Breath Of Life
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Take one breath and keep it! How silly, yet that’s the way life is as we know it. The KJV Holy Bible (James 4:14) states; “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” Every person in the world will agree with that scripture because everybody knows everything dies.
How did mankind reach this state? Why can’t science find the actual source, not cause; source, of death? The human body can rebuild lost blood. The human body has the capability to produce antibodies against every known disease because there are records of recoveries, without medicine, from every known disease. Wounds heal. The skin repairs itself. Broken bones knit themselves. The body’s simple, efficient process of the intake of raw materials, the production of energy and the elimination of waste cannot be synthetically duplicated by science. Science states the lungs and heart have the capability to operate forever and the brain should never grow old and feeble. The body in all its various functions appears to be a self perpetuating, eternal organism, and yet we die. Science can’t determine when life begins, where life comes from or where it goes. Roughly two million people in the United States die from all causes each year. Have you ever looked closely at a dead body? It resembles who you used to know, it appears everything is there, but it is plain to see it has stopped, the spark of life is gone and the person has left.
I do not attempt to belittle science because many great and wonderful things have come to us from that mult-faceted discipline but science must be recognized as simply a tool to “fix” man’s curiosity, wants, and perceived needs. Science has created nothing. It has simply studied, found out about and discovered how to use what was already there.
God’s creation consists of space, matter and time. #1 (Gen. 1:6-14) Space is composed of length, breadth and height. #2 (Daniel 10:9-10) Matter is composed of energy, motion and phenomena. #3 (Rev. 1:8) Time is composed of past, present and future. (1Thess. 5:23) Mankind is a creation of three; body, soul and spirit. The body is the material, organized, physical substance of man. Science states the body is composed of the elements of the earth and (Gen. 2:7) the Bible agrees. (Heb. 9:27) God said we will die; we always have, we are now and we will continue to do so; you will die and I will die. Medical science has perfected machines that will prolong life OR: do they really just prolong death because patients eventually die just the same.
Who are you?The soul is described in about 535 separate scriptures such as (1Cor.15:45, Matt.16:26, Prov.21:10 and Psa.57:1). Your soul, you, are non-physical and has no measurable weight. In the original New Testament scrolls the Greek word psuche is used for soul and is defined as mind, me, person, self and heart. Psuche is the root word for the English word psyche which also means self. Science uses words like psyche, ego, self, mind, character and person to describe a complete soul personality. There are about 100 words that identify the soul personality parts, these words are what we normally call character traits, and some of them are pride, humility, love, hate, temper, stubborn, selfish, generous, kind and rude. Use love as an example and think of it like it is a barrel of water. One soul gets his barrel of love with one molecule less, another gets his barrel of love with two molecules less, and a third soul---you get what I'm saying. Now imagine the other hundred or so character traits (soul parts) measured the same way. In each soul each amount of any single character trait has a direct effect on some or all the other character traits depending on their amount. Thus there are an infinite number of soul combinations possible. That is why all people are so much alike yet each one of us is completely different from all the others. The soul uses the brain to operate the physical body; to reason, to sub-consciously operate involuntary body functions and perform conscious tasks. Each physical body generally looks like and works like all other human bodies but it is different from all others due to DNA, fingerprints, retinal scan, color, size, shape, hair, and etc. Out of the billions of people who will ever live there is only one of you, the only you that will ever be. That is how wonderful, unique and important you are.
The spirit is the non-physical energy of life. The spirit, just like you the soul, has no measurable weight. It is very hard to understand how something as real as the soul and spirit can weigh nothing because everything we are familiar with does have weight. But if you will think about yourself for a few minutes you will understand. (James 2:26) God said the body without the spirit is dead. The spirit is the actual “spark of life” given by God. The soul uses the brain to utilize energy produced by the body to operate the body and its systems. We are each an eternal soul, a person, inhabiting a temporary physical body. God set eternity in the heart of man and you can perform a simple check that will prove all these things. Imagine yourself dead! That’s easy; but it is you looking at your body. Now imagine yourself not existing. You can not do it and you never will! The Biblical proof the soul leaves the body behind at the time of death can be read in (Luke 16:22-23 & Rev. 6:9) and Biblical proof man’s spirit leaves the body at the time of death can be read in (Eccl. 12:7 & James 2:26). Why have this thing called lifetime in a temporary body that is going to struggle along a few years and then die? WHAT IS THE POINT OF LIFE?
