Receiving Salvation
This is not what you are probably going to expect. I am not here to have you repeat a simple prayer asking Jesus into your heart,
because the Bible does not teach that. Preachers give a few scriptures and then ask, “Who wants to be saved?” This is not a
question of whether or not you want to be saved. The question is; are you willing to do what it takes to be saved?
What sounds very easy is in fact one of the most difficult things for most people to do. Today’s Christianity has become a work
and not a gift of grace, because people do not want to humble themselves. They would rather hear that they can pray a prayer
and be saved; rather than have to be willing to give up their sin and humble themselves to God. Many people will never find
Jesus, because they are not looking for Him and are not truly willing to lay down their life to follow Him.
Jesus said in Luke 13:24 “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.”
1 Peter 4:18 “And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?”
I will say this, salvation is simple for those who really want it, but if you are not going to take this seriously, than you will never
receive salvation. “Well, I don’t understand, why wouldn’t a person want salvation?” It is not that people do not want to receive
salvation; it is that they do not want to do what it takes to receive it. People are not willing to repent from their sin and turn to God.
They just want to repeat a prayer and continue to live however they want and still make it to heaven. That is not going to happen.
You must repent from all your sin.
Isaiah 55:7 “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he
will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”
You must be willing to turn from your sinful lifestyle and give your life to the Lord in order to receive His mercy. Not just part of
your life, your entire life. You cannot say, “Well, I will stop going to parties and getting drunk, but I’m still going to have sex with my
boyfriend.” If that is the attitude you are going to have than you can just forget about being saved. God is looking for a full
commitment. 50% of your life will not do it, not 75%; even 99% is not enough. You must lay down your entire life and turn away
from all unrighteousness.
1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil.”
1 Peter 2:1-2 “Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn
babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.”
James 1:21 “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word,
which is able to save your souls.”
You must be willing to give your entire life to Jesus or you will never be saved. Jesus made it clear that in order to be one of His
followers that you must give up your entire life to follow Him. You are not just a Christian on Sunday when you go to church or on
youth night when you are with your Christian friends. You must walk in Christ daily.
Jesus said in Luke 9:23 “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross
daily, and follow me.”
In order to follow Christ you must deny everything in your life that you hold onto. Preachers who say it will cost you nothing have
no idea what they are saying. This is going to cost you more than most people are willing to give. In fact, it is going to cost you
everything. You must lay it all down and be willing to turn away from everything in your life that would keep you from following
Christ. Your money, your possessions, your job, your hobbies, even your family or friends. For example, if your friends wanted to
go party and get drunk all the time, you must be willing to separate yourself from them.
2 Thessalonians 3:6 “But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother
who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us.”
2 Corinthians 6:17 “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing;
and I will receive you.”
People try to connect with God while still holding onto the things of this world, but you must understand that the things of this
world keep you from being saved. People seek wealth more than they seek righteousness. They let the things of God slip out of
their life, but strongly hold onto their possessions, making idols out of them. They put their job or hobbies at a higher importance
than serving God. They remain weak in their faith, because the people around them keep them from growing. You cannot hold
onto the things of this world and be saved.
Jesus said in Luke 14:33 “So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.”
“Well, I’m not trying to become a disciple; I just want to get saved.” When you are saved, you become a disciple of Christ. You
have accepted His word and laid down your life to follow His commands. Being a disciple does not mean you have to quite
everything and go door to door preaching the gospel. You are a witness to others by the fruits of the Spirit and the works of
righteousness that have become your new style of life. The change in your life is the testimony to others that Christ is in you, but
unless you lay down everything in your life to become a disciple of Christ, you cannot be saved.
I am not saying you have to get rid of all your possessions, quit your job, and do away with your hobbies; but you cannot hold
onto anything so much that it would cause your relationship with Jesus to decline. When I was saved, I had a completely
different view on the things of this world. Everything in my life seemed so much less important and now my desire for Christ
outweighed it all. Nothing in my life mattered except for doing the will of God, but it started with a humble heart and putting God
above everything else in my life. You must give everything to God and not let anything get in your way of following Him.
