Well, I don’t know how you found this site, but I’m glad that you’re here. My name is Gary, and I share the Gospel with anyone who will listen. “Gospel” is an old English word for “Good News”. So I like telling people the good news. If you’re ready for some good news in your life, poke around. I’ve got some here someplace.
What is the Good News?
Simply put, the Good News is that you can enjoy a loving relationship with your Creator (Who wants a loving relationship with you).
But there’s more to it than just that. It’s Good News that anyone can receive—no matter who you are, where you’ve been or what you’ve done. In fact, no one can make themselves right with the Creator. Part of the Good News is that you don’t have to work for it (by showing Him how good you are), you simply receive the offer of a new relationship. But this brings us to the few terms of the relationship:
1. First, DESIRE to be with God
If you don’t want to be with the One Who made you, then He won’t force you into unity with Him. You have the ability to turn down the offer. Why would God save you from destruction if you don’t want saving? Would it be loving if He forced Himself upon you? When He calls to you, you must respond. He wants you to love Him, because He loves you.
2. Then acknowledge your INABILITY to fix yourself
God has told us that we are not perfect, as He is perfect. He has also said that evil cannot exist in His presence. So if we are to enter in to this perfect relationship with our perfect God, we need to admit to Him that we are not able to take away our own imperfect nature; for as long as we live in the flesh, we will have corruption inside of us. And since we desire to be with Him, this makes us sorrowful about our own corruption. The Bible calls this repentance.
3. Acknowledge your NEED for God’s help
Since you want to be with God in a perfect, loving relationship, and you are unable to remove your own imperfect nature (which prevents that), you should realize that only God can save you from yourself. You need help. To say this is to say that God is able and that you are not. You are placing Him and His abilities above yourself and your abilities. (See my post on the DNA of Imperfection.) No matter what you do, you cannot remove your imperfection. There is no religion on Earth that can make you presentable to your Creator through human effort—not one. And since every religion depends on human effort, they are all worthless in this regard (see my post on Religion).
4. Believe that the cross is SUFFICIENT
If you don’t think that Jesus’ death is enough (all on its own) to fix your relationship with your Creator, then it will be as you think. You must accept it as being sufficient to help you (to cover your imperfection and guilt). To deny the cross is to deny Jesus. To deny Jesus is to deny the Father. How will such denial bring you into a perfect, loving relationship with Him? There is nothing we can do to remove our own imperfection, and there is nothing we can add to what Jesus offers us. If religion worked, then the cross would be unnecessary. But religion does not work and the cross is absolutely necessary. This takes faith. It depends completely on faith—faith in what Jesus did for us and having no faith in what we can do for ourselves. Only the shedding of Jesus’ precious blood on the cross will remove your imperfect nature in God’s eyes. Believing this truth is imperative.
5. Then ACCEPT it
Having the desire (the love) for God is a good start. Knowing you cannot do anything to correct your imperfection is important. Knowing that you need God’s help is key. Realizing that only the cross can help you is also extremely vital. But none of those things will do you any good if you don’t ACCEPT the free gift that is offered to you by Jesus. You have free will given to you by God. If you didn’t have it then accepting Him would be something other than free will and would be meaningless to you and to Him. To not accept the gift He offers is rejection of Him.
After that
When you have the desire to be with God… When you have realized your own imperfect nature and that you cannot remove it from yourself… When you admit that you need God’s help… When you understand that the cross is what you need… And you have accepted Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross to pay for your debt of imperfection to God… Then you can enter in to a new relationship with Him. He will lead you into a whole new perspective on life, love, eternity, and so much more. You won’t be perfect (yet) but you will begin to change. You will have a thirst for the things of God, and not for the things of Earth (and man). Your spirit will come alive and your soul will be free from the consequences of an evil nature that abides in your flesh.
Pick up a copy of the Bible and read it. Get one that you understand. If thou dost speaketh the Olde English, you’re covered. If not, you can find a bunch of good ones out there to peruse. Just stay away from these “Bibles” that are false or not great:
- The New World Translation
- The Mirror Bible
- The Message Bible, or just, The Message
- The Living Bible
- The Passion Translation
- The Reader’s Digest Bible
Notice what I didn’t say
Here is a list of things that I did not say are required for beginning a new relationship with your Creator. These things are not essential to attaining life in Jesus’ name:
- Joining a particular church.
- Fixing yourself (losing that addiction or destructive lifestyle)
- Becoming acceptable through your own effort
- Paying money or making a contribution of time, talent, or treasure
- Going through some ritual (like circumcision or baptism)
- Just saying a few words
Also, I didn’t tell you to ask Jesus into your heart. That will happen automatically if you do the things that I said you must do. Other things that will happen over time are losing addictions, getting out of destructive lifestyles, restoring relationships, and becoming a better person as you draw close to God and follow His Holy Spirit’s leading.
You cannot simply declare that you have a perfect relationship with God. You must acknowledge what is shown above. And the change must occur in your heart—the change that God makes happen; not you. If your bad qualities are not glaringly apparent to you, you may not be a real believer. If your heart doesn’t change for the better, you may be fooling yourself.
For now
If all of this is foreign to you (and you’re still reading) I recommend that you see what topics are here for you to read. Learn a bit more about what people call “salvation”. You might have a similar issue to something I’ve written about and maybe what I’ve written will help you. I hope that you will learn to love God on His terms and enter in to perfect unity with Him…In Jesus’ name.
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