WHAT IS GOD'S GOOD

NEWS?

...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.

(John20:31)

FOREWORD

This booklet is a modified Indian edition of Late Brother

Alfred P. Gibbs’ work titled God's Good News, prepared

especially for you, with the earnest hope and prayer that

you will give it your undivided attention and serious

consideration. In this pleasure-loving age, characterised by

indifference, irresponsibility and shallow thinking, eternal

realities are apt to be crowded into the background, or even

deliberately rejected by the majority of the people. Many

seem to imagine that this present life is of far more

importance than the future, and thus the temporal has been

allowed to obscure the eternal.

You ought to give serious thought to the fact of God and of

your personal responsibility to Him as your Creator. You

are a creature, not only of time, but of eternity; and there is

within you a stirring desire to know this God with Whom

you must one day have to do.

There are three chapters, so arranged as to present the good

news in its logical sequence. It is urged that you read each

chapter carefully. Scripture references are reproduced from

the New King James Version. Don't rush through the

booklet, for the subject is of tremendous and vital

importance. Grasp thoroughly the subject of chapter one

before proceeding to chapter two; and so on, right through

to the end.

Should the reading of the booklet lead you to a knowledge of

the Lord Jesus Christ as your own personal Saviour and the

enjoyment of God's salvation, we shall be pleased to hear

from you.

CHAPTERS

1. MY NEED – WHY DO I NEED TO BE SAVED?

2. DIVINE PROVISION – WHAT HAS GOD DONE?

3. MY SALVATION – HOW CAN I BE SAVED?

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Chapter One

MY NEED

Why Do I Need To Be Saved?

A pointed question – “Are you saved”?

You do not know how to reply. You do not know what the

questioner has in mind, or what is meant by the term

“saved”. The terms “JESUS SAVES”, “SAVED”, “SALVATION”

have puzzled you, because you have but a vague and misty

idea about it all. The purpose of this booklet is to dispel this

mist that obscures the vitally important subject of salvation

of God, as revealed in the word of God, the Bible.

What do the words “saved” and “salvation” mean?

The word “salvation” means deliverance or rescue from

danger, which threatens. The person who had been rescued

would speak of it as being saved from danger and refer to

the rescuer as his/ her “saviour”. Thus the word “salvation”

suggests the thought of both danger, a deliverer and

deliverance.

The words “Saviour”, “saved”, “salvation” occur very many

times in the Bible, which is God's word to us. The “Saviour”

of course, describes the one who saves. The “saved” are

those who have been delivered from their danger; and

“salvation” simply describes the whole process from its

beginning to end. All humanity is in peril, and therefore

needs to be delivered or saved from danger.

What is this danger and why do we need to be saved?

FIRST, we need to be saved because we are all sinners by

nature. That is to say, we were all born into this world with

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a sinful nature within us. We inherited it from Adam and

Eve, our first parents. By “nature” we mean what we really

are in ourselves. We think what we think, say what we say

and do what we do, because we are what we are. What is in

a person's nature comes out in life.

A little Bengal tiger cub has the blood thirsty nature of a

tiger within it. As it develops into full growth, this fierce

nature is evidenced by its actions. It only required time to

reveal its true nature or character.

All the crimes committed in this world were done by those

who were once harmless and very attractive babies. What

turned these harmless children into dangerous criminals?

The sinful nature within them was allowed to develop

unhindered and soon showed itself by sinful thoughts which

were entertained in the mind, sinful words that were allowed

to escape the lips, sinful acts that were committed in the life,

and a sinful attitude of rebellion adopted toward God

Himself.

In the third chapter of Genesis we are told how we came to

be possessed of this sinful nature by birth. When Adam

sinned by deliberately disobeying God's command, he not

only sinned for himself, but for the whole human race which

was to descend from him. Thus Adam dragged all humanity

down with him in his fall. Adam passed on to his children,

at their birth, the sinful nature he received through his act

of disobedience which continues until this present time.

Thus each of us came into the world possessed of a sinful

nature which makes us sinners by birth. We do not have to

sin to become sinners, but we sin because we are sinners.