“Why do I have to do all that? Can’t I just ask Jesus Christ to come into my heart and ask Him to forgive me for my sins?” You
can, but there is no promise that you will be saved. Nowhere in the Bible does it say to ask Jesus Christ to come into your heart.
You cannot just pray that simple little prayer and expect to get into heaven. That simple prayer will do nothing for you unless you
are willing to lay down your entire life for Christ. Ignoring God’s law and living your life as you please will get you nothing but a
one-way ticket to hell. Until you lay your life down for Christ, you cannot be saved.
That simple prayer is the world’s way of receiving salvation. I am not here to give you the worldly way, but to show you what the
bible says. I could tell you that everything is going to be fine no matter how you live your life. I could comfort you with loving Bible
verses, telling you that you are a good person; and I could have you repeat a simple prayer and then tell you that you are saved.
However, if I told you any of those things, I would be lying. I am not here to motivate you with a false assurance; I am here to tell
you the truth. Preachers too often leave that part out and many people in church are never truly converted.
Do you really want to know what it will cost to receive salvation; or do you just want to pray that simple little prayer and ignore
what the bible says? Almost everyone that has walked into a church has repeated that simple prayer and most of them walked
out just as lost as when they came in. Why? First of all, as I said, that simple prayer is not biblical. Second of all, even if it was,
unless you have turned away from your sin and humbled yourself before God, He will not even hear your prayer. Proverbs 15:29
says the Lord is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous and John 9:31 says that God does not hear
sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.
Let’s look at that simple prayer and compare it to what the Bible says. The prayer usually goes something like this, “Lord Jesus
come into my heart and forgive me for my sins.” Some are a bit longer than that, but the two main points in all of them are,
getting Jesus to come into your heart, and receiving forgiveness for your sins. Most of the time when a person feels that they
have received these two things, they believe that they have been saved. What does the Bible say?
Romans 10:8-9 “But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we
preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you
will be saved.”
This does not tell you simply to ask Jesus to come into your heart. It says you must confess and believe. If you believe in Jesus,
you will abide in His commandments. You cannot think that somehow you can get your way around following God’s laws by
simply asking Jesus into your heart and asking Him to forgive you. If the word of God does not abide in you than you do not truly
believe in Jesus.
Jesus said in John 5:38 “But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.”
Romans 10:10 “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
You do not work unto righteousness, you believe unto righteousness. It is not asking made unto salvation, it is confession made
unto salvation. Confession is left out of that simple prayer as well. People just simply pray and ask Jesus to forgive them for
their sin. That is not what the bible teaches. You must confess your sins and acknowledge that the Lord Jesus Christ as your
only hope for salvation
1 John 1:9 “But if we confess our sins, He will forgive our sins because we can trust God to do what is right. He will cleanse us
from all the wrong we have done.”
The scripture says that if you confess your sins He will forgive you. If you have been telling perverted jokes, confess that you have
done so and repent. If you have had sex with your boyfriend or girlfriend, than confess that you have done so and repent. You do
not just go to Jesus asking Him to forgive you for all your sins. You must go to Him with a humble heart, confess that you have
sinned against Him, and feel in your heart that you need repentance from your sin.
Are you still not convinced that salvation cost more than just saying a few words in a simple prayer? You have seen what the
bible says about believing in Jesus and repenting from your sins. Do you see how different it is compared to what most
professing Christians believe? This simple prayer that is so popular has misled millions of people into a vain Christianity that
leads to hell. “But I go to church and read the bible, I even give money sometimes.” I do not care what works you have done, you
must give your life to Jesus in order to be saved.
Jesus said in John 5:39-40 “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which
testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.”
Give your life to Christ! Do not trust in a prayer or a work or anything else. Have the faith of Christ and believe in Him. He is the
only way to receive eternal life.
