KNOWING GOD

Would you like to know how you can have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?

What does it take to begin a relationship with God? Wait for a storm to strike? Devote yourself to unselfish and ritualistic religious deeds? Become a better person so that God will accept you? NOPE, NONE of these. God has made it very clear in His Word how we can know Him.

First Step
Confess that you are a sinner and that you cannot save yourself. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…" (Romans 3:23). This means that even though you try to do your best, you still fall short because you are a sinner. Romans 6:23 says that "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Salvation is the gift of God to you. That's the way He planned it.

Second Step
Confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, He is the Son of God, and that He alone can save you. "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all men–the testimony given at its proper time" (1 Timothy 2:5-6).

Isaiah 53:6 says that "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Jesus took our sins upon Himself when He died on the cross. He paid the penalty for our sins so that we would not have to. He was raised from the dead, showing that He has victory of sin and death. Romans 10:9 says that "if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."

Third Step
Acknowledge that salvation will be yours if you put your faith in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:8 says that "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast." This clearly indicates that God gives the gift of faith first. Then you take the faith He has given you and place it in Christ you will be saved by faith alone–there is nothing more for you to do.

Fourth Step
Ask Jesus Christ to come into your life and be your Savior and Lord from this day forward, and forever. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says that "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" This is what is known as "new life in Christ," or as John 3:3 puts it, being "born again."

Accepting Christ is the beginning. As we learn in Colossians 2:6-7, "Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." After accepting Him, be obedient by following Him in baptism and by uniting with the church. When you do, you will find that life truly does have new purpose and meaning. Now go and find a good church home.