This Booklet Is Dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ

THE

CHRISTIAN

BELIEVER

(revised 16 February 2017)

Ossie Amato

THIS BOOKLET IS FREE

NOT FOR SALE

THE GOSPEL: HOW DO YOU BECOME A CHRISTIAN?

He said, “What must I do to be saved?”

So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.”

Acts 16:31

God created man perfect, in His image. But when Adam and Eve sinned, the human nature became corrupted. It became “rotten” because of sin. As a result, all people are sinners, contaminated with the corrupt, sinful nature. This is shown in our lives – we are all selfish, disobedient sinners. Because of sin, we are not perfect, and cannot be friends with God. We are separated from God. This is called “spiritual death”.

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God … The wages of sin is death.

Romans 3:23 and 6:23

Just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.

Romans 5:12

Your iniquities [sins] have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you.

Isaiah 59:2

However, God came to earth, born as a man, to pay the penalty for our sins. The Lord Jesus Christ, who was without sin and undeserving of death, died to forgive our sins and to bring us back to God. But Jesus also rose from the dead, and lives forever. He now offers eternal life – His life – to anyone who believes in Him.

God promises to give eternal life to anyone who believes that Jesus came to save them from sin and death. Every person has a choice to live as a friend of God forever (in heaven) or to suffer in judgement, separated from God forever (in the lake of fire, hell).

Christ suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.

1 Peter 3:18

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3: 16

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.

John 5:24

Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me … shall live. … Do you believe this?"

John 11:25-26

Do you believe that Jesus died for you, and that He promises to give His life to you?

Believe Him, and He will give you eternal life!

He is faithful to keep His promise!

SAVED

BY GRACE ALONE

THROUGH FAITH ALONE

IN CHRIST ALONE

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

Saved means “to be saved from sin and death” – to have our sins forgiven, the penalty of sin (death) removed, and to be given eternal life.

Grace means “everything that God has done for us, even though we didn’t deserve it” (2 Corinthians 9:8, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Hebrews 4:16). By His life, death and resurrection, Jesus Christ has fully paid the penalty for sin. He has done everything for us. All we can do is receive salvation from Him, as a gift. If we try to do anything in our own strength, it is no longer by grace, and it is therefore not acceptable to God. If we try to “earn” our salvation, we will get what we deserve – the wages of sin, death! If we trust Him, He will give us the gift of salvation by grace – life!

Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.

Romans 4:4

Faith means “to believe”. God has said the only thing we must do is believe that Jesus died to forgive our sins, rose from the dead, and promises to give us eternal life. We must trust Him and believe His promise to us.

But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.

Romans 4:5

Some people say we must earn our salvation by “doing good works” or “keeping the commandments” or “you are not saved unless you are baptized”. This is false teaching. God says we must “believe”, with nothing else added. This is grace.

[Note: After we are saved, God has many good works (ministry/service) for us to do (Ephesians 2:10), but these works are not for our salvation. They are for rewards. And even then, our service is still “by grace” because we are to live by the power of His Spirit, rather than trying to live in our own strength (Galatians 2:20, Galatians 3:1-3).]

“In Christ alone” means that Jesus is the only way to be saved. Some people say that all religions worship the same God. The Bible clearly says that Jesus is the only way to the true God (Acts 4:12, 1 John 5:20-21), and all other ways are false.

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no-one comes to the Father except through Me.”

John 14:6

We are saved by grace alone (God has done all of the work) through faith alone (we can do nothing except believe) in Christ alone (He is the only way to be saved).

WHAT HAPPENS AT SALVATION?

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

2 Corinthians 5:17

At the moment a person believes that Jesus died for him, many things happen to him in the spiritual realm.

1. Our sins are forgiven, and condemnation is removed. (John 3:18, Romans 8:1, Psalm 103:12)

2. We are made righteousness and acceptable to God. We are given the very righteousness which belongs to Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21, Philippians 3:9)

3. We are given eternal life. We are made spiritually alive (“born again” as children of God), and are able to have fellowship (relationship/friendship) with our Father God. Even though our physical body may die, our soul will live with God, in blessing and happiness, forever. (John 11:25-26, Ephesians 2:4-7, 1 John 5:11-13, John 17:3)

4. Because we are children of God, we inherit every spiritual blessing from the Father. (Ephesians 1:3-5, Galatians 3:26, Romans 8:15-17)

5. We are united to Christ. The New Testament calls this being “in Christ” or “in Him”. We are made part of the body of Christ, and share every blessing that Jesus has. (1 Corinthians 12:13,27, Ephesians 1:3)

6. We are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. This allows us to have fellowship with God and spiritual power and strength as we serve God. (Romans 8:11-14,
1 Corinthians 6:19)

7. We are a new creation. We have the new, divine nature of God. (Note that we still have our old, corrupt nature of sin in our flesh. There is therefore a “spiritual battle” between the new nature and the old nature.) As we submit to the Holy Spirit, this new divine nature will be manifest more and more in our lives. (2 Corinthians 5:17, 2 Peter 1:4, Romans 6:6-7,11-13).

8. We are made priests, and are able to come personally to God through Christ, our High Priest. (1 Peter 2:5,9, Hebrews 4:16, Hebrews 13:15, Romans 12:1)

9. We are God’s ambassadors and representatives on earth. It is our responsibility to take the gospel (“good news”) of salvation to the whole world, to train others to be disciples of Jesus, and to live lives that honour Him. (2 Corinthians 5:20, 1 Peter 1:15-19)

ETERNAL SECURITY: SAVED FOREVER

When we believe in Jesus, we are saved forