Free Gift

As Christians, we know how wonderful it is to have a personal relationship with Jesus, and to know that we are going to heaven. We would like to tell you about how you can have the same joy that we do:

The Bible tells us that we all do bad things, known as "sin". Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." This means we are all short of God's perfect standard. Its as if we are all aiming at a target and missing.

The Bible also tells us the consequences of this sin - "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus" Romans 3:26. We all deserve punishment for all the wrong that we have done - God is a God of justice and cannot leave sin unpunished. We all deserve this punishment, the Bible calls it hell.

However, God loves us all so much and doesn't want anyone to go to hell. "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" John 3:16.

God sent his Son, Jesus, to earth to die on the cross to take the punishment that we deserved - Romans 5:8 says "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." 3 days after he died, Jesus was raised to life and 40 days later ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God.

Sin separates us from God, but Jesus has made the way for us to have a relationship with him and to spend eternity in heaven with God. This is a free gift and is received by faith - Ephesians 2:8 says, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast."

Faith is a decision of your heart demonstrated by the actions of your life. Romans 10:9 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."

If you would like to believe in Jesus as your saviour, you can pray the following prayer. Please note, it is not the prayer that saves you - it is believing that you are a sinner, that Jesus died for your sins and was raised back to life and that through him you can have eternal life in heaven.

Dear God, I know that I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died to forgive me of my sins. I now accept Your offer of eternal life. Thank You for forgiving me of all my sin. Thank You for my new life. From this day forward, I will choose to follow You.

If this prayer expresses how you feel, we would love to know and to help you in your new life so please contact us (errol@shotgatebaptist.co.uk). If you are not ready to make this decision and would like to know more, or have questions, please contact us and we will be happy to chat to you about this.

If you would like to find out more online, why not visit one of these websites:

Re: Jesus

Y-Zine

Got Questions?

Bible Gateway

(Images provided by Christian Clipart)