(Gen. 1:27) “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” (Gen. 2:15-25) Man dwelt in the presence of God in the Garden of Eden; an eternal, perfect, physically perpetual man and woman in complete, intimate fellowship with God (Gen. 2:16-17) and they had the ability and freedom to think, decide, choose and communicate. Fellowship means a relationship with a companion. (Col. 1:16) It is obvious man was created to be (Gen. 2:19, John 15:11-15 & James 2:23) a companion for God under God’s rules of respect and love. The word companion embraces the human soul perfectly because it means understanding, love, devotion, partnership, friendship, affection and kindness. (Gen. 2:16-17) God’s one boundary was the man and woman (Gen. 3:1-13) must not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or they would die. Man’s one boundary God will not cross is that man is free to make choices, because a companion must have the freedom to make choices; anything less will be a robot. OR: If a person with the freedom to make choices is forced to be a companion that person will be disgusted, resentful and will hate whoever is forcing him to be what he does not want to be.
The first man and woman were free to eat of the tree of life at anytime but they chose to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which violated God’s one boundary of their relationship so (Gen. 3:14-24) God drove them from the Garden of Eden. Think of that: They had a choice between life or death and they chose death! (Gen. 3:17-18) God also cursed the world into what we live in today. (Gen. 1:29-30) Up to that point nothing had ever eaten flesh because all eaters ate plants. God changed the instinct of the animals into a relationship of predator and prey. (Gen. 3:19) God changed man’s genetic makeup and planted the seed of physical death in man’s genetic profile. God tilted the earth on its axis which caused the weather patterns to emerge and become a burden for man. (Gen. 3:17-18) There had been no biting insects, allergic reactive plants, germs and etc. to torment man until the time of the broken relationship and God changed their genetic profiles into what it is now. Science agrees with all this because studies have proved these things are predisposed to be what they are because of their genetic profiles and science says the climate would be perfect if the earth was vertical on its axis.
The man, Adam, and the woman, Eve, had lost everything because they had violated the single boundary of their relationship with God. (Gen. 3:18-19 They were suddenly faced with the terrible unknown of life, their security was gone, and they had to work out their living the best they could with the abilities they possessed and the laziness they let possess them. That is exactly the way life is today. (Gen. 3:24) God placed Cherubim’s at the east of the garden and a flaming sword to guard the tree of life and that flaming sword turned the Garden of Eden into a desert and the Garden of Eden is gone. Science says the vast reservoir of fossil fuel, mainly oil, under the burning sands of the mid-east countries came from a lush growth of vegetation in the past but science won’t admit God’s Garden of Eden was the source of it.
The man and woman’s warm, friendly, intimate, loving friendship with God was lost; their undeniable sin was plain to see (Gen. 3:7) and they were naked and ashamed before God. The man and woman did not know what death was even though (Gen. 3:19) the death sentence had been passed upon them. They were about to learn what their sin had caused because the most shocking event in the chain of terrible events took place just before they had to leave the garden of Eden. (Gen. 3:21) God slaughtered innocent animals, skinned them and fashioned coats of skins to hide the man and woman’s nakedness. Their eyes, that had never seen blood, and their souls, that had no comprehension of dying, were horrified by the reality that their sin had caused the bloody death of innocent animals. Then, with their heads down in shame, they left.
(Gen. 1:28 & 3:16) God gave the man and woman the ability to have children and that ability was passed on, and on, and on, until here we are, you and me, (Josh. 24:14-15 & Luke 11:23) with the right of free choice in this temporary span called lifetime, living in a dying body, to make a choice and decide if we want (Rev. 21:1-4) to always live in eternity with God in heaven OR: (2Cor. 4:4) to always die in eternity with the god of this world, who is the devil, (Rev. 20:10-15) in an eternal lake of fire. Death makes sure there is no third choice. Just think of the brilliance and fairness of that! We have a choice! You have a choice!
(Matt. 5:16) At this time God lives in a wonderful place called Heaven. (Luke 16:23-24) There is an awful place of fire called hell. When people die here on earth they go to either heaven or hell depending on the choice they made here in this life. (Rev. 20:10-15) At the final judgment unsaved people will be cast into a lake of fire. (Rev. 21:1-4 & 22:1-5) The people who have chosen to get saved in there lifetime will go to a new heaven and a new earth like the original Garden of Eden where there will no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying and there will be no more pain. TO MAKE THAT CHOICE BETWEEN TWO GODS AND TWO PLACES IS THE POINT OF LIFE.
