HOW CAN YOU RECEIVE SALVATION?

[Richard]

HOW CAN YOU RECEIVE SALVATION


God makes Salvation readily available to each and every one of us.

It's not the result of a magic prayer that brings Him into your life. It's not the result of someone else's efforts to "save" you. It comes as a result of an inner change. A realization of several important truths.

Until these truths are realized, and believed upon within your heart, God's gift of salvation will not be known to you.

The truths of Salvation are presented here in the hope that you too may come to know the loving forgiving God I have come to entrust with my life.

REALIZE YOU NEED GOD,
We must admit that we are all sinners and have fallen short of what God wants us to be. We need this forgiveness. The Bible says we cannot be saved ourselves.

SALVATION IS A GIFT FROM GOD,
"For by grace you have been saved by faith;
and this is not your doing, it is the gift of God -
not because of works, lest any man should boast."
Ephesians 2:8-9

God works on our heart to let us know of our need for this gift of salvation. This wondrous gift cannot be earned, it is given freely by God to all those who will accept it. Each of must must be willing to admit to God that we are sinners, and realize our need for His gift of salvation.


"But God shows His love for us in that
while we were still sinners Christ died for us"
Romans 5:8

Jesus paid for our sins with His life.

"For God so loved the world that he gave His only Son,
that whoever believes in Him shall not perish
but have eternal life.
For God sent the Son into the world,
not to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through Him."
John 3:16-17

God loves us enough that He was willing to sacrifice His own Son so that we might be saved from the penalty of death for our sins. Again, I reiterate that Jesus paid for our sins with His life.




Respond to God right now.

Turn away from your old way of life
and turn to God in faith.

"If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord,
and believe in your heart that
God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."
Romans 10:9

This confession is an outward expression of an inward changeof heart. We must believe in our heart that Jesus is risen from the dead. He defeated death and brought about our salvation. And He lives today.

ACCEPT GOD'S OFFER

You can accept what the Bible says
and place your faith in Jesus Christ...

or you can turn away from the offer.

What will you do?

If you are ready to trust Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord,
simply ask Him to come into your heart.
Pray to Him and invite Him to be your guide and your Savior.

"And it shall be that whoever
calls upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved."
Acts 2:21

Ask Jesus to come into your life. It's that simple.
It changed my life...
and it WILL change yours!

GOD LOVES YOU
God loves you, in spite of everything you've done.
A preacher once said, "God thinks you are so special that if He had a refirgerator He'd have your picture on the front of it."

He loves you for who you are, and His desire is for you to be happy, and for you to live your life in His company.


So how do you talk to God about this? It's quite simple. The following prayer is a good place to start:

"Dear Heavenly Father, I know that you love me.
I confess my sin and ask for your forgiveness.
I believe that Jesus is Lord, and believe in my heart
that You raised Him from the dead.
I now invite Jesus into my life.
In Jesus, name, Amen."

But remember, these are not magic words nor some mysterious incantation to save you from going to Hell. When I prayed these words to God back in 1989, I spoke them from my heart. They were words I truly believed, because I had opened my heart to hear God call to me, "Come home my son, come home."

Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life:
No man cometh to the Father but by me."
John 14:6



My prayer is that even one person who visits this website can come to realize God's gift of grace. And to that person I say, "welcome to the family of God."

To God be the glory.

[trueracer]

Hi my name is tommy riggs and i belive that you also have to be baptized. you can be saved by your words to God. but you have to be baptized to wash your sins away (Mark 16-16) whoever believes and is baptized will be saved but who ever does not believe will be condemned.

[Richard]

the blood of christ wishs away all your sins but not being baptized wont keep u out of heaven 4 instance
the 3 thefs on the cross with jesus 1 beleved in jesus and the other didnt and the one that beleved in him is in heaven with him and was not baptized but it is nice to be baptized if you can some get saved on there death bed but why wait that long why not get the joy of seving him it is the great thing EVER

[racinchaplain]

I have always been confident that the majority of versus in the new testament agree that baptisim is simply an act of obedience. Baptisim, though a great way of expressing what you believe, and your new life, it will neither get you to heaven nor keep you from it!

Take for instance with your periphial vision pan right of Christ on the Cross. Though a sinner, realized his sin, believed in Christ and was in heaven that day with Christ in paradise! No baptism neccessary!

