This may sound as if from another world (it is), but I am giving it in summary exactly as God gives it from the scriptures, called the Word of God. You can find all of this from Genesis through Revelation.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and earth. On the sixth day he created man -- Adam and Eve. They were completely innocent, possessed unending life (no death), and were in perfect relationship with God. God blessed Adam, gave him dominion over all living things, and access to every plant and fruit in the garden for food, and commanded him only that he not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil -- that in the day he ate of it he would die.
Adam listened to his wife who had listened to and become deceived by satan and deliberately, knowingly ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge. His relationship with God was broken (he died spiritually), and he along with the entire human race were eternally separated from God and eternal life and came under total depravity and the dominion of sin and satan.
God, who is sovereign and does not change nor change his mind, is a God of grace and mercy. He made a temporary provision for Adam, Eve and any who would by faith come to him in the way he prescribed -- with an offering (animal sacrifice), "for the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement". God provided a very specific way of atonement -- the shed blood of sacrifices on his alter. This practice given by God was temporary until the eternal Lamb of God would come to pay the price for our sin with his own blood once and for all time.
Skip forward several thousand years. 2000 years ago God sent the perfect offering/sacrifice for our sin (replacing animal sacrifice which could never take away sin) -- his very own co-equal eternal Son, Jesus Christ. He was (and is) the "Word", God the Son conceived in flesh by the Holy Spirit in a virgin, conceived and born without sin or a sin nature, the perfect "Lamb of God" who "takes away the sin of the world". He was crucified, shedding his blood for our sin and was buried according to all of the scriptures that foretold of this, all according to God's plan to satisfy his wrath against us. He rose again on the third day. He saves and gives eternal life to whomever he wills by regenerating them and granting them repentance and faith to believe him, receive him and come into obedience to him and his gospel (good news). (Acts 4:25)
You come to into the new relationship with God by grace (God's gift) through faith in Jesus Christ to save you and give you eternal life. Jesus Christ declared that he is the way, the truth and the life. (John 14:6). God sent him from heaven to die for you, in your place, on a Roman executioner's cross. "I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world." God then raised him from the dead on the third day.
He, Jesus, is the Way. The only way acceptable to God is through blood. And the only blood he will accept is the blood of his Son. You receive him and his free gift of eternal life, purchased with his blood, by faith, not by anything you can do or offer yourself. He made available your redemption (buying you back) and the gift of eternal life, obtaining it at the cost of the blood of his own Son on the cross. "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me," and "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me shall live, even though he dies. And he who lives and believes in me shall never die." "Truly, truly I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life. He does not come in to judgment, but has passed out of death into life."
Here are some steps you can follow to come to faith and eternal life in Jesus. You cannot come to saving faith in Christ of your own choosing.
It is the spirit that quickeneth [makes alive]; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.
And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.Yet God is able to "enlighten the eyes of your heart." He is able to draw you, to open your heart, and to give you faith. This is what happened to Lydia, a cloth-maker in the book of Acts:
"A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul."
- Ask him to reveal His Son to you, and what he did for you. God demonstrated his own love toward you in that while you were a sinner (breaker of his Law), he sent his one and only beloved son to die for you [in your place] and save you. Jesus, the Passover Lamb, was the sacrifice God required to save you and give you the gift of eternal life. Jesus despised the shame of what he suffered on the cross, but he endured it in obedience to the Father. See John 3:14-21 & Heb. 12:1-2. And John 19-21. "By faith are you saved by [God's} grace, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not as a results of works...." (Eph. 2:8,9) You need God to draw you to his son and to open the "eyes of your heart" to believe in him with saving faith. His name is Jesus or Y'shua, ("Savior"). He is Adonai (Lord). He is Jehovah God. And He is the eternal Son of God.
- "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,". Ask God to grant you repentance if you are struggling with this (turning from everything in the past, including sin and unforgiveness, to Jesus) -- He does it, you cannot -- and that he would open your heart to believe in and become obedient to the gospel message of his Son, Jesus the Christ, the Messiah. Jesus will save you and give you new life, eternal life, his life. Believe into him, turn around, turn to him. This is the message in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and also The Acts of the apostles. You need "repentance that leads to life", not just sorrow for sin.
