If you aren't a Born Again Christian but would like to be

[ColcordMama]

If you want a God-given guarantee that you will never go to Hell, if you would like that same God-given guarantee that when the Rapture happens, you will go into Heaven alive in an instant with the rest of the Born Again Christians, then this is for you. Here is what you need to do, explained in language even a child can understand.

1. You are not good enough to go to Heaven. Nobody is. Everybody but Jesus has broken God's Law and is a sinner.

2. God cannot allow sinners into Heaven, into His presence. His punishment for sinners is Hell. Hell is not a fun place where you can sit around with your buddies drinking beer and playing poker with the devil. It is a place of isolation, terror and unimaginable pain and torture, and it NEVER ENDS. NEVER. Have you ever had a massive toothache or horribly painful injury? You managed to get through it by telling yourself that as soon as a doctor or dentist treated you, you'd be okay. The pain would go away. In Hell, it never stops. It just gets worse. Try thinking that the next time you experience incredible pain...This will never stop, ever, for all eternity.

3. God loves us all so much that He thought of a way that He can have us spend eternity with Him in Heaven. He made part of Himself become Jesus, came to earth and lived here sinlessly for 30 years. At the end of that time He was crucified and died on the cross, His way of taking our punishment onto Himself. He became our blood sacrifice, to atone (make up for) our sins. He arose on the third day and shortly after that, went up alive into Heaven. You have to believe all those things are true.

4. If you want to be cleaned of your sins, you must first realize that you have sinned, and you must feel ashamed and sorry for sinning. You need to mean it with all your heart. You have to go to God in prayer and ask Him to forgive you, pointing to Jesus' death on the cross and asking God to let His sacrifice apply to you. Ask God to help you turn away from sinning.

5. As soon as you ask God to forgive your sins, He does so. At that moment the angels in Heaven begin to rejoice, because your name has been added to God's Book of Life and you have been given a brand new life. You have become Born Again. You will never experience Hell and you will go in the Rapture when it happens.

6. As you end your prayer, say "In the name of Jesus, Amen." Jesus told us that we should use His name when we come to God in prayer. You can also say "In Jesus' name, Amen."

If you have followed these steps, congratulations. Please come back here and tell us what you have done so we can rejoice with the angels and welcome you into the family. :thumb

[jonhiram]

If you want a God-given guarantee that you will never go to Hell, if you would like that same God-given guarantee that when the Rapture happens, you will go into Heaven alive in an instant with the rest of the Born Again Christians, then this is for you. Here is what you need to do, explained in language even a child can understand.

1. You are not good enough to go to Heaven. Nobody is. Everybody but Jesus has broken God's Law and is a sinner.

2. God cannot allow sinners into Heaven, into His presence. His punishment for sinners is Hell. Hell is not a fun place where you can sit around with your buddies drinking beer and playing poker with the devil. It is a place of isolation, terror and unimaginable pain and torture, and it NEVER ENDS. NEVER. Have you ever had a massive toothache or horribly painful injury? You managed to get through it by telling yourself that as soon as a doctor or dentist treated you, you'd be okay. The pain would go away. In Hell, it never stops. It just gets worse. Try thinking that the next time you experience incredible pain...This will never stop, ever, for all eternity.

3. God loves us all so much that He thought of a way that He can have us spend eternity with Him in Heaven. He made part of Himself become Jesus, came to earth and lived here sinlessly for 30 years. At the end of that time He was crucified and died on the cross, His way of taking our punishment onto Himself. He became our blood sacrifice, to atone (make up for) our sins. He arose on the third day and shortly after that, went up alive into Heaven. You have to believe all those things are true.

4. If you want to be cleaned of your sins, you must first realize that you have sinned, and you must feel ashamed and sorry for sinning. You need to mean it with all your heart. You have to go to God in prayer and ask Him to forgive you, pointing to Jesus' death on the cross and asking God to let His sacrifice apply to you. Ask God to help you turn away from sinning.

5. As soon as you ask God to forgive your sins, He does so. At that moment the angels in Heaven begin to rejoice, because your name has been added to God's Book of Life and you have been given a brand new life. You have become Born Again. You will never experience Hell and you will go in the Rapture when it happens.

6. As you end your prayer, say "In the name of Jesus, Amen." Jesus told us that we should use His name when we come to God in prayer. You can also say "In Jesus' name, Amen."

If you have followed these steps, congratulations. Please come back here and tell us what you have done so we can rejoice with the angels and welcome you into the family. :thumb

Sure sounds like a lot of "Works" to me.

