Are you a child of the God of the Bible?
Please note that many religious people claim lots of different ways to be 'the only way to be saved'. It is absolutely impossible for all of those claims to be right. Lots of religions claim that their doctrine comes from the Bible, but with all of the contradictions it should be obvious that many are lies. Biblical truth will give you the Bible references so that you can verify what is claimed. Unfortunately, in an effort to avoid rejection by people who refuse to make the required effort to verify what they believe, many people who present the truth present less than what God requires in order for people to truly understand what God requires. Therefore, even this is the short version, it provides many more Bible references than what can be found elsewhere. This is so that the reader does not end up with a partially true belief due to inadequate information. May God bless your search for true Biblical salvation.
This is a short version of the paper called Have you become a child of the God of the Bible? Please see it for a more detailed explanation.
John 1:12-13 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
This tells us that we must become the sons of God
by being born...of God
if we want to live with Him in His personal home called Heaven. This is what the Bible calls being born again
(John 3:3, 7; 1Peter 1:23).
The Bible warns is that if we do not become a child of God, we will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire
(Revelation 19:20; 20:10, 14-15) with our true father, who is the devil (John 8:44; Psalms 58:3; Psalms 51:5). The devil is our father because we are all sinners (Romans 5:12-14 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
) and violate God's Law (1John 3:4) like the devil does.
We are born with a sin nature because Adam and Eve sinned (Genesis 3) and brought sin into the world. But we have each chosen to sin and become personal violators of God's Law ( death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned
[Romans 5:12]). The original sin was because Eve believed a lie. The original lie was that ye shall be as gods
(Genesis 3:5) and can tell God 'I know good and evil
and what I know is as
good as what you (God) wrote in the Bible';. This is the lie of religion. God's answer is physical death to all to prove to us that we can't stop Him from punishing us for our sin. He also promises the second death
, which is eternity in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone
(Revelation 21:8). However, God promises to set aside that judgment for those who become one of the sons of God
by doing what God said.
Returning to John 1:12-13 we see But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name..
. When we look at a balancing scale and the two sides are even
, they have equal weight. That is how this verse uses even
. This tells us that to receive him (Jesus)
and become one of the sons of God
is equal to believe on his name
, which is explained in 1John 5:13 ( These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God
). Notice that this verse says that the promise is based upon what God has written
(in the Bible). We may know
these promises by believing God's written word (Bible). God's salvation ( ye have eternal life
) is not based upon any religion but upon a personal relatiopnship with the Son of God, who personally provides our true Biblical salvation. John 14:6 says: Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
. The word am
is a 'present tense ongoing verb of existence'. The person Who is 'God in human flesh' is our salvation
and it is not anything else. God wrote how to get this personal relationship in His Word, the Bible. Further, it is written to you that believe on the name of the Son of God
, which is our phrase from John 1:12-13. 1John 5:13 tells us that there are two parts to God's salvation and God will not give us one without the other. The first is that ye may know that ye have eternal life
and the ye
makes it personal because ye
means 'each and every one of you personally'.
In addition, the second part of this sentence, (after the and
) says ye may believe on the name of the Son of God
. In the Bible believe
is an action verb which means we act upon the promise of God. This is second half is telling us that we have to go on believing and acting upon the promises of God found in the Bible. Religion lies and says that we can do a one-time religious act and God has to take us to Heaven. God only takes His children to Heaven and He only makes us His children (and give s us eternal life
) if we are willing to have an ongoing personal relationship with Him ( and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God
). This fits with Romans 8:14 which tells us For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
The Spirit of God
uses the written word of God (Bible) to lead the sons of God
to do God's will. We also see this in Ephesians 2:10 which tells us For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
The word For
means 'here's why'. God will save us and make us His child and take us to His personal home called Heaven if we agree to have an ongoing personal relationship with Him which requires us to go on believing and acting upon the promises of God found in the Bible. When we live a life of belief, it allows Him to make us his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works
. If we won't let God work in our lives, He won't save us no matter what religious thing we do.
1John 3:4 tells us Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
We saw that we were sinners (law breakers) and that the punishment of that sin is an eternity in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone
. In order to avoid that fate, we have to become one of the sons of God
. Since God is the Judge of all the earth
(Genesis 18:25), He can ...Blot out the handwriting of ordinances that [is] against us..
by counting the death of His own Son as the payment for our sins (Colossians 2:13-15). Please understand, God is loving but God is also just. He would not be a just Judge of all the earth
unless He demanded that sin be paid for. Therefore, we are told 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
(John 3:16).
Jesus left the glory of Heaven, became a man, lived a sinless life and did not have to die. Yet God let men beat Him until He did not look human, crucified Him, and let Him go to Hell to pay for our sins. He rose from the dead and tells us I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death
(Revelation 1:18). None of us are getting out of Hell or out of death except through Him (John 14:6). As we started out seeing, that requires us to receive him
.
Ephesians 5:32 tells us that the relationship between a husband and wife is a picture of the relationship between Christ and the church
. Just as a man expects a life-long personal relationship with a woman when he receives
her, so also does our God expects a life-long personal relationship with anyone that He saves. Acts 2:21 and Romans 10:13 tell us For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved
. When we call upon Him as Lord
we are recognizing His right to judge us and punish us but are also believing His promise to love us and correct us as children. When we do the acts of sin, He will correct us, as any loving parent will, but He will no longer bring charges against us in His criminal system. However, many are led into the error of saying a prayer
and then not joining His family, which is a church of people who believe that God wrote what he meant and meant what He wrote in His Word
. They're like a man claiming to be married when he said vows before a justice of the peace and then shook the woman's hand and walked away instead of living with her. God knows our heart and when we say one thing and mean another, God calls us liars. If we truly call upon the name of the Lord
we will act upon that vow. Those who do not live it have no right to call themselves saved
or Christian
.
If you are not living your vow then you need to start living it so that God doesn't have to punish you. If you never lived it then there is a good chance that you believed a lie and that God never truly saved you. If you have never been truly Biblically saved then you can be if you believed God's promises and, from your heart, truly mean to live your vow. We call upon the name of the Lord
in prayer by making a legally binding vow to God. He wants us to agree:
- We are sinners who broke His law and earned an eternity in hell and the
Lake of Fire
- That His punishment is just even if we don't want to receive our just punishment
- That we believe His written Word that He
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life
. - That we want to
believeth in
Jesus andcall upon the name of the Lord
. We believe that He died to pay for our personal sins and we believe God's promise to count His death as payment for our personal sins if wereceive him
as our personalLord
for a life-long relationship. We accept that the Bible means 'act upon the promises of God' when it saysbelieve
.
The Bible teaches that those who truly believe
, as the Bible means believe
, will be baptized and join a church of like faith (the family of God). The Bible also warns that there are many liars and deceived people who claim what they don't live. Please live your claim.