Do you realize that most of the people who follow the world’s way to salvation are still lost? Why do Christian events get
everyone excited to follow Jesus and then a week later everyone is living just as they were before? Why do most of the people in
church live just like the people of this world? How can so many people walk up to the altar week after week and not be changed?
I will tell you why; God is not working in their lives, because they have not truly laid down their lives to follow Him.
Deuteronomy 4:29 “But if you seek the Lord your God, you shall find Him, if you seek him with all your heart and with all your
soul.”
This is a full commitment to God. You must be willing to turn away from all your sin and lay down everything in your life to follow
Christ. You might say, “But I’ve tried to stop sinning and follow Christ and nothing happens.” You must understand that you
cannot become righteous on your own. You need Jesus to make you righteous and you must confess that you are without any
hope of salvation without Him.
Paul said in Romans 7:24 “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”
Only Christ can save you from your sin and cause you to live in righteousness. You cannot save yourself by your own works. This
is what most people do when they rededicate their life to Jesus. They get all excited and say, “I can do this, I’m just going to try
as hard as I can, I’m going to go to church, I’m going to read the bible and pray, I’m going to do everything I can to stop sinning.
STOP! Do you see the problem there? It has everything to do with you and nothing to do with God.
People do not understand that they must give their life to Jesus in order to be saved. They look toward their own righteousness
rather than seeking the righteousness in Christ through faith.
Paul said in Romans 10:2-3 “For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they
being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the
righteousness of God.”
If anyone could free themselves from sin and become righteous by their own works, then Jesus would serve no purpose. You
cannot possibly think that you can free yourself from sin by your own power. What if you had to stop a freight train, but you didn’t
want to use the brakes? You are not going to be able to stop that train are you? Two things can stop that train. One is to use the
brakes, or two, a sharp turn in the tracts derails the train throwing it into the ditch. So what about stopping yourself from sinning?
Two things can stop you from sinning. One is to go to God, or two, your life falls apart and you get to the point where you are like,
“Man, my life is messed up, I can’t live like this anymore.” Maybe it will take you falling to that extreme before you realize you need
God to save you. However, most people who fall down get back up on their own motivation and in a few days, they are right back
to their sinful life, because they never were saved. They are going to fall again. Why? Because they are trying to become
righteous by their own works and not by going to God for salvation. The biggest problem in today’s Christianity is that people
think they can somehow work their way to God.
You see, worldly people just pray that simple prayer asking Jesus into their heart; they go to church, read the Bible, and try their
best to be a good person. They feel that somehow they have earned salvation or that they deserve it because of their good
works. You cannot earn salvation. Don’t sit there and think, “Well, I've done things for God” Listen, I don’t care if you’ve spent
every second of everyday of your entire life doing the things that please God, all of it put together is not even close to the value of
one drop of blood that Jesus shed for you. Do you not realize what God has done for us? When we should have died in our sin
and spent an eternity in hell, God gave a perfect sacrifice for us. He gave His life for people who hated Him and sinned against
Him. He shed His own blood so that we could be saved, and you are going to act as if somehow you deserve it? God only has
mercy on the humble, and if you think that somehow you can earn your way into heaven, than you have not humbled yourself
before God.
You must humble yourself before God in order for Him to have mercy on you. Any pride that causes you to think that somehow
you have been a good person or done something to earn salvation, will keep you from being saved. I have told you and I will tell
you again, you cannot earn salvation. You must believe in Jesus for salvation.
“Well, I messed up this time, but I’ll try harder next time.” You are not here to say you are going to give it your best and see what
happens. You are here to say your best is not good enough and cry out to God to save you. You cannot try to earn salvation by
trying your best to be a good person. As I have said before, Christianity is not following a set of rules; it is becoming a new
creature in Christ. What kind of god would make you work for salvation? It is a free gift. You cannot earn it; you must lay aside
every amount of hope for salvation through your own works and submit yourself to Christ.
