on Jesus Christ (who was fully God before He came to earth as a human being, and was fully God when He resurrected and went back to heaven) so that we can now be forgiven of our sins! Past sins we committed – sins we might commit tomorrow or next week or next year or next decade, if we live that long, are ... and will all ...be forgiven. Have you ever heard of such wonderful news?!
Let’s say it a little different way to try to help you understand what God did for humanity – for you. God Himself took full punishment for all your sins upon Himself on the Cross so that you could be fully forgiven for them, and have total, complete confidence that you will not be judged by God and sent to hell for those sins! If we believe this, and are willing to die believing it … we have been immediately and fully reconciled back to God in good standing, and with that comes our full right to believe that God totally accepts us just the way we are upon our asking the heavenly Father to forgive us for our sins. When we ask Him to forgive us for our sins – He promises that He does forgive us of them … and it’s as though we never sinned in His eyes! Simply incredible, isn’t it?!
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. -- 1 John 1:8-9
But remember … you have an enemy who does not want you believing this incredible truth. His name is Satan.
(An important side note before continuing: God does in fact accept us just as we are when we confess our sins to Him and ask His forgiveness … but He loves us too much to let us stay “just the way we are” as we continue in our personal relationship with Him in the days ahead. He forgives our sin ... but He also has expectations that we will strive to stop committing those same sins in the future, because they will only do more harm to us than any eternal good).
Here is God’s promise to everyone of us from the Bible what we have sought to communicate about being "reconciled back to God" up until now:
Scripture assures us in Romans 5:8-11 of this fact -- (Words in brackets are ours to help people understand):
"But God (the Father) demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners (spiritually disobedient in our nature to Him because of our arrogant pride and rebellion - selfishness - self-will - self-centeredness - self-preoccupation - and our lust for recognition, power, money and pursuit of pleasure without any boundaries or constraints), Christ died for us.
"Much more then, having been justified by His blood (shed on the cross), we shall be saved from wrath (eternal punishment in hell at the Judgment Day, out of the presence of God and eternal joy ... forever) through Him (Jesus Christ -- The Son of God. This happens just to be two of His names).
"For if when we were enemies (separated from God because God cannot and will not bless our sin; and with our sins assuring us that upon Judgment Day, we will be judged and sentenced to hell for eternity for them) we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life (if we put our trust in Jesus Christ to forgive us of our sins, because He gave His life for this very purpose).
"And not only that, but we also rejoice in God (the Father) through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation (the MEANS in which we can become acceptable and intimate with God the Father this very moment in time).
Scripture also assures us in 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 that we not only can be reunited in good standing with God NOW . . . we can also find purpose in helping others to know that they TOO can be used of God to help others spiritually separated from God to be reunited with Him in good standing as well:
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new (spiritual) creation; old things(our sin that kept us separated from God, and/or our attempts to be pleasing to God by "earning our way to heaven" and by "somehow trying to be good enough") have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
"Now all things are of God (The Father), who has reconciled us to Himselfthrough Jesus Christ, and has given us (saved - spiritually reborn - Christians)the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
"Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God.
"For He (The Father) made Him (Jesus Christ) who knew no sin to be sin forus, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (Jesus Christ)."
So, precious one, if you would like to be spiritually reconciled to God this very moment, all you have to do is ask Him. You can do it in your own words, or you can repeat this simple prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, I come to you right now in the name of Jesus Christ ... asking that you save me from my sins ... so I can get to know you - so I can be friends with you.
God, I admit and confess that You paid the price for me to be able to be made right (be reconciled in good standing) with You . . . by dying that painful death on the cross and shedding Your innocent blood for me. When You were hanging there dying, You had me in mind. You died for me! So now, Lord Jesus, I accept You as the one and only sacrifice that God the Father will ever find acceptable to pay full ransom payment for my sins, so that I can be reunited in good standing back to HIM, for the purpose of getting to know You, and to be qualified to be one of your closest friends.
