Answer: It is good news to learn that Jesus has already finished the work of salvation. When dying on the cross for your sins, Jesus declared before he died, "It is finished." He "paid in full" for all your sins. (John 19:30) He did this while we (you) were still sinners. (Romans 5:6-8) If you work to 'get saved' when Jesus has already paid the debt, then Jesus died needlessly. He's done it for you—an act of amazing grace.
Your response to Jesus is to receive Him as your Savior, to accept him into your life and follow him as your Lord—the one you will serve. (See John 1:10-12 and Acts 16:30-31) This receiving and following Jesus is first noted by your willingness to repent—that is, turn away from sin. (See Mark 1:14-15)
To believe means more than to agree with the gospel facts; it means to trust in a conscious way in Jesus and his Word...taking a trusting active response in what Jesus has said. (See James 2:14-26)
Answer: Being saved...being a Christian is not measured by feelings. Your being saved is solely based on what Jesus has done for you—not on your feelings. When Jesus saved you, he cleansed you of your sin. That is done!
It is true that trusting Jesus and his saving work will produce peace and joy and satisfaction in one's life. These 'feelings' we associate as being saved. Yet, life with its trials and worldly struggles often produces feelings other than peace, joy, and satisfaction. The fact that we have other feelings does not mean we aren't saved. Remember, too, that Jesus experienced the whole spectrum of feelings when he became a man: sorrow, anger, weariness, compassion, betrayal, and so forth. He understands that your life is marked by a range of feelings every day.
Answer: Yes, Christians still have sin in their lives. Your sins past, present, and future are already paid for by Jesus Christ. (See I John 1:7-2:2) Yet, as a Christian follows Jesus Christ and lives in the "light of his Word," (See Psalm 119:105), the sin/sins of a believer are exposed. That is what light does—it exposes. So, yes, as you read God's Word, you will see sin in your life. Confess it and ask forgiveness.
It needs to be understood, though, that the continual practice and habit of sin(s) stops in a true Christian as the Holy Spirit brings it to light. (See I John 3:1-10) Read this passage carefully. When a Christian refuses to turn from exposed sin, God will discipline and 'break' the habitual sin to free the person of it.
The person who claims to have received Jesus Christ but remains steadfastly in a sinful lifestyle has reason to doubt being saved. (See II Corinthians 5:14-18 and Hebrews 12:3-13)
Answer: The biblical answer is 'A born-again believer cannot lose one's salvation.'
Here is the biblical support for the answer: The Bible declared all people are spiritually dead and had to be made spiritually alive. (See Ephesians 2:4-5 and Romans 3:10-11) The fact that God had to make you alive—begin the work of salvation in you—means that God is in control and is the life-giving source for you. (See John 6:63) God will keep, protect, and preserve you just as Philippians 1:6 states, "...he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." Bottom-line is this: you don't keep yourself saved—God does.
Yet, the answer comes with a warning: to celebrate 'once saved always saved' with a careless "I will live anyway I want " lifestyle means you open yourself to God's discipline (See Romans 6:1-11, Hebrews 12:3-17) Additionally, there is a real possibility that such an attitude is evidence that God never started "a good work" in a person—that is, the person was never saved in the first place. You cannot lose what you never had. (See Matthew 13:1-23 for Jesus' parable illustrating this possibility.)
Answer: You are definitely NOT saving yourself by attending church. Jesus has performed the act of saving you; he has done all the 'work'...you cannot add to what he has done by attending church.
However, Hebrew 10:19-31 is plain: we are not to "neglect meeting together." As this passage points out, meeting together allows a person to give and receive encouragement; it becomes an opportunity to learn not only God's Word but also who needs help; it is a time to worship together; and it becomes a physical way to "draw near" to Christ since the gathered group represents the body of Christ. Acts 2:42-47 depicts the earliest believers meeting daily—undoubtedly meeting in homes. Unfortunately, in the 21st century, much—if not most—of what God intends in a church has been lost by bringing worldly practices and attitudes into the church. But that does not erase the need for fellowship with other Christians.
Answer: This website proclaims a person—Jesus Christ—who came to earth to die for the sins of mankind. He died, was buried, and rose again. You may have a relationship with this living Jesus by receiving him into your life, by claiming personally his saving work, and by trusting faithfully his Word—the Bible. The website proclaims, then, a person, a potential relationship, a changed life, and a new lifestyle. You and I—once far off from God due to our sins—can now draw near to God and be restored into a relationship with him. That said, we emphasize a living Person not religion.
Religion is a system of beliefs and practices and expected behaviors with an accompanying lifestyle. Invariably, religion develops its own traditions and a 'church culture' which a person is expected to follow "religiously." Ceremonies, sacred places, and denominational groups with their own 'distinctive' beliefs are associated with the concept of religion.
The Christian 'religion' is lifeless without the living Jesus Christ presented as Savior and Lord. Likewise, Christianity as a religion is greatly marginalized when man's methods and man's words are followed rather than the Bible.
Answer: Recognize that God has only one interpretation of what he has spoken. The content of the Bible means what He intends it to mean. Five readers may have five interpretations, but God's meaning is the only true meaning no matter what the five persons think.
Jesus explains how the Bible is to be interpreted in Luke 24:13-49. The passage can be summed up this way: Jesus interpreted the Old Testament to be about Himself—about his coming to earth as a man, suffering for sin, and his rising victorious over death. (See vs. 25-27 and vs. 44-49) The New Testament then is likewise about Jesus—the fulfillment of God's plan including his coming, his teaching, his sacrifice for sin, his resurrection, his appearing to over 500 people, and his Kingdom of God which he came to establish. The Bible, then, has a single interpretation—Jesus. The Bible is His-story.
The next page contains the 5 N's. They are devotional articles that will draw you near to Jesus. Select the link below: