You know a lot of people call themselves
Christians. The difference between how you perceive Christianity
and the real Christianity of the Bible may shock and startle
you.
Maybe you see Christianity as just one
of many religions
The Bible tells us this in Romans 10:3;
For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going
about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted
themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Matthew 15:9 But in vain do they worship me, teaching for
doctrines the commandments of men
Religion is system of things to say or do. Ceremonies created
by men for men to feel righteous or right with God. It is
however not Christianity.
Jesus said He was the only way to God!
What religion says that? He said in John 14:6
I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the
Father, but by me.
Maybe you see Christianity as a system
used by some to make money.
In the bible
Jesus said that pursuit of money and God should not be and
cannot be intertwined.
Luke 16:13 No servant can serve two masters;
for either he will hate the one, and love the other; else
he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot
serve God and Mammon.
"Mammon" as it is called is the monetary system
of the world. You can't live your life chasing after money,
it will become your master and not God.
Mark 8:36 For what shall it profit a man,
if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
As a matter of fact Jesus was so disgusted
with intertwining of money and the religious system of His
day He did something totally radical. Yes, the same loving
kind Jesus you might of heard of was a radical. The bible
says in
John 2:14-16 And (He) found in the temple
those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers
of money sitting; And when He had made a whip of small cords,
he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and
the oxen; and poured out the money changers' money, and
overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves,
Take these things out; make not my Fathers house a house
of merchandise
Some have even gone so far today as to
make Christianity out to be a vehicle for its members to
become wealthy. This totally goes against what Jesus did
and how He lived.
Did you know that He was homeless? He said in
Matthew 8: 20 …The foxes have holes
and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man
has no where to lay His head
His homelessness was a example to the world
of His humility, of His closeness to societies "have
nots". He also showed that if you serve God you have
no need of anything because
He will supply your needs.
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This is a common belief that goes something
like this. If God knows everything and is so fair and just,
like He says He is, then He will see I'm doing the best
I can. I mean, I'm no saint but I ain't
no evil person or anything. Besides I even pray and read
my Bible and stuff.
The Bible says in Romans 3:10 …there is none righteous,
no not one
Well…. Having worked out the streets
we have a saying "thems that got the real thing got
it, and thems that don't cant fake it"
You might be able to fool people about how you are, but
you will never fool a real follower of Jesus.
I mean, it's like having a mask on, you
know? Its like, you go through life with this good person
mask, or church mask or whatever. And, no one, nobody can
see what's underneath. God wants you to pull it off and
take a good look. He sees hoe we really are. Look in the
mirror; hear that
little voice in your head? That's you! That's right, and
you know the real truth about you and who you really are.
And the reason that you are that way is this. You see the
Bible says that we all have a common problem. We all have
heart trouble. No not that kind! Spiritual heart trouble.
Jesus said in Matthew 15: 19 For out of
the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications,
thefts, false witness, blasphemies.
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above
all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Yes, even though you think you're doing
ok. With that Nasty old heart you won't get one step closer
to God. What did Jeremiah say? It is desperately wicked.
Do you know what it means to be desperate? It means you'd
do anything, whatever it takes, to get what you want. He
also said who could know it? You can't even fathom, understand
the depths of evil that heart of yours is capable of dreaming
up or doing. When you look at yourself can't you see that
tendency to do wrong, that struggle you're having?
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You say look I've examined myself and I
don't see what you said I should see. I'm cool, I know I
am! Besides, I do all sorts of good deeds that shows I'm
a Christian right? Wrong! The Bible says when we do things,
even good things out of that old nature, that old stone
heart… it means nothing.
Isaiah 64:6 …All our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags.
"Righteousnesses" means good
deeds or good works.
You see all the good works that come from that old desperately
wicked heart are contaminated. They are not fit for God.
Many people truly believe they need to do good deeds to
get into heaven. But God doesn't operate that way. He is
no respecter of persons. If you are white, black, Jewish,
Mexican it doesn't matter to God. You can't expect to buy
your way to God by doing good works. II Timothy puts it
this way in 1:9
…not according to our works, but
according to His own purpose and grace, which was given
us in Jesus Christ….
No matter how noble the deed it will not
just magically strike up a relationship with the Creator
for us.
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No one can keep them! No one is perfect!
Come on now really did you think differently? You might
say well then why did God bother with them?
