And in the End

If you have not accepted Christ as your Savior, I urge you to do so
now. It is a very simple process. “For God so loved the world, that He
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should
not perish, but have everlasting life.”1 Jesus Christ died on the cross
and rose from the grave. He paid the penalty for our sin and bridged
the gap that is between us and God. “For there is one God, and one
mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”2 Through
Jesus Christ our sins are forgiven. All we must do is accept Jesus as
our Savior. “For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should
boast.”3 Jesus says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any
man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to Him, and
will sup with Him, and He with me.”4
Would you like to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior right now?
“If you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and shall believe
in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be
saved. For the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the
mouth confession is made with salvation.”5 If you will hear His call
and obey His Word, you can be born again this very moment. He will
save you now and make you a member of His family. Through prayer
you can invite Jesus into your life. Start by saying, “Dear Heavenly
Father, I admit that I am a sinner. I believe Your Son Jesus Christ
died for my sins and was raised from the grave so that I can have
fellowship with You. Please come into my life and lead me in Your
ways. In Jesus Christ’s name, I pray. Amen.”
1.) Salvation – (the deliverance from sin and from the punishment
for sin) Christ is a Person and He cannot be received in parts. If you
have any of Him, you have all of Him. Your having all of Him does
not necessarily mean He has all of you. It very well may take a
lifetime to surrender your will, thoughts, and emotions to God,
although salvation occurs the instant you believe.
2.) Righteousness – (doing what is right) It is the quality of the
believer who has heard the Word of God and has received Jesus
Christ. Since you have heard and believed, you have been made right
and just in the sight of a holy God. Righteousness expresses the
character of the believer. “We are all as an unclean thing, and all our
righteousness are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and
our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”6 “For God has
made Jesus to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made
the righteousness of God in Him.”7
3.) Sanctification – (set apart by God) When an unbeliever receives
Jesus Christ and becomes a believer, through the Holy Spirit he is
removed from the kingdom of darkness and placed into the kingdom
of God. The instant a person exercises faith in the finished work of
Jesus, they are born into the family of God. “By that will we are
sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for
all.”8 To be sanctified is to walk in the path of righteousness,
separated from the world.
4.) Redemption – (to release or deliver) Christ delivered us from
guilt, condemnation, and sin. He took our place, He sacrificed
Himself for us. It is not limited to the redemption we receive when we
are saved. We are delivered daily from the power of sin; however, we
are redeemed instantly when we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
Redemption also points to the rapture, when the believer will be
delivered from the presence of sin.
5.) Repentance – (feeling sorry for doing wrong) Sin does a terrible
thing to us. It makes us see the world wrong. It makes us see
ourselves in the wrong light and it makes us see the pleasures of this
world in the wrong perspective. We just do not see right when we are
in sin. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”9 Becoming a
Christian is no minor transaction. The beginning of the Christian life
is no ordinary thing. For an unbeliever to become a Christian is God’s
greatest miracle. This miracle begins when we believe in the
scriptures and change directions from our sin.
6.) Justification – (just as if we had never sinned) When we are
justified, we stand before God covered by the blood of Jesus,
possessing divine nature, indwelt by the Holy Spirit. We are just as
pure to the eyes of the Father as the blood of the Lamb that covers
us. “Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ.”10
7.) Atonement – (bring God together again in friendship with sinners
through the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ) All that we are, all
that we have, all that we enjoy as a believer, all we ever hope to be,
all we ever hope to have, is a result of the death of Jesus Christ on the
cross. Even when we were hateful to Him, Jesus loved us. His
promise is to go with us all the way, all the way to the end and finally
to stand with us and confess us to God the Father that we are His.
With such a glorious salvation in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ,
abiding in us in the person of the Holy Spirit, we cannot lose.
None of us can save ourselves, because we are all sinners in the
eyes of God. But that does not mean there is no hope. The reason is
because Jesus Christ came into the world to save us. He came to do
for us what we could not do for ourselves, and now He offers us
salvation as a gift. Don’t trust in your own understanding for salvation
but put your faith in Christ and trust in Him. “Everyone who looks to
the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life.”11
Dear Heavenly Father, it is my intent to expand the thoughts of
those who seek you. I pray, Father, that these ideas that I place on
paper are used only as a guideline into the future and that those who
read this book understand that I have no secret knowledge besides
what is written in Your Word. I sit, I think, I imagine how wonderful
it will be to have you so close to me, and to visualize how life will be
with You. I pray, Father, that the influence I have on others brings
them closer to You and leads them into a life of obedience. In Jesus
Christ’s name, I pray. Amen.
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in
weakness.”12 We are not only to trust Christ for the forgiveness of our
sins, but we are to trust Him in all things. Our dependence is upon
Him for guidance and strength, because even though we have
“nothing” we possess all things through Him. It is an amazing thing—
we surrender our “nothing” to Jesus and in return we receive His
blessings. We receive these things not for ourselves, but for others,
because through our service to others we enable God to take care of
us. And God can bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all
times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good
work.13 All the possessions of heaven and earth are ours except us. Do
you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is
in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your
own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your
bodies.14
Do to others as you would have them do to you. “If you love those
who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who
love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what
credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those
from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even
sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your
enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get
anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be
children of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and
wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.15 This is God’s
policy toward the wicked. We must remember that we were once like
those who were blinded by the lusts of this world. We are to set a
godly example to those around us so they may have the courage to
reach out to Christ. Living for all eternity in hell is not much of a life.
It is imperative that we remain “approachable” so that others can see
the God-like difference in us.
And in the end the love you give is equal to the love God gives
you. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right
in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you,
live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but
leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I
will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry,
feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this,
you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil
but overcome evil with good.16
He is coming! Sing out all the heavens because the Lord has
destroyed the sting of death. Raise your voice to the lower parts of the
earth because the grave has lost its power. Glorify Him all of you who
dwell on the earth because the Lord has redeemed us all who believe
on His name. Play all the instruments, let us dance for the gladness in
the Lord. We will sing to the Lord, yes sing praises to His name. Our
lips shall greatly rejoice in Your presence, for Your time has finally
come. We will give thanks to You, oh Lord, for only You are good,
and we will sing of Your mercies forever. Let the stars put forth their
brightest light and let all the planets of the universe radiate with joy,
because the King is coming. “Be always on the watch and pray that
you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you
may be able to stand before the Son of Man.17

1.) John 3:16
2.) 1 Timothy 2:5
3.) Ephesians 2:8-9
4.) Revelation 3:20
5.) Romans 10:9-10
6.) Isaiah 64:6
7.) II Corinthians 5:21
8.) Hebrew 10:10
9.) 1 John 1:9
10.) Romans 5:1
11.) John 6:40
12.) 2 Corinthians 12:8 NIV
13.) 2 Corinthians 9:8 NIV
14.) 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
NIV
15.) Luke 6:31-36 NIV
16.) Romans 12:17-21 NIV
17.) Luke 21:36