[ColcordMama]

Huh? :confused

[ed braski]

Sure sounds like a lot of "Works" to me.

Works won't get u there.

Very nice. What God does is the operation of the heart.All man kind inherted a cancer from the womb which is a simulartude of the Adam nature. We all have it at birth and it is being formed in us in the womb.

But God commanded His loved towards us in while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Man has to realize that we cannot save ourselves realizing our need of a saviour and Christ is our subtitute and that Gods devine justice demands we cannot enter heaven because we are impure and filthy and cannot come before Him without being justified. Our natural bodies could not go to heaven.

Again we must be justified and that is by faith in Christ work on the cross. We should have been on the cross but we could not be a perfect sacrifice for Gods devine justice system. He is absolutly pure and rightous and we are not. Thats why many go to hell. Jesus is the propetiation of sin.

Just a rambling though.....I left alot out here....

[ColcordMama]

I've understood the message of salvation for the last 25 years. What I don't understand is how what I posted appears to jonhiram as pertaining to works. I am not suggesting that "works"...such as baptism, doing good deeds, tithing, going on pilgrimages, volunteering, etc...brings about salvation. The only salvation is through Christ's finished work on the cross, the substitutionary sacrifice. Accepting that, believing that He did it for us, died and rose again, repenting of our sins and asking for God's forgiveness is what brings about salvation. That is what I outlined in my op. And that is NOT salvation through works. If jonhiram thinks that believing Jesus died on the cross for us is work, if he thinks that the act of realizing that we are lost sinners is work, if in his opinion becoming ashamed of our sin is work, if in his opinion going to God in prayer is work... That is what I'm scratching my head over.

[BelovedChild]

Good message Kay

[PreTribber]

Sure sounds like a lot of "Works" to me.
Since when is believing Christ was crucified, rose on the third day, confessing sin, asking forgiveness of sin, and the other things mentioned in Kay's post regarding salvation, "works"? It takes faith to believe, conviction of the Holy Spirit to recognize sin in ones life, faith again to believe your sins are forgiven and covered in the Blood shed at the Cross.

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God:

[deafnc77]

It's only work when you try to save yourself. You already know the difference between wrong and right. Otherwise, you wouldn't try to be a good person. You need to understand that you are a sinner who need forgiveness and God is sinless and he is the only one who can forgive and save you. Not baptism, not sacraments, not good work.

The only thing God ask you to do is have faith (and faith is mention many times in the bible) that that he loved us so much that he sent his son, Jesus to died for our sins. We simply humble ourself before God and accept his wondrous gift.

When you are born again (saved), you live a new Life through Christ. And sometime people confuse this as good work.

[HeIsEnough]

It's only work when you try to save yourself.

:):

:thumb

We find rest in His work.

[jonhiram]

Yeah, but the thing is...we are dead in trespasses and sins according to scripture. An illustration is Lazarus. Laying dead and having no life within himself. Yet, only when Christ commanded, "Lazarus, come forth" did he emerge being bound in grave clothes.

Left on our own, according to scripture, we are haters of God(Rom 1:13) and have no desire to seek Him out. "NONE seeketh after rightousness, no, not ONE."

Ps 80 17-19, 17 Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.
18 So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.19 Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

How did Lazarus manage to muster up the required faith and belief, being a corpse?

We're no different. Understanding this impossibility, the conclusion has to be that Faith, Belief, Eternal Life and all else are a result of salvation, not a means of gaining it.

To put a finer point on it, if we're resting on our own faith or desire, then it's likely that we're still under the wrath of God. The faith spoken of in the Bible is literally The Faith of Christ. A spiritual transplant, if you will. Did Jesus have faith during his time on this earth? Of course. It's that faith that must given to us. His faith. Just the same as the Spirit must be given. His Spirit.

[HeIsEnough]

We're no different. Understanding this impossibility, the conclusion has to be that Faith, Belief, Eternal Life and all else are a result of salvation, not a means of gaining it.


True, as long as you are aware every man will stand condemned for not recieving said faith, belief and eternal life.(salvation as a package) Same coin, two sides.

[Galoutofdixie]

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God:

We are saved by grace, through faith. It is a gift of God.

