God's Simple Plan of Salvation
Death is not something that we like to think about, but it is something that people face every day on this earth. We know that "some day" we, too, will face death as our life comes to its end. Of course, we all hope to live for many years before having to face death, but as we see on our television sets, we are not guaranteed to live long lives. There is always the possibility of death for any one of us every day.
Now, let's consider eternity for a moment. For some, eternity is a myth. There is no life after death. The Bible says differently. In fact, in a verse that almost everyone knows John 3:16, it mentions eternity using the word "everlasting", "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Jesus also talked often about eternal life and the Bible gives us glimpses of Heaven in Revelation 21-22. A question then must be asked, "Where will you go when you die? or Where will you spend eternity?"
You may ask, "What are my options?" and that is a good question. The Bible reveals to us that there are only two places in eternity and they are Heaven and Hell. In fact, both were mentioned in John 3:16. "Everlasting life" is talking about Heaven, while the word "perish" is talking of the place called Hell. You may ask, "Are these real places?" The Bible teaches that they are definitely real places. Jesus taught about both.
Let's talk about Hell for a moment. There are people who believe that Hell is a place to party and drink it up and do whatever we want to do. Sadly, that is not the truth. The Bible reveals to us that Hell is a place of torment, fire, darkness, weeping, gnashing of teeth, eternal separation from God, and it goes on and on to describe an eternal place of punishment. "Punishment?" , you may ask. Yes, punishment.
A question often asked is "How can a loving God send a person to such an awful place like Hell?" The answer to that question is "He doesn't send anyone there, but each person that goes there, chooses to go there." If a person chooses to reject Jesus, they are choosing to go to Hell.
As was mentioned before, Hell is a place of punishment. Punishment for what? Punishment for sin. Sin is anything we do or think that God is displeased with or something we think or do that is in opposition(disobedience) to the Bible. If you have ever lied to someone, you have sinned. If you have ever thought something in a hateful way, it is sin. If you have ever purposefully stolen something, even from work like a pen, you have sinned. In fact, the Bible says in Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." It tells us that we all have sinned; we are all sinners.
You must think, "If we all have sinned, and hell is a place to punish us for sin, then everyone will go there." Is there any way of getting rid of our sins? The answer to that is "yes". However, it is not by doing more good than bad because we are still guilty of the bad that we have done. It is not by joining a church, because you will just be attending church with sin. It is not by being baptized, you will only become a wet sinner. Suddenly, it sounds hopeless, but there is a way of getting rid of our sins.
Let's go back in time a little less than 2000 years just outside the city of Jerusalem, Israel. On a hillside just outside the stone walls of the city stands three crosses with men nailed to them. The Romans often used crucifixion as a way of torture to warn others not to mess with Rome. Two of these crosses have men on them that were thieves that messed with Rome. However, on the middle cross was One that did nothing wrong, but proclaim to be who He was. Who was He? Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The Bible teaches that God came to earth as a baby born of a virgin lady named Mary. God was the Father and Mary was the mother. Jesus lived for a little more than 33 years doing wonderful miracles, teaching the Scriptures, and living a perfect life without sin. Due to the religious opposition, He was captured, convicted, tortured, and crucified.
Something has to be said here. Because Jesus is the Son of God, He is 100% God and 100% man. Because He is 100% God, He could have stopped the crucifixion at any moment. Why didn't He? The answer is "YOU & YOUR SIN!" You may say, "I wasn't anywhere around 2000 years ago", but the fact is, He died for you. Remember John 3:16? It said "For God so loved the world" The word "world" there means mankind. That includes all of us.
"Why did He have to die for me?" you may think. It is because of your sin. He took our punishment for sin on the cross so that we would not have to go to Hell. Why would He do this? Because He loves you. "For God so loved ______" (put your name in the blank). Romans 5:8 tells us "But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (commendeth means showed or proved). Jesus died for sinners including us because of His love for us. He would be placed into a tomb and rise again from the dead 3 days later proving that He is the Son of God.
Jesus died and shed His blood because of you and your sin. Remember, there is a way to get rid of your sin and it comes by way of God's forgiveness. He takes our sins away. Because Jesus shed His blood for us, we can receive God's forgiveness. Hebrews 9:22 states "without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin" (remission means forgiveness).