Heavenly Father, I ask forgiveness for all my sins, and I receive your forgiveness. I ask you and thank You now for the help of the Holy Spirit [third person of the Eternal Godhead] to help me on this new spiritual journey of intimacy with You, so that I can be pleasing to You from this moment forward in every way You desire. I willingly and willfully give You my life now, to do with it as you please. I am Yours! I belong to you FOREVER! Use me to bring You glory from this moment forward and forever, however you want to do that! Show me from this moment on what I need to do to become one of your closest, most intimate friends.
In Jesus' name I ask it, and believe it to be so! Amen.
Dear one, if you have just made this decision to trust God to save you from your sins through the Lord Jesus Christ and mean it, there are a few things we would like to encourage you to do now that you are reconciled back to God in good standing:
1) Tell another Christian about your decision. It's the most important decision you have ever made! We would also love to hear of your decision and share with you in this joyous occasion.
2) Obtain a Bible as soon as possible. Trust God to provide you with an easy to read New Testament Bible. God speaks to us in different ways, but the primary way He speaks to us is through the Holy Scriptures. To hear God speak to you, lead you, and instruct you, you need to read the words He has written to you. (I realize, depending where you are right now, obtaining a Bible may be a bit difficult. So - you can have confidence that He will communicate to you in the days ahead, as is needed, even without a Bible. God is not limited in His ability to communicate to us, wherever we happen to be).
4) Be wise in who you make spiritual relationships with. The devil has all kinds of spiritually misinformed and arrogant, know-it-all Christians (questionably "Christian", it would seem at times) to use to try to hinder your new relationship with God, and even counterfeit "Christians" on this planet (Scripture calls them "wolves in sheep's clothing"). The Holy Spirit will give you peace about who you should fellowship with, and who you should not. Follow your "heart" and not your emotions or fallible human logic. God tells you in scripture to be wise as a serpent, yet gentle as a dove. There is so much spiritual deception floating around this planet and it operates the most effectively when the label "Christian" or "Godly" or "Spiritually enlightened" or "supernatural revelation and/or divine visitation" is attached to it. You may not know a whole lot about what I'm talking about now, but I can assure you, you will in time, if you hang around here on earth for any length of time. Demonic deception has one ultimate purpose: to somehow try to shipwreck your faith and effectiveness in Jesus Christ, and/or to get you to believe it so you can pass along it's spiritual poison to others.
A demonic "religious spirit" (which often includes a "controlling spirit") covers this earth and operates at "peak efficiency" in many churches as well as in nice, cozy home settings where "religious people" often meet. The Bible calls this simply the working of the Anti-Christ spirit. It is difficult to spot often-times ... until it slowly begins to chip away at every tiny piece of joy and peace you may have. It best functions with a Bible in one hand so-to-speak and a FREE cross in the other for you to wear that injects secret tiny poisonous darts into your soul and spirit, if you innocently wear it around your neck. A dimension of the anti-Christ spirit may well even be residing in your spouse or other family members or friends, and you haven't a clue, until it seeks to devour your faith and confidence and joy in God. It is the same "spirit" that operated through the Pharisees and the Sadducees ... the very ones who hung Jesus on the Cross. It will seek to "spiritually hang you too" ... to try to get you so discouraged and even angry with God to the point that you will want to quit trusting Jesus Christ for anything ... let alone staying engaged in helping advance His kingdom in the lives of others. It doesn't want to hang you to spiritual death in a moment of time (unless it can persuade you to commit suicide). Ideally, it wants to put you in a pot of cold water like you would a frog and let the water heat up so slowly so that you don't even realize you're dying, but having a nice, hot, relaxing bath ... until you slowly cook to death! It doesn't like to get exposed, so it operates as subtly as possible. It appears as very "religious,"always remember that.
You may have never heard this, but Christianity was never meant to be "religious." It was and is meant to be "a relationship" -- a personal relationship with the living God. "Religion" will not impart to you spiritual life. It will only in the end impart to you spiritual death, in one way or another.
