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Getting To Know God
... He is the Creator
who made everything and still holds it
together. He is involved right now in His
world.
The Bible says:
"The God who made the
world
and everything in it
is the Lord of heaven and
earth
...He himself gives all
men life and breath
and everything else." Acts
17:24-25
... God wants to be our
Father. This was His purpose in creating
man -- to have a family He could love and who
could love Him in return.
The Bible says:
In love He predestined us
to be adopted as His sons
through Jesus Christ,
in accordance with His
pleasure and will.
Ephesians 1:5
... God the Father is
changeless and trustworthy. He loves us
with an everlasting love. When we become His
children we are safe. He will never fail us or
forsake us.
The Bible says:
"I will never leave you or
forsake you."
Hebrews 13:5
... God created heaven as a
beautiful home where He and His children
could live together forever in peace.
The Bible says:
"Now the dwelling of God
is with men,
and He will live with
them.
They will be His people
and God Himself
will be with them and be
their God.
He will wipe every tear
from their eyes.
There will be no more
death or mourning
or crying or pain."
Revelation 21:3-4
...God's beautiful plans
for men were spoiled by the entrance of sin
and shame. Sin began with the pride and
rebellion of some of the angels of God. They
were thrown out of heaven and became Satan and
the evil spirits.
...Sin and shame came upon
man when Satan tempted Adam and Eve, the
first people. Because of their pride and
rebellion they disobeyed God's command. They
chose to obey Satan instead of God.
... The result of Adam and
Eve's sin was:
- they were ashamed before
God for the first time
- their relationship with God
was broken
- all men became sinners
because of the
- all men are condemned to
die and be eternally separated from a holy God
- no one could go to the
heaven God made for them; all must go to hell.
The Bible says:
"Therefore just as sin
entered the world
through one man and death
through sin,
and in this way death came
to all men
because all sinned...
For all have sinned and
fall short of the
glory of God." Romans
5:12, 3:23
...Sin is the result of
falling to temptation like Adam and Eve
did. It is disobeying and displeasing God. We
sin when we do what we know we
shouldn't do. We also sin when we don't
do what we should do.
The Bible says:
"When tempted no one
should say,
'God is tempting me.'
For God cannot be tempted
by sin,
nor does He tempt anyone;
but each one is tempted
when,
by his own evil desire,
he is dragged away and
enticed ...
Anyone, then, who knows
the good he ought to do
and doesn't do it, sins."
James 1:13-14, 4:17
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Part III
What is salvation?
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...God the Father was not
willing that we should all die and go to hell.
His plan was to send His Son Jesus to die in our
place. Jesus is the only One who could be our
substitute because He is the only One who is
sinless and so has no sins for which He must
die. He could die instead of us.
The Bible says:
"God demonstrated His love
for us in this:
while we were still
sinners,
Christ died for us."
Romans 5:8
... Jesus, who is Himself
God, was willing to be born as a baby, live
on earth, suffer and die on the cross for our
sake to fulfill the Father's plan. The Father's
plan was to bring us lost sinners back into His
family.
The Bible says
"God was reconciling the
world
to Himself in Christ,
not counting men's sins
against them."
II Corinthians 5:19
... Christ's death on the
cross totally defeated all evil powers --
Satan, evil spirits, and death. His shed blood
provides cleansing from sin and power over evil.
The Bible says:
"Since the children have
flesh and blood,
He too shared in their
humanity
so that by His death He
might destroy
bim who bas the power of
death
-- that is, the devil -
and free those who all
their lives
were held in slavery by
their fear of death.
Hebrews 2.14-15
... Jesus rose, from the
dead proving His victory over Satan. He
ascended to heaven and is now at the Father's
right hand praying for us.
The Bible says:
Therefore He is able to
save completely
those who come to God
through Him
because He lives to
intercede for them.
Hebrews 7:25
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Part IV
How are we saved?
