Well, for one thing, you might die at any time, in a car accident later on tonight, in fact. If you are not saved, according to the bible and traditional christian doctrine, you might wind up at the gates of hell if you actively rejected the call of Christ during your lifetime. I don’t say this to scare you into faith, but it is something that needs to be said, nonetheless. You should give serious thought to where your soul will go when you die.
A lot of Christians don’t realize that we need a conversion experience. Jesus said that you must be “born again” if you want to see the kingdom of God. He repeated it again in the gospel of John, in the third chapter, saying that a man must be born a second time. Therefore, one birth isn’t enough. A person has to be born again by the spirit of God. This is pretty important.
The truth is that we need to be saved. We need to be saved from ourselves. We need to be saved from the idea that we don’t need God. We need to be saved from the influence of Satan.
We need to be saved from the penalties of sin, of our rebellion against God and His ways, and our egotistical belief in our own ways.
We need to be saved from times of quiet desperation. We need to be saved from fearfulness, from cowardice, from indecision, from procrastination.
Becoming saved seems like a no-brainer. It is all reward, no downside. If God is real, and Christ indeed is Lord of heaven, the bounty gained is incredible in scope, being an eternity in heaven with God. But if God does not exist and Christ did not raise from the dead, there is still no downside, as you would have lived a good, clean life, having many friends, having been a heroic force for goodness in the world.
Pascal’s wager, then.
But the best reason to get saved is that the gospel doctrine of Christ confirms itself in your heart. You may realize that Christ gave the highest moral code there is, and recognize it as being valuable through intuition. The heart finds God first. The head always follows.
To return to “pascal’s wager.” Basically, you are wagering your life, and your eternal state, in one path or the other, no matter how you look at it. You might spend eternity in heaven if you get saved, or you might spend an eternity in hell if you reject the gospel message of love. COMMON SENSE should tell you which decision every person should make here.
To use some parlance from the world of poker, you calculate based on pot odds, and as the pot has an infinite reward, you must, by brunt of math, go all-in for this pot every time, no matter what two cards you hold. To do otherwise is illogical and bad play.
It’s just a matter of common sense.
You should also get saved because it will make your life better. It is true that there are potentially illimitable rewards awaiting you after you die, but the rewards down here, in the present, are just as alluring. Studies show us that Christians suffer from less rates of depression, suicide, drug abuse and even physical illness. You will be immediately initiated into a community that sees you and accepts you as a brother or sister. Your social circle will widen immediately upon attending your first few services. You will become happier, more content, less fearful and more friendly. The Bible says that the Spirit of God comes to live in your heart, and there is an inner transformative miracle. Your life gets better. When you die, there will be a full house at the funeral, and not simply a handful of immediate family members.
And so, we get saved because it is an act of utter stupidity not to. You say the prayer, repent of your sins, and begin a program of charity and prayer. You will be an unfinished work, no doubt, but if you read your bible, attend church regularly, and pray and give to others, you will go a long way toward the goal of becoming more like Christ.
There is a verse in the Bible that says: “Oh taste and see what the Lord has made.”
I urge you to take a taste of this Christian experience. I did the same years ago, deciding to commit to the life of faith for the period of one year. I have never looked back. I have tasted, and what God has made changed me and my life for the better.
You must remember that you are but flesh and bone, made up of water and dust. But God is Spirit, the bible says. In order to be acceptable to God, who is a spirit, you must enter his kingdom as a spirit acceptable for his kingdom, worthy of stepping into his realm as a spirit like Him. Christ paid your boarding pass. All you have to do is accept the ticket and use it.
You don’t want to die in your sins, soiled by your sins, stinking of the stench of excrement as you stand at the judgment seat after death. Present yourself as acceptable, cleansed of sin, having your sins covered up by the actions of your advocate, Jesus Christ, who paid your legal entry into heaven by dying in your place on the cross.
The Bible says that all have sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God. We all fall short, but you don’t want to fall short of the requirements of heaven. You don’t want that, to be found unfit to enter because of an unregenerate soul.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you are good, or good enough. God’s ways are different than man’s ways. Some of the behaviors that you feel are good probably aren’t. They are probably a form of evil, instead.
Get saved because you aren’t an idiot, and don’t want to die and find yourself in the lake of fire. Show the creator his due respect. Honor him with your time and attention. The downside of doing nothing is horrific, and it is all upside to becoming saved, and no downside at all. Don’t be dumb.
Say the prayer of salvation right now.
Just say: “Father God, in the name of Jesus Christ, I turn from my evil ways. I turn to you, accept the sacrifice of Christ, and confess you as Lord and Master. Amen.“
The Bible says that if you “confess with your mouth, and believe in your heart that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead,” you will be saved.
By saying the prayer, that is an act of faith. You have just proven that you have faith!
Now, go find a church, and begin to attend. Pray to God daily. Pick up a Bible and begin to read the gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke and John.
You did it! You are saved. A whole new life is open before you, and is yours for the taking. A life of faith, of heroism, of charity, of love, of forgiveness, and of peace in your heart.
If you said this prayer for the first time, shoot me an email and let me know, and I will send you something.