Evans Ten Steps Toward Christ

Journey to the Heart of God
1. Auflage 2018
ISBN: 978-1-945529-26-9
Verlag: Gateway Publishing
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 200 Seiten

Salvation isn't the last step. It's the first. What's next? I've accepted Christ-now how do I live as a Christian? Practices in the church are confusing, the Bible seems overwhelming, prayer is a mystery, and I still have problems in my life. What do I do now? With these down-to-earth principles, Jimmy Evans gives you a map to navigate your new life. He explains how to: Connect with God Relate to other Christians See the Bible as relevant Decode the meaning of church practices Find freedom from past hurts

Autoren/Hrsg.

Evans, Jimmy

Leseproben

1

Being Born Again

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”

Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”

—John 3:1–9

Before I received Christ, I would hear people talking about being “born again.” It sounded spooky and too spiritual for me. Yet even though I didn’t understand it, I experienced it when I surrendered my life to Jesus. I was born “of the Spirit” on that day as I came alive to Christ and received the gift of eternal life (Romans 6:23).

To understand being born again, we need to take a quick trip back to the Garden of Eden and God’s creation of Adam and Eve.

The Origin of Death

When God created Adam and Eve, He breathed life into their nostrils, and they became “living beings,” (see Genesis 2:7). The breath God breathed into them wasn’t just air; it was His Spirit breathing life into their spirits. Thus, they were alive as triune beings—body, soul, and spirit. However, God warned them not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He warned them that on the day they ate of it they would die (Genesis 2:17).

Of course, Genesis 3 records how Satan, in the form of a serpent, tempted Adam and Eve and how they ate the forbidden fruit. At the moment they ate it, their bodies and souls didn’t die, but their spirits did. The Spirit of God departed from them, and they became spiritually dead. They could no longer commune with God intimately, as they had done when He walked with them in the garden.

They were now incapable of spiritual life or relationship and were spiritually separated from God. As a result, their minds became darkened, their emotions corrupted, their relationship divided, and their bodies aged and decayed. They passed their fallen nature on to their children and the generations after them until the entire human race became utterly evil (Genesis 6:5–6). To this day, spiritual death and the natural tendency to rebel against God are inherent in all of us as a result of the fall of Adam and Eve (Romans 7:14–21).

The Gift of Spiritual Life

Jesus came to save us by dying for us on the cross and paying for our sins. It is a debt we can never pay. But because of Jesus’ perfect life, God accepted His death as the payment for the sins of mankind. As we read in the Gospel of John:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:16–18).

By believing that Jesus is God’s only Son sent into the world to pay for our sins, we are saved from sin and hell and born again of the Holy Spirit. This must include a recognition of the Lordship of Jesus and the fact that He alone is the Savior of the world.

Consider this passage from Romans, talking about the meaning of certain verses in the Old Testament:

What does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame” (Romans 10:8–11).

This text makes it clear that we must confess with our mouths Jesus as Lord and believe that He was raised from the dead. These are two crucial issues to understand in becoming a true believer in Christ. First, without acknowledging the Lordship of Christ, we are simply buying “fire insurance” to save us from hell and make us feel better. A profession of faith that doesn’t acknowledge Christ as Lord doesn’t change the fundamental problem between God and us—rebellion (Matthew 7:22–23). Also, believing that God raised Jesus from the dead is essential because it signifies that only Jesus, and no other so-called savior, guru, or religious leader, satisfied the requirements of God to save us from our sins. The resurrection was God’s public and eternal validation that Jesus was who He said He was and that His sacrifice for our sins was accepted.

Salvation occurs as we believe and confess in accordance with God’s will. That is all we have to do. Jesus did the hard part for us that we never could have done. Now, by believing and confessing, we can freely receive salvation from God. There is nothing we can do to deserve it. We can only accept it or reject it.

Here is the way the apostle Paul describes salvation as a free gift:

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast (Ephesians 2:1–9).

Through faith in God’s Word, we believe that our sins have been paid for by Jesus on the cross, as was attested by His resurrection from the dead (Isaiah 53:3–5; Romans 1:3–4; Galatians 3:13–14). Also, by faith, we confess Jesus as the Lord of our lives (Romans 10:9). The title Lord means “master” or “boss.” Using (and meaning) it means we are stepping down from the throne of our lives and asking Jesus to fill the throne that was designed for Him from the beginning.

Being saved and born again doesn’t just mean that we now believe something we didn’t believe before. That is simply a mental exercise which, on its own, provides no benefits. What you think doesn’t make you a Christian. Being born again takes place as you make a radical decision to change the purpose of your life. No longer are you living for self and sin; now you are ready to surrender your life to Christ and follow Him as your Lord.

As we repent of our sins and rebellion against God and as we confess Jesus as our Lord and invite Him into our hearts, He comes in and forgives all our sins and gives us the gift of eternal life (Revelation 3:20). We are now capable of spiritual relationship and communion with God.

This isn’t some dead religion. It is a dynamic, personal relationship with God.

Your Opportunity

Over 40 years ago, as a confused and rebellious young man, I prayed a prayer to confess my sins and invite Christ into my heart. It radically changed my life, and the salvation it brought is just as real today as it was then. That was not only the most important thing I have ever done in my life; it was also the most important thing I will ever do in all eternity.

The day you receive Christ and become born again is your spiritual birthday and the most important day in your life. Are you ready to make Jesus your Lord? If so, pray this prayer:

Lord Jesus, I have sinned and rebelled against You, a holy God. There is no excuse, and I confess my sins to You now and repent of my rebellion. I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe that You died on the cross for my sins. I receive Your forgiveness now and believe that Your blood is more powerful than my worst sins. I am now totally forgiven by You, and I forgive myself. The past is behind me. I confess You now as my Lord and Savior. I step down from the throne of my heart, and I pray that You will now sit on...