Jesus Christ Himself is our only entrance into true Life! This promise of Life is eternal! He truly is our guarantee!
Jesus Christ Himself is our only entrance into true Life! This promise of Life is eternal! He truly is our guarantee!
The issue is not whether God exists or not, the real issue is, what is He like?
God is love and we are loved by Him. God is not immutable nor is He static. He is relational and desires a personal relationship with you.
The word "gospel" in Greek means "good news". Anything that is not the true gospel is not truly good news. The Apostle Paul declared what the gospel is clearly in 1 Corinthians 15:3-6 "For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over 500 brethren at once..."
Jesus Christ made many and various claims that no rational person could make if the things He said were not true. He claimed to be God's only Son and said about Himself, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6)
He also promised eternal life as a free gift to all those who would ever believe on Him. See: Jn. 1:9, 11-12, 14; 3:14-19, 33-36; 4:10-14, 25, 26; 5:24, 39, 46; 6:27-29, 35, 40, 41, 47, 48; 11:25-27
"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life". (Jn. 6:47)
"And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name." (John 20:30-31)
Many people believe that everyone lives forever, either in a place of bliss like Heaven, or in the eternal torments of Hell. However, the Bible is clear that if we want to live forever, that is, to have immortality, we must get it from the Lord Himself! God alone has immortality: "He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who ALONE has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen." (1 Tim 6:15,16)
Eph 1:5
Col 3:13, Eph 4:32
Heb 10:10,14
Col 2:10
Rom 8:17
Eph 3:12
Jn 15:3
1 Jn 4:10, Jn 17:23
Isa 43:4
Eph 1:4
Col 3:12
Rom 8:15
Jn 15:15
Rev 19:7
Rom 8:1
Eph 2:10
Rom 16:25
1 Cor 6:11
Ps 147:11
Rom 10:11
2 Tim 1:6
Deut 7:6
2 Cor 5:17-21
8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
John 16:8-11
The Bible is clear that the SIN of the world is unbelief in Christ. All the other sins that a non-Christian commits is not what is keeping them from a relationship with God. In fact, if they are attempting to attain God's righteousness by their own works then they are nullifying what Christ did on the cross for them!
Just as the nation of Israel was trying to pursue righteousness by law-keeping, they did not receive the righteousness of God.
That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law.
Romans 9:30-32
So unbelievers need to repent of their UNBELIEF in Christ for Salvation, just as John the Baptist stated "The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and BELIEVE the gospel." (Mark 1:15)
Just as Paul said to the Philippian jailor when he was asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" So they said "BELIEVE on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." (Acts 16:30-31)
And Jesus Himself says, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who BELIEVES in me has everlasting life." (John 6:47)
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:8-10
Most people are at least somewhat familiar with the story of Jonah. Jonah was told by God to go to Nineveh and tell the inhabitants that their city would be destroyed in 40 days. There were no "ifs", "ands", or "buts". However, from the king on down to the lowest member of society, the inhabitants repented, fasted, and prayed and said among themselves, "If we repent, possibly God may not destroy us and our city." (Jonah 3: 5-9)
"Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it." (Jonah 3:10)
God had planned to destroy Nineveh, but the people's repentance brought about a change in God's plans. There is nothing in the entire book of Jonah that even indicates that God was going to do anything other than destroy them and their city. It is clear from the text and the narrative of the story that God did indeed change His mind. This is a fairly common occurrence in God's Word. Theologians may disagree but the Biblical narrative remains true!
This is the story of God speaking to the prophet Jeremiah instructing him to go down to the potter's house to hear God's words. Jeremiah went and observed that the clay vessel the potter was working on was marred, so he made it again into another vessel that seemed best for the potter. (Jer 18:1-4)
The Lord then told Jeremiah that He could do with Israel as the clay in the potter's hand. God said that he could speak concerning a nation or kingdom to pluck it up or pull it down and destroy it, if a nation would turn from its evil ways, God would relent from the disaster that He had thought to bring upon it. God also said if He had spoken concerning a kingdom he wanted to build and plant, that if it did evil in His sight and did not obey His voice that He would relent of the blessings that He would have brought upon that nation!
God went on to say "Behold, I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you. Return now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good." (Jer 18:5-11)
Once again, the Biblical narrative shows that God's blessings or judgments against people's sins and behaviors are clearly conditional.