ARE YOU SAVED?

We are all born with the natural desire to sin. Nobody teaches their children to lie or cheat or steal, it comes naturally. So what Paul says in Romans 3:10-18 is true, "There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one. Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit; The poison of asps is under their lips; Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; Destruction and misery are in their ways; And the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes."

It is very important to understand what it means to be saved, why we need a savior, and to be a true follower of Jesus Christ.

Romans 3:23 - "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

Pretty self-explanatory. All of us have failed God, or sinned against Him.

Romans 5:8 - "But God demonstrates His love toward us, in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Because of His love, the Father sent the Son to die and pay the penalty for our sin. While Jesus hung on that cross, He faced the full judgment of God that all sin deserves. We deserve to be executed for our sins toward God, but Jesus took it all and paid that price.

Romans 6:23 - "But the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

We get paid wages when we work because that's what we've earned right? Same thing here. We deserve death because of our sin. The death spoke of here is refering to eternal separation from God in hell. If we think we can continue in sin and say we are Christian is a lie. The good news is we can have the free gift of eternal life in Heaven only through Jesus Christ.

Roman 10:9-10 - "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."

Romans 10:13 - "For whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved."

Make a public confession that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior and believe in your heart that He died on the cross and was raised again three days later.

Call on the Lord and ask for His forgiveness and you will be saved.

"Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and that I do not deserve eternal life. But, I believe you died and rose from the grave to purchase a place in Heaven for me. Jesus come into my life, take control of my life, forgive my sins and save me. I am now placing my trust in you alone for my salvation and I accept your free gift of eternal life."

Jesus had a woman brought to Him who was caught in the very act of adultery. The religious wanted to kill her because that is what their law said should happen. Killing her would have been her sentence. Jesus told the crowd that whoever among them was without sin could throw the first stone at her. Nobody was without sin and nobody could throw that first stone. They all left and only Jesus and that woman was left. Look what He said to her in John 8:10-12, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more." Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."

See what He said? Go and sin no more. This is called repenting. When you turn from sin and follow Jesus with your whole heart. When you truly put your faith in Him to save you, He puts His Spirit in you and you have power to walk in a new life. Your life will be well lit and you won't walk in the sin that once had you trapped. Deciding to be a Christian is a very big deal and not to be taken lightly. This is a decision to chose all the life He has to give. Not to pick and chose what you want to do and what you don't want to do. Following Jesus with only a piece of your heart is not what He came to get.

Are you giving all to Him?