Why did God give His only begotten Son? Because all mankind is eternally separated from God and destined to eternity in hell for 3 reasons. 1.Adam sinned by eating of the forbidden fruit which God had expressly said you shall not eat. From Genesis 2:16-17 God said: "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." As a result of eating the fruit the man began to die (both spiritually and physically) and he was sinful and fallen, and there was eternal separation between the sinful fallen man and a Holy and Just God. 2.Because of the fall we inherited a sinful nature of which God cannot commune with. 3.Additionally all mankind has sinned individually, that is fallen short of the glory of God. So God gave man the 10 commandment to be a mirror showing how sinful we are (see Exodus chapter 20), to show man the extent of their sinfulness and the hopelessness of their condition, and to reveal their Need of a Savior. I believe that each and every person has broken all 10 of the commandments.
In the Bible at Act 11:18 when Peter had followed the Lord's direction and gone into a Gentile's (non Jew's) home and he was a part of this whole family coming to the Lord, and when he got back to the other disciples he described it and this was their reaction: "When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying 'Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.'" Notice that, Repentance to Life. How does that repentance start to come into your life? As we start to come into the presence of Christ through the hearing of preaching, reading the Bible, and out of that prayer and fellowship with other believers, we begin to come into the presence of Christ. And as that begins to happen, we begin to compare ourselves, not to one another, but to Christs Holiness, and we begin to realize how wretched and sinful we really are. At this time we will have the desire to repent (turn from our sin and come towards Christ) and confess our sins to God and one another. The Bible in 1 John 1:9 says that: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
In John 1:12-13 the Bible says: "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of this will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
Born of God (John 1:13), Born Again (John 3:3) and Born of the Spirit (John 3:6) are all the same thing. In Romans 8:8-11 it says, "So then, those that are in the flesh cannot please God. 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. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you."
In John 17:3 the Bible says: "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." ("And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son." 1 John 5:11).
I believe that the shortest definition of true Christianity (that is of being a Christian) is Colossians 1:27b: "Christ in you, the hope of glory." So how do we get this personal relationship (the ability to know God), or the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (which is eternal life)? I once asked this of my pastor, before I knew God, and he said: "keep coming back (to church every week and hearing the sermon), keep reading your Bible daily, and keep praying that the Lord would give you that personal relationship." In Matthew chapter 7:7-8 it says speaking about this subject of a personal relationship with Christ (the indwelling, or new birth): "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."
In Romans 10:9 is says: "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." In Romans 10:17 it says: "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
So we have laid out a lot for you to read and digest. The main thing is to connect with a Bible teaching gathering, to read the Bible daily (asking that Jesus would open the Bible's teaching to you) and to further pray that (that God would forgive you, and to ask, seek and knock) that Jesus would give you a personal relationship with Him as described in the Scriptures.
We are a broken and fallen people (all people). Some will say that they are not, that they are just as good as the next guy or gal. For some insight let's take a look at the at just 4 of the 10 commandments (the following section is taken from The Way of the Master, Trillion Dollar Tract, to help us be succinct). The trillion dollar question: Will you go to heaven when you die? Here's a quick test. Have you ever told a lie, stolen anything, or used God's name in vain? Jesus said, "whoever looks at a woman to lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Have you looked to lust? Will you be guilty on judgement day? If you have done these things God sees you as a lying, thieving, blasphemous. adulterer at heart. The Bible warns that if you are guilty you will end up in hell (where the Bible says there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth Mat.13:42). But God who the Bible says is "Rich in mercy," sent His Son to suffer and die on a cross for guilty sinners (the good news). We broke God's law, but Jesus paid our fine. That means He can legally dismiss our case. He can commute our death sentence: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him (in their heart) should not perish but have everlasting life." Then He rose from the dead and defeated death. Please repent (turn to Jesus from sin) today, and trust in Jesus alone, and God will grant you the gift of everlasting life (the indwelling Spirit of God being the seal or sign of that gift), Then read your Bible daily and obey it, pray and find a bible teaching Christian church to fellowship in.
In John 3:1-6 the Bible says: "There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, 'Rabbi, we know you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."
Remember, we can't be in Christ unless we are Born Again (born from about, born of the Spirit; these all mean the same), and the Holy Spirit is Dwelling in me (literally). I can't be in Christ, unless He's in me! That's Christianity. In Luke 11:13 it says: "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" Do you want new life in Christ? Do you want to be a Christian? Do you want to go to heaven when you die? Then pray and ask that the Father would forgive you of your sin and give you a reconciled relationship with Him. Then when He sees your contrite heart and repent spirit (and that you are believing in your heart, at the very center of your person, and walking in faith, that is believing God), then he will grant you eternal life in His timing, and give you the seal of the Holy Spirit (who is the third member of the trinity, God the Spirit, that person of whom it is written in Genesis chapter 1 hovered of the waters, dwelling right in your very body). If you are being lead this way, GO FOR IT, with all your heart, soul and strength (be open to the true and living God). God Bless You.
Obviously, if you have made it this far, you are very interested in the things of the Lord. Why don't you stop by the Saturday Evening 7:00pm Bible Study or the Saturday Morning 7:00am Men's Bible Study to get acquainted. We look forward to meeting you.