The old testement saints, and that speaks of Lazarus as well as Moses, Abraham etc, since Christ had yet to be crucified, were saved by grace, thru faith, God's gift to them and us . Saving Faith in the One who was to come, who would come and redeem them. Lazarus had died in that Faith. Also, when Christ called him forth from the grave, He specifically called, "Lazarus", otherwise the dead, hearing the voice of God saying, "Come forth", all of the dead in their graves would have, "Come forth". Just like all the dead will, at the resurection.

That's my understanding anyway. :D:

Back to edit and say: This is exactly what I understood from the OP. It was a wonderful and timely post in my opinon as well. :thumb

[jonhiram]

True, as long as you are aware every man will stand condemned for not recieving said faith, belief and eternal life.(salvation as a package) Same coin, two sides.

That's correct. They didn't receive because it wasn't given to them. Jn 6:65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. As the scripture explains, Jn 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God:

We are saved by grace, through faith. It is a gift of God.

The old testement saints, and that speaks of Lazarus as well as Moses, Abraham etc, since Christ had yet to be crucified, were saved by grace, thru faith, God's gift to them and us . Saving Faith in the One who was to come, who would come and redeem them. Lazarus had died in that Faith.

True, saving faith is, using the terminology, "in the one who was to come". But remember that in principle, Christ is "The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" Rev 13:8. Old Testament believers received eternal life the way we do. By grace, through the faith of Christ. Rev 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Take note of the verse in Ephesians quoted above, most times we gloss over the part that says, "And that not of yourselves" What's the "that" referring to?

What happens when we remove ourselves from the salvation equation? We're left with God being 100% responsible for saving His people.

[HeIsEnough]

What happens when we remove ourselves from the salvation equation? We're left with God being 100% responsible for saving His people.

No one will deny that. Which is why I don't need to ever say a word to anyone, don't worry over what I do or don't do, tell people they were born and bred for hell and they can't change it. He will do it all, correct?

[jonhiram]

No one will deny that. Which is why I don't need to ever say a word to anyone, don't worry over what I do or don't do, tell people they were born and bred for hell and they can't change it. He will do it all, correct?

Interesting, that mentality-

Ps 143:8 Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.

Ex 4:11 And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?

2 Chron 20:6 And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?

Dan 4:35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?

Ps 115:3 But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.

[Jesus is coming]

:bump

[Kathe]

Repenting and turning away from our sins and trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ for our salvation are not works. Those are necessary decisions on our part to be saved. If those weren't necessary, then anyone who believed in Jesus would be saved and that is just not true. Even the demons believe in Jesus. That isn't going to save them. Works is something you do once you are saved and are grateful to Jesus for saving you.

If what you are saying is true then why should we evangelize? What part do we even play in all of this? Why did Paul and the apostles do what they do? We evangelize to show a person that he stands wrong according to the law and then show him the grace of Jesus Christ. Then he makes a decision to either accept that message or reject it. That decision is not a work, it is a decision. Turning away from his previous sin (repenting) is a decision.

Kathe

[HeIsEnough]

Interesting, that mentality-


It's not a very good one, I would agree.

The Lord has given us His word, to know His mind, to know His heart. His full revelation is for all men to come to the knowledge of the truth, which has it's foundation in Christ Jesus. It is my reading of His word that tells me that no man is deserving, and no man will have an excuse, on that dreadful day. Whether this or that one believes or not, is too much knowledge for me. However, He does make it abuntantly clear that all men are offered His mercy, and that free of charge. To represent it in a way which is consistent with His desires, is our task, or not. We will all account for that awesome responsibilty, for if we speak, it should be as if we speak the very words of God. Lord, give us that ability.

[found]

:bump

[Schumacher]

We have to very careful when we talk about God's soverignty that we don't under emphasise the fact that people still need to take a concious decision. God is enabling them to make that decision, but it is a real and concious decision and turning to Christ at the same time. In Acts 16, when the jailer comes before Paul and Silas, he asks what he must do to be saved. Paul doesn't tell him that he must wait for God to open his eyes and for the Lord to turn him to Christ - that would be counter-proudctive and just confuse the poor man. Rather, Paul sees the man's genuine desire for salvation as evidence that the Lord is working in his heart, and tells him to believe and be baptised. And Paul was never one to talk down God's soverign power! God is 100% responsible for our salvation, but we still have a message to proclaim. Otherwise we all become hyper-calvinists!

[Funmudder]

:bump

[HeIsEnough]

God is enabling them to make that decision, but it is a real and concious decision and turning to Christ at the same time.

:):


John 16

1"All this I have told you so that you will not go astray. 2They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. 3They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. 4I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you. I did not tell you this at first because I was with you.