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Romans 5:12- ‘Therefore, just as through one man sin

entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death

spread to all men, because all sinned.’

Your spiritual status, in the sight of God, was determined by

the natural condition of your parents, who were sinners. A

person does not have to sin in order to become a sinner, but

because he is a sinner. A person sins because it is his

nature to sin. Children do not have to be taught to tell lies,

to be disobedient to their parents, to lose their tempers, to

take things that do not belong to them, to allow wrong

thoughts to enter their minds, and to say wrong and angry

words. What is in the root of their nature will be seen later

in the fruit of their doings. What is in the root of the tree is

manifested by the fruit it bears. The scripture makes clear

that all of us were born with the root of sin within us. It only

requires time before the fruit of sins, such as sinful

thoughts, words and deeds, is seen in our lives.

SECONDLY, we need to be saved because, while we are

living under the control of this sinful nature, or “living in the

flesh”, we cannot please God. This sinful nature (sometimes

called, in the scriptures, “the flesh”) is described as being

entirely opposed to God's word to us, His will for us, and

His ways with us. By nature all are in a state of enmity to

God or rebellion against God, loving what He hates

and hating what He loves. Romans 8:7-8 – ‘Because the

carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to

the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in

the flesh cannot please God.’ If you are not yet saved, it is a

life lived under the control of this sinful nature, it is a

wasted life, so far as God is concerned.

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Living in the “flesh” can be best understood as living a self-

pleasing life. While one lives a “self pleasing” or the “flesh”

life, one cannot please God. In John 3:3 – ‘Jesus answered

and said to him (Nicodemus, one of the most moral and

religious men of his day), “Most assuredly, I say to you,

unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of

God.”’ John 3:7 – “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘you

must be born again.’” Nicodemus, though religious and

moral, was still “in the flesh” or in his natural state. What

he needed was to have another kind of life imparted to him,

by means of which he could please God.

At our first birth we received a physical life and a human

nature, which fitted us only for an earthly sphere, in which

we could not please God; but the moment a sinner receives

Christ as one’s own personal Saviour, God imparts to such

an one a new kind of life, a spiritual life by which one is

made “a partaker of the Divine nature” which fits one for a

spiritual sphere described as the “Kingdom of God”. With

this new possession the believer is enabled to think, say and

do things that are pleasing to God. The receiving of this

spiritual life and divine nature, is called in the scripture,

“being born again”. 1Peter 1:23 – ‘having been born again,

not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word

of God which lives and abides forever.’

This new birth is not the cultivating, or improving of the old

corrupt nature called “the flesh”, for this cannot be

improved or altered. Hence the Lord Jesus said to

Nicodemus in John 3:6 – “that which is born of the flesh is

flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” We

cannot gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles.

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The new birth is the impartation, to the believer, of an

entirely different nature, a divine nature. This nature causes

the believer to love and study God's word, to desire to do

God's will, and to walk in and be content with God's ways.

Thus the believer is to be no longer “in the flesh” as to the

sphere of his life; but to be “in the Spirit”, for the believer is

now indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:9 – ‘but you are

not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God

dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of

Christ, he is not His.’ Ephesians 1:13 – ‘in Him you also

trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your

salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed

with the Holy Spirit of promise.’ Ephesians 4:30 – ‘and do

not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed

for the day of redemption.’

Galatians 5:16, 17, 22-25 -

‘I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the

lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and

the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one

another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.’

‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,

kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ's

have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we

live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.’

Now ask yourself seriously: “Have I been truly born again, or

am I trying, by my own efforts, my good resolves, my

religious exercises, and my good works to please God and

thus earn His salvation by my own merits?” Whoever you

are, you must be born again for, apart from this new birth,

you cannot please God.

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THIRDLY, we need to be saved because we are sinners by

practice. We have deliberately and wilfully chosen to think,

say and do wrong things very many times. As you recall the

events of the last few days, weeks and months of your life,

you have sinned in many ways and on many occasions.