Remember this because it is the WHY of salvation: (Gen. 1:26) You are made in God’s image. PROOF: Look within yourself and you will see that the only love that will satisfy you in this life is when someone loves you for who you are and what you are and that is exactly the way God is because God wants people to love Him for who He is and what He is.
Look at the devil, Satan, first. The devil deals in (John 13:2) treason, (Acts 10:38) oppression, and (1Tim. 3:7) defeat. (John 13:25-27) Satan enters into you and speaks to your soul, the inward you. Satan is too smart to tell you to not get saved. He knows you would buck on that and go to church if it killed you. Satan will show you reasons to put salvation off for a while; put off going to church and put off praying. He will suggest church is all foolishness. He will point out one Christian’s sin and blind you to fifty other Christians who are living righteous. Satan is so slick you will never know he is deceiving you! Satan’s names are who Satan is, what Satan is, and what Satan does. Satan is (Matt 13:19) a thief (John 8:44) murderer, liar, (1Pet. 5:8) adversary, roaring lion, (Rev. 12:9) dragon, serpent, Devil, Satan, (Rev. 12:10) accuser and (Rev.20:3) deceiver. The name Satan means (adversary). The picture of that cute, little red imp with the funny horns, pitchfork, and mischievous expression is Satan’s propaganda tool to lull us to sleep. According to these Biblical names Satan does not want you to accept salvation. He suggests, he tells you reasons not to go to church in your thoughts and he puts other things that are so very attractive right in front of you; his list of “Don’t you dare go to church Sunday” is endless.
(1John 4:8) “God is love.” More than a thousand years before Jesus was born (Isa. 7:14) Isaiah prophesied Jesus would come and (Luke 1:35) even gave His name. Even before that, back at the beginning of time (Gen. 3:15) God told the devil a seed would come and bruise (break the devil’s hold on men) the devil’s head and the devil would bruise (crucify Jesus; think, nail in the feet) the seed’s heel. Jesus is that promised seed. The details of Jesus’ birth (our Saviour) is given in (Luke 2:1-52) if you want to read it. You might think; “why should I make the first move by going to church?” Please consider this: God loves you so much he made all the first moves. God made the first move when He sent His perfect Son, Jesus, to be the sacrifice to cleanse you of your sins. Remember the animals that hid Adam and Eve’s sin? God made another first move when He made a Bible containing His word available for you. Remember all the old Bible writers who died to write and protect God’s word? He made another first move when he sent His Christians to you with His words. Do you know how much courage it takes for us to walk up to someone and tell them about salvation when we know they probably don’t want to hear it? God is making another first move right in your soul by having His Holy Spirit draw you toward His salvation. Here is how He is doing it and all you have to do is reach out and take it.
Normally a seeker of Christ doesn't know the scriptural process of getting saved. He or she is simply drawn to church and Jesus and they go. They listen to some preaching and teaching about Jesus and salvation. They realize they are lost and they want saved. A time of decision comes. They decide to either accept Jesus as Saviour or refuse Jesus as Saviour. It is obvious they already believe in Jesus if they are willing to pray. They pray and it is done; they are saved. When they get done they are glad to confess that Jesus saved them. It is that simple.
The information below explains in detail and by scripture the spiritual mechanics of the salvation process. By this you can see all the beautiful effort, wonderful patience, amazing love, locked in safeguards and infinite grace and mercy God exerts to help a seeker obtain salvation.
If you are an unsaved person it is of the greatest importance that you know how to get saved when the time of God’s drawing comes because (Mark 8:36 & 37) “For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Wealth and social position can’t buy life when it comes time to die and wealth can’t buy mercy at the judgment. The only reasonable question is; do you care, really care, what happens to you eternally? You may think; “Man, that’s a stupid question!” Or you may think: “Man, that’s an unfair question, especially at a time like this!” No, it’s a reasonable question. Just look around you; how many people do you know who died and sad people said; “Well, he didn’t leave any hope because he wasn’t a Christian.” Or: At the funeral, being kind to the family, all the preacher can say is; “Well, he’s in the hands of a merciful God.” How wonderful it is to hear the preacher say; “He was a Christian and he’s gone home to be with Jesus.” And then the preacher preaches about that happy family reunion in Heaven where there will never, ever, be any more death, sorrow, crying, or pain. So what do you want for you? That is a reasonable question.
First let’s face some facts. (Rom. 3:23) You are a sinner because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. (Matt. 18:11) You are lost and God wants to save you. (John 3:16) “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 12:30) Jesus said; “He that is not with me is against me.” The truth is, according to God’s word, if you accept Jesus you have rejected Satan. If you reject Jesus you have accepted Satan. Death makes sure we have to leave here to go be with whoever we have chosen.
