Friday 21 August 2015

The Way to Heaven

The way to heaven
The apostle Paul wrote,
“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.  
‘But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.”
1 Timothy 1:15,16.
Paul referred to himself as the worst of sinners, but according to the New Testament writers we are all sinners,
 The apostle Paul says,
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
                                                                      Romans 3:23.
The apostle John Wrote,
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  
If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.” 
      1 John 1:9-10.
We as people fall short everyday of our lives of what God wants for our lives. Falling short of what God wants for us is sinning. Sinning is missing the mark.
We are human we make mistakes. God understands that. That’s why God provided away for us to have our sins forgiven.
God realizing we couldn’t live lives perfect enough for us to be with him so he reached down to us in the form of Jesus. Through Jesus he showed how far in human terms He would go to reconcile each and every person to himself.
The apostle Paul writes,
“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.”
                                                                                                                                          Romans 5:6.
Jesus said,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” 
   John 3:16,17.
Ultimately salvation is based on two things.
The first is who you think Jesus is. Jesus asks us to believe the following statements,
...“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” 
                                                                                                                                                 John 14:6
“....“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;  and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 
                                                                                                    John 11:25,26
The second is we are asked to act in faith,
The apostle Paul make it clear salvation is not something we can work for. Paul writing to the Ephesians stating,
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast.” 
                                                                  Ephesians 2:8,9.
The writer of Hebrews stating,
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him”
                                                                                                            Hebrews 11:6
Faith defined as,
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” 
                                                                                                                           Hebrews 11:1.
So the choice is yours.
Please think about it.

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