Every sin is a sin against God. Shutting one's eyes to the

truth is foolishness. It is a wise thing to face facts, even

though those facts are unpleasant. The Lord Jesus Christ is

the great Physician, and wise is that person who submits to

His examination, acknowledges the correctness of His

diagnosis, owns himself to be the guilty sinner Christ

declares him to be, and then leaves himself in His hands for

the cure, which He alone can give!

The Bible is like an X- ray which exposes what lies hidden

beneath the surface. In its pages, we may see ourselves as

God has described us. God knows us through and through,

and we cannot hide anything from Him. He says of all

humanity in general and of yourself in particular in Romans

3:10-18 and 23:

‘As it is written:

“There is none righteous, no, not one;

There is none who understands;

There is none who seeks after God.

They have all turned aside;

They have together become unprofitable;

There is none who does good, no, not one.

Their throat is an open tomb;

With their tongues they have practiced deceit;

The poison of asps is under their lips;

Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.

Their feet are swift to shed blood;

Destruction and misery are in their ways;

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And the way of peace they have not known.

There is no fear of God before their eyes.’”

‘For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.’

This is God's portrait of all by nature. You are a sinner in

the sight of a holy, sin-hating God. There is no difference, for

all have sinned. Though all may not have sinned alike, or to

the same degree, yet all alike have sinned in some degree.

If a square target with a bull’s eye could represent the

standard of absolute perfection, which the holiness of God

demands; none have succeeded in hitting the bull's eye. Not

one, for all have come short of the mark. Listen to the

demands as revealed in the law He gave. Luke 10:27- ‘so he

answered and said, “You shall love the Lord your God with

all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and

with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.”’ Can

anyone truthfully say he has perfectly fulfilled all these

requirements and thus scored a bull's eye? The more we

examine ourselves in the light of the law, the more we shall

discover how far short we have come of God's standard of

perfection. Any person coming short of these requirements

constitutes that person a sinner by practice; for sin is any

thought, word, deed, or attitude of heart and mind that

displeases God.

Are you prepared to own yourself to be the guilty sinner that

God says you are? It is a sign of true wisdom when a person

honestly faces the question of one's sins and, like the

prodigal son, confesses: “Father, I have sinned against

heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be

called your son.” (Luke 15:21); or with the Publican, cries:

“God be merciful to me a sinner!” (Luke 18:13). Let us not

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try to cover up our sins, or excuse them, or attempt to make

light of them, or call them by fancy names, or blame others

for them; but let us frankly and honestly face them and own

them, remembering that Jesus said in Mathew 9:13 – “But

go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not

sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but

sinners, to repentance.”

Luke 19:10 – “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to

save that which was lost.”

FOURTHLY, we need to be saved because God must punish

sin. God is a holy and righteous Being, and therefore hates

sin in any form or shape and must punish it.

Jeremiah 44:4 – ‘However I have sent to you all My servants

the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, “Oh, do

not do this abominable thing that I hate!”’

Habakkuk 1:13(a) – ‘You (God) are of purer eyes than to

behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness.’

Romans 6:23 – ‘For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of

God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.’

Ezekiel 18:20 – ‘The soul who sins shall die. The son shall

not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt

of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon

himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon

himself.’

Just as the law of our land must righteously punish the

lawbreaker, so God must visit His judgement upon sin and

the sinner, if that sinner dies with sins unforgiven.

Heaven is the dwelling-place of God.

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John 8:21 and 24:

‘Then Jesus said to them again, “I am going away, and you

will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot

come.”

“Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if

you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”

Revelation 21:27 – ‘But there shall by no means enter it

anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but

only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.’

No stain of sin shall ever darken heaven. All who enter there

must be cleansed from their sins. There is no hope of

heaven for those who die in their sins; but instead, a

dreadful place of outer darkness where there is eternal

weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Mathew 25:30, 41 and 46:

‘And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness.

There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

‘Then He will also say to those on the left hand, “Depart

from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for

the devil and his angels.”

‘And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the

righteous into eternal life.’

