God's Plan of Salvation for Mankind by Jimmy Evans, Senior Pastor, Trinity Fellowship of Amarillo

God loves you personally. He is with you right now. He also created you in your mother's womb, and He has a purpose for your life. God is not just "a great force in the universe", He is the Creator of everything, yet He desires to relate to you individually and be a personal friend.

Listen to what Jesus says concerning this truth in Revelation 3:20:"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me." NKJV

In this scripture, Jesus said He knocks on the door of our hearts, waiting to come in. He wants to be the Lord of your life, but He will not come in until you invite Him. Until you ask Jesus into your heart, you are lost and on your way to hell. And when Jesus does not live inside you, you lack the power to live as you should. Therefore, your only hope is to invite Jesus into your life.

We all are sinners in God's sight. We cannot earn His love by doing good things, or lose His love by doing bad things. We can only accept His love by receiving Jesus Christ and living in obedience to His lordship. If you will confess your sins right now, God will forgive you. But when you have not received Jesus, your greatest sin is rebellion against God.

As you repent, invite Jesus to come into your life and submit totally to His lordship. Right where you are at this moment, you can know Jesus in you life by repenting of your sins and inviting Him in. If you are ready to receive Jesus into your life right now, pray the following prayer, or a similar prayer from your heart:

"Lord Jesus, I am a sinner. I have sinned against You and against others. I deserve death and hell. I repent of my sins and renounce my sinful and rebellious lifestyle. I unconditionally surrender my life and everything in it to Your authority. I open the door of my heart to You know and invite you to come in. Fill my life, Jesus. Forgive me and cleanse me of my sins by the power of the blood You shed for me on the cross. Fill me now with Your Holy Spirit and give me power to live for You. By faith, I receive Your forgiveness and Your presence in my life. Thank You for saving and forgiving me. In Jesus' name, Amen."

If you have sincerely prayed this prayer, you now are a child of God. It does not matter whether you feel anything or not. What matters is that you have done what God has said to do. In other words, you have now opened your heart to Him and received Him as your Savior. He said that if you would do that, He would come in. Jesus never lies. He is now in your life.

In order for you to be certain that you have done what is necessary to be saved, consider what the Bible says in Romans 10:9,10:"…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." NKJV

According to this passage in scripture, you must pass a twofold test to know you are saved. First, have you confessed the lordship of Jesus? Have you personally, with your own mouth, confessed His lordship in your life and surrendered to His authority? If you have not, you must do this first before you can be saved (born again).

Once you have confessed Jesus as your Lord, you must believe that God has raised (resurrected) Jesus from the dead. In other words, you must believe that Jesus is God, and also God's Son. He is not like Buddha, Mohammed, and all of the other so-called saviors who are still in their tombs. He is the only true Savior, and the only way to be restored to relationship with the Father. Do you believe this? If you do, and you have confessed Jesus as Lord, congratulations! You are a child of God and Jesus is living inside you.

Remember, being saved and walking with God daily are done by faith. Ephesians 2:8,9 states this important truth:"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." NKJV

Our salvation is not because how good we are or because we have some kind of physical proof that we are saved. Our salvation is because of the death of Jesus on the cross. He paid the penalty for our sins; and in doing so, He satisfied the anger of God toward us.

Therefore, because of Jesus, our sins can be taken away; and we can live in a peaceful, personal relationship with God. It does not matter who we are, or what we have done. God has no favorite children. Everyone who accepts and follows Jesus by faith is equal in His sight!

As a new child of God, stand on your salvation and walk with Jesus every day by faith. He wants to have a personal relationship with you beginning right now. Pray to Him daily and seek to know Him through the Bible. As you do, you will grow in faith and in your personal knowledge and love for Him. It's a wonderful journey!


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