HOW TO BE SAVED

Jesus said to Nicodemus “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3

Romans 3:23 tells us “…all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God.”

So, what happened to man? Why do we need to be “born again”, as Jesus said? To answer these questions and to understand what being born again means, one must go back to the beginning, back to the Garden of Eden. For it is in the Garden of Eden that we see everything set in motion for mankind.

Adam and Eve were created by God and they were created to live forever. They were, in their original state, perfect and without sin. Being perfect and without sin meant that they would live forever, if, they obeyed God’s command concerning a certain tree in the Garden of Eden.

But, as we know, it didn’t take long before Adam and Eve fell to the temptation of the Devil to be “like God” and to know the difference between good and evil. They both disobeyed God and with their disobedience, sin entered into the world and sin entered into the human race. So, everyone born thereafter was born into a sinful state of existence and born with a sin nature.

With the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden we see that sin and all of its consequences entered into the world. These consequences include sickness, disease, pain, suffering, heartache, fear, anger, depression, jealously, envy, strife and the flesh nature of man. It wasn’t supposed to be this way, but this is how it ended up. Also, with the Fall of Man, we see that Adam and Eve lost the “life connection” they had with God. Adam and Eve lost their eternal life, and now one day they would die. But, there was still hope.

A note at this point. For those who challenge Christianity as being the legitimate religion of the world today and challenge the origin of Christianity, it must be noted that Christianity began in the Garden of Eden at the time of the Fall of Man. It began with God’s prophecy to Adam, Eve and Satan concerning the coming Messiah who would be called Jesus. Therefore, for those skeptics, who say that Christianity is an “invention” of someone’s mind that evolved late in the overall history of mankind, that is simply an inaccurate and underdeveloped analysis. Adam and Eve were the first human beings. And, we see a Messianic prophecy introduced to Adam and Eve at the very beginning of man’s existence on the Earth, therefore, how can anyone say that Christianity “came later” than the other religions of the world. To say such a thing would mean that the other non-Christian religions of the world would have to have existed…before… Adam and Eve.

At the time of the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden, we see a prophecy come forth concerning all that had happened and the state of sin that man now found himself. God says, at that time, these words to Satan “…And I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed, He shall bruise your head (tread your head underfoot) and you shall bruise His heel.” This is the first prophecy in the Bible and it is a prophecy about Jesus Christ who would be born into the world centuries later.

So, getting back to the Fall of Man. Now we see that Adam and Eve and every human being subsequently born into the world are now separated from God and have a sin problem that they have no power or ability to get rid of. And, according to God’s holiness, if a man does not get rid of his sin, he can never be in the presence of a Holy God. So, what is a man to do?

At first, in the Old Testament days, God required animal sacrifices for sin. We see in Leviticus 17:11 that God says “For the life of the flesh in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.” This is one of the most important verses in all of the Bible. The importance of which we’ll visit later.

We see that God, at first, set up a system of animal sacrifices for man’s sins. The innocent animals were having to die for the sins of men. This is the way that God set it up. You simply have to accept this reality. Our sins are unbecoming and ugly in God’s eyes, so, in turn, the “ugliness” of sacrifice was required to deal with sin.

So, finally, after many long centuries and many additional prophecies about the coming Messiah, we see in the Book of Matthew where Jesus arrives on the scene. We see Jesus being born of the Virgin named Mary into the human race. Jesus a God Man. The first ever of His type, and the last of this type. He is the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last. Jesus was both man and God at the same time.

There is a pop song that has a line in it that goes “What if God was one of us, just trying to make it”. Well, in fact, in the person of Jesus Christ, God was one of us and…He did “make it.” Jesus did make it through all the trials and temptations of being a man without ever sinning.

Then, we see in the Bible where Jesus came to the moment of allowing Himself to be taken prisoner by the Romans guards under the authority of the Pharisees and religious leaders of the day and falsely accused of crimes against the Roman government. After a bogus trial, Jesus was beaten and then crucified on a cross where He bleed and died.

Then, on the third day after Jesus’ death, we read in the Bible where Jesus rose from the dead, appeared to many, ate food with the disciples, gave some final words of instruction and then ascended into Heaven where He sat down at the Right Hand of The Father.

So, today, as a human being, we must first recognize and accept the fact and reality that we have sin in our lives that must be forgiven. Jesus says in Mark 1:15 “Repent and believe in the gospel.” This means that we must ask God to forgive us for our sins. Now at this point, there is a newly developing debate that you need to avoid. Some are saying that it is impossible to remember all the sins you ever committed so, therefore, how can anyone ask for forgiveness for sins they can’t remember. This argument is futile and comes from the Devil and it is a device to rob men’s souls. Don’t go there.

To ask forgiveness for your sins simply means that you acknowledge before God that you are a sinner and then ask Him to forgive you of all your sins (in general) that you have ever committed. This covers all those you may have forgotten and I might add at this point, this also covers “all those sins you have committed that you didn’t even realize were sins in God’s eyes”. So, to say that any one human being could even possibly know about and categorize every sin they may or may not have ever committed would in essence make that person equal with God.

At the same moment you are asking God to forgive you of your sins, you must ask Jesus to come into your life and be your Lord and Savior. This is part of getting saved. It is the blood sacrifice of Jesus that cleanses you of your sins. And, by acknowledging Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you are saying that you accept His sacrifice for your sins. It is extremely important that you understand this. Remember the verse we looked at in Leviticus 17:11. If the “life of the flesh is in the blood” then, this means that the life of Jesus was in His blood. Jesus gave His “life” in order that you might live.

So, if you have prayed this prayer with understanding, then, you are saved. You are born again as Jesus said. It is a spiritual re-birth. Remember Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. They died spiritually on that day. That is why we must be “re-born” or born again as Jesus said. If you have said this prayer, then welcome to the family of God. Amen