Our loving Saviour Himself has warned His hearers of the

dreadful fate that awaits those who neglect, reject, or

despise Him and the salvation He has provided. 2 Peter 3:9

– ‘The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some

count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing

that any should perish but that all should come to

repentance.’ Thus God has faithfully warned us of the awful

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danger of dying in our sinful condition and being separated

from Him for all eternity.

What must I do to be saved from the consequences of dying

in my sins?

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Chapter Two

DIVINE PROVISION

What has God Done?

God does not desire that any soul should be eternally lost.

Let us see what God has done to make this salvation from

the consequences of our sins possible.

FIRST, God has revealed His love towards all. “God is light”,

therefore He cannot be indifferent to sin.

1 John 1:5 – ‘This is the message which we have heard from

Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no

darkness at all.’

“God is love”, therefore He cannot be indifferent to the

sinner.

1 John 4:8 – ‘He who does not love does not know God, for

God is love.’ The unmistakeable language of the Lord Jesus

in John 3:16 is ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His

only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not

perish but have everlasting life.’

Though God hates sin and must punish it, He loves the

sinner and yearns for his salvation. Let each reader be

assured that God loves him or her. It is God's very nature to

love. It is not possible for a person to die unloved, for God

loves Him. He loves us in spite of what we are. Bible speaks

of the “kindness and love of God our Saviour” in Titus 3:4 –

‘But when the kindness and the love of God our Saviour

toward man appeared.’ It reveals Him as being “God, who is

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rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved

us.” (Ephesians 2:4). God's great heart goes out to every

poor, lost and guilty sinner as expressed in 1 Timothy 2:3-

6: ‘For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our

Saviour, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the

knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one

Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who

gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.’

SECONDLY, God has proved His love by sending His Son

into the world to be the Saviour of all. The measure of God's

love for us is seen in the greatness of His gift to us. God's

Son, equal and eternal with His Father, came into the world

because God loved us. In His wonderful grace He clothed

Himself with humanity and, conceived by the Holy Spirit,

was born of a virgin in Bethlehem. He did not have a sinful

nature such as we possess, for we are told He had no sin,

knew no sin, and did no sin.

Hebrews 4:15 – ‘For we do not have a High Priest who

cannot sympathise with our weaknesses, but was in all

points tempted as we are, yet without sin.’

2 Corinthians 5:21 – ‘For He made Him who knew no sin to

be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of

God in Him.’

1 Peter 2:22 – “Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found

in His mouth”,

His life was without any stain of sin, either in thought,

word, or deed. He was holy, harmless and undefiled.

Hebrews 7:26 – ‘For such a High Priest was fitting for us,

who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and

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has become higher than the heavens.’ Only a sinless

Saviour could save a sinful humanity.

Think of the great miracle and mystery of His birth! He, Who

was the Creator of all things, became the little babe of

Bethlehem!

John 1:1-4 and 10

‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with

God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with

God. All things were made through Him, and without Him

nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the

life was the light of men.’

‘He was in the world, and the world was made through Him,

and the world did not know Him.’

The eternal God became Man, in order that He might bear

all our sins, suffer punishment due to us, and die in our

stead.

Luke 19:10 – ‘for the Son of Man has come to seek and to

save that which was lost.’

John 3:17 – ‘For God did not send His Son into the world to

condemn the world, but that the world through Him might

be saved.’

THIRDLY, the Lord Jesus Christ, by His death and

resurrection has made possible the salvation of all who will

trust in Him as their Saviour. This truth is absolutely

necessary for your salvation. This is the very heart of

the gospel. Grasp it thoroughly. The Lord Jesus proved

Himself to be the Son of God by the perfect life He lived on

earth as Man, by the wonderful words He said, and by the

mighty deeds He did. But He did not merely come to

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demonstrate His Deity, for this, of itself, could not save us.

He came to provide salvation for sinners, and this could only

be done by the sacrifice of Himself on our behalf.