Titus 3:5-6 “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of
regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour”
Jesus said in Matthew 11:28 “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Jesus is saying that if you are working to be righteous then come to Him and He will give you rest. Once you give your life to
Jesus, you become a new creature that naturally abides in Christ. Stop trying to work for salvation; give your life to Jesus and He
will change you.
It does not matter how sinful you are or how many times you have rejected Jesus, He still loves you and wants to give you
eternal life. If you humble yourself before God and cry out to Him with a broken heart and contrite spirit, He will lift you up and you
will be saved.
James 4:6 says that God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. In verses 8-10, he says “Draw nigh to God, and he
will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, mourn, and weep:
let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift
you up.”
Psalm 34:18 “The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit.”
In Isaiah 66:2 the Lord said, “But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word.”
Jesus said in Matthew 5:3:8 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness, For they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, For
they shall see God.”
Do not harden your heart and rebel from the truth or let pride keep you from receiving the grace God has for you. He loves you
more than you can even understand and He has made a way for you to come to Him.
In Hebrews 4:7 Paul was repeating what David had said when he told the people, “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not
harden your hearts.”
“How do I pray?” I am not going to lead you into a prayer, but if you want to know how to pray, follow what Jesus taught.
Jesus said in Matthew 6:9-13 “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy
kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And, forgive us our debts, as we
forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the
glory, forever. Amen.”
Read the book of Psalm. The prayers of David were a perfect example of what it means to be humble before God.
Psalm 4:1, 5:1-2, 6:2-4, 19:14, 25:5,11 “Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in
distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer. Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation. Hearken unto the
voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray. Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak: O LORD, heal me;
for my bones are vexed. My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O LORD, how long? Return, O LORD, deliver my soul: oh save me
for thy mercies' sake. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my
strength, and my redeemer. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.
For thy name's sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.
Psalm 51:1-3,10, 63:3-4 “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy
tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I
acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit
within me. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up
my hands in thy name.”
because the Bible does not teach that. Preachers give a few scriptures and then ask, “Who wants to be saved?” This is not a
question of whether or not you want to be saved. The question is; are you willing to do what it takes to be saved?
What sounds very easy is in fact one of the most difficult things for most people to do. Today’s Christianity has become a work
and not a gift of grace, because people do not want to humble themselves. They would rather hear that they can pray a prayer
and be saved; rather than have to be willing to give up their sin and humble themselves to God. Many people will never find
Jesus, because they are not looking for Him and are not truly willing to lay down their life to follow Him.
Jesus said in Luke 13:24 “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.”
1 Peter 4:18 “And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?”
I will say this, salvation is simple for those who really want it, but if you are not going to take this seriously, than you will never
receive salvation. “Well, I don’t understand, why wouldn’t a person want salvation?” It is not that people do not want to receive
salvation; it is that they do not want to do what it takes to receive it. People are not willing to repent from their sin and turn to God.
They just want to repeat a prayer and continue to live however they want and still make it to heaven. That is not going to happen.
You must repent from all your sin.
Isaiah 55:7 “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he
will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”
You must be willing to turn from your sinful lifestyle and give your life to the Lord in order to receive His mercy. Not just part of
your life, your entire life. You cannot say, “Well, I will stop going to parties and getting drunk, but I’m still going to have sex with my
boyfriend.” If that is the attitude you are going to have than you can just forget about being saved. God is looking for a full
commitment. 50% of your life will not do it, not 75%; even 99% is not enough. You must lay down your entire life and turn away
from all unrighteousness.
1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil.”
1 Peter 2:1-2 “Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn
babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.”
James 1:21 “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word,
which is able to save your souls.”
You must be willing to give your entire life to Jesus or you will never be saved. Jesus made it clear that in order to be one of His
followers that you must give up your entire life to follow Him. You are not just a Christian on Sunday when you go to church or on
youth night when you are with your Christian friends. You must walk in Christ daily.