So many times people think of God as some red faced malignant entity who is wildly looking for any excuse to send us to hell but the following paragraph tells the truth about how God really feels. Think about this: (Matt. 25:41) Hell was prepared for the devil and his angels and man was not supposed to even go there. (Isa. 5:12-14) Hell enlarges itself only as men choose to go there. Think about this: (John 5: 30 & Rev. 20:15) God does not have a choice in the matter of who He sends to heaven or hell! When a person gets saved their name goes into the book of life. When judgment time comes God reads the names written in the book of life. If a name is not in the book of life that named person is cast into the fire. So, just like Adam and Eve's choice, each person makes the choice to live or die; get saved or refuse salvation! (John 5: 24-30 esp. V28-29) "Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." God sends each person WHERE THAT PERSON HAS CHOSEN TO GO!
You already know all these things about your life: You know what you’ve done and how you’ve lived. You know something is missing and things are just not quite right in your life. What you don’t know is there is a God place in you that is empty because; (Col. 1:16) you were made by God and for God. God wants you to love Him for who He is and what He is. God is not living in your soul in your God Place and that causes the sense of lacking that is like: "There must more to life than what I've got and what I feel." From that God place comes the need to worship. People try to fill God’s place with things and they worship money, possessions, power, popularity, pleasing self, or people. But the God place will still be empty and you will always want more of whatever it is you are attempting to fill your God place with; but it will never be enough because it is God’s place in you and nothing else can ever fill that place except God. (Ps. 149:4) God takes no pleasure that you are lost, it breaks His heart but God's honesty makes Him live by your choice. Being saved brings you an assurance that overrides all disappointment, worry and defeat because you know everything will be alright in the end. (Luke 12:32) It is God’s good pleasure to save you. (James 5:11) God is very pitiful and of tender mercy (Luke 15:10) and God expresses His joy in the presence of His angels when a person accepts the salvation He offers.
Here is the process, in steps, by number, which must happen before a person can accept God’s offer of salvation through the atoning blood of Jesus.
#1 (Acts 4:10-12) about Jesus; Jesus is the only name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.
#2 (John 6:44 & 12:32-33); “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw ALL men to me. This he said, signifying what death he should die.” Jesus was lifted up (Luke 23:33) when He was crucified, (Luke 24:1-6) lifted up when He rose from the dead and (Luke 24:51) lifted up when He ascended into heaven. God uses His people as part of His drawing. He will send Christians to witness to you and ask you to come to His church. He has His Christians on radio, TV, internet and publishing articles that draw you by their testimony, preaching and teaching. (1Cor. 15:2-7) Jesus died for your sins. Jesus was resurrected from the dead on the third day and after forty days of visiting His friends and (Luke 24:46-51) giving final instructions about establishing a church He ascended into Heaven. God’s drawing is the key to the whole thing.
God’s Holy Spirit accomplishes GOD'S DRAWING in three ways: (Matt. 20:15 & Luke 5:32) A calling, which is an invitation from God to stop living a life of sin and stop being lost. God will open your understanding and you will see the need for something more in your life. Nothing will ever completely fill that emptiness but the presence of God. It is an invitation to come on back home where you are loved and appreciated; back where you belong. (Luke 10:21-22) A revealing: God reveals to you that you are lost; that you, precious you, are really going to die; and that hell is a terrible reality. God reveals His own loving and forgiving nature, the reality and goodness of his person, and that salvation is possible for you. (John 16:8) A reproving: God convicts you of your lost sinful condition; that you are terribly vulnerable; that the devil is really using you and mocking you; that your life is just plain old wrong, and that the world is really a taking place and by its actions it is attempting to take away your shot at eternal life in paradise. You must understand that God loves you; He does not want to hurt you; He wants what is best for you. He is not some, some, some “weird dude” entity who takes a twisted, perverted, hateful delight in being cruel and punishing you. God is love. Satan is just the opposite. Satan is hate. Satan is the one who wants you to go to hell so it will hurt God. Satan doesn’t want you to have a choice or a chance. God loves you so much He gave His only Son to die on a cruel cross so you can get saved. Think of that! His Son! For you! That is what you are worth to God.
