So up until now, all of my posts have been about spreading God's love, whether through words or through actions. Everything has been primarily to build up my brothers and sisters in Christ. But now I have a special message. This one is for those who have not yet allowed the Holy Spirit to change their lives.
First off, Christianity is not just a message of condemnation and numerous rules and laws that must be obeyed in order to avoid that fate. If it were, then there would be no hope for humanity because nobody can obey all rules and laws perfectly all the time. Chances are, you've lied to your parents or stolen a piece of candy from the Halloween bowl when nobody was looking or yelled at your siblings. We all have. The truth is, we are sinful creatures. We cannot achieve perfection and, therefore, we cannot reach Heaven on our own. We need Someone to open the gate for us, to bridge the gap.
Thankfully, Christianity is not just a message of condemnation, but a message of love. It has been said that God is love, and this has been quoted by many people over and over again. In fact, it even says so in the Bible in 1 John 4:8, which is the source of the quote. Because of His great love, He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to pay for our sins through the penalty of death.
The message of Christianity is a message of grace. Grace can be defined as an undeserved gift. And if the gift of salvation isn't grace, then I don't know what is. After all, we humans sin all the time, angering God. But God sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins, and through Him, He forgave us. We do not, in the least, deserve eternal life after all we have done to disappoint our Creator. But He allows us to live with Him forever anyway — as long as we let Him give us that great gift.
We are called to enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ, allowing Him to be like a brother and friend to us, while God becomes our Father, and the Holy Spirit replaces our conscience. We are no longer bound by sin but are now free to live pure, holy lives, pleasing to God, to ourselves, and to others. When we dedicate our lives to serving Christ, we dedicate our lives to the good of His people. This means that we do everything within our power to be loving toward others and demonstrate Jesus' love through our words and actions.
So to sum things up, believe that Jesus was and is the Son of God and trust in Him, be baptized with the Holy Spirit and with water as a display of your repentance, and live your life in such a way as to please God. This does not mean you have to follow a strict set of rules, but it does mean that we should strive to live as Jesus lived. And if you fall short, which we all do, then ask for forgiveness, repent, and move on. If you trust in Jesus, you will be saved, and if we live like Jesus, we can't help but improve the world.
Sounds simple enough, doesn't it? Trust God, be good, and apologize when you make mistakes. So why not turn to Christ now? Ask Him for forgiveness of your sins and ask Him to come into your life so that you can live with Him forever in Heaven. Ask Him to help you to live like Him so that others will see the change inside of you and be moved to consider Christianity.
With such a simple process, you really having nothing to lose, and everything to gain.
Until next time, God bless!
Michael
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"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." ~ 1 Timothy 2:8
"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to live is Christ and to die is gain." ~ Philippians 1:20-21
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