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Why do I need to be saved? |
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God is just and will not let sin go unpunished. |
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| | | "the LORD will not leave the guilty unpunished." - Nauhum 1:3 "He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his truth." - Psalm 96:13 |
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You, and in fact all of us, have sinned against God. If you think you have never sinned, think again. Have you ever lied? Ever done something that you know is wrong, such as pirating music, movies and software? Ever entertained shameful thoughts that you hope no one will ever know? These are all sins! |
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| | | "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" - Romans 3:23 |
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And the penalty for sin is death. |
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| | | "the wages of sin is death" - Romans 6:23 |
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This means not only physical death where the soul is separated from the body, but also a second death where the soul is separated from God forever. With the second death, one suffers eternal punishment in hell. |
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| | | "Each person was judged according to what he had done." - Revelation 20:13 Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels...Then they will go away to eternal punishment" - Matthew 25:41,46 "The lake of fire is the second death." - Revelation 20:14 |
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You cannot get out of this penalty on your own, not even if you do good deeds all your life. |
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| | | "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. " - Isaiah 64:6 |
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But God can save you, not because of any good deeds that you might have done, but because of His love and mercy for you. |
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| | | "But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy." - Titus 3:4-5 |
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How does God save me? |
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Jesus, the only Son of God, has paid the penalty for your sins. He died on the cross and rose from the dead to give you eternal life. |
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| | | "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." - John 3:16
"For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God." - 1 Peter 3:18
"He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification." - Romans 4:25
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Jesus is not only the Son (i.e. Heir) of God, He is God Himself. |
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| | | See verses |
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You have a choice - you can put your faith and trust in Jesus and accept His sacrifice for you, or you can reject Him and pay the penalty for sin yourself. There are no other options. |
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| | | "Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.' " - John 14:6 |
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What must I do to be saved? |
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Admit that you have sinned, ask God for forgiveness, and make the decision to turn away from your sinful ways. |
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"turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus." - Acts 20:21 |
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Believe in Jesus, i.e. believe that Jesus died and rose from the dead to save you, and put your faith and trust in Him as your God and Saviour. |
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| | | "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." - John 3:16
"That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." - Romans 10:9
"Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." - Romans 10:11 |
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Tell God about your decision. Pray to Him like this:
Dear God, I'm sorry for having sinned against You. I don't want to be live in sin anymore. Thank You for loving me so much that You sent Your only Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for me, to save me from my sins. Dear Jesus, I now put my faith and trust in You as my God and Saviour, and as I trust you, I will also obey You. Come into my heart, save me and take control of my life, and make me the person You want me to be. Amen. |
Note that it is not the act of saying a sinner's prayer itself that saves you. You are saved because you have faith and trust in Jesus Christ our Saviour, and that you have surrendered to Him, to obey Him as your Lord and your God. If you are, then your sins are washed away, and you have been born again as a child of God. Not only will you be declared innocent on the Day of Judgement, you will live in God's love for all of eternity.
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"For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." - Romans 10:10
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast." - Ephesians 2:8-9
"Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." - John 1:12
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Stay close to God and grow spiritually: |
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If you are a true born-again Christian, you are no longer the person you used to be. As you grow spiritually, your value system, your worldview, your character and your conduct will change accordingly.
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"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." - Ephesians 2:10
"And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light." - Colossians 1:10-12
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." - Galatians 5:22-23
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| Pray - | As a child of God, you can now pray to Him in Jesus' name. Pray everyday. Thank Him and praise Him; tell Him your ups and downs, your needs and worries; ask for help and guidance, and so on. God will answer your prayers if you ask according to His will. (John 14:13-14, 1 John 5:14-15, Ephesians 3:20, Luke 11:2-4) |
| Read the Bible - | Read the Bible everyday, ask God to help you understand His Word (i.e. the Bible). The Gospel of John is a good place to start. It is the 4th book in the New Testament. (2 Timothy 3:16, Psalm 119:105) |
| Trust & Obey - | Trust and obey God in all you do, and pray for the faith and strength to do so. If in your weakness you have disobeyed God and sinned, ask God for forgiveness and stop sinning. (1 Peter 2:6, John 14:15, Acts 5:29, Revelation 2:5) |
| Fellowship - | Go to a Bible-believing church where you can learn the Bible and worship God with other Christians, now your brothers and sisters in Christ. We most warmly welcome you to come join us at Scarborough Chinese Alliance Church. (Hebrews 10:24-25) |
| Be Baptized - | Be baptized to announce your belief in Christ. (Matthew 28:19) |
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Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
The "NIV" and "New International Version" trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of either trademark requires the permission of International Bible Society.
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