It’s a poor example but compare the process of God’s drawing to visiting Yellowstone National Park; you’ve read about it, heard about it, seen it in the news, and maybe even studied it in vacation brochures; YOU KNOW ABOUT YELLOWSTONE! (Think: you know about God because you heard about and learned some things about God and Jesus in your lifetime.) Then you get a chance to go to Yellowstone. (Think: God is drawing you.) You stand on the edge of Yellowstone and you start to get a feeling about it; there’s some fear, a little intimidation and a bunch of questions. People, signs and literature answer your questions. Then you get in and start to feel Yellowstone. (Think: you are responding to God's drawing.) As you get deeper your questions are being answered as you see the wonders and the reality of Yellowstone that is all around you. The tour guides help you become immersed in Yellowstone. Then Yellowstone becomes a part of you and you FEEL Yellowstone. (Think: you get saved.) If you live; fifty years later you’ll say; “Let me tell you about the time I went to Yellowstone:” BECAUSE YOU KNOW YELLOWSTONE! Getting into Yellowstone was a process and getting saved is also a process.
#3 (James 4:7-8) “Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you.” Each of these steps begins with God’s word because it is His instructions, promises and guarantees and only God can fulfill them. God’s drawing is so gentle and starts so early in life most people aren’t even aware of it for a long time. Think about this a minute: Before you got hardened by life and before you got is such a big hurry living your life you were aware of God in the natural world around you, weren’t you (God's drawing)? In your life experience there’s a little attraction when you hear about God (God's drawing). Life goes on, you hear about God, His Son Jesus, and salvation and you can’t help but wonder about it (God's drawing). You may disregard it; you may scoff at it; you may not believe it; you may even say you stand against it; but somehow the God awareness is there (God's drawing). Way down deep inside you where nobody else is allowed, in that terribly empty God place; you wonder about your death and eternity (God's drawing). You’ve probably heard all your life that scared religion is worthless but the Holy Bible, God’s word, screams out that is a lie. (Ps. 111:10) “Fear is the beginning of wisdom.” Read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Everybody that came to Jesus had a problem, a disease, an emergency, or a need and they were afraid of their problem because they couldn't handle it. Please understand: these people knew who to go to for help (God's drawing). Being lost and on the way to hell is the greatest emergency that can be imagined because what could possibly be worse than to be in torment forever and no way out (God's drawing). (Matt. 18:11) Think about it: what if you, precious, precious, precious you die lost? (James 4:8) When you draw nearer to God by thinking (meditation), praying, reading the Bible, talking about the Bible and going to church; God guarantees He will draw closer to you and God’s calling, revealing and reproving will intensify. Please understand this: (Eph. 2:8) As long as you keep drawing closer to God He will give you the faith you need to keep going through the process of drawing right on through to being saved. Think of the fairness of that! God knows each of us intimately. Examples: (Acts 10:34) God will “draw” a very stubborn man a little harder than He does a less stubborn man OR: (Eph. 2:8-9) God will give an extra measure of faith to an extremely doubting man and give less faith to a less doubting man thus we all get an equal opportunity to be saved. Think of the loving, wonderful, fairness God shows each of us! God may have been drawing you for years and you just didn’t understand what was happening. No man understands it completely until he goes through it for himself. No man can tell you how long it takes for you because he isn’t you and he sure isn’t God. God knows you intimately; He knows your needs, your fears, all that you think, feel and are; He knows what it takes and how long it takes to draw you. The final realization of His drawing may be only minutes, a few hours, or some days. No man can tell you because it is His time for you and your time for Him. You “feel” God’s beautiful, amazing and wonderful love for you and you “know He is God.” Follow that love because it will lead you to wonder, beauty, peace, security and joy. (Luke 15:10) GOD IS ANXIOUS AND HAPPY TO SAVE YOU!
You cannot reason your way to God. You cannot just decide to make yourself saved. GOD MUST BE THERE TO WORK HIS DRAWING IN YOUR SOUL, YOUR EMOTIONS. (James 4:8) When you draw nearer to Him He will draw nearer to you and His revelation of Himself will cause a time to come when you know it is time to make a decision. IT IS YOUR CHANCE AT SALVATION; RELIEF; A PEACE YOU’VE NEVER HAD; AND FINALLY, SAFETY.
#4 (Eph. 2:8-9) It doesn’t matter what you have done in the past. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Only by God’s grace can you be saved because you have nothing valuable enough to purchase salvation, you can not live good enough to deserve salvation and you will not be able to generate enough faith to obtain salvation. Enough faith to get saved is a gift from God. What amazing fairness!
