Tag: #forgiveness

A Life of a Christian

If the Bible truly is the Word of God and all that is written in the Bible is true then what God has done for all of mankind is the greatest, most noble and kindest expression of love. There is none to compare with this great gift of love that God offers to everyone and it is given to anyone who will receive it. A person would be absolutely stupid to not receive this gift. The Bible says that this gift that God has to offer is the highest form of love and there is no sorrow with it. There is nothing that can be added to it and there is nothing to take from it to make it better.

I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it, for God has so worked that men should fear Him. Ecclesiastes 3:14

To fear God means to have the highest respect for Him and to understand that He alone is God and everything belongs to Him and is subject to Him. He does whatever He pleases.

For I know that the Lord is great
And that our Lord is above all gods.
Whatever the Lord pleases, He does,
In heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps. Psalm 135:5,6

It pleased God to offer you this gift of love. This gift comes at a great cost to the Lord and it is offered to everyone, regardless of the good or bad they have done, for no one deserves it and no one can be too bad to receive it. It is a gift and the Lord, Himself, paid the price to offer this gift to you.

But the Lord was pleased
To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, Isaiah 52:10a

The gift of love that God offers is the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ and the payment for all of our sins that we have ever done. Jesus Christ took our guilt and the punishment of our sins on the cross. Jesus Christ shed His blood for the world.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16

Every person has to make a choice about Jesus Christ. You can choose Him to be your Lord and Savoir and receive His forgiveness for your sins or you can ignore what Jesus Christ has done for you and your sins and guilt remain with you. The end result of sin and guilt is death and eventually, when a person dies, eternal torment and punishment in hell.

These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 2 Thessalonians 1:9

If a person chooses the Lord Jesus Christ then they receive Him as their Lord and Savoir and start following Him. They are transferred out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. Jesus Christ comes into their life and they start to truly live, rather than merely exist or survive. They receive a new heart. Their sins are forgiven, their guilt is removed and they become a new person. They begin a new life with a new plan for their life that is good and perfect for them. They become a child of God and become a part of God’s eternal family.

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, John 1:12

When a person receives Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savoir they receive a great love.

See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. 1 John 3:1

Often people will ask how a person becomes a Christian. Everyone believes in God when they come into this world. For this reason, a person has to be taught that there is no God. When a person sins then they try to block God out of their mind and as they continue to sin they turn their back on God.

Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin. James 4:17

Everyone has sinned. Sin is going your own way and doing what you want to do. Just as sin is turning your back on God, repentance is turning to God and turning your back on sin.

Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; Acts 3:19

Becoming a Christian is repenting and coming to Jesus Christ through faith and receiving Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savoir. It means you are trusting Him to lead and guide your life. After a person becomes a Christian then they learn to follow Him and obey what He says in His Word, the Bible. As a person does this then he will experience God’s love, God’s peace and God’s joy in a way that is far greater than he could ever have imagined.

But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:8-13

There is no partiality with God. Whoever, means whoever will believe in Jesus Christ will not be disappointed. God has given a choice to all and whoever chooses Him, through receiving Jesus Christ will be saved from their sin and receive eternal life. Whoever ignores or rejects God’s offer then their guilt and their sin will remain with them forever.

“Today if you hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts, Hebrews 3:15a

If you are hearing Him call you to Himself, then come to Him. He loves you.

A Life Loved Beyond Measure

There is a love that is available to everyone that is beyond measure. This love is so great that it can not be fully comprehended or understood but it can be accepted. The One who loves you with this kind of love sold everything in order that you might know and have this love. This One who loves you with this great love saw you as a treasure of great worth and was willing to sell all in order to come into a love relationship with you. This One loves you with a love that will never change. This One also loves you with a perfect love in which there is nothing that can make this love greater or better. There is nothing that you would want to add to this love nor anything that you would want to take away from this love. Once you taste of this love by this One who loves you then you will want more and will realize that you have finally found a love that will not disappoint nor leave you feeling empty. It is a love that will satisfy you and fulfill you. You will be content in this love and this love will take away your insecurities, your fears and your struggles of self esteem as you experience this great love. The love of this One will give you great worth and will teach you how to love yourself and others. This love will stop the self destruction of bad habits and bad thoughts. This love will give you healing within and will comfort you when you are hurting. This love is a gift and it is offered to you.

