It is a wonderful, amazing truth that God has made it possible that every person (including you, dear friend) can live forever; God has made it possible that every person can go to Heaven. The Bible says: "And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely" (Rev 22:17). So then, the invitation to be saved is to "whosoever will." This includes you, my friend!
However, if you are to have eternal life, there is only one way that you can get it. There are not many ways, several ways, or even two ways to get eternal life. There is not a Baptist way and a Catholic way and a Methodist way, etc. There is one way. Jesus said, "I am THE way, THE truth, and THE life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). A person cannot get to God through the church, through a priest or preacher or pope, but only through Jesus. Jesus said: "I am the door" (John 10:9). He also said: "He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber" (John 10:1). So, anyone who tries to be saved any way other than through Jesus Christ, is counted by Jesus as a thief and robber.
In order for you to have eternal life, dear friend, you must come to God through Jesus. In order to come through Jesus, you must:
I. Acknowledge What You Are:
(1) You are a sinner. Sin is the breaking of God's law (1 John 3:4) and the Bible says: "all have sinned (Romans 3:23). Now surely, friend, you know that you have sinned, and you can probably even think, right now, of sins which you have committed. But you are not only a sinner:
(2) You are a condemned sinner. You see, friend, the Bible tells us: "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). Because we are sinners, we owe a sin debt, and that debt is death. This includes both physical death, and also "the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death" (Rev 21:8).
How terrible! But the Bible teaches that it is true. Sinners must pay the sin debt, which would mean eternity in the lake of fire.
Since we have already sinned, we already owe this debt. We are "condemned already" (John 3:18). We are like a man on death row whose sentence has already been passed, and he is simply awaiting the day of execution. Our sentence has already been passed - "the wages of sin is death" - and we are simply waiting for the day of death, when the sentence will be carried out and we'll be sent to Hell forever.
You must acknowledge these things, friend, if you would be saved. Then you must:
II. Acknowledge What God Has Done For You.
(1) God gave His Son (Jesus) to die for our sins. John 3:16 tells us that God's love was so great for us that He allowed Jesus to die on the cross so that we could be saved.
You see, friend, we owed the price of death for our sins. But Jesus had no sin (1 Peter 2:22), and therefore He did not owe the price of death. Yet Jesus was nailed to the cross of Calvary, where He shed his blood and died.
Jesus didn't die for His own sins (For He had no sins), but "Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). Jesus became our substitute in death; He paid the debt for my sins and yours.
(2) Jesus arose from the dead after 3 days, proving that He has power over death.
Jesus is not dead; He is alive right now (Romans 6:9). A dead Saviour is no Saviour. A dead man (whether it be Mohammed, Buddha, Confucius, etc.) cannot give us eternal life. He said "because I live, ye shall live also" (John 14:19).
(3) Because Jesus has paid for our sins, God offers us eternal life as a gift.
Romans 6:23 tells us that "the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." So, eternal life is not something you can get by being a good person, by confessing to a priest, by joining a church, or any other good works. Rather, it must be received as a gift. Jesus paid your sin debt, thus God offers you eternal life "freely" (Romans 3:24), as "the gift of God" (Eph 2:8-9). Then you must:
III. Accept God's Gift.
"The gift of God is eternal life" (Romans 6:23), but a gift never becomes yours until you accept it and receive it.
The way that God's gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ is accepted is 2-fold:
(1) You must repent of your sins.
Jesus said. "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3,5). To repent means to have a change of mind about your sins, yourself, and God. It means to be willing to allow God to take your sins and change your life. It means to turn from your sinful way to God's way.
(2)You must put your trust in Jesus to save you and give you eternal life.
The Bible calls this trust "faith" and we are told: "by grace are ye saved THROUGH FAITH" (Eph 2:8).
You have faith when you depend upon God to do what He says He will do. What He says He will do is save you and give you eternal life if you'll believe He will and trust Him to do so.
My friend, if you are willing to repent of your sins and trust Jesus as your only hope for eternal life, why don't you stop where you are just now, bow your head, and ask Jesus to be your Saviour, to save you from your sin, and to give you eternal life. "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13).
If you are sincere, and don't know what to pray, you might pray something like this:
"Dear Lord: I am a sinner, but I believe that you died for my sins and rose again; I am trusting you as my Saviour. I give my sins to you and ask you to give me eternal life."
Now, friend, if you sincerely called upon Christ for salvation, you are saved and will go to heaven when you die.
If you have just prayed this prayer, please send your name and address to
Liberty Baptist Church and we will send you some literature on how you can grow in the Christian life.