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What must you do to Receive Eternal Life? |
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Jesus asked one thing. That you believe He loved you enough to die for you and save you from your sins. He asked us to trust Him as the Savior and Lord of our lives. He asks us to BELIEVE that he is indeed the SON of God.
When you give Him an invitation to come into the center of your self-- your heart, your mind, your will, emotions and actions -- an exchange will take place. His Holy Spirit enters your hard heart of self-centered wants, needs and desires and bestows upon you the very seed of Christ, Himself. By joining you to Him, you become a whole new created being!
The bible says the seed is like yeast and will fill the whole loaf (the person) with the divine fruit, gifts and character of Christ., The Holy Spirit of God will begin to change you from within. He will wash your old nature's mind, heart, soul, and spirit with His word and His ways. He has chosen to do this as we spend TIME in relationship with Him. Putting Him first in our lives and giving ourselves over to the methods He has designed to make these changes is important. His methods are clearly marked in the bible as bible reading, prayer, worship, and fellowship with other believers. As we align our will and AGREE with God's word, then our emotions, mind and behavior begins to conform to His will and we are NO longer slaves to sin but in love and gratitude for what He has done for us we freely give our allegiances totally to Him.
Christianity is the ONLY faith that does not have to earn their way into heaven. Jesus and His Holy Spirit give eternal life to every believer when they relinquish their every day lives totally to God, their Creator, and accept His one way of provision for eternal life. The word sanctification is the theological word for this interaction between God and people. It takes a long time to convert the old nature to God's ways and that is why we are given great grace to accomplish this transformation. It is NOT grace given so we can sin more; but rather out of the love and devotion to our Lord, put away the sin in our lives. The more we LOVE Jesus, the more naturally abhorrent sin becomes to us.
And in order to BELIEVE in Him you have to believe He is the very Son of God. Not a good man, or a prophet, but the very Son of God, the long awaited Messiah the Hebrew people spoke about in the Old Testament. What sane person would put their entire lives in the hands of a human being? Jesus Christ, is God, who came in human form to become the substitute sacrifice for our sins which were committed by our sinful, selfish, humanity. If you really do believe in Him as the Son of God then it is easy to put him in place as the ultimate authority in your life. The one who created you, knows what is best for you.
The redemption of our physical bodies begins, not when we die, but as we live with Christ every moment of our life. Real Christianity is not just going to church on Sundays, but living FOR Christ on a daily, moment- by- moment basis. It is allowing Him to change our thoughts, our desires, our emotions and will. And we then wrestle daily with our old nature after being "born again" because it wants to put up a fight against who will be in control of our lives.
The bible contains within it all you need for the journey to eternity and for life down here.
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