#5 (Rom. 10:9) “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Do you believe Jesus is the virgin born Son of God? Do you believe Jesus died for your sins and that He was resurrected from the dead? Can you say it? It is a tender, sorrowful, poignant time of almost unutterable sweetness as God reveals the reality of the remarkable depths of His loving character and that He loves you enough to send His own Son Jesus to the cross to pay your sin debt which, because of your sins, you could not pay. TAKE IT! Take salvation while it is offered! (Luke 12:32) It is God’s good pleasure to give you salvation. It hurts God when you choose Satan, the devil, instead of God’s Son Jesus. God gave all He had; God gave His level best for you; GRAB IT!
It is a fearful time too. Mortal words cannot describe how awful are the consequences are of dying lost. Please read (Prov. 1:23-33) because if you keep refusing God; a time will come when He will depart, He won’t be back, and you can never get saved. I love you and I’m really sorry to have to tell you this part but you must know the truth. This isn’t some threat to try to scare you; it’s just the way it is. Think about yourself for a minute. Have you ever had something really nice you wanted to give someone you loved and they took your “special” gift and treated it like a piece of garbage? Of course you have and that hurt you and made you angry; didn’t it? I’ll bet you never offered them something “special” again did you? God is the same way. Don’t forget; you are made in God’s image. God is warm and loving; God has feelings and He can be hurt; God is tender hearted and filled with mercy. God is gracious and kind. All this is in the Bible but you already know it because that is what He reveals when He draws you. There is nothing more terrifying and pitiful than to have to die, depart from all you know, and face the judgment alone and without hope. God looks at it this way: (John 8:12) “Jesus is the light of the world.” (John 3:19) “And this is the condemnation, that light (Jesus) has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” You read these words and you know they are the truth because God isn’t taking anything. God wants to give but God despises sin so there are conditions to His giving. You already know how you would feel if you were brought to face God while you were still in your sinful condition. That’s what salvation is about: it’s a chance to be cleansed of your sin, get a brand new start and when you die and go meet God, you can be glad and happily receive His rewards.
#6 (John 3:3) “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, (truly, truly,) I say unto thee, Except a man be born again (to regenerate), he cannot see the kingdom of God.” When you confess that Jesus is the Son of God and genuinely believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead; when you genuinely want to be saved more than anything; when you genuinely repent of your sins and ask God to forgive you of your sins; you will be saved. The born again event is a spiritual rebirth of your soul, (2Cor. 5:17) you are a new creation in Christ and that is brought about in the mind of God because you are forgiven and justified by God. You will know you are saved because God will tell you and your sin burden will leave. God is the only one who can accomplish these things. It is a time of the most incredible love. The wonderful relief you will feel is because you have been judged, your sins have been cleansed from you by the blood of Jesus Christ, you have been cleared before God, the great and eternal judge, and you are free to go. (Gal. 4:7 & Mark 3:35) Best of all you have become a member of God’s personal family and when your lifetime is over you can go live in eternity where (Rev. 21:3-8) “there is no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall their be any more pain:”
#7 (John 14:23) “we will come unto him and make our abode with him." When you are truly saved you will know you are saved because Jesus will move right into your soul and live with you through the Holy Spirit in your God place and He will stay there and start teaching you how to live as a Christian. And maybe, just maybe, you can influence somebody you love dearly to become a Christian too. It is all free. All you have to do is accept it when it is offered.
The next step is baptism. (1Peter 3:21) "The like figure whereunto even baptism (make fully wet) doth also now save us, not the putting away of the filth (depravity, wickedness) of the flesh (carnal human nature) but the answer of a good conscience (moral consciousness) toward God, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ." It is obvious baptism is complete immersion in water. It is also obvious baptism does not cleanse a person of wickedness. It is plain to see baptism takes place after the born again event when a person is cleansed of their sins by the blood of Jesus.
#A (John 9:10 & Rom. 5:11) Baptism publicly signifies you have already been saved and your moral consciousness of your sin has been cleansed by God through the cleansing atonement of Jesus’ blood. Baptism also signifies two other events.
#B (Rom. 6:3-4) Baptism is a physical public demonstration that represents the spiritual born again event; that you, the old person of sin, has spiritually died and been buried just like Jesus died and was buried. Then just like Jesus was spiritually resurrected in His glorified body you are physically resurrected from the water a new person but still living in this world.
#C (Rom. 6:5 & 1Cor. 15:42-55 esp. V.46) Baptism is also a public demonstration of your faith that after your physical death at the end of your lifetime on earth, at some future time chosen by God, you will be resurrected in a glorified spiritual body just like Jesus and you will live forever with Jesus in paradise. Think of that! It’s all free!
GOD BLESS YOU