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| Teaching
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If you want to learn more about the Word of God or learn the Way to Salvation then read on!
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| The Word of God
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The Word of God, The Bible, the only book that God has given. We believe
that the Bible is sole-sufficient and indeed is the final authority in
all matters of faith, practice and everything that it touches upon. Therefore as born-again Christians
who have been washed in the precious blood of the Lamb, we must read His
Word and find out more about our Lord and Saviour, how we should live
and grow each day to be more like Him.
We should desire God's Word as we are told in 1 Peter 2:2 "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:"
There are many different tools to aid us in studying God's word.
However, the most important guide is the Holy Spirit. As we read God's
Word we should pray that the Holy Spirit would open our eyes. Help us to see the truths and learn from them.
Different commentaries on the books of the Bible are available and
indeed a concordance (word list of the Bible) is very useful.
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| What Must I do to be Saved?
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Can You Answer These Questions?
1. Are you sure that your sins are forgiven?
2. Do you know God in a personal rather than religious way?
3. Have you peace within your heart?
4. Have you a life that is truly satisfying?
5. Are you sure if you died today that you would go to Heaven?
6. Are you sure that you are not going to Hell?
If you cannot answer these questions definitely from your heart, that is a sure sign that you are not a true Christian. You may ask "Well then, how can I be?" As always the answer is found in God's Word, the Bible.
If you are to be a Christian and sure of salvation, you must from your heart, come to a realisation of these things.
1. You must realise that you are a sinner. The Bible says in Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God". This means that because no one can reach the perfect standard of God's goodness, no one can come to God by themselves as they are. Romans 5:12 says, "Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned". Death therefore is the greatest evidence of sin in the world and in our own lives, by our wrong actions, words and thoughts it is clear that we are sinners by nature and by habitual practice.
2. You must realise that as a sinner you will be punished for your sin. We are debtors to God because of our sin, "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). The punishment for our sin is eternal damnation in a place the Bible calls Hell. Hell is a real, literal and terrible place. It is a place where there is constant torment and "weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth". It is eternal, it will never end. The only qualification a person needs to be there is to be a sinner, and we know that "all have sinned" therefore all are heading to that final destination. We cannot change these circumstances by trying to live better, or be more religious. The only way that this awful situation can be changed is if God intervenes.
3. You must realise that the Lord Jesus Christ has paid your penalty. God did intervene on the sinners' behalf at Calvary were Jesus died for our sin. Romans 5:8 "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us". Christ was not a sinner and could not sin for He is God in flesh. Because He was perfect He is the only one who could reach God's standard. He was also fully man, therefore He could pay the debt we owed to God on behalf of humanity. Jesus Christ, the God-Man, took our punishment upon Himself on the cross so that we could be set free from the penalty of sin and be sure of a place in heaven. The amazing thing is that God the Father laid all our sins on Jesus at the cross (Isa 53:6). The key to understanding the cross is to realise that it was not a simple execution or miscarriage of justice, but behind the scenes God had planned it as the way to bring men back into a right relationship with Himself. God, who we had offended, was the only one who could help and save us - and He did. We cannot work for it, nor can we earn it or learn it. The work for our salvation was done on the cross. And to prove it Jesus cried "It is finished", and to show that God was pleased with Christ's sacrifice for sin, He raised Him from the dead three days later!
4. You must repent from your sin and by faith accept what Jesus Christ did for you. Acts 3:19 "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out". To repent from your sin means simply to turn from it, forsake it and be prepared to leave it for the rest of your life. It also entails turning to God by faith for salvation, for if you only turn from your sin that is not good enough for it takes God Himself to do a work of salvation in your life. This means having faith in Jesus Christ, not simply a head knowledge but exercising an inward belief that Jesus died for you, to save you from your sins, and claiming that personally for yourself. It means taking Jesus at His word that because of His great work of salvation on the cross, if you accept that gift as your own you will be saved. There are only two types of people in the world, those saved through the blood of the cross and those lost because they have rejected God's way of the cross. John 3:36 "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him". Jesus Himself said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life" (John 5:24).
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