Jesus said in Luke 9:23 “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross
daily, and follow me.”
In order to follow Christ you must deny everything in your life that you hold onto. Preachers who say it will cost you nothing have
no idea what they are saying. This is going to cost you more than most people are willing to give. In fact, it is going to cost you
everything. You must lay it all down and be willing to turn away from everything in your life that would keep you from following
Christ. Your money, your possessions, your job, your hobbies, even your family or friends. For example, if your friends wanted to
go party and get drunk all the time, you must be willing to separate yourself from them.
2 Thessalonians 3:6 “But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother
who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us.”
2 Corinthians 6:17 “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing;
and I will receive you.”
People try to connect with God while still holding onto the things of this world, but you must understand that the things of this
world keep you from being saved. People seek wealth more than they seek righteousness. They let the things of God slip out of
their life, but strongly hold onto their possessions, making idols out of them. They put their job or hobbies at a higher importance
than serving God. They remain weak in their faith, because the people around them keep them from growing. You cannot hold
onto the things of this world and be saved.
Jesus said in Luke 14:33 “So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.”
“Well, I’m not trying to become a disciple; I just want to get saved.” When you are saved, you become a disciple of Christ. You
have accepted His word and laid down your life to follow His commands. Being a disciple does not mean you have to quite
everything and go door to door preaching the gospel. You are a witness to others by the fruits of the Spirit and the works of
righteousness that have become your new style of life. The change in your life is the testimony to others that Christ is in you, but
unless you lay down everything in your life to become a disciple of Christ, you cannot be saved.
I am not saying you have to get rid of all your possessions, quit your job, and do away with your hobbies; but you cannot hold
onto anything so much that it would cause your relationship with Jesus to decline. When I was saved, I had a completely
different view on the things of this world. Everything in my life seemed so much less important and now my desire for Christ
outweighed it all. Nothing in my life mattered except for doing the will of God, but it started with a humble heart and putting God
above everything else in my life. You must give everything to God and not let anything get in your way of following Him.
“Why do I have to do all that? Can’t I just ask Jesus Christ to come into my heart and ask Him to forgive me for my sins?” You
can, but there is no promise that you will be saved. Nowhere in the Bible does it say to ask Jesus Christ to come into your heart.
You cannot just pray that simple little prayer and expect to get into heaven. That simple prayer will do nothing for you unless you
are willing to lay down your entire life for Christ. Ignoring God’s law and living your life as you please will get you nothing but a
one-way ticket to hell. Until you lay your life down for Christ, you cannot be saved.
That simple prayer is the world’s way of receiving salvation. I am not here to give you the worldly way, but to show you what the
bible says. I could tell you that everything is going to be fine no matter how you live your life. I could comfort you with loving Bible
verses, telling you that you are a good person; and I could have you repeat a simple prayer and then tell you that you are saved.
However, if I told you any of those things, I would be lying. I am not here to motivate you with a false assurance; I am here to tell
you the truth. Preachers too often leave that part out and many people in church are never truly converted.
Do you really want to know what it will cost to receive salvation; or do you just want to pray that simple little prayer and ignore
what the bible says? Almost everyone that has walked into a church has repeated that simple prayer and most of them walked
out just as lost as when they came in. Why? First of all, as I said, that simple prayer is not biblical. Second of all, even if it was,
unless you have turned away from your sin and humbled yourself before God, He will not even hear your prayer. Proverbs 15:29
says the Lord is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous and John 9:31 says that God does not hear
sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him.
Let’s look at that simple prayer and compare it to what the Bible says. The prayer usually goes something like this, “Lord Jesus
come into my heart and forgive me for my sins.” Some are a bit longer than that, but the two main points in all of them are,
getting Jesus to come into your heart, and receiving forgiveness for your sins. Most of the time when a person feels that they
have received these two things, they believe that they have been saved. What does the Bible say?