“The wages of sin is death” and “the soul that sinneth, it

shall die.” God is just and righteous, and therefore cannot

ignore sin: it must be punished. How then can the sinner be

delivered from the just and righteous judgement of God

upon one's sins? Only in one way: by Christ's

substitutionary sacrifice and victorious resurrection on

one's behalf.

Upon the cross the sinless Son of God willingly offered

Himself as a sacrifice and bore our sins in His Own body.

1 Peter 2:24 – ‘who Himself bore our sins in His own body

on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for

righteousness – by whose stripes you were healed.’ God,

Who knew all our sins, placed them upon Him. Isaiah 53:6 –

‘All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every

one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the

iniquity of us all.’

Christ must suffer, to the fullest extent, all the punishment

due to those sins. As He hung upon the cross, all the

judgement of God fell upon Him. He endured every ounce of

that awful sentence due to us and, by His death, satisfied

all God's demands against sin and the sinner. On the third

day He rose again, thus accomplishing the work that is

necessary for the salvation of every sinner that will trust in

Him. Have you grasped this tremendous fact? How good it is

to be able to say with the poet:

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“All my sins were laid on Jesus,

Jesus bore them on the tree;

God, Who knew them, laid them on Him,

And, believing, I am free!”

Before the Saviour died He cried triumphantly: “It is

finished!” What was finished? All the work He came into this

world to do; and that was to provide a full, free and eternal

salvation for all who would rely, wholly and entirely, upon

His finished work, and receive Him, by faith, to be their own

personal Saviour. God signified His entire satisfaction in,

and His full acceptance of this finished work of Christ by

raising Him from the dead on the third day. Thus the

resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is God's

acknowledgement or receipt, to the world, that all the work

needed for our salvation has been done, once and forever.

Thus it is not our good works, our resolves, our prayers,

or our sorrow for sins that merit God's favour and salvation;

but Christ's finished work. It is this alone, which makes

possible the salvation of all who trust in Him and own Him

as Lord.

Lord Jesus knew and bore all our sins and met, by His

death, all the law's demands against them. Because He

suffered the full penalty of God's judgement in our place, we

may now go free. Have you ever believed this good news and

thanked the Saviour for what He did for you? If not, why not

do it right now?

Luke 7:41-43:

“There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One

owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. And when

they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave

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them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him

more?” Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom

he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have rightly

judged.”’’

We should have died in our sins and been banished from

God's presence forever; but Christ, the Lord of all creation

and Judge of all the earth, became our Substitute, took all

our sins, bore them in His own body and put them away by

His death, and then rose triumphant. He was forsaken by

God as He hung on that cross, that we might be welcomed

and pardoned. He suffered all the punishment that should

have been ours, that we might go free. Have you ever

thanked the blessed Saviour for what He did for you? Hear

what apostle Paul says:

2 Corinthians 9:15 – ‘Thanks be to God for His indescribable

gift!’

Galatians 2:20 – “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no

longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I

now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who

loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Thus in this chapter, we have tried to make clear what God

has done to make this salvation possible to every lost and

guilty sinner. He has revealed His love to all; He has sent

His Son to be the Saviour of all; and Christ, by His death on

the cross and triumphant resurrection, has made this

salvation possible to all.

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Chapter Three

MY SALVATION – HOW?

How can I be saved?

What must I do to be saved?

In Acts 16:30 and 31, the repentant Jailor asked this very

same question – ‘And he brought them out and said, “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.”

If you are really in deadly earnest as to this matter of your

salvation from the consequences of your sins; then I am

sure you will allow nothing to hinder you from finding out

just how you may come into possession of this wonderful

salvation that you need so badly, and which God has

provided so bountifully. Depend on it, if you sincerely desire

to be saved, God is far more desirous to save you! In fact it

is God who has created this desire within you. The Holy

Spirit was sent into the world for the express purpose of

convicting the sinner of his deep need of the Saviour.

John 16:7-11, the Lord Jesus Christ told His disciples:

“Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage

that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not

come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And

when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of

righteousness, and of judgement:

of sin, because they do not believe in Me;

of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me

no more;

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of judgement, because the ruler of this world is judged.”

