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Is God real?
There are an increasing number of people in our society who deny the existence of God, Heaven, Hell, and sin. Men
have created very elaborate systems of philosophy such as the evolution theory which deny the existence of a
Creator. They believe that if they can somehow explain God away, then it will make them feel better about their sin
and guilt. The idea is that if God doesn’t exist, then they will never have to stand in judgment for their actions. While
this may ease the mind temporarily and harden the hearts of people towards their sin and guilt, it really does nothing
about liberating them from the bondage to sin. God is real. Sin is real. The day of Judgment is real and will come.
There is a real Hell to shun and a real Heaven to gain. Denial will not do away with reality. The fact is that there is a
Judgment Day on the horizon. Will you stand in confidence on the Day, knowing that Jesus is your Savior and your
sins are washed away? Or will you stand there alone before God without a plea, destined to spend eternity in a place of
eternal damnation? Eternity is a long time – it is forever. There is no reason for anyone to go there. Jesus has paid the
price for all of us. All you have to do is just receive this salvation by faith.
Why do I need to be saved?
So many people have the belief that they will not be denied access into Heaven because they are basically good in
their own eyes. After all, they are not that bad – they haven’t murdered anyone. They believe that, in comparison to
everybody else, they are as good as anyone else. Is being good enough, or as good as the next person, a solid reason
for escaping Hell and living for eternity in Heaven? God set a standard for salvation, which is measured by the Law,
not by an individual’s own set of rules, or by comparison with someone else. The requirement is that we perfectly
keep the Law. The Law contains the Ten Commandments: You shall have no other gods before God Almighty; You
shall not make for yourself a carved image (idol); You shall not take the Name of the Lord your God in vain;
Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy; Honor your father and mother; You shall not murder; Your shall not
commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor (you shall not lie); Your
shall not covet what belongs to your neighbor. The Bible says that whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble
in one point, he is guilty of all of it. If you have perfectly kept all of those commandments without ever breaking one
of them, then I guess you are good enough to get into Heaven. However, if you are like the rest of us, and have sinned,
then you are in need of salvation. Sounds like a tall order doesn’t it?

The Good News
Even if you are like all of the rest of us who have sinned, there is still hope for you. God sent His own Son, Jesus, to
take our place as our substitute in paying the penalty for violating God’s Law. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and
born of a virgin, free from the contamination of sin and the sin nature that was passed down from Adam. He perfectly
kept the Law all of His life. At the cross, Jesus identified with the sin of mankind – not because He committed sin of
His own, but out of love for us. He actually became what we were on the cross. All the sin, the curse, the sickness,
poverty, and the condemnation that we had, He bore for us on the cross. We could not pay the debt that we owed
ourselves, so Jesus paid the price in full for us. He died on the cross and suffered three days and nights in the belly of
the earth. After paying the price for our redemption in full, the place of condemnation in Hell could no longer hold
Him. On the third day, Jesus rose from the dead – justified and free from sin and the resulting condemnation.

Jesus identified with us in our sin through the abundance of God’s love and grace. We can now identify with Him by
our response of faith. When Jesus laid down His life for us on the cross, God put all of mankind’s sin and
condemnation into His account. God, in essence, treated Jesus the same way He would a sinner. The good news is that
when you identify with Jesus in what He did for all mankind, God will treat you like He does Jesus. God the Father will
put into your account all the things that Jesus did in the plan of redemption. The sin, condemnation and guilt will no
longer be there. When you are born again, righteousness (that is a big word meaning God is not mad at you), freedom,
peace and joy will now be a part of your life.

What about the good things I have done?
Some people say, “I’m a member of such-and-such church and have been baptized in water. Doesn’t that mean that I
am already a Christian?” These are all good things, but identifying with a church organization will not save you, nor is
merely performing an outward work. Jesus said you must be born again. Nicodemus misunderstood what Jesus
meant. He asked if he would need to enter into his mother’s womb and be born again. However, Jesus wasn’t speaking
naturally. He said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.” The spirit man
is the real you. Without Jesus, the spirit has the nature of sin and death in it. It will have to go through a nature
change. Outward works will not change the inside nature of a person.

