About Jesus Christ

The Bible says that God created each and every one of us.  In fact, God knows everything about us (Psalm 139). The Bible also says that He loves us beyond anything we can imagine (John 3:16). “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

However, there is a problem: sin. Sin is something we can not help, we are born into it. We “all sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). There is no human being that is exempt from sin and we have all fallen short of God’s standard. The most righteous, trustworthy, honest, moral, just person you know is not exempt (Paul says in Romans 3:10, “as it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one;’”). God abhors sin, He is perfect. He can not be around it because He is holy and His holiness is that standard which we fall short of. So, there is a punishment for our sin, and that is death. This death is not a literal death, because we will die someday, but this is a spiritual death. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death…” Death, in this sense is Hell. As one preacher put it, “the worst thing about Hell is that there is no God.” It is eternal separation from Him. Nothing WE do can make us right with God; no amount of charity, morality or goodness. Sounds pretty hopeless, right?

But wait. God did not stop there. We have HOPE! Romans 6:23 has a second part, the whole verse says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Because through His love, He bestowed upon our sinful creation the hope of grace: Jesus Christ. Romans 5:8 says, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Jesus lived a sinless life (Hebrews 4:15), died, was resurrected on the third day, ascended back to Heaven and now sits at the right hand of God the Father. Jesus’ death on the cross is what gives us that hope. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” We can now be in a right relationship with God the Father. Ephesians 2:8, 9 says, “So, this hope, this salvation, how can we receive it? Well the Bible says it is a free gift of God. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

So, how can we partake of this free gift? What do we have to do? That is just it, it is a gift, it is free to those who believe in Christ and make Him Savior of their lives. John 1:12 says, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” Believing (interchangeable with faith) in Christ means we receive Christ when we believe His promise. What is His promise? Romans 10: 9, 10 says, “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” The confession of your mouth is the outward showing of faith, and the belief is the inward faith in Christ. This involves a life commitment to Him. Each person, once he is faced with this choice, has to make the decision for himself. This idea of faith is heart belief, trusting oneself completely to Christ for eternal life. It is an admission of sin, because of that sin, needing a Savior, and a commitment of life to Him. That is saving faith. We have to invite Him into our lives, and thus be accountable for this choice of accepting the Lord Jesus or rejecting Him. Revelation 3:20 says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”

If this makes sense to you and want to accept Him as your Savior, pray this prayer:

Dear Lord Jesus, I realize that I am a sinner. I am sorry for my sin. Please forgive me. I believe you died on the cross for me. I receive you as my Savior; please come into my life. Live in my heart as you promised. I accept the free gift of eternal life. Make me the kind of person you want me to be. Please take control of my life. Thank you for coming into my heart as You promised. Amen.

If you have received Christ, Congratulations! You are now a part of His family, and you have accepted this free gift of eternal life. There will be times in your life when you are discouraged and do not feel like a Christian. 1 John 5:10-13 gives a clear indication that we can know for sure that we have eternal life. “Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.” So, therefore, God has made this promise in His Word: that when someone accepts Christ as his Lord and Savior, he has received eternal life.

So now what? Well you now have the Holy Spirit living within you. 1 John 5:10 says this. “Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself.” The testimony is the Holy Spirit. Paul, in Galatians 4:6 says it again, “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” The Holy Spirit is sent to guide us is all that we do.  So when you are tempted to do something wrong and God’s voice speaks to you, that is proof of Christ living in your heart. Paul says in Romans 8:16, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” What I am describing here is the inner witness of the Holy Spirit. He gives us the power to love and through that identifying characteristic, the world knows we are believers. In John 13:35, Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

If you have accepted Christ, please let me know! Send me an email at pastorjohnmalek@gmail.com.  I would like to give you some more information in your new walk with Christ.