The demonic anti-Christ spirit will also try to get you to mix Old Testament teachings that never were to be applied to New Testament Christianity. Be extremely cautious of "teachers" who are not teaching you the critical importance of understanding Law and Grace. Mixing Law and Grace is one of Satan's most lethal yet subtle and effective strategies to confuse what you are to believe ... to walk in maximized freedom and joy in your relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Learn everything you can about waging effective spiritual warfare as quickly as you can. You're going to need all of the Armor of God -- learning how to affectively use it as soon as possible, to keep any degree of joy and peace. Satan and his demonic hordes may not have liked you all that much before committing your life to Christ, but now that you have ... you are their most hated enemy, other than God and His holy angels and other true believers in Christ. You will remain their hated enemy as long as Satan and his helpers are allowed to continue to operate on this planet, and the Bible assures us they will until Jesus Christ comes back again for all the world to see ... yielding one big, bad sword that is more lethal than all the nuclear warheads of the world combined!
5) Commit yourself to spending time each day talking with God in prayer. Above all else, prayer is the means God has given us to develop our personal relationship - our personal friendship with Him. He is the one who saved you from being punished for eternity for your sins, and He is the One you will NOW spend eternity with. To become intimate with Him, you will need to begin talking with Him on an intimate basis. Prayer is our direct link to God. Treasure this privilege from the very beginning, and never let ANYTHING stop you from maintaining priceless on-going communication with Him. Satan will do everything in his power to frustrate your prayer life (intimate communion - intimate communication) from this moment forward. He has a lot of strategies to do that. If you let Satan "devour" your prayer life ... your peace and joy will also die with it. Don't ever let the devil trick you into that, please!
Maybe you have heard this before, or maybe it’s the first time you have ever heard it: Jesus Christ died for your sins so all your sins can be forgiven - so that no barrier now has to remain between you and God.
Have you ever heard this: God Himself died for your sins so they can all be forgiven - so the barrier of sin between you and Him can be removed?
The New Testament Bible clearly states that literally, God Himself, was the one who purposely took the punishment on the Cross for the sins of every human being, so that they can be forgiven of all their sins, and they can have confident assurance that if they will believe this to be true -- fact -- they can be fully reconciled back to God in good standing, and can have full assurance that they not only are totally acceptable to God now … but have complete confidence that upon dying, they will immediately be in the presence of God for eternity, receiving His joy forevermore.
However … sooner the better … you need to understand how you became spiritually separated from God in the first place. Here is what the New Testament Bible communicates:
Every person born on this planet is spiritually separated from God at birth, because of the sinful disobedience of the first two created people, Adam and Eve. All offspring of Adam and Eve was born with (inherited) this same disobedient nature to God, separating us spiritually from Him. It is our sin (and our sinfully rebellious nature) we inherited at birth that separates us from a holy God.
That's why Jesus tells us in John 3:5 that: "We must be born again to enter the Kingdom of God." We need to be spiritual reunited with God, because our sins – our sinful nature – God cannot tolerate and will not allow in His presence ...and furthermore, must judge it. An all-righteous Judge must give punishment for wrongdoing against Him and others.
Is there any way then, we can be saved from being punished in hell for eternity for our sins?
Do you want to hear some incredibly Good News? God the Father judged all our sins on the Cross! God the Father dumped His anger and wrath against our sins on Jesus Christ (who was fully God before He came to earth as a human being, and was fully God when He resurrected and went back to heaven) so that we can now be forgiven of our sins! Past sins we committed – sins we might commit tomorrow or next week or next year or next decade, if we live that long, are ... and will all ...be forgiven. Have you ever heard of such wonderful news?!
Let’s say it a little different way to try to help you understand what God did for humanity – for you. God Himself took full punishment for all your sins upon Himself on the Cross so that you could be fully forgiven for them, and have total, complete confidence that you will not be judged by God and sent to hell for those sins! If we believe this, and are willing to die believing it … we have been immediately and fully reconciled back to God in good standing, and with that comes our full right to believe that God totally accepts us just the way we are upon our asking the heavenly Father to forgive us for our sins. When we ask Him to forgive us for our sins – He promises that He does forgive us of them … and it’s as though we never sinned in His eyes! Simply incredible, isn’t it?!