The Work of the Holy Spirit
5"Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' 6Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. 7But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt[a] in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; 10in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
12"I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.


He gave the ability to make the choice, which makes Him the Author, and us responsible.

I tried to find the quote....by Wesley I believe.....hopefully I won't butcher it too badly......it basically states that when we enter the pearly gates, it will have a sign which reads "Whosoever comes through these gates, shall be saved"....and when we pass by the gate and look behind, it will read this on the back "Saved from before the foundations of the world"

Simple! :lol j/k

[WhiteH2OWoman]

Sure sounds like a lot of "Works" to me.

Yes, God did the ultimate "works" to make sure we could be saved from eternal death!

[Remnant]

Every time I read post like this it saddens me. :cry Here we have a sister trying to plant a seed and to lead anyone who is willing to accept Jesus as their Lord and savior. We all know that God gives the increase. She was obedient to the Lord and God sees her heart. Many years ago when God came to me and saved me from my sins and indwelled my life. I only knew John 3:16 and I began to tell of his grace and Love. Only using what I knew, John 3:16 and I honestly believe people came to know the Lord through this. Over the last 25 Years I have used many methods of sharing Christ. Planting the seed, watering and seeing the harvest.

The point I am trying to make is this, the methods have changed, but the message has not. Jonhiram, I know you mean well but never discourage one for telling and it may not always be according to the book.

Their are thousand of people reading these post and I hope that those that are lost will not see the confusion or the argument about salvation but the sincerity of the heart to see people come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Colcordmama, Thank you for your boldness and passion and your burden to witness. Keep it up and you will see the increase in your ministry.:clap

[ColcordMama]

Every time I read post like this it saddens me. :cry Here we have a sister trying to plant a seed and to lead anyone who is willing to accept Jesus as their Lord and savior. We all know that God gives the increase. She was obedient to the Lord and God sees her heart. Many years ago when God came to me and saved me from my sins and indwelled my life. I only knew John 3:16 and I began to tell of his grace and Love. Only using what I knew, John 3:16 and I honestly believe people came to know the Lord through this. Over the last 25 Years I have used many methods of sharing Christ. Planting the seed, watering and seeing the harvest.

The point I am trying to make is this, the methods have changed, but the message has not. Jonhiram, I know you mean well but never discourage one for telling and it may not always be according to the book.

Their are thousand of people reading these post and I hope that those that are lost will not see the confusion or the argument about salvation but the sincerity of the heart to see people come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Colcordmama, Thank you for your boldness and passion and your burden to witness. Keep it up and you will see the increase in your ministry.:clap

Thank you so much, Remnant. I do appreciate what you said. It is discouraging when we get so caught up in words and fine points that we miss the Big Deal, which is this: Any born again Christian today has one job to do, and that is telling the world about Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. If you truly believe that the Tribulation is near, if you are convinced that the rapture can happen any day, any minute now, then why aren't you out witnessing, passing out tracts, talking to anyone who will stand still long enough to listen? Please don't say that you don't witness because you're shy. Please don't tell me that you don't tell others about Jesus and His finished work on the cross because you're afraid of ridicule or an angry response. The prospect of eternity in Hell for some lost sinner far outweighs any petty feelings we might have now. If you witness for the next five years straight through and only lead one person to Christ, then that is one less human who will have to suffer for all eternity, and that alone is worth whatever it cost you to do it.

We are ALL called to do this. He will give each of us whatever we need to accomplish the task, whether it is words or boldness or even materials. All we have to do is step out in faith.

"I say unto you, Lift up your eyes and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest." John 5:35

[Remnant]

ColcordMama, Amen! I have been trying to teach people this for years. We must tell till He comes, not stop till we drop. People may not like it, but My Lord and my God will not be ashamed of me!

[DonO]

The mode of sharing the Gospel is as diverse as there are believers. I may not give the message the same way Billy Graham does but that doesn't make my way wrong. Be willing to tell, Be ready to tell, and be available to tell is what God wants. Don't think the only way to share the gospel is by the Romans road or how EE says to do. Allow Gods Holy Spirit to use your personality, lifes experiences and the Word you know because he has equipped each of us differently than others and we may be able to reach a particular person others may not touch because of what we have gone through. So don't tear down another believer because their way isn't the same way you share the gospel.

[Kathe]

http://www.rr-bb.com/showthread.php?t=271975

A letter to anyone not saved. Kathe