Are you one of the chosen few who will enjoy eternal life? It’s not available to everyone! Read this article to find out how you can be sure you qualify.
The Bible teaches that God created the universe and everything in it (including us), both the physical realm we can perceive with our senses and the spiritual realm that we can perceive only with spiritual insight, a capability that exists within each of us that is able to transcend the physical realm. That’s essentially the Bible’s definition of God and us. It says that it is the Creator God who gives us life and the ability to sense him. It also says that the purpose of our life in this time-space world is to choose whether to live both now and in eternity in fellowship with God or not, a choice that we can exercise only in this life between birth and death.
God made us so that we must obey the natural laws, the things that have to do with physics, chemistry, etc. In our relationship with those things, such as the Law of Gravity and our need to breathe oxygen, our physical body has no choice whether to obey or not, it’s not up to us. In that respect, we are pre-programmed. However, with regard to the spiritual laws, we have been given a mind and spirit that have a choice in this life to obey God or not. The purpose of the Bible is to tell us how to choose wisely and live in harmony with God’s spiritual laws.
When we choose to reject God’s spiritual laws, that opposition to God is defined as sin. The very nature of God’s omnipotence (having absolute power) determines that sin (anything in opposition to him) cannot exist in his presence in eternity. We are told that when we die we will be required to be without sin (opposition to God) in order to enter eternity where we can be one with God.
The Bible tells us that everyone is infected with sin. How we choose to get rid of the penalty of our sin (permanent banishment from the presence of God in this life and on into eternity after we die) makes all the difference in whether we will enter eternity to be with God or not. Cleansing from sin to achieve a permanent cure must be done in the way that God has stipulated will be acceptable to him. We can’t do it our way. It must be done in God’s way, because he is omnipotent.
The Bible is God’s revealed word (instruction manual) for achieving salvation. Salvation can be defined as living in fellowship with God in this life and eventually in the eternal life to come after physical death here on Earth.
No one can be saved unless God the Father draws him to himself. Salvation is a gift that originates with God and is offered to you, but only if God has chosen you to be saved (the fact that you have shown an interest in reading this article probably indicates that God is drawing you to his salvation). In order to appropriate that gift of salvation, you must first believe that God is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. The eventual reward is oneness with God. How that is accomplished is explained in plain language in the Bible.
If you sense that God is drawing you to himself for salvation, and if you want to find out, here are the steps you can take to respond to that calling:
1. Get a Bible and open it. If you can’t get a Bible where you live, you can download a copy of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in the King James Version in PDF or MS Word format (red-letter edition with verse numbers removed for use with the read-aloud feature available in Adobe Reader, MS Word, etc) . Free Download: PDF File | MS Word File
2. Read the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John with a seeking heart, trying to understand what they say about salvation. And, if you are Jewish, you may want to read The Book to the Hebrews as well. You won’t understand everything, but you can comprehend enough to understand salvation, so concentrate on those parts.
3. When you have come to believe with all of your soul that what the Bible says about salvation by faith in Jesus is true, then go with your whole mind and heart to God in prayer, confirming out loud that you understand that you are a sinner and in need of His salvation and authority over your life.
Reading the Bible for yourself activates an inner spiritual capability to understand God, something that all individuals possess but about which most people are unaware.
Let me explain by using an analogy from the world of computing. A computer is comprised of hardware and an operating system. Before it can do anything useful, though, it must have an installed program that is designed to produce a desired result. In this analogy, your brain is the hardware, your intellect is the operating system, and the Bible is the program. As with any computer, if the program is not properly installed, the result is, at best, garbled output. Reading the Bible is akin to installing a new program on a computer. Once the program is fully installed, then you can get output that makes sense.
As you read your Bible with a seeking heart, God will give you the faith needed to believe if you are responding to his call in truth. Be assured, God promises that every person who comes to him in believing prayer, repenting of their sin and seeking the salvation he offers in the Bible, will be saved. However, it will never happen if you don’t open your Bible and begin to hear what it says.
And, know this. If your belief is based on the promises of God as written in his Holy Bible, you don’t need approval from a pastor, a priest, a rabbi, an iman, me (especially me, since I’m merely a saved sinner like you), or anyone else to be saved. God will give you resting peace in your heart that you are one of his when you believe with all of your heart and soul in the salvation promised in his Word.
The evidence of your salvation will be your daily desire to know and follow the teachings and commandments of Jesus as revealed in the New Testament.
Once you are saved, what do you do next? First of all, it’s only natural to want to share the realization that you have been saved, so don’t be shy about telling your family, friends, and others what you believe about salvation. Also, feel free to share your good news with us (see “Contact Us” below). We won’t publish your name here, but we will rejoice with you about your salvation.