The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Matthew 13:44

God is the One who loves you. He found you even before you were born. He created you to be His treasure. You are of great worth to Him and so much so that He sold everything to gain you. The field is the world and you are the treasure. God so loved you that He sent His only begotten Son, so that you would not perish but could live in His love forever. Jesus Christ purchased the world when He died for the world so that you could become His treasure and know His great love.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16

Jesus Christ sold everything to buy you. He purchased you with His own blood. Everyone has a debt of sin that they owed and could not pay. Jesus Christ paid a debt He did not owe so that we could be released from a debt that we could not pay. The debt of sin is death. We all have earned death through our own sin. Sin means missing the mark. We have all failed. None of us is perfect.

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23

The wages of sin is death. All of us have earned death. That death had to be paid and it could only be paid by One who had never sinned. Jesus Christ, God’s Son, never sinned when He came to earth.

For the wages of sin is death, Romans 6:23a

He took the death that we deserved and purchased our freedom from sin and death by His own blood.

For you have been bought with a price… I Corinthians 6:20a

Jesus Christ bought our freedom. He took our sin on Himself. Jesus Christ was the perfect Lamb of God.

The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29

What does it mean to be loved with an unconditional love that is perfect and everlasting? When we least deserved it, Jesus Christ died for us. He died in our place so that we would not have to die an eternal death. Hell is an eternal death. It never ends. God does not send anyone to hell. Each person who ends up in hell sends himself by rejecting God’s offer of love. God’s offer of love was expressed in Jesus Christ and His death on the cross. He died and rose again and those who receive the gift of God’s love in Jesus Christ will rise again and live forever in God’s love. It is God’s desire that everyone receive this gift of eternal life and love through Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son.

The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. II Peter 3:9

Repentance simply means turning from ourselves or whatever idols that we may have in our life and turning to Jesus Christ. When we turn to Him and look to Him then that is faith. He invites all to come to Him for the free gift of salvation. We can never earn salvation. We can never be good enough for salvation. Our “good works” will never outweigh the bad in our life. We need a Savior to save us from ourselves, from our sin and from whatever else that brings destruction in our lives. We need a Lord who will lead us through life so that we can stay on the right path. Jesus Christ is that Lord and Savior but He only saves those who come to Him and receive His gift.

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:12,13

When a person is saved then that person becomes a new person, they are born again by the will of God. Their sins have been blotted out and their name is forever written in the Book of Life. They also receive a new start in life. The old things have passed away and new things are coming.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. II Corinthians 5:17

Rather than living an empty life or hell on earth they will start experiencing heaven on earth and living an abundant life.

I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. John 10:10b

Jesus Christ came to earth to buy the world so that He might gain the treasure of you. He loved you, He died for you, He paid the penalty for your sin, He took your guilt, He took your shame and He forgave you of everything. He took your place in order that you might have the opportunity to receive the gift of eternal life, the gift of freedom from sin, the forgiveness for everything that you have ever done and will ever do and so that your eternal destiny would be heaven and not be hell. Jesus Christ came to restore your worth, to bring you into a right relationship with God and to adopt you into His family. You are a treasure that is loved beyond measure.

For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; I Peter 3:18

God’s love is a gift that He offers to you. Like any gift, it must be received in order to be yours. God offers the gift of Jesus Christ to you but you must receive Him into your heart. It is an simple as praying a prayer such as, “Lord Jesus Christ, I am a sinner and I need a Savior. I don’t want to go my own way anymore so I need a Lord who will be the Good Shepherd and Master of my life. Thank you for dying on the cross for me. I surrender to you and give You my life, my possessions, my relationships, my future and everything else. Would you please forgive me of my sins and come into my heart and life and be my Lord and Savior. Thank you for the promises of Your Word that if I asked you to forgive me of my sins, that You would and if I asked you to come in and be my Lord and Savior, that You would. I can trust you completely because you are God. Thank you Jesus, in your name I pray. Amen”

the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23b

The Lord promises eternal life to those who believe in and receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. The Lord wants you to know that you have eternal life once you believe and receive this gift of His Son, Jesus Christ.

And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. I John 5:11-13

Christianity is a relationship and not a religion. A religion is man seeking God but Christianity is God seeking man. God loves you and He wants a love relationship with you. If you have never asked Him into your life then you can today. You will never regret it. He says in His Word, that “today is the day of salvation”. Let today be the day that you come to Him and that He comes to live within you. Let today be the day that you receive the greatest gift ever offered to anyone and that is the gift of God’s love and His salvation in Jesus Christ.