The Christian faith often uses the terms “salvation,” “saved,” and “born again” to describe how an individual’s relationship with God can be established by accepting God’s free gift of forgiveness and mercy through confessing their personal sins and believing in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Bible tells us that God desires to be in a relationship with us and give us a full life. That life He desires to give us includes such things as peace, purpose, and fulfillment. Jesus, speaking about His own people, said, “I have come that they may have life, and to have it to the full,” (John 10:10).

God originally had this kind of relationship with man in the Garden of Eden. God did not create humankind to be robots who would automatically love Him in return; He gave man a will and the freedom of choice.

Man chose to disobey God and go his own way. This resulted in the separation between God, who is holy and perfect, and man, who is sinful and imperfect. The result of this separation is death. The Bible says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord,” (Romans 6:23).

This problem still exists today, and because we choose to disobey God and go our own willful way, we are separated from God. People have tried many different ways to bridge the gap between themselves and God. Things like being good, acting religious, and living a moral life have all been part of an attempt to bridge the gap. The Bible tells us that none of these will work! “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death,” (Proverbs 14:12).

God has provided the only way, and that way is the cross. Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose from the grave: “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life,” (John 3:16). He paid the penalty for our sin, bridging the gap between God and people. The Bible says, “But God demonstrated His own love for us in this, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,” (Romans 5:8).

Jesus Christ has made it possible for us to cross over that gap to God’s side and experience the full life He wants us to have. But, we are not automatically on God’s side. We must take action! You need to ask Jesus Christ to come into your life and give you His life. The Bible tells us, “Yet to all who receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God,” (John 1:12).

Here is how you can receive Christ today:
1. ADMIT that you are a sinner in need of a Savior.
2. BELIEVE that Jesus’ death and resurrection is the only way to eternal life.
3. CONFESS your sin to Jesus and confess Jesus as Lord of your life.