The Journey To Salvation
A Committment
Committing our lives to Christ is the first step in our Christian journey. It will be like that of the Ethiopian Jew who at first failed to understand spiritual matters in the Bible (Acts 8:26-40). On his return after attending the Jewish pilgrimage he began to read from the book of the Isaiah. However, he could not receive any spiritual understanding.
In a strange supernatural experience, Philip, a disciple, was sent by an angel to meet this noble man. Philip went up to him and asked him, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
“How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him in his chariot. Then Philip began with the passage he was reading and told him the good news about Jesus. The spiritual understanding came after being told about the good news about Jesus in His salvation mission. After being baptised the eunuch returned to Ethiopia, where he shared the gospel.
He was the first Christian convert from Judaism on the African continent. The Coptic Church, one the oldest churches, evolved out of the early assemblies of believers in Ethiopia probably because of this missionary. Who knows how much fruit will come out of your spiritual understanding of the Bible.
Accepting Jesus
You may not have a Philip sent to you. But you have this page that you have come across to explain where to begin in your Christian life. Like with the Ethiopian Jew and all of us who’re now committed Christians the process is very simple though it has the potential of having a profound effect on your life.
It begins by accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. By accepting Him as Lord you are abandoning your old lifestyle of controlling your own life according to your desires and will. You are putting your will under His command and asking Him to be the Lord of your life, guiding you according to His will. Don’t worry how He’ll do it. That will be a continual experience as you endeavour to submit to His will written in the Bible.
By accepting Him as Saviour you’re acknowledging that you were born in sin that goes all the way to Adam and Eve. Their act of sin in desiring to “be like God, knowing good and evil,” (Genesis 3:4) separated all humanity from God. Jesus Christ, who is also called the last Adam, (1 Corinthians 15:45) came to save us from this sin and reunite us with God the Father. The Adamic sin includes the sins we have committed throughout our lives in our separation from God. Jesus gave His life as a sacrifice to pay for the full price. Regardless of our sins, big or small, they’ve all been paid for.
By accepting Him as Saviour you’re placing all your sins on the cross where He was nailed for the sins of all that accept his saving mission. In His infinite wisdom God scarified his Son on a cross to die for our sins so that we could no longer be under the curse and yoke of our sins. Whoever receives an opportunity to accept this gift of redemption is able to walk free from his/her sins and begin a new chapter in life. This chapter isn’t only beneficial in this life, but is more importantly a chapter that’ll lead to eternal life.
An Opportunity
The destiny of our souls ought to be our major priority. Our priorities in life are always centered on what do we treasure the most. It may be a career, money, power, material goods and “comforts,” entertainment, family, etc. How about our souls? Matthew 16:26 says “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?”
The opportunity has been presented to you and the rest is in your will to decide. Are you willing to accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour? Jesus says:
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him,” Revelation 3:20.
That door is our hearts where our whole essence of life flows from. You can ask Him to come into your heart now.
Summary
The Bible says that we must:
1) Recognise we are sinners and need God’s forgiveness.
2) Then, admit our sins to Him. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
3) John 1:12 says we must personally receive Him, “To all who received him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.”
We become God’s children and begin a new eternal life. “He who has the Son of God (Jesus) has the life; He who does not have the Son of God does not have the life." (1 John 5:12)
4) Romans 10:9-10 says : “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. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”
Next Steps