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. -- 1 John 1:8-9
But remember … you have an enemy who does not want you believing this incredible truth. His name is Satan.
(An important side note before continuing: God does in fact accept us just as we are when we confess our sins to Him and ask His forgiveness … but He loves us too much to let us stay “just the way we are” as we continue in our personal relationship with Him in the days ahead. He forgives our sin ... but He also has expectations that we will strive to stop committing those same sins in the future, because they will only do more harm to us than any eternal good).
Here is God’s promise to everyone of us from the Bible what we have sought to communicate about being "reconciled back to God" up until now:
Scripture assures us in Romans 5:8-11 of this fact -- (Words in brackets are ours to help people understand):
"But God (the Father) demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners (spiritually disobedient in our nature to Him because of our arrogant pride and rebellion - selfishness - self-will - self-centeredness - self-preoccupation - and our lust for recognition, power, money and pursuit of pleasure without any boundaries or constraints), Christ died for us.
"Much more then, having been justified by His blood (shed on the cross), we shall be saved from wrath (eternal punishment in hell at the Judgment Day, out of the presence of God and eternal joy ... forever) through Him (Jesus Christ -- The Son of God. This happens just to be two of His names).
"For if when we were enemies (separated from God because God cannot and will not bless our sin; and with our sins assuring us that upon Judgment Day, we will be judged and sentenced to hell for eternity for them) we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life (if we put our trust in Jesus Christ to forgive us of our sins, because He gave His life for this very purpose).
"And not only that, but we also rejoice in God (the Father) through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation (the MEANS in which we can become acceptable and intimate with God the Father this very moment in time).
Scripture also assures us in 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 that we not only can be reunited in good standing with God NOW . . . we can also find purpose in helping others to know that they TOO can be used of God to help others spiritually separated from God to be reunited with Him in good standing as well:
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new (spiritual) creation; old things(our sin that kept us separated from God, and/or our attempts to be pleasing to God by "earning our way to heaven" and by "somehow trying to be good enough") have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
"Now all things are of God (The Father), who has reconciled us to Himselfthrough Jesus Christ, and has given us (saved - spiritually reborn - Christians)the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
"Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God.
"For He (The Father) made Him (Jesus Christ) who knew no sin to be sin forus, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (Jesus Christ)."
So, precious one, if you would like to be spiritually reconciled to God this very moment, all you have to do is ask Him. You can do it in your own words, or you can repeat this simple prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, I come to you right now in the name of Jesus Christ ... asking that you save me from my sins ... so I can get to know you - so I can be friends with you.
God, I admit and confess that You paid the price for me to be able to be made right (be reconciled in good standing) with You . . . by dying that painful death on the cross and shedding Your innocent blood for me. When You were hanging there dying, You had me in mind. You died for me! So now, Lord Jesus, I accept You as the one and only sacrifice that God the Father will ever find acceptable to pay full ransom payment for my sins, so that I can be reunited in good standing back to HIM, for the purpose of getting to know You, and to be qualified to be one of your closest friends.
Heavenly Father, I ask forgiveness for all my sins, and I receive your forgiveness. I ask you and thank You now for the help of the Holy Spirit [third person of the Eternal Godhead] to help me on this new spiritual journey of intimacy with You, so that I can be pleasing to You from this moment forward in every way You desire. I willingly and willfully give You my life now, to do with it as you please. I am Yours! I belong to you FOREVER! Use me to bring You glory from this moment forward and forever, however you want to do that! Show me from this moment on what I need to do to become one of your closest, most intimate friends.
In Jesus' name I ask it, and believe it to be so! Amen.
Dear one, if you have just made this decision to trust God to save you from your sins through the Lord Jesus Christ and mean it, there are a few things we would like to encourage you to do now that you are reconciled back to God in good standing:
1) Tell another Christian about your decision. It's the most important decision you have ever made! We would also love to hear of your decision and share with you in this joyous occasion.
