How to Enter Into A Relationship With God

First, you must know that you are a sinner.  The Bible says everyone has sinned. Nobody is perfect.  Nobody bats a thousand (Romans 3:23).

Secondly, you must realize that you cannot save yourself.  In order to save yourself, you would have to be perfect.  You blew it.  You sinned!  The Bible says that salvation is not from good works (Ephesians 2:9).  That means no one is good enough to earn their way into heaven.

The third thing you must know is that if you will only ask Jesus, He will do two (2) things for you.  He will give you a full and meaningful life here and now (John 10:10b), and He will give you eternal life hereafter (John 14:3).  The main reason people never get into heaven is that they never ask Jesus to save them.

Three (3) Things To Be Willing To Do

In order to be born again, there are also three things you must be willing to do.  There is no salvation without a willingness to do all three.

First, you must be willing to stop sinning.  The Bible calls that “repentance” (Acts 3:19).  Some people think that they do whatever they want, go ask Jesus for forgiveness, and turn around and do the same thing again.  That is not repentance.  Real repentance is saying, “Jesus, I blew it.  Please help me to stop doing it.”

Second, you must be willing to stop trying to save yourself and trust Jesus to save you.  The Bible says that we are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8).

Faith is not believing facts about Jesus.  The Bible says, “You believe in one God, you do well.  The demons believe also and tremble.”  (James 2:19).  Satan believes in God.  Where is he going to end up? Faith is more than just believing about Jesus.  Faith is trusting Jesus.

Third, you must be willing to obey Jesus.  You must be willing to give Him control of your life.  The Bible says, ”that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.  For with the heart man believes and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).  There is no salvation without surrendering control of your life to Jesus.

If my son or daughter came to me and said, “Can I borrow the car keys?  And by the way, don’t ever expect me to do anything you ask me to do for the rest of my life.”  Do you think he or she should get the car keys?  NO!  How am I any different when I say, “Jesus, I want eternal life and all your blessings in my life.  Just don’t ever expect me to obey anything you ask me to do for the rest of my life.”

How To Enter Into A Relationship With God

If you know that you have sinned and that you cannot save yourself, if you are willing to allow God to help you stop sinning, help you trust Jesus, and help you obey Jesus, then you are ready to take the first step in gaining the better life that God wants for you (John 10:10).

It is all done through a simple little prayer.  The words are not some magic formula.  It’s what is in your heart that counts.  Jesus promises that He will save you if you can pray this prayer and really want it and mean it in your heart.  The Bible says that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13).  Read through this prayer and see if it really expresses the desire of your heart:

Dear Jesus, I know I am a sinner.  Please forgive me of my sin.  Please come into my life, be the director of my life, and please make it real.  Please save me and make me born again. Thank you for saving me.  Amen.

Can you pray that and mean it?  If you can pray this prayer and mean it with all your heart, Jesus will send the Holy Spirit to live inside of you and from that point on, you become what the Bible calls “born again”.

If you prayed this prayer and really meant it with your heart, you have taken the first step to become all God wants you to be in Christ.  Having prayed this prayer, you can be 100% sure that you are saved and that you will go to heaven.

In John 5:24 (NKJV) Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.”

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