Romans 10:8-9 “But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we
preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you
will be saved.”
This does not tell you simply to ask Jesus to come into your heart. It says you must confess and believe. If you believe in Jesus,
you will abide in His commandments. You cannot think that somehow you can get your way around following God’s laws by
simply asking Jesus into your heart and asking Him to forgive you. If the word of God does not abide in you than you do not truly
believe in Jesus.
Jesus said in John 5:38 “But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.”
Romans 10:10 “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
You do not work unto righteousness, you believe unto righteousness. It is not asking made unto salvation, it is confession made
unto salvation. Confession is left out of that simple prayer as well. People just simply pray and ask Jesus to forgive them for
their sin. That is not what the bible teaches. You must confess your sins and acknowledge that the Lord Jesus Christ as your
only hope for salvation
1 John 1:9 “But if we confess our sins, He will forgive our sins because we can trust God to do what is right. He will cleanse us
from all the wrong we have done.”
The scripture says that if you confess your sins He will forgive you. If you have been telling perverted jokes, confess that you have
done so and repent. If you have had sex with your boyfriend or girlfriend, than confess that you have done so and repent. You do
not just go to Jesus asking Him to forgive you for all your sins. You must go to Him with a humble heart, confess that you have
sinned against Him, and feel in your heart that you need repentance from your sin.
Are you still not convinced that salvation cost more than just saying a few words in a simple prayer? You have seen what the
bible says about believing in Jesus and repenting from your sins. Do you see how different it is compared to what most
professing Christians believe? This simple prayer that is so popular has misled millions of people into a vain Christianity that
leads to hell. “But I go to church and read the bible, I even give money sometimes.” I do not care what works you have done, you
must give your life to Jesus in order to be saved.
Jesus said in John 5:39-40 “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which
testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.”
Give your life to Christ! Do not trust in a prayer or a work or anything else. Have the faith of Christ and believe in Him. He is the
only way to receive eternal life.
Do you realize that most of the people who follow the world’s way to salvation are still lost? Why do Christian events get
everyone excited to follow Jesus and then a week later everyone is living just as they were before? Why do most of the people in
church live just like the people of this world? How can so many people walk up to the altar week after week and not be changed?
I will tell you why; God is not working in their lives, because they have not truly laid down their lives to follow Him.
Deuteronomy 4:29 “But if you seek the Lord your God, you shall find Him, if you seek him with all your heart and with all your
soul.”
This is a full commitment to God. You must be willing to turn away from all your sin and lay down everything in your life to follow
Christ. You might say, “But I’ve tried to stop sinning and follow Christ and nothing happens.” You must understand that you
cannot become righteous on your own. You need Jesus to make you righteous and you must confess that you are without any
hope of salvation without Him.
Paul said in Romans 7:24 “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”
Only Christ can save you from your sin and cause you to live in righteousness. You cannot save yourself by your own works. This
is what most people do when they rededicate their life to Jesus. They get all excited and say, “I can do this, I’m just going to try
as hard as I can, I’m going to go to church, I’m going to read the bible and pray, I’m going to do everything I can to stop sinning.
STOP! Do you see the problem there? It has everything to do with you and nothing to do with God.
People do not understand that they must give their life to Jesus in order to be saved. They look toward their own righteousness
rather than seeking the righteousness in Christ through faith.
Paul said in Romans 10:2-3 “For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they
being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the
righteousness of God.”
If anyone could free themselves from sin and become righteous by their own works, then Jesus would serve no purpose. You
cannot possibly think that you can free yourself from sin by your own power. What if you had to stop a freight train, but you didn’t
want to use the brakes? You are not going to be able to stop that train are you? Two things can stop that train. One is to use the
brakes, or two, a sharp turn in the tracts derails the train throwing it into the ditch. So what about stopping yourself from sinning?
