There is absolutely nothing that any one of us can do to gain eternal life. Not the richest or wisest among us, not the most powerful or famous, not even the most righteous, for we are all equal through the eyes of God. In fact, Jesus said, "Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." This was not a condemnation of a particular group of people, but instead it was a simple commentary on the results of riches. He said, "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." Jesus knew that money is truly the root of all evil, it corrupts the heart and replaces God, becoming the center of ones life. It becomes the master, and if you are not serving God, you are serving Satan; there is no in-between.

"For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect." 1st Peter 1:18-19

People have replaced God with everything imaginable, but nothing on this earth can gain them immortality. I'm sure you've heard the saying, "You can't take it with you". Jesus said, "What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul. Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?" No one could have said it better, and you need to heed that warning. Only Jesus' supreme sacrifice on the cross can gain us eternal life and restore our souls. Worldly possessions may seem important to you now, through your limited concept of life, but if you take a serious look at the scope of eternity, you will realize that all the money and possessions in the world actually mean nothing. They may help you to keep up with your neighbors, but they also completely remove your focus from the true meaning of life, and given enough emphasis they will distract you all the way up until the day you die. Until it's too late.

"You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." John 8:44

You see, Satan has plans for your soul as well, and his world is filled with plenty of distractions to keep your focus off the truth. He wants to keep you from God's love and salvation, and he wants you to believe his lies; in fact, I'm sure he is quite angry that you've read this far. He knows your inner thoughts, and he may be tempting your heart even now, trying to prevent you from continuing to read on towards salvation. You are not ready yet to defeat him, but you can and must be aware of his presence, and his grip on you. Once you are saved though, you will inherit the Holy Spirit, and He will help to guard you from Satan, and make you aware of Satan's temptations. You will then be armed to defeat him.

God had a plan in place for our salvation even before the creation of the universe. The Bible says that Jesus is the Word of God. It also says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning." Jesus was with God before the creation of the world. Therefore, God conceived of His plan for our lives and our salvation even before the creation, and He was already aware of you and developed a plan for your life long before you were born. He knows your heart and mine, and He wants you to be with Him forever.

"Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him." Hebrews 9:27-28

Jesus died for you, and for me. Simply put, He was the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and because of this ultimate act of love, we are freed from our sin, and can now overcome death and live with Him forever. But you must receive the gift of salvation; you have to reach out and take it. For a gift is not a gift until it is received.

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." 1st John 1:14

God came down from heaven and became one of us through His son Jesus Christ. He didn't have to do that; He didn't need to be born into this world as an infant, and grow up the way we do. He didn't have to walk among us, and ultimately face persecution and death. Wouldn't it have been more convincing if He'd come down in His supernatural form? Why would He go to all of the trouble, and through all the pain and suffering, to appear to us in human form?

"Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil-- and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death." Hebrews 2:14-15

I heard a story once that helped me to understand God's motives in becoming one of us a little better, and it went something like this...

A man was working on his farm near dusk when he heard a loud crash and the panicked screams and fluttering of his chickens. He ran to the hen house to see what was happening, and there he saw a fox, which had broken the gate and was chasing the chickens around the yard in an attempt to gobble a few of them up. The man shouted, and was able to chase the fox off, but the chickens were scattered all over the yard, clucking and fluttering in their fear. It was almost dark and he had to get them back into their pens before the fox returned, but as he chased them, he realized that his efforts were futile. The more he tried to gather them together, the farther apart they scattered; the more he tried to calm them, the more frightened they became. Some had run so far off that the man was sure the fox would be able to start snatching them, one by one, from a distance. They were surely going to die, and as he spun around, frantically trying to figure out what to do, he thought to himself, "I wish I could just turn into a chicken, even for a few moments. If I could only become like one of them, I could show them that I'm not here to harm them, I'm here to save them." It was in that moment that he understood what God had done for us.

"Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross!" Philippians 2:6-8

God actually became one of us, to show us that He was here to rescue us, but we still rejected Him. He could have come here as a king, or a conqueror. He could have used His awesome power to suppress us into following Him. But instead He came to us, as one of us; in fact He came as one of the lowest of us. Isn't it ironic that Jesus was born into a poor family, and lived His life surrounded by the sick, the poorest of the poor, and the lowest class citizens of the time. He humbled himself to us, and He humbled himself before God, teaching us how to love, and teaching us the true meaning of life. And then, being the least deserving of death, he died one of the cruelest and most painful deaths imaginable. And He did it because of His love for you and I.

"Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you." James 1:21

You've seen all the facts, and you've been presented with all of the information you require. Now you have a responsibility to yourself, and to God. Will you also reject Jesus?

God has done so much for us, and even though we don't deserve it, He still offers us salvation from our sins. But we have a responsibility in accepting His gift of mercy. Your responsibility has been repeated throughout these pages, but to put it in its simplest form I've broken it down into five easy steps.

"You have heard these things; look at them all. Will you not admit them?" Isaiah 48:6

You have to admit that you are a sinner and that you need a savior.

"I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent." Luke 15:7

You must be willing to repent and turn from your sins. True repentance means to change ones heart, to understand your sin and willfully turn away from it.

"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

Believe that Jesus died to rescue you from your sins, and then He rose from the dead, conquering death for you

"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Romans 10:13

Through prayer invite Jesus into your life, and receive Him as your Savior.

"And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." James 5:15-16

Using your own words pray something like this:

"Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner, and I realize that I can't make it on my own. Thank you for dying for me, and for forgiving my sins. Right at this moment, the best way I know how, I want to become a Christian by trusting you as my Savior and Lord. From this moment on I want to follow you. I want to turn from sin and give you control over my life. I pray this in your Holy name, Amen."

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 2nd Corinthians 5:17

If you said a prayer like this from your heart praise God and congratulations, you are a Born Again Christian. There is nothing magical or mystical about those words, "Born again", it simply means that your old life (without Christ) no longer exists. That person has just died, and a new person has been born as a Child of God, and you will now live forever with Him in heaven.

"Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." John 3:36

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