Let's look at John 3:16 one more time and we will add parenthesis only for clarification. "For God so loved ____ (your name), that He gave His only begotten Son (death on the cross) that ______ (your name) believeth in Him should not perish (Hell), but have everlasting life (Heaven). This verse reminds us that we must believe that He died for us and we believe He took our punishment for us. This is a matter of faith. You have to believe that He died for you personally and paid the penalty for your sins and that He rose again from the dead.
Do you believe this? If not, why not.
Too easy? God made it easy so that anyone can have eternal life.
There are other ways to heaven? The Bible teaches that there is one Way to Heaven and that is Jesus Christ.
My religion doesn't believe this way? This is not about religion. We have simply shown what the Bible says not what a church says or a religion says.
I'm a good person. Sadly, there are many good people in Hell today because they did not believe in Jesus. Heaven is not a place that is earned, it is a home that is given by God for those who believe in Jesus.
If you do believe this, you may be asking, "How can I receive God's forgiveness and go to Heaven when I die"? You must first admit to God that you are a sinner and ask Him to forgive you. You must believe that Jesus died for you, was buried, and rose again from the dead the third day. You must repent (turn away from) of your sin and give your life to God and receive the Lord Jesus Christ into you life. This is settled between you and God in prayer of faith.
You may say a simple prayer such as this, but believing in faith in God " Dear God, I admit that I am a sinner. I know that I have sinned against you. I have just read that Your Son Jesus died for me to pay for my sins and accepted my punishment for me. Three days later He rose again. God, I believe this and I receive Jesus and His payment for my sins. Please forgive me of my sins. I turn away from them and give my life to you. I invite and receive Jesus into my life to be my Lord and Savior. Thank you for your forgiveness, and for giving me everlasting life. In Jesus' name, AMEN!"
The Bible states that if you genuinely mean (believed) what you just prayed, God has forgiven you of your sin and you now have a relationship with Jesus and Heaven as your future home. Now it is time to live for Him. How? Find a good Bible believing church and start attending; tell the Pastor that you are a new believer and ask him to help you. Begin reading your Bible starting with the book of John. Begin a prayer time with God every day. Tell others about Jesus.
You may start by telling us about your decision to receive Christ. We would love to hear it. Simply fill out the form below and tell us about it. Pastor Davis will begin praying for you. If you would like to speak with our pastor, please mention it in the form.
Now, let's consider eternity for a moment. For some, eternity is a myth. There is no life after death. The Bible says differently. In fact, in a verse that almost everyone knows John 3:16, it mentions eternity using the word "everlasting", "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Jesus also talked often about eternal life and the Bible gives us glimpses of Heaven in Revelation 21-22. A question then must be asked, "Where will you go when you die? or Where will you spend eternity?"
You may ask, "What are my options?" and that is a good question. The Bible reveals to us that there are only two places in eternity and they are Heaven and Hell. In fact, both were mentioned in John 3:16. "Everlasting life" is talking about Heaven, while the word "perish" is talking of the place called Hell. You may ask, "Are these real places?" The Bible teaches that they are definitely real places. Jesus taught about both.
Let's talk about Hell for a moment. There are people who believe that Hell is a place to party and drink it up and do whatever we want to do. Sadly, that is not the truth. The Bible reveals to us that Hell is a place of torment, fire, darkness, weeping, gnashing of teeth, eternal separation from God, and it goes on and on to describe an eternal place of punishment. "Punishment?" , you may ask. Yes, punishment.
A question often asked is "How can a loving God send a person to such an awful place like Hell?" The answer to that question is "He doesn't send anyone there, but each person that goes there, chooses to go there." If a person chooses to reject Jesus, they are choosing to go to Hell.
As was mentioned before, Hell is a place of punishment. Punishment for what? Punishment for sin. Sin is anything we do or think that God is displeased with or something we think or do that is in opposition(disobedience) to the Bible. If you have ever lied to someone, you have sinned. If you have ever thought something in a hateful way, it is sin. If you have ever purposefully stolen something, even from work like a pen, you have sinned. In fact, the Bible says in Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." It tells us that we all have sinned; we are all sinners.
You must think, "If we all have sinned, and hell is a place to punish us for sin, then everyone will go there." Is there any way of getting rid of our sins? The answer to that is "yes". However, it is not by doing more good than bad because we are still guilty of the bad that we have done. It is not by joining a church, because you will just be attending church with sin. It is not by being baptized, you will only become a wet sinner. Suddenly, it sounds hopeless, but there is a way of getting rid of our sins.