[littlebit]

Amen! i also believe this is just a symbol of obedience. I also think a death bed confession is better than none at all, it's just a shame it takes some that long before they realize what a gift is being offered to them. They don't realize the we are not perfect once we are saved, we are just forgiven. Just my opinion...angie

[danny]

AMEN, i also belive that being baptized is a symbol of obedience, thinking on this subject brings a song to mind, what can wash away my sins, NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD OF JESUS.

[Richard]

danny said:

AMEN, i also belive that being baptized is a symbol of obedience, thinking on this subject brings a song to mind, what can wash away my sins, NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD OF JESUS.

Amen danny i love that song it is the very best and very true

[barnym17]

As a new christian and long time racer I believe Romans chapter 10 v 9-13 says it well,this is what led me to the Lord, A friend passed away and his wife requested we put this on our car , I did this out of respect without knowing what it was, but curiosity got me and I read it and my whole life changed.

[Crystal]

[highlander1]

I do not wish to participate in a debate about doctrine and God's word, nor do I want to fight, because I love everyone here, but I must take the opportunity to ad this to forum.

First, the thief on the cross, although a recipient of the marvelous grace of God, cannot be held as an example of our means of salvation. To begin with, Christ had every right and power to deal with this man any way He wished, regardless of the man's method of approach. In Luke 5:24 Jesus proclaims His power to forgive sins while on this earth. Secondly, the new testament had not yet been established. The vail had not been torn, the conquering of death had not been completed. Baptism, at this time, would have been an act of obedience, only. The death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, which new testament baptism represents, had not even occurred yet, so the thief was still under the old law.

Second. One must pay careful attention to the context of John 3:16. If you will place it in its context within the third chapter of John, you will see that it is the answer to Nicodemus' question of 'How can I be born again?' Jesus tells Nicodemus that unless he is born of the water and the spirit, he will not enter the kingdom, Nicodemus asks 'How is that possible?' and the final answer is John 3:16. Because God so loved the world, he has made it possible for us to be born again.

Which brings us to the question of how and when are we born again. In Romans ch 6, Paul tells us not only how, but also when it occurs. He states in vs 3"Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?" 4:
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
(This speaks of the new testament baptism. Notice we are baptized 'into' Christ.) Paul goes on to explain that, during this baptism, our old man of sin is crucified, that the body of sin might be destroyed. And with that death, we are freed from sin. (vs 7). Then, and only then, will we be able to walk in newness of life(not in our eyes only, but in God's eyes) as is pointed out in vs
4. It would then stand to reason, we could not arise to walk in this newness of life if we had already been walking in a 'newness of life'. Remember, "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."(Proverbs 14:12) It is not a newness of life defined by us, but a newness of life defined by God.

Lastly. I agree whole heartedly that the mere act of baptism, without Godly repentance of a life lived away from God is merely an individual getting wet. Your desire to be baptized should be proceeded by this realization, and the inner commitment to begin a new way of life. However, your scriptural baptism is essential to your becoming a child of God, and thus being 'saved'. In 1 Peter 3:20-21, Peter draws to the similitude of Noah being saved from the flood. "...eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh(it is not a bath, it is a burial) but the answer of a good conscience toward God) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ" The answer to a good conscience is the obedience of baptism, and it is given meaning by, and is made possible by the death, burial, and resurrecting of Christ.

Again, I do not desire, nor intend to fight or argue with anyone. I love each of you, and I love God, and I did not write this with any form of contempt or malice toward anyone, or what they believe. I simply stated where I see baptism to be commanded and essential to a life lived for God, God's way.

May God bless and keep you all.

[Crystal]

Highlander, that is a very good post. I would have to agree with you and I am also not trying to argue. You make some very good points. Please dont anyone take this that I am trying to argue or fight cause I too love everyone here. You all are some great people and I dont want to offend anyone.

[keith]

Feb 28, 2005 15:06:22 GMT -5 trueracer said:

Hi my name is tommy riggs and i belive that you also have to be baptized. you can be saved by your words to God. but you have to be baptized to wash your sins away (Mark 16-16) whoever believes and is baptized will be saved but who ever does not believe will be condemned.

Yes baptism is a public declaration that you will serve God all your days. But one finds at Acts 3:19--it says -repent therefore and turn around( stop doing sin) to get sins blotted out. Repentence plays a big part in salvation.