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... There are not many ways
to God as some people think. There is only
one way -- the way God has chosen: His own Son!
The Bible says:
"Jesus said, 'I am the
way, the truth
and the life, no one comes
to the Father
except by Me."' John 14:6
... Although Christ died
for the whole world, this doesn't mean that
everyone in the world is automatically saved.
If we want to be children of God we must each be
born individually into His family.
The Bible says:
"In reply Jesus declared,
'I tell you the truth,
unless a man is born
again,
he cannot see the kingdom
of God.
John 3:3
... Since our sin separates
us from God, we must first repent of our
sin. Repentance means not only feeling sorry
for our sin, but also humbling ourselves before
God and then turning from our sin.
The Bible says:
'Let the wicked forsake
his way
and the evil man his
thoughts.
Let him turn to the Lord,
and He will have mercy on
him,
and to our God, for He
will freely pardon.
Isaiah 55:7
...Then we must confess all
our sins to God and
ask Him to forgive them. Only God can forgive
sins against Him.
The Bible says:
"If we confess our sins,
He is faithful
and just and will forgive
us our sins
and purify us from all
unrighteousness.
I John 1:9
... Next we need to have
faith. Faith is believing that God hears my
prayer and forgives all my sins; that when I ask
Jesus to come into my life as Lord and Savior,
that He does; that when God says He will make me
His child, He really does.
The Bible says:
"Yet to all who received
Him,
to those who believed in
His name,
He gave the right to
become children of God.
I John 1:12
... We need to turn our
whole lives over to Christ, making a
complete commitment to Him and asking Him to be
our Lord and Savior. At the same time, we need
to renounce any connection from the past with
evil spirits, magic, and witchcraft, claiming
the cleansing and protecting power of Jesus'
blood.
The Bible says:
"I know whom I have
believed and am convinced
that He is able to guard
what I have entrusted
to Him for that day." II
Timothy 1:12
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A sample prayer you can
pray:
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Dear Lord Jesus, I know
that I am a sinner and need Your forgiveness.
I believe that You died for my sins. I want
to turn now from all my sins and any
connections with evil from the past. Please
forgive me and wash me clean with Your blood.
I now humbly ask You to come into my heart and
life and be my Lord and Master. I give my
life totally into Your hands. Thank You for
Your mercy to me, and for making me a child of
the Father.
Signature
_____________________
Date _________
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Part IV
What difference
does this decision make in our lives?
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...We enjoy the freedom
of having our sins cleansed away and no longer
being under Satan's control We must sha-re this
good news with others so that they, too, can
experience this freedom from sin and Satan.
The Bible says:
'When the Son sets you
free,
you will be free indeed."
John 8:36
... We become members of
God's family with Him as our Father, Jesus
as our Savior, and all other true Christians as
our family members. It is important to
regularly attend a church where you can
fellowship with other believers.
The Bible says:
"You are no longer
foreigners and aliens,
but fellow citizens with
God's people
and members of God's
household.
Ephesians 2:19
...We have the certainty of
eternal life - living
forever with our Father and our new family.
The Bible says:
"Whoever believes in the
Son has eternal life,
but whoever rejects the
Son will not see life,
but God's wrath remains on
him. " John 3:36
... The Christian has
the Holy Spirit, who is God, living
within him. He is the Christian's Guide,
Teacher, Comforter and the One who shows him his
sin. We need to fellowship with the Father and
listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit each day
by reading our Bibles.
The Bible says:
"But the Counselor,
the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send
in my name,
will teach you ll things.
and will remind you
of everything I have said
to you.
John 14:26
... As Christians we can come
at any time to Christ to ask for His forgiveness
for our present sins and failures, and to ask
His help in times of need. We need to spend
time in prayer every day for these things.
The Bible says:
"Let us then approach the
throne of grace
with confidence, so that
we may receive mercy
and find grace to help us
ia our our of need
Hebrews 4:16
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