If you think about it God has many laws,
Gravity is one. You can't make it go away its always there.
So is evaporation or corrosion they are laws of nature put
in place by the Creator God. Read the book of Leviticus,
God had made many, many laws to deal with the sin (disobedience
against God) of the people. Each required a sacrifice to
be made to make things right with God again. In all there
were some 613 different laws that God gave His people. The
laws helped to teach people to recognize what was sin
Galatians 3:24 Wherefore the law was our
schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ
When God put in place His laws on sin He
made everyone accountable. You can't break a law that doesn't
exist. Once they were in place no one could skate around
them.
The Bible says that sin (a product of our corrupt nature,
our old heart) leads to death.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death…
It all sounds ominous, sin death a sacrifice.
If the penalty for sin were death then someone would have
to die. The Bible predicted who this would be and what would
happen to him.
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The Bible isn't a collection of mans wisdom
or some fairy tale but it is the Word of God. Challenged
repeatedly by skeptics over the millennia it has withstood
all scrutiny. Many learned men were converted trying to
disprove these sacred texts. It contains the largest collection
of historically accurate prophecies ever assembled. These
prophecies are accurate down to the most tiny detail. The
Bible speaks of a man God would send. He would be the one
to pay the penalty for sin. He would be the one to satisfy
those laws of God.
Not just an ordinary man, but a man who
would speak the very words of God
Deuteronomy 18:18 I will raise up a Prophet
from among their brethren, …and I will put my words
in His mouth…
The Bible tells us what tribe, what family
He will come from
Genesis 49:10 The sceptre shall not depart
from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until
Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people
be.
His name would be Shiloh meaning "peace"
Isaiah 11:1 And there shall come forth
a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow
out of his roots
It speaks of His character
Isaiah 11:2-4 And the Spirit of the LORD
shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge
and of the fear of the LORD; And shall make him of quick
understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not
judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after
the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he
judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of
the earth…
The Bible tells us His Birthplace
Micah 5:2 But you Bethlehem Ephratah, though
you be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you
shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel;
whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting
It also speaks of his suffering
Isaiah 53:3 He is despised and rejected
of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief…
Psalm 22:16,18 …they pierced my hands and my feet…They
part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my clothes
Psalm 69:21 They gave me also gall for
my food; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink
Zechariah 13:6 And one shall say unto him What are these
wounds in your hands? Then he shall answer, those with which
I was wounded in the house of my friends
It also tells of His Sacrificial Death Satisfying the Law
John 19: 16,17 And he bearing his cross
went forth into a place which is called the place of the
skull, which is in the Hebrew Golgotha: Where they crucified
him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus
in the middle.
And His resurrection bringing life
John 20:19 … Then the same day at
evening…when the doors were shut…came Jesus
and stood in the midst, and said peace be unto you.
His promise of forgiveness of sin
John 5:24…He that hears my word,
and believes on him who sent me, hath everlasting life,
and shall not see condemnation; but is passed from death
unto life.
His promise of a new nature
Ezekiel 36:26 A new heart also will I give
you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will
take away the stony heart…and I will give you a heart
of flesh.
John 3:4 …Except a man be born again, he cannot see
the kingdom of God.
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1. Acknowledge
that you are separated from God because of your corrupt
nature
2. Accept God's forgiveness
3. Believe that Jesus is who He says He is, the one whom
God has sent to redeem you
4. Surrender to Him yourself completely
5. Ask him to give you a new nature, to have a new heart
, to be born again
6. Ask Him to take total control of your life
You will
receive Gods gift of eternal life
All your sins against God will be completely wiped out to
be remembered no more
You will have freedom from guilt
You will have peace of mind
If you need help in your prayer here is a prayer you can
speak to God:
Jesus I come
to you just as I am
I know you see me as I really am
I know that I am corrupt and sinful
I know I need a new nature, a new heart
Thank you for satisfying the law by dying for me
I believe you are God's Messiah the One who He promised
to send to free us from our sin
I surrender myself completely to you
I surrender my body to you
I surrender my mind to you
I surrender my soul to you
Take away my old, cold stony heart
Take away my old corrupted nature
Give me the new heart you promised
I want to be born again
Give me a new nature and spirit
Please let me have spiritual birth
Take complete control of my life
Guide me and direct my paths
From this time forward and forever more
Amen (So let it be done
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