For a good example of someone who found repentance or "came to his senses", and how the Father received him, see Luke 15. Also Luke 19:1-10.
- Believe! Believe in Him, believe on Him! Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, God the son come in the flesh and raised bodily from the dead, and you will be saved. (Romans 10:9,10) Give up all hope in anything or anyone but Jesus to save you. 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. What is the work, the mitzvah of God for eternal life? "This is the work is the work of God, that you believe on him whom he has sent." See John 6:26-29
As of June 1974 I could not and would not believe in him, even as I had begun reading scripture and grappling with who he really was. I did not want to believe in him, but something kept me searching in spite of myself. While reading a book about the future of Israel and Christ's return, still unbelieving in my room, it was like he turned a light on inside of me and I suddenly believed in him and that he was my God and savior. I suddenly knew that Jesus was the way of my salvation and eternal life. I later became aware of my unworthiness and sinfulness before God and confessed and admitted everything to him as I learned to do from a church I visited.
You need a new birth, to be born again, or born from above by the Holy Spirit from the second man (Adam was the first and blew it), Jesus Christ from heaven; to be translated out of the old life into the kingdom and life of Jesus Christ.
"As many has received him, to them he gave the right [power, authority] to become the sons of God [the new birth], even as many as believed on his name."
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that everyone believing in him may have eternal life."
"Truly, truly I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life. He does not come in to judgment, but has passed out of death into life."
"... This is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up on the last day ...
Truly, truly, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life."
"If you confess with your mouth, the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved." (See John 6:35-47 and Rom 10:9-13)Believe that Jesus'sacrifice and atonement for you as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (see John 1:26-34) because of his blood he shed on the cross for you, was totally sufficient to atone for you (make you "at-one" with God by cleansing away your sin and iniquity) and to save you (making you holy and righteous with Jesus' own righteousness). Give up the idea that you, any righteousness of your own, or any religion or church can do anything to merit eternal life for you. You can't, and they can't. "For by faith are you saved by grace [His grace], and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not as a results of works...." (Eph. 2:8,9)
Believe that God raised him bodily from the dead. "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved!" (Rom. 10:9) Your faith in the resurrected, living Jesus alone saves you, and not your good works, mitzvahs, religion, church, or anything else. He was crucified for you, was dead and buried for three days, rose from the dead, is sitting now at God's right hand, and will return soon. See John 19 - Acts 2. For what he wants you to know about eternal life, see: Eternal Life (According to Jesus).
When God regenerates you, makes you a "new creation", causes you to be born again in him, he gives you the gift of the Holy Spirit and eternal life. (It is a gift, not of works! Rom 3:23-26; 6:22,23;Eph 2:8-10, Titus 3:3-7) based on his atonement for you on the cross and on his being raised from the dead. He reconciles you, that is, makes you at-one with himself and he adopts you as his own! He sets you free and heals you as you keep walking in him and abiding in him/his word.
- Confess (admit) to God that you have sinned. All imperfection, unforgiveness, and lawlessness of the heart and mind is sin before him. (See Jesus' words about this in Mat. 5:17-48) "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." "All we like sheep have gone astray, we have each turned to his own way, but the Lord has laid the iniquity of us all upon him." We have all sinned. We have all gone astray from him. But God has laid all our sin and iniquity upon his son, Jesus. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
God is holy. And it is written, "He is angry with the wicked every day." Yet he loves the sinful and unrighteous, is kind and merciful to them. We were all born in sin because we are descendants of the first man, Adam, who sinned by rebelling against God who created him. (That's why you can't change even if you want to. It's our nature to sin!) God in his love for you sent his son, Jesus, to bear his (God's) wrath against sin and unrighteousness in your place. Confess your sins to Him, including any unforgiveness regarding anyone.
When dealing with God, you must be completely honest with him. He created you, and He sees through everything. You're admitting to him what he already knows. You cannot save yourself, you cannot change your heart, you cannot come into His life, into His kingdom your own way or by your own efforts.