If you have been brought to realise that you are a lost,

guilty, helpless and hell-deserving sinner; then you may be

quite certain that the Holy Spirit has produced

this conviction within you. In Mathew 9:13 Lord Jesus said,

“But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not

sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but

sinners, to repentance.” It is only the guilty who realise their

need of a pardon; the lost who see their need of a saviour,

and the sick who want a doctor.

Are you saying: “I realize that I am a sinner, deserving only

of God's eternal wrath; and that Christ, by His death and

resurrection, has provided a salvation for me from this

wrath; but I do not know how to make this Saviour my

Saviour, and this salvation my salvation. O, what must I do

to be saved?” Is this your problem? Read carefully what

follows.

FIRST, own your need frankly to God. Tell God against

whom you have sinned, just what you are. Own to Him that

you are exactly what He says you are in His holy book.

(1) Tell Him you are a guilty sinner, and that you have

sinned deliberately, again and again, against the

voice of conscience and the word of God. Luke 15:18

– ‘I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him,

“Father, I have sinned against heaven and before

you.”’ Luke 18:13 – “And the tax collector, standing

afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to

heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God be merciful

to me a sinner!’”

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(2) Tell Him you are a lost sinner. Own that you have

gone astray into the bypaths of sin and that, unless

He saves you, you will be lost forever. If you are not

saved, you are lost. In 2 Corinthians 4:3 we read:

‘But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those

who are lost.’ If the light of the gospel has not yet

shone into your heart, then you are numbered

amongst those whom God says “are perishing”.

(3) Tell Him you are a helpless sinner, unable to do one

thing to merit His salvation. Own that all your

attempts to gain God's favour by your good resolves,

good works, prayers, religion and tears, have been

utterly vain. With the hymn writer, say from the

heart:

“Not the labour of my hands,

Can fulfill Thy law's demands;

Could my zeal no respite know,

Could my tears forever flow,

All for sin cannot atone –

Thou must save, and Thou alone!”

The Bible describes each sinner as being without

strength, dead in trespasses and sins, without life,

peace, hope, God or Christ.

Romans 5:6 – ‘For when we were still without

strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.’

Ephesians 2:1 – ‘And you He made alive, who were

dead in trespasses and sins.’

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Ephesians 4:18 – ‘Having their understanding

darkened, being alienated from the life of God,

because of the ignorance that is in them, because of

the hardening of their heart.’

Ephesians 2:12 – ‘That at that time you were without

Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel

and strangers from the covenants of promise, having

no hope and without God in the world.’

(4) Tell Him that you are a hell-deserving sinner. Own

that if you had your just deserts, He would be

perfectly right and just in banishing you from His

presence to hell, there to weep and wail and gnash

your teeth forever.

Mark 16:16 – ‘He who believes and is baptised will be

saved; but he who does not believe will be

condemned.’

Romans 1:18 – ‘For the wrath of God is revealed from

heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness

of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.’

This may not sound very nice, but it is absolutely

true. Do you believe it? Are you prepared to own it to

God? Can you truthfully, honestly and sincerely say,

from your heart, to God: “O God, I own myself to be a

guilty, lost, helpless and hell-deserving sinner”?

SECONDLY, believe the gospel, or the good news concerning

the Lord Jesus Christ and the work He accomplished by His

death and resurrection. That is, accept, as true, what God's

word says Christ did to secure your salvation.

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(1) Believe that the Lord Jesus knew all about your need

as a sinner and loved you just the same. It is

blessedly and gloriously true that the Son of God

loved you.

Galatians 2:20 – “I have been crucified with Christ; it

is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the

life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the

Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

It was love that caused Him to leave heaven above

and come into this world to seek and save the lost.

2 Corinthians 8:9 – ‘For you know the grace of our

Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for

your sakes He became poor, that you through His

poverty might become rich.’

John 15:9 – “As the Father loved Me, I also have

loved you; abide in My love.”

1 John 4:16 – ‘And we have known and believed the

love that God has for us. God is love, and he who

abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

Do you know and believe that the Lord Jesus Christ

loves you in spite of what you are?

