Back To Basics

July 23, 2010

Back to Basics

Let me speak to the unbeliever for a moment. If you don’t read beyond this introduction, let me speak to you while I have you. The term Born Again was not coined by some Baptist Preacher in the last few years. It is a Bible term spoken from the mouth of Jesus (John 3:3). Born Again is synonymous with being “saved” or obtaining “salvation.” There is only one way to Heaven and that is one of only two places one will find himself after death…the other place being Hell.

In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus said, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gait, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” Centuries later, Robert Frost penned these words, “Two roads diverged in the wood, and I took the one less traveled by…and that has made ALL THE DIFFERENCE.” Let me lead you down the Roman’s Road to Salvation (a road less traveled)…it will make all the difference in this present life and the next.

1. “For all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God (Romans 3:23).” Since Adam and Eve sinned, we have all been born with a sinful nature that has alienated us from God.

2. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23).” Because of sin, we are all headed for an eventual death. But it’s not just a physical death we will endure if we die without the gift of eternal life, but also a spiritual death. This spiritual death is not only an eternal separation from the presence of God, but is, in fact, an eternity in Hell. But eternal life is different from eternal death in that you can spend eternity in Heaven with the Triune God.

3. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).” God sent Christ to die for our sins (John 3:16).

4. “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:13).” It is Christ in whom we must call upon to save us from Hell.

5. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation (Romans 10:9-10).” I think that verse is pretty self explanatory, but I can sum it up in a way that’s as easy as A-B-C.

A- Accept that you are a sinner…

B- Believe that Christ can save you from your sins…

C- Call upon Him to save you…

True Biblical salvation is simple. Man has made it difficult through rituals and traditions. Nothing can earn you salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9). You may think, “I don’t believe the Bible. I believe there are many ways to Heaven.” I say, it doesn’t matter what you believe, the truth will remain the same. I may believe that at this very moment I am writing this article in warm and sunny Florida, but the truth is that when I walk out the door later, I will be in hot and humid Rhode Island.

I don’t know if Robert Frost was thinking about Matthew 7 when he wrote “The Road Less Traveled.” But he knew going down that less traveled road made all the difference in his life. Give God’s “less traveled road” a chance to make all the difference in your life.

Simply pray a prayer similar to this model:

Dear Lord, I know that I am a sinner and I need salvation. I know and believe that you died for my sins, and that without you I am headed for Hell. I accept you as my Saviour and ask you to save me and make me Heaven bound from this moment forward. I ask this in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

I must caution you on one point. Do not think this can be done in the spirit of what is commonly called “quick prayerism.” In other words, an emotional response that is not accompanied by sincerity and a desire to change 180 degrees from your present life may appear to you for a time that you are truly saved. Time will tell the validity of your salvation. The first step in determining the true nature of your salvation is if you are willing to do the following: 1) begin attending a Bible believing church, and 2) begin studying and allowing yourself to be discipled by other mature believers and begin the process of growth and maturity in your life. Otherwise, an insincere prayer of salvation will yield little fruit and you will find yourself quickly falling away.

You can’t build a Godly Christian home without a solid foundation of the Holy Spirit in your heart and Christ in your life. Without salvation you will have no desire to learn the spiritual truths of the Bible, much less implement them into your family’s life. The alternative is taking what all the “experts” say and implementing those principals into your family’s life. Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man; but the end thereof are the ways of death.” That basically means that if you believe the Bible and its principals are outdated and not applicable for your family, you’re only fooling yourself and headed for demise, either on a small or grand scale, but demise none the less.

If you are not a Christian and so choose to remain not a Christian…you are considered unsaved. There are four verses that are extremely unpleasant to read, but they’re the truth:

1. “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the CHILDREN OF DISOBEDIENCE (Ephesians 2:2). You are ruled by the whims of this world which is ultimately under the control of Satan and you are led by the devils bidding to do things wrong and contrary to the Bible.

2. “The field is the world; the good are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the CHILDREN OF THE WICKED ONE (Matthew 13:38). Those who are of the kingdom of God are the saved. Those who are unsaved are the children of the devil himself.

3. “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! For ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the CHILD OF HELL than yourselves (Matthew 23:15). You can follow the “enlightened” minds of this day, even religious sounding people, but if your trust is not in God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit for salvation, you are still under the dominion of the devil headed for the devil’s Hell.

4. “Ye are of YOUR FATHER THE DEVIL, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar and the father of it (John 8:44). Did you get that? Besides being a child of the devil, he is a father that lies to you. Therefore, getting back to raising a family…if you want to listen to the advice of “enlightened” unsaved minds, they are feeding you lies that will ultimately destroy your family and make it no where near the testimony it should be for God.

If you’re still around to read this article…then it’s not too late for you. You can change your ownership very easily. You can now become children of obedience, bearing fruit for God in the form of a family that is a glowing testimony to others of the work God can do when He is allowed to. You may be the lousiest mother, but God can change that. You can be the laziest father, but God can change that. Your kids may be emotionally distant from you and not the joy they could be, but God can change that. As terrible as the devil can make your family life, God can surpass it with good.

You want God to give you good things? Become a child of God. “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father WHICH IS IN HEAVEN give good things to them that ask him?” (Matthew 7:11).