If you have come this far and have genuinely received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior here is what Jesus says of you: "Truly, truly I say to you, he who hears my word has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into eternal life. "And this is the will of him who sent me, that everyone who sees the son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I myself will raise him up on the last day." Truly, truly I say to you, that every one who believes in me may have eternal life; and I myself will raise him up on the last day." "For the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." "But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God." "Whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." "That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you shall be saved." (John 5,6; Rom. 6:23; John 1:12,13; Rom. 10)
- Get baptized. "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Acts 2:37-39 Baptism is your answer to God for a clear conscience based on his sacrifice to God for you on the cross. It signifies what has been accomplished for you by the Holy Spirit. Getting baptized in itself cannot save you. Only Jesus and faith in him saves you. I Pet. 3:18-21; Eph 2:8,9) Expect to be baptized in and filled with the Holy Spirit. He will give you the power to live in obedience to him and to speak for him. (Acts 2, 4:24-31, 8:14-17, 9:17-18; 10:34-48 and others)
- Get a Bible, and start reading in John and the book of Genesis. (I recommend the New King James Bible which is pretty accurate and is wirtten in modern English. If you are more comfortable with old-style English then the King James Version is also good. Or go to the bottom of this page and click on one of the Bible links. You will find that your entire salvation, your life and joy depend totally on Jesus, his words and his promise and power to keep you. Your Father/son relationship and life with God depends not on yourself, your good works, or on how things are going in your life, but on him. Faith trusts in Jesus and his promises, not on what you see with your eyes or on your experience. Your faith will deepen through studying and hearing God's word, and doing what he says. At some point you will find that your faith becomes weak or seemingly gone. You will need to take the faith of Jesus, HIS faith which never fails or wavers. (e.g. Gal. 2:20) Even when your faith is weak, or gone out the window, his faith will sustain and keep you! (2 Tim. 2:11-13)
- Follow Jesus. "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand." He is looking for followers who will deny themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow him. "Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." "If you love me, you will keep my commandments."
"Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my father." To follow Jesus will ultimately cost you everything, but he will help you every step of the way. Count the cost. You will be counted worthy to know him as well as to suffer with him and reign forever with him. He paid the full price to save you with his blood in obedience to the Father and because of the Father's love for you. Knowing him and being with him now and forever is worth everything. (Paul tells of this towards the end of his life in Phil. 3:7-14)
The moment God saves you He regenerates you (makes you a new creation (as in 2 Cor. 5:17), gives you the gift of eternal life and the gift of the Holy Spirit. You are "born again" or born from above, born of God (see John 3). "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." He imputes the righteousness of his son to you, sets you apart as his own possession, makes you a witness, and will help and empower you to keep his commandments (you cannot do it in your own strength), based on his love and grace for you. Remember that his words are spirit and are life, written on your heart; they are not commandments written in stone that you try to keep by your own will or strength. He will help you. He will carry you, speak to you and guide you as you keep seeking him and engrafting his word in your heart (e.g. 2 Tim 2:15, James 1:21,22), as you keep abiding in him and in his word (John 15). He will never leave you nor forsake you (Rom. 8:31-39 and Heb. 13:5,6). You will find this in John (especially chapter 10-17) and the other gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And MUCH more in the books of Isaiah, the Psalms and rest of the New Testament.
Some special promises: Matthew 11:28-30, Luke 15:1-7, 3 John 1:2
If you have gone through the steps above, follow these links to gain assurance and understanding of your salvation, and to begin deepening your understanding of God and who he is. Your purpose in life is to know him and follow him. "And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."
What Jesus Said About Eternal Life
A Prayer of Salvation: A sample prayer to God you can follow to receive Jesus and eternal life.
Healing, Deliverance and Eternal Life
Memory's Gate: The testimony of a little girl who was murdered at age 14, regarding her faith and assurance of heaven. The poem was written by her mother.
Get a Bible, King James or New American Standard are the best, and start reading the book of John. Then read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Acts. Then Genesis (the beginning).
Also, go through the links at the bottom of the home page. The most important thing is knowing him and his word, communing (fellowshiping) with him, fellowshiping with and worshiping him with other believers, and obeying and following him as you get to know him and his word.
"Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me shall live, even though he dies. And he who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?'" John 11
The Bible starting in Genesis or go to the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, etc..
Copyright © 2001 k.ellis