(2) Believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, on the cross, bore

(or carried) all your sins in His own body and died

and rose to put them away. Forget about everyone

else's sins for the moment, and just think of your

own sins, as though you were the only sinner in the

world. Now ask yourself the question: “Whose sins

did Jesus bear on the cross?” The Bible tells us

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plainly: ‘who Himself bore our sins in His own body

on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live

for righteousness – by whose stripes you are healed.’

(1 Peter 2:24). John the Baptist said of Christ

in John 1:29 – “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes

away the sin of the world!” In Isaiah 53:5 we read:

‘But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was

bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our

peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are

healed.’ Now change the word “our” for “my” in these

Scriptures, and you know whose sin Jesus bore on

the cross. You have a personal application of a

wonderful truth!

The believer can say truthfully, with the word of God

as his authority: “The Lord Jesus, on the cross of

Calvary, knew all about my guilt and willingly

allowed God to put all my sins on Him that He might

bear them in His Own body and receive, at the hands

of God, all the punishment that my sins deserved.

Because Christ died for my sins, and rose again for

my justification, I may be saved from the

consequences of my sins.” Romans 4:25 – ‘who was

delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised

because of our justification.’

If you can truthfully say this of the Lord Jesus, it

means you believe the gospel. No one can believe this

for you; you must believe it for yourself. Will you do

so? If you believe that God put all your sins on

Jesus, and that He has borne all the penalty due to

your sins, then do you not see there is nothing more

for you to do? If Christ has done it all, why not thank

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Him for it and rest in simple faith, upon His finished

work and sing:

“Christ the Lord is risen, victory is won!

All the work that saves the sinner has been done!

Now, through faith in Him, God offers, full and free:

Pardon, peace and joy and glorious liberty!”

THIRDLY, accept the Lord Jesus Christ, by a definite act of

faith, to be your Saviour and Lord, and that moment, you

will be saved. This is what is meant by the words: “Believe

on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.” God uses

many words to convey what it means to believe on Christ.

(1) It means coming to Him. Mathew 11:28 – “Come to

Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I

will give you rest.” The Lord Jesus though unseen to

your natural sight, is standing with open

arms inviting you to come to Him, and promises to

give you rest from the burden of sins. Believe His

word and, in your heart, take the step of faith and

come to Him, just as you are, and you will prove He

is as good as His word, and sweet rest shall be your

portion. He will give you rest from an accusing

conscience, rest from the dread of a coming

judgement, and rest from all your vain efforts to save

yourself. Thus believing is coming to Him.

(2) It means receiving Him. John 1:12 – ‘But as many as

received Him, to them He gave the right to become

children of God, even to those who believe in His

name.’ God offers you His beloved Son to be your

Saviour and says: “Though you have sinned against

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Me, and your sins deserve eternal death, yet My Son,

on Calvary's cross, bore all your sins and died and

rose again in order to save you. I now offer Him to

you as your Saviour. Will you receive Him as your

own personal Saviour, right here and now?” What

will you say to this? Will you respond from the heart:

“Lord Jesus, I now receive You, into my heart, to be

my own personal Saviour.” Thus believing is receiving

Christ.

(3) It means trusting Him. Ephesians 1:13 – ‘In Him you

also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the

gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having

believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of

promise.’ You would prove your belief by your trust.

The Lord Jesus wants you to trust yourself to Him, to

rely on the work He accomplished for you, and then

commit yourself to Him for salvation of your soul. Will

you do it now? Will you say, from your heart:

“Just as I am, poor, sinful, lost;

I come to Thee, Lord Jesus Christ;

In simple faith, I trust in Thee,

Who bore my sins and died for me.”

The moment you really come to Christ, receive Him

as your personal Saviour and trust Him for salvation,

you will be saved. How do we know this? Because

God definitely says so: Acts 16:31 – ‘So they said,

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be

saved, you and your household.”’ Thus believing is

trusting in Him.