2) Obtain a Bible as soon as possible. Trust God to provide you with an easy to read New Testament Bible. God speaks to us in different ways, but the primary way He speaks to us is through the Holy Scriptures. To hear God speak to you, lead you, and instruct you, you need to read the words He has written to you. (I realize, depending where you are right now, obtaining a Bible may be a bit difficult. So - you can have confidence that He will communicate to you in the days ahead, as is needed, even without a Bible. God is not limited in His ability to communicate to us, wherever we happen to be).
3) Trust God and actively seek Him to lead you to a group of Christian believerswho you can grow with and be encouraged by. The devil is now going to assault you with his harassment, because he has just lost you from his grip. You will need help from other mature Christians who can encourage and pray with you from time to time or until you are strong enough to stand in prayer against the enemy on your own. Please, be wise and do NOT isolate yourself from other Christians.
A demonic "religious spirit" (which often includes a "controlling spirit") covers this earth and operates at "peak efficiency" in many churches as well as in nice, cozy home settings where "religious people" often meet. The Bible calls this simply the working of the Anti-Christ spirit. It is difficult to spot often-times ... until it slowly begins to chip away at every tiny piece of joy and peace you may have. It best functions with a Bible in one hand so-to-speak and a FREE cross in the other for you to wear that injects secret tiny poisonous darts into your soul and spirit, if you innocently wear it around your neck. A dimension of the anti-Christ spirit may well even be residing in your spouse or other family members or friends, and you haven't a clue, until it seeks to devour your faith and confidence and joy in God. It is the same "spirit" that operated through the Pharisees and the Sadducees ... the very ones who hung Jesus on the Cross. It will seek to "spiritually hang you too" ... to try to get you so discouraged and even angry with God to the point that you will want to quit trusting Jesus Christ for anything ... let alone staying engaged in helping advance His kingdom in the lives of others. It doesn't want to hang you to spiritual death in a moment of time (unless it can persuade you to commit suicide). Ideally, it wants to put you in a pot of cold water like you would a frog and let the water heat up so slowly so that you don't even realize you're dying, but having a nice, hot, relaxing bath ... until you slowly cook to death! It doesn't like to get exposed, so it operates as subtly as possible. It appears as very "religious,"always remember that.
You may have never heard this, but Christianity was never meant to be "religious." It was and is meant to be "a relationship" -- a personal relationship with the living God. "Religion" will not impart to you spiritual life. It will only in the end impart to you spiritual death, in one way or another.
The demonic anti-Christ spirit will also try to get you to mix Old Testament teachings that never were to be applied to New Testament Christianity. Be extremely cautious of "teachers" who are not teaching you the critical importance of understanding Law and Grace. Mixing Law and Grace is one of Satan's most lethal yet subtle and effective strategies to confuse what you are to believe ... to walk in maximized freedom and joy in your relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Learn everything you can about waging effective spiritual warfare as quickly as you can. You're going to need all of the Armor of God -- learning how to affectively use it as soon as possible, to keep any degree of joy and peace. Satan and his demonic hordes may not have liked you all that much before committing your life to Christ, but now that you have ... you are their most hated enemy, other than God and His holy angels and other true believers in Christ. You will remain their hated enemy as long as Satan and his helpers are allowed to continue to operate on this planet, and the Bible assures us they will until Jesus Christ comes back again for all the world to see ... yielding one big, bad sword that is more lethal than all the nuclear warheads of the world combined!
5) Commit yourself to spending time each day talking with God in prayer. Above all else, prayer is the means God has given us to develop our personal relationship - our personal friendship with Him. He is the one who saved you from being punished for eternity for your sins, and He is the One you will NOW spend eternity with. To become intimate with Him, you will need to begin talking with Him on an intimate basis. Prayer is our direct link to God. Treasure this privilege from the very beginning, and never let ANYTHING stop you from maintaining priceless on-going communication with Him. Satan will do everything in his power to frustrate your prayer life (intimate communion - intimate communication) from this moment forward. He has a lot of strategies to do that. If you let Satan "devour" your prayer life ... your peace and joy will also die with it. Don't ever let the devil trick you into that, please!
And finally . . . CONGRATULATIONS! Welcome home, child of God!
