About Jesus
Who is Jesus and what it means to believe in Him as your Savior is the most important question you will ever answer. To write about Jesus and His ministry and all the proof available as to who He says He is will take up more than I can write in this post. So, I will give you the basics with resources at the end for more follow up. But first I’d like to start with this…
Your decision to believe in Jesus is wholly your own, and you alone will be accountable for it. Something as important as where you will spend eternity when you die should never be taken lightly. Whether you believe in the afterlife or God or Jesus as your savior is something to resolve before you die. Because of its enormity, you owe it to yourself to have all the facts before making this important decision, for once you die, the opportunity is lost.
It’s interesting that people spend more time researching where to vacation than where they will spend eternity. Maybe you’ve had a bad experience with a Christian in the past. Maybe you were raised in a legalistic church and have painful memories as a child or are turned off by some of the goofy antics of Christians. I admit there are goofy Christians out there, but that’s beside the point (and saved for another post).
In deciding the truth about Jesus, I ask you to base your decision on facts and not on what you experienced or witnessed or anyone’s opinion (including mine). I’m asking you to seek the truth for truth’s sake…not to prove who’s right or wrong. You owe it to yourself to be absolutely certain of the truth. Again, let me remind you that after you die, your eternity is fixed, and knowing this is more important than where you’ll spend your next vacation, so please read on.
Why Salvation
In answering why salvation, I will quote from the Bible for it is the source of all truth, but remember, the evidence for the veracity of Scripture is at the end of this post.
God created man perfect without sin, or a sin nature. But in this creation, God gave man volition - the right to choose. He allowed man to choose to follow their creator God or not by planting the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden, commanding the first couple, Adam and Eve not to partake of its fruit. When Adam and Eve ate the fruit, they rejected God’s authority and sinned through disobedience, just like Satan. When Adam and Eve sinned, they immediately died spiritually and lost their human spirit - the physical part of us that connects us to God resulting in eternal separation from God. Because of Adam’s sin, the sin nature now infected his body, and would be physically passed on to his progeny. The result - everyone born from that moment on, would be born with a sin nature.
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned. Romans 5:12
Salvation is God’s solution to the problem of man’s sin and resulting separation, by re-connecting us to God through restoration of the human spirit (born-again). This is the simply answer as there is so much more God does for us at salvation.
For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of one man the many will be made righteous. Romans 5:19
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23
The Solution
God is righteous and holy. Because of this, He cannot be in the presence of sin. In order to restore the fellowship and remove the barrier sin brought, sin had to be judged and atoned for. This atonement could only be made by one who is perfect. And since all of mankind was born with a sin nature and has sinned, rendering them imperfect, God had to provide the only one who qualified - himself.
The Godhead, or trinity, is made up of one God in three person - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. All three participate in the plan of creation. The Father is the designer of the plan, the Son executes the plan (like a CEO), and the Holy Spirit is the energizer of the plan (like a COO). It was ascribed to the Son to atone for the sins of all mankind in all of history, through his death on the cross.
Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. Hebrews 9:22
However, since God the Son has eternal life, He cannot die. So, in order to meet the righteous requirements of the Father, the Son had to come to earth and take on a human body, in order for that body to die both spiritually and physically. This is Jesus. Through the virgin birth, the sin nature and Adam’s original sin was not transferred to Jesus’ body, so he remained perfect, qualifying him to atone for sin. On the cross, it was the humanity of Jesus that died both spiritually and physically but not his divinity because again, God cannot die.
God the Father placed on Jesus every sin ever committed both past and future and judged them as he hung on the cross. Once the judgment was complete, Jesus’s ministry on earth was fulfilled. It was only then that Jesus gave up his spirit and died physically.
At that moment, every sin that had been committed and every sin that will ever be committed by mankind was paid for so that we humans would no longer be separated from God. This is the Gospel or Good News the Bible speaks of.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes... Romans 1:16
Because of the completed work of Jesus on the cross, sin is no longer an issue between God and man. Salvation is God’s gift to man and is offered freely by to anyone who believes in the work of his son. It is a free gift of grace.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8
Because sin is no longer the issue, God’s gift can be freely given to all mankind. But man has to accept the gift for the gift to be efficacious. So, to be saved one only needs to accept the gift of God by believing in the work of Jesus Christ.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Acts 16:31
To not believe in the work of Jesus Christ is in essence rejecting God’s gift. Rejecting the gift of God is saying you don’t believe you need his gift and choose to stand on your own merit and remain independent of God and His solution, therefore, leaving you condemned.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them. John 3:36
They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the creator…Romans 1:25
What does it mean to believe in Jesus? The belief spoken of in the Bible is this - Belief that Jesus is the Son of God who came into the world to save man from sin, and in this belief one understands that he is in need of a savior. If you do not believe you are a sinner, you will reject the gift. One also rejects the gift if they do not believe there is a God, or that Jesus is who He says He is and that He died on the cross for our sins. However, just because one rejects the gift does not make the gift fictitious. Not believing in Jesus, or God, or heaven, or hell, does not mean they don’t exist. It just means you do not believe in them. And not believing in them does not make the consequence of not believing go away.