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FOURTHLY, confess, or own Christ, as the Lord of your life

before the world. This is where many fail, and consequently

do not enter into the full enjoyment of God's salvation. In

Romans 10:9-10 we read – ‘That if you confess with your

mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God

has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with

the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the

mouth confession is made unto salvation.’

Mark 5:18-19:

‘And when He got into the boat, he who had been demon-

possessed begged Him that he might be with Him. However,

Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, “Go home to your

friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done

for you, and how He has had compassion on you.”’

To confess Christ as Lord of your life means that you

acknowledge Him before others, as your Owner and Ruler,

and that you are therefore no longer your own, but His; to

do what He says, to go where He commands, and to be what

He wants you to be. It means that you enthrone the Lord

Jesus as supreme in your heart and allow Him to have his

way in your life. It means that you realise and submit to the

truth of God's word when it declares of the believer:

1 Corinthians 6:19-20:

‘Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy

Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are

not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore

glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.’

This, of course, entails a complete break with the world and

its sinful pleasures, and a bold witness to others of the fact

that you have taken Christ as your Saviour and Lord, and

henceforth desire to live for His glory.

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Are you prepared to take this bold stand for Christ, and own

Him bravely as your Lord before the world, in spite of its

ridicule, scorn, contempt and persecution? Remember,

Christ was not ashamed of you. He suffered the rejection of

men. They spat in His face and crucified Him.

Hebrews 12: 2-3:

‘Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,

who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross,

despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of

the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such

hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become

weary and discouraged in your souls.’

The world may laugh at you because you own Christ as your

Lord and live for Him; but you are thereby sharing His

rejection. John 15:19 – “If you were of the world, the world

would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world,

but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates

you.”

When you have received the Lord Jesus Christ to be your

own Lord and Saviour, tell someone else about it. Inform

your parents and your friends and seek to witness for Christ

as you find opportunity. By this bold confession the joy of

salvation will be brought to your soul. Not only so, but this

will enable you to nail your colours to the mast and let

everyone know “Whose you are, and Whom you serve.”

Acts 27:23 – “For there stood by me this night an angel of

the God to whom I belong and whom I serve.”

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Romans 1:16 – ‘For I am not ashamed of the gospel of

Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone

who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.’

What would you think of a soldier who was ashamed of his

country, or a boy who was ashamed of his mother? How

much worse is that person who is ashamed to own the

Saviour Who loved him and gave Himself for him?

Here, then, is the way to be saved, as found in God's word.

Let us summarise. First, own yourself to be a guilty, lost,

helpless and hell-deserving sinner. Second, believe that the

Lord Jesus Christ loved you, bore your sins, died and rose

again for you. Third, receive Christ, by a definite act of faith,

as your own personal Saviour. Then, fourth, confess Him as

the Lord of your life to others. Are you prepared to do this,

solemnly and sincerely, right now? If so, lift up your heart to

the Lord Jesus and tell Him so, in your own words. Thank

Him for dying for your sins and rising again for your

justification; tell Him you now accept Him as your own

Saviour and that you will henceforth own Him as your Lord.

Perhaps it might help to make it a more definite thing to

you, if you wrote down, in your own words, this momentous

decision to accept the Lord Jesus as your own Saviour. The

following statement is merely a suggestive one, and contains

the essential elements necessary to an intelligent decision

for Christ:

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MY DECISION

“Owning myself to be a guilty, lost, helpless and hell-

deserving sinner; but believing that the Lord Jesus Christ

bore my sins, took my place and died and rose again for me;

I now, in simple faith, definitely receive Him to be my own

personal Saviour, henceforth to own Him as the Lord of my

life, and shall seek to confess Him as my Lord to others.”

Signed _____________________________________

Date_______________________

It is the receiving of the Person, the blessed Son of God, as

the living, loving Saviour into your heart, that will result in

your salvation. 1 John 5:12 – ‘He who has the Son has life;

he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.’

May God grant that, right here and now, you may solemnly

and sincerely make this great choice of Christ as your

Saviour and the Lord of your life!