Let's go back in time a little less than 2000 years just outside the city of Jerusalem, Israel. On a hillside just outside the stone walls of the city stands three crosses with men nailed to them. The Romans often used crucifixion as a way of torture to warn others not to mess with Rome. Two of these crosses have men on them that were thieves that messed with Rome. However, on the middle cross was One that did nothing wrong, but proclaim to be who He was. Who was He? Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The Bible teaches that God came to earth as a baby born of a virgin lady named Mary. God was the Father and Mary was the mother. Jesus lived for a little more than 33 years doing wonderful miracles, teaching the Scriptures, and living a perfect life without sin. Due to the religious opposition, He was captured, convicted, tortured, and crucified.
Something has to be said here. Because Jesus is the Son of God, He is 100% God and 100% man. Because He is 100% God, He could have stopped the crucifixion at any moment. Why didn't He? The answer is "YOU & YOUR SIN!" You may say, "I wasn't anywhere around 2000 years ago", but the fact is, He died for you. Remember John 3:16? It said "For God so loved the world" The word "world" there means mankind. That includes all of us.
"Why did He have to die for me?" you may think. It is because of your sin. He took our punishment for sin on the cross so that we would not have to go to Hell. Why would He do this? Because He loves you. "For God so loved ______" (put your name in the blank). Romans 5:8 tells us "But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (commendeth means showed or proved). Jesus died for sinners including us because of His love for us. He would be placed into a tomb and rise again from the dead 3 days later proving that He is the Son of God.
Jesus died and shed His blood because of you and your sin. Remember, there is a way to get rid of your sin and it comes by way of God's forgiveness. He takes our sins away. Because Jesus shed His blood for us, we can receive God's forgiveness. Hebrews 9:22 states "without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin" (remission means forgiveness).
Let's look at John 3:16 one more time and we will add parenthesis only for clarification. "For God so loved ____ (your name), that He gave His only begotten Son (death on the cross) that ______ (your name) believeth in Him should not perish (Hell), but have everlasting life (Heaven). This verse reminds us that we must believe that He died for us and we believe He took our punishment for us. This is a matter of faith. You have to believe that He died for you personally and paid the penalty for your sins and that He rose again from the dead.
Do you believe this? If not, why not.
Too easy? God made it easy so that anyone can have eternal life.
There are other ways to heaven? The Bible teaches that there is one Way to Heaven and that is Jesus Christ.
My religion doesn't believe this way? This is not about religion. We have simply shown what the Bible says not what a church says or a religion says.
I'm a good person. Sadly, there are many good people in Hell today because they did not believe in Jesus. Heaven is not a place that is earned, it is a home that is given by God for those who believe in Jesus.
If you do believe this, you may be asking, "How can I receive God's forgiveness and go to Heaven when I die"? You must first admit to God that you are a sinner and ask Him to forgive you. You must believe that Jesus died for you, was buried, and rose again from the dead the third day. You must repent (turn away from) of your sin and give your life to God and receive the Lord Jesus Christ into you life. This is settled between you and God in prayer of faith.
You may say a simple prayer such as this, but believing in faith in God " Dear God, I admit that I am a sinner. I know that I have sinned against you. I have just read that Your Son Jesus died for me to pay for my sins and accepted my punishment for me. Three days later He rose again. God, I believe this and I receive Jesus and His payment for my sins. Please forgive me of my sins. I turn away from them and give my life to you. I invite and receive Jesus into my life to be my Lord and Savior. Thank you for your forgiveness, and for giving me everlasting life. In Jesus' name, AMEN!"
The Bible states that if you genuinely mean (believed) what you just prayed, God has forgiven you of your sin and you now have a relationship with Jesus and Heaven as your future home. Now it is time to live for Him. How? Find a good Bible believing church and start attending; tell the Pastor that you are a new believer and ask him to help you. Begin reading your Bible starting with the book of John. Begin a prayer time with God every day. Tell others about Jesus.
You may start by telling us about your decision to receive Christ. We would love to hear it. Simply fill out the form below and tell us about it. Pastor Davis will begin praying for you. If you would like to speak with our pastor, please mention it in the form.