Two things can stop you from sinning. One is to go to God, or two, your life falls apart and you get to the point where you are like,
“Man, my life is messed up, I can’t live like this anymore.” Maybe it will take you falling to that extreme before you realize you need
God to save you. However, most people who fall down get back up on their own motivation and in a few days, they are right back
to their sinful life, because they never were saved. They are going to fall again. Why? Because they are trying to become
righteous by their own works and not by going to God for salvation. The biggest problem in today’s Christianity is that people
think they can somehow work their way to God.
You see, worldly people just pray that simple prayer asking Jesus into their heart; they go to church, read the Bible, and try their
best to be a good person. They feel that somehow they have earned salvation or that they deserve it because of their good
works. You cannot earn salvation. Don’t sit there and think, “Well, I've done things for God” Listen, I don’t care if you’ve spent
every second of everyday of your entire life doing the things that please God, all of it put together is not even close to the value of
one drop of blood that Jesus shed for you. Do you not realize what God has done for us? When we should have died in our sin
and spent an eternity in hell, God gave a perfect sacrifice for us. He gave His life for people who hated Him and sinned against
Him. He shed His own blood so that we could be saved, and you are going to act as if somehow you deserve it? God only has
mercy on the humble, and if you think that somehow you can earn your way into heaven, than you have not humbled yourself
before God.
You must humble yourself before God in order for Him to have mercy on you. Any pride that causes you to think that somehow
you have been a good person or done something to earn salvation, will keep you from being saved. I have told you and I will tell
you again, you cannot earn salvation. You must believe in Jesus for salvation.
“Well, I messed up this time, but I’ll try harder next time.” You are not here to say you are going to give it your best and see what
happens. You are here to say your best is not good enough and cry out to God to save you. You cannot try to earn salvation by
trying your best to be a good person. As I have said before, Christianity is not following a set of rules; it is becoming a new
creature in Christ. What kind of god would make you work for salvation? It is a free gift. You cannot earn it; you must lay aside
every amount of hope for salvation through your own works and submit yourself to Christ.
Titus 3:5-6 “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of
regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour”
Jesus said in Matthew 11:28 “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Jesus is saying that if you are working to be righteous then come to Him and He will give you rest. Once you give your life to
Jesus, you become a new creature that naturally abides in Christ. Stop trying to work for salvation; give your life to Jesus and He
will change you.
It does not matter how sinful you are or how many times you have rejected Jesus, He still loves you and wants to give you
eternal life. If you humble yourself before God and cry out to Him with a broken heart and contrite spirit, He will lift you up and you
will be saved.
James 4:6 says that God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. In verses 8-10, he says “Draw nigh to God, and he
will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, mourn, and weep:
let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift
you up.”
Psalm 34:18 “The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit.”
In Isaiah 66:2 the Lord said, “But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word.”
Jesus said in Matthew 5:3:8 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness, For they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, For
they shall see God.”
Do not harden your heart and rebel from the truth or let pride keep you from receiving the grace God has for you. He loves you
more than you can even understand and He has made a way for you to come to Him.
In Hebrews 4:7 Paul was repeating what David had said when he told the people, “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not
harden your hearts.”
“How do I pray?” I am not going to lead you into a prayer, but if you want to know how to pray, follow what Jesus taught.
Jesus said in Matthew 6:9-13 “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy
kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And, forgive us our debts, as we
forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the
glory, forever. Amen.”
Read the book of Psalm. The prayers of David were a perfect example of what it means to be humble before God.
Psalm 4:1, 5:1-2, 6:2-4, 19:14, 25:5,11 “Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in
distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer. Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation. Hearken unto the
voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray. Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak: O LORD, heal me;
for my bones are vexed. My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O LORD, how long? Return, O LORD, deliver my soul: oh save me
for thy mercies' sake. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my
strength, and my redeemer. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.
For thy name's sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.
Psalm 51:1-3,10, 63:3-4 “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy
tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I
acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit
within me. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up
my hands in thy name.”
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