Introducing Christ
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
John 14:6
God made people in His image, with the ability to have a genuine relationship with Him. In His great love for people, God made what scripture calls a great way of salvation through what Jesus Christ did for us to save us from our sin.
Therefore, Jesus is the way of salvation.
Christianity is Unique Among All Religions
All world religions were started as a way for people to try to draw closer to God, and make amends for what we all understand is our broken relationship with God due to our own personal sins. What makes Christianity different from all other religions is how our sin problem is dealt with so we may become right with God.
Christianity teaches that God makes us right with Him through His own efforts on our behalf, through Christ, whereas all other religions teach the opposite, that we are made right with God through our own efforts to be good. That is, Christianity teaches a righteousness (right standing with God) that is a gift from God through faith in Christ alone, so that no man can boast… but other religions teach a self-righteousness based on our own efforts which the Bible teaches is in fact worthless in God’s sight.
Our Need for Christ
God built into each of us the essential gift of free will, which is our ability to make choices that steer the course of our lives. Although God has been really clear about what is right and wrong, to which even our own conscience testifies, we all have at some stage in our life decided to reject God’s instruction and will. This rebellion against our creator is what the Bible calls sin.
The Bible says everyone is guilty of sin and that all sin carries an eternal death sentence as punishment before a holy and just God. But fortunately, the Bible also points the way out of the eternal punishment we deserve, through the gift of God which is Christ.
Jesus Saved Us
God knew that justice needed to be done and that everyone must pay the price for his or her sin. So God sent His Son Jesus to live a sinless life, and when He had done everything perfectly He offered that sinless life to God as a substitutionary sacrifice for our sin through His death on a cross.
This means that Jesus took upon Himself the consequences, sins, and punishment for our sins. He was put to death by being nailed to a cross where God laid upon Him the sins of the whole world. By doing this, He stepped into our place to take the punishment we deserved so that if we believe in Him, we can receive as a free gift the rewards He deserved, which is eternal life with God forever.
Faith in Christ is a Choice
After He died on the cross and was buried, God raised Him back to life to prove that the punishment for sin (which is death) was paid in full. Because of this fact, we each have been given the choice of a lifetime. We either choose to believe in what He accomplished on the cross as the full payment for our sin and accept Him as our way of salvation, or we reject Him and we choose to pay for our own sins.
The Bible makes it clear that there is only one sacrifice that God accepts as a means to cleanse us and forgive us of our sins, and that is the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf. If we choose to reject Him and His magnificent sacrifice, there is no other way for us to be saved from the terrible consequences of rebelling against God.
The Bible says that each person will one day stand before God to give an account of their lives. The most important decision we will all have to give an account for is what we decided to do about accepting or rejecting Jesus Christ. It is the difference between eternal life with God, or death (eternal separation from God).
Choose Faith in Christ for Your Salvation
God loved us so much that He went to great lengths to ensure that if we so chose, we could be completely forgiven of any sin and could begin an authentic relationship with Him. The choice is yours.
If you are interested in beginning a relationship with Jesus Christ by asking Him to forgive and cleanse you from all sin, then please pray from your heart the prayer below to establish your faith in Christ and to secure your salvation.
A Prayer for Salvation
Lord Jesus, I come to ask you to forgive me for my sin. I know my life is not right with God, and I ask you to change that.
I believe that you are the son of God, and that God placed all my sin and the punishment for my sin on you when you were crucified on the cross. I receive that great gift and believe you to be my savior.
Come into my life right now and be my Lord. Help my life to change and draw me close to you. I turn away from sin and ask you to help me live a brand new life.
By faith, I thank you for hearing and answering this prayer.