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7. The Way of Salvation 1. HAVE YOU COME TO THE PLACE IN YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE WHERE YOU CAN BE CERTAIN THAT, IF YOU SHOULD DIE TONIGHT, YOU WOULD HAVE ETERNAL LIFE? 1WS 1 John 5:13 God wants us to know that we have eternal life. 2. SUPPOSE YOU SHOULD DIE TONIGHT. WHEN YOU RISE IN THE RESURRECTION AN ANGEL WOULD ASK YOU: `WHY SHOULD I LET YOU INTO HEAVEN?' WHAT WOULD YOU SAY? 2WS Rom. 6:23 Heaven is a free gift. 3. WHY CAN'T I EARN HEAVEN? 3WS Rom. 3:23 MAN is a sinner. 4. WHAT IS SIN? 4WS 1 John 3:4 Sin is lawlessness–breaking God's commandments 5. HOW MANY OF GOD'S COMMANDMENTS HAVE WE BROKEN? 5WS James 2:10 If we break just one commandment, we've broken them all. 6. WHAT DOES GOD REQUIRE OF US IN ORDER FOR US TO SAVE OURSELVES? 6WS Matt. 5:48 God requires perfection. But we're not perfect, so we're lost from the start! 7. HOW DOES GOD FEEL ABOUT SINNERS? 7WS 2 Pet. 3:9 GOD wants to save everybody. 8. SINCE GOD LOVES US, WILL HE EVER PUNISH US FOR SINNING? 8WS Ex. 34:6, 7 God is full of mercy: But He's also a God of justice. He wants to save us, but we're sinners and he can't say we're perfect. QUICK REVIEW: Man cannot save himself; God cannot declare him perfect. God and man seem to be caught in a Galactic Impasse! 9. HOW CAN GOD SAVE SINFUL MAN? 9WS Rom. 5:8 God became our Savior: CHRIST died for us while we were still sinners. 10. WHO WAS JESUS, AND WHAT DID HE DO? 10WS Phil. 2:5-8 Jesus was God; He became a man; He humbled Himself; He died on the cross. 11. WHAT DID JESUS DO ON THE CROSS, AND FOR WHOM DID HE DIE? 11WS Isa. 53:4-6 Jesus took our sins upon Himself--HE DIED FOR ME! 12. HOW CAN I RECEIVE CREDIT FOR JESUS' DEATH FOR MY SINS? 12WS Eph. 2:8, 9 I receive credit for Christ's death for my sins through FAITH that Christ died for me. Summary: Heaven is a free gift; MAN cannot earn it because he is a sinner, imperfect; GOD wants to save man, but He cannot lie about man's condition; CHRIST loved us so much that He took our sins upon Himself and died for us on the Cross; now He can make eternal life available to all who will have FAITH in Him and the sacrifice He made. We can receive eternal life by taking 12. FIRST STEP: 12WS John 3:16 13. SECOND STEP: 13WS Acts 3:19 14. THIRD STEP: 14WS 1 John 1:9 15. FOURTH STEP: 15WS Rev. 22:17 • Step #4: Receive Christ into my lifelet him control my thoughts and actions. Rev. 3.20: Open the door; let Jesus in. 16. WHAT IS OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AFTER WE'VE TAKEN THESE FOUR STEPS? 16WS John 1:12, 13 When we accept Christ as our Savior, we become Children of God. We will then search the Bible to discover the life-style God expects His children to live. HOW TO RECEIVE ETERNAL LIFE "The condition of eternal life is now just what it always has been,just what it was in Paradise before the fall of our first parents,perfect obedience to the law of God, perfect righteousness. If eternal life were granted on any condition short of this, then the happiness of the whole universe would be imperiled. The way would be open for sin, with all its train of woe and misery, to be immortalized. It was possible for Adam, before the fall, to form a righteous character by obedience to God's law. But he failed to do this, and because of his sin our natures are fallen and we cannot make ourselves righteous. Since we are sinful, unholy, we cannot perfectly obey the holy law. We have no righteousness of our own with which to meet the claims of the law of God. But Christ has made a way of escape for us. He lived on earth amid trials and temptations such as we have to meet. He lived a sinless life. He died for us, and now He offers to take our sins and give us His righteousness. If you give yourself to Him, and accept Him as your Saviour, then, sinful as your life may have been, for His sake you are accounted righteous. Christ's character stands in place of your character, and you are accepted before God just as if you had not sinned. More than this, Christ changes the heart. He abides in your heart by faith.
You are to maintain this connection with Christ by faith and the continual
surrender of your will to Him; and so long as you do this, He will work in you
to will and to do according to His good pleasure. So you may say, 'The life
which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me, and gave Himself for me.' Gal. 2:20. So Jesus said to His disciples, "It is
not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you."
Matt.10:20. Then with Christ working in you, you will
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