Why We Must Get SAVED, And How?
Why do we need to accept Jesus?
We need to accept Jesus (or get saved) because we are all sinners, which means we have all broken God's commandments. We have all lied, stolen or desired to have something that did not belong to us.
The Bible tells us in James 2:10 that if we break one of God's commandments, it is as if we have broken them all. Because we have sinned, we are headed to eternal Hell unless we ask for forgiveness and put our total trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Bible says that God wants to help us and to guide us. God wants all to accept Him. It's up to us to make that decision. We choose our eternal destination. God provided the WAY through His Son who paid and paved the path.
To some, that will sound crazy. But without free will (choice) God would not be able to demonstrate to us how much he loves us.
When we think about everything we have chosen to do wrong, it is it stunning that God will wash it all away in one instance if we allow Him to.
It's all because he loves us so much and will never think about our forgiven sin again. Never, says the Bible.
So, how do we "accept Christ" or get "saved?" Jesus is ready to come into our life right now. He's just waiting for us to invite Him in.
What do we pray?
Well, we can let our heart lead us. God hears us. He will know and understands what we mean. He knows our heart.
The Bible does give us some guidelines so we can know we have really accepted Christ. Please know that the order of these prayer thoughts are not important, but saying it and really meaning it is.
1. Believe. "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." Romans 10:9
2. We must chose to believe that without a doubt Jesus Christ is the son of the living God and that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. It's not just enough for our parents to believe it, or for us to just say we believe it. We must believe it so much that if someone were to put us in jail if we said we believe it, we would be willing to be put in jail.
3. Confess. "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
4. The Bible says that we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of Go (Romans 3:23) . We must admit to God that we are a sinner and confess to him our sins.
5. Repent. "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord" Acts 3:19
6. When we repent, we turn away from our sins (1 Thessalonians 1:9). This doesn't mean we say, we're sorry and do it again. This means we say we are sorry, we mean it, and we stop doing the wrong stuff. No one is perfect, God knows that, but if we are sinning and we know it, stop.
What, no formal prayer?
This should be something from our heart, it shouldn't be something we just write down, we recite, and call it done.
Talk to God and tell him that you believe that Jesus is Lord and that he died for our sins. Let him know that we confess all of our sins, that we repent and want to turn away from all of your past sins .
If you need to, get your Bible and read the verses listed above. Sit down and think about them. When you pray be sure you include all the things above, and make sure that you say what's really in your heart.
