Plan of Salvation
Most people come to a place in their lives where they realize that they no longer have all the answers, and that they need help from someone or something bigger than themselves to find peace of mind and to manage their lives.
If this is how you feel, God has made a way for you to find a new life and experience God’s help and strength for all you are facing.
Though you may feel alone, realize that God is with you and has already been working on your behalf, preparing your heart for a relationship with him. God is not angry with you or out to get you. The Bible says, “God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).” This means that at the point that you wanted nothing to do with God and had made yourself an enemy of God, God chose to show his love and send his Son to die for you.
But God will not force his love or the gift of his salvation upon you. In order to experience God’s salvation, you must follow his plan. To start with, you must recognize that there is something wrong in your life that needs fixing. The Bible says, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).” Each one of us is born spiritually dead, incapable of direct relationship with God without being changed in our hearts by God. Each on of us has done things that are wrong. As much as we try to justify our actions, we must recognize in our hearts that we stand guilty and there are areas of our lives that need to change.
Once you realize that you need a change in your heart and are incapable of making that change on your own, you must trust God to change you through his power. Jesus said, “No one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above [or born again] (John 3:3).” When we no longer try to justify ourselves, but find our justification in God’s goodness, God gives us a new heart and a new beginning. He makes us new in every way. The Bible says, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, old things are gone, all things are new (2 Corinthians 5:7).”
If you wish to receive this new life, simply pray for forgiveness for your wrongs, ask for the new life God has promised, and tell God that you commit to live your life in service of Jesus Christ. You may pray a prayer like this one:
Lord Jesus,
I have failed myself, those I love, and mostly you by the wrong things I have done and the right things I should have done. Please forgive me. Give me a new heart and make me a new person on the inside. I give you every area of my life and trust you to care for me. Help me to live for you and to know you more each day. Amen.
The work of salvation is not done when you pray to receive Jesus Christ into your life and experience new birth and the forgiveness of sins. God continues to do new things in you and you will grow in your relationship with God as long as you continue to offer your life to him. Some of the ways that you will experience this continuing sense of God’s love and power include spending time in prayer and reading and thinking about the Bible. It is also necessary that you continue to come to Christ through being an active participant in a church. This is how you can receive support in your faith from other Christians, experience God’s presence through worship and Holy Communion, and be encouraged and challenged through preaching.
We would love to have you become a part of our church, but more importantly, we want you to find any church that will help you grow in your relationship with God. If you have any questions about what one must do to become a Christian, or if our church can help you in any way, please call or visit us.