There are two main things that God did in the plan of salvation. One, He forgave and cleansed all of the acts of sin.
Second, He did something about the sin nature that was causing all of those acts of sin. You see, God never gave us the
Law so that we could be saved by it. He knew there was no way that anyone with a sin nature like ours could ever
perfectly keep the Law. Then why did He give it to us? In order to expose the sin nature. We would not have known
that we were that bad, until we had something perfectly good to measure ourselves by. For example, you might think
that a 60 watt light bulb is bright if that is the only light you were ever exposed to. However, one day someone
introduced you to the light of the sun. The light of the sun will overwhelm and nullify the 60 watt light bulb. The Law
was given to make us feel bad and guilty so that we would turn to God and accept His plan of salvation. We would
recognize our need for a Savior.

Don’t be blinded and deceived by your own goodness. Your goodness is not enough to save yourself. To stand before
God on that Judgment Day in your own goodness, will be like the 60 watt light bulb in comparison to the sun. You
need to let go of that weak substitute of your own goodness and receive God’s goodness in the person of Jesus.

Maybe you have been doing a lot a good things trying to earn your way into Heaven. That is commendable, but how
much is enough? At what point do the balance scales tip in your favor? When will you find out if you did enough good
works to get into Heaven? What happens if you didn’t do enough? These are all serious questions that shouldn’t be
left for chance. Be sure of your salvation. Receive Jesus today. Then you can enjoy the peace of God right now.

Being saved is easy!
Receiving Jesus and being born again is the easiest thing in the world. Romans 10:9-13 says, “…that if you confess
with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God 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. For the
scripture says, ‘Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between the Jew and
Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be
saved.’” Notice how many times this passage uses the word “whoever.” Salvation is not just for the “do-gooders.”
Jesus paid the price for everyone’s sin. Maybe you have murdered someone. God’s grace is so great and abundant
that He made provision for everyone’s sins. Jesus said, “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. For God did not send His Son into the
world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved”. Salvation was God’s idea long before it
was your idea. He demonstrated His love for us and His willingness to save us by sending His only Son to die for us.
He wants to save you more than you want to be saved. He doesn’t want people dying in their sin and going to hell for
eternity.

Why doesn’t God just save everybody then? Because He created man to have a free will. There cannot be a true love
relationship without a choice not to love. God created Adam and placed Him in the Garden of Eden and gave him a
choice. Again, God has provided a choice for mankind. We can choose His way, or choose to go our own way.
Salvation is an individual decision. It requires you to make a choice. Salvation has been provided for all who will
receive it. It is for all the “whoevers.”

It’s time to receive your salvation.
Now it is time to act on God’s instructions for receiving your personal salvation. I have included a prayer below that
you can follow, or you can say your own prayer. However you decide to do this, make sure it follows what the Bible
says, and make sure it comes from your heart.

“Dear God, I acknowledge that I am a sinner in need of salvation. I cannot personally meet the requirements for
salvation on my own. I am calling on You right now to be my personal Savior, Jesus. You are the only One Who can
save me from my sins. I believe that You became sin for me. I believe that You died for me on the cross. I believe that
You suffered three days and nights in the belly of the earth. I believe that You paid the penalty for my sin in full, and
that, on the third day, God raised You from the dead. I ask You to forgive me and to cleanse me from all my sins, and
cause me to be born again. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is my Lord. Now, thank You, Heavenly Father, for
receiving me as Your own, making me Your very own child. I receive Your great love and grace now by faith. I
receive my forgiveness. I receive Your peace and joy in my life now. Thank You that I am on my way to Heaven to
live with You for all eternity. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.”

If you sincerely prayed that prayer, then you are now a born again, child of God. You are forgiven and cleansed. You
are on your way to Heaven. The Bible says that when a sinner turns to the Lord, the angels rejoice in Heaven. There is
a Heavenly party going on right now, and you are the cause of it!

We would love to hear from you. If you just received Jesus, please e-mail us, write us, or call us. The contact
information is on this website. When you contact us, we will send you, free of charge, a salvation packet that will help
you get started in your new life with the Lord. If you do not have a Bible, let us know, and we will be glad to send you a
free one with your packet. If you are in the Athens, Georgia area, we would love for you to join us here. If you are not
in the immediate area, we can help you locate a church home in your area, if you would like. It is vitally important
that you join yourself to a local church somewhere.

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From Here To Eternity (right click and save target as)

Joy of Faith
Christian Center

...to open their eyes in order to turn
them from darkness to light and
from the power of satan to God
Acts 26:18

Pastors Tony and Denise Cowan