Think of salvation as a sort of peace treaty. God wrote into that treaty the terms that would satisfy His righteous requirements (atonement for sin). He has signed it and handed it to you. When you believe in Jesus as your Savior, you are agreeing to the terms of God’s salvation (belief in Jesus) and in essence, signed His treaty. Once signed, your human spirit is restored (born-again), and you eternally enter into the family of God. If you do not believe in Jesus as your savior, you reject the treaty and its terms and remain in your sin. And since God cannot be in the presence of sin, you remain eternally separated from God.
Requirements for Salvation
The gift of salvation is just that - a gift given by grace. It is non-meritorious, meaning there is nothing you can do to earn it. If you could, then Jesus died on the cross for nothing. God’s gift of salvation has no strings attached, meaning there is nothing you must do to be saved. You only need to accept the gift (sign the treaty), and you accept the gift when you believe in Jesus.
Many people stumble over the decision to believe in Jesus because they have been told they must change first, or give something up like drinking or smoking, which by the way are not sins. Smoking and drinking are not wise, but there are no Scriptures that call them sins. You can smoke and still go to heaven when you die. You just might get there sooner than if you hadn’t smoked. Jesus and Scripture actually condone drinking, but not drunkenness. Those who insist you must give up drinking before salvation are legalist and legalism has no place in Christianity as Christianity is rooted in grace. No Scripture in the Bible says you must give something up before you can be saved.
Scripture does say we are to repent, but the word repent in the original scripture is homologeo, which means to say the same thing as another(agree). In scripture that means to agree with God of who Jesus is. Repentance does not mean to feel sorry for your sins, or lament them, or even promise to stop. In repentance one is agreeing with God that they are a sinner in need of a savior. When we sin, we turn from God. When we repent, we turn back to God, who is free to forgive our sins…if we believe in Jesus.
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
I can’t stress enough that there is nothing you need to do to be saved other than believe in Jesus. You don’t have to go to church to be saved. You can be saved in the privacy of your own home. You don’t need to go forward in church and recite a prayer, you only need to believe sincerely and tell God the Father that you believe in Jesus as your savior. You don’t need to stop any sin before salvation, because before salvation…you are a sinner in need of a savior. How can you stop sinning before salvation?
I have prayed that the Holy Spirit opens the eyes of every person reading this post. For it is the Holy Spirit that makes spiritual truths understood. If you have chosen to believe in Jesus, I ask that you contact me and let me know. I am available to mentor you on your journey if you choose. Once again, just like God’s grace is free, all resources and services on this website are free.
If you still do not believe in Jesus, I respect your decision and pray that you will continue your search knowing the importance of this decision. I am available to answer your questions. I will not push you to a decision as my job is only to present the truths of Scripture. Your choice is personal and private between you and God.
Here are a few resources from my Blog you might appreciate~
Resources
The primary resource to go to first is the Bible, for it is the only true source of God’s truth. It will give you all you need to confirm Jesus is who He says He is. But you must believe the Bible is God’s truth, so to help you do this I am giving you resources that will help explain why you can be sure what the Bible says is true. The internet is loaded with content on the veracity of the Bible. What I am giving you is a place to start. But in your search, I suggest you also research the truth about Jesus. There is plenty of proof that Jesus is who He says He is. You only need to desire to find it and God will provide it.
I also ask that you pray to God the Father and ask Him to open your eyes to the truth. That is a promise that God has made, but it is your choice to believe it.
One of the best resources is a book by Josh McDowell called Evidence That Demands a Verdict. In this book, Josh tells how he set out to prove the Bible and Jesus to be false. In doing so, he discovered that the facts proved them both to be true.
Another book by Josh McDowell is More Than a Carpenter. It goes into detail and proof of who Jesus is.
Here is a short 6 minute video on Josh McDowell’s journey of discovery - Discover the Evidence
I highly recommend you spend time on Josh McDowell’s website resources pages as it contains most of the proof you are looking for.
Here are additional resources:
It’s your life and your choice. You owe it to yourself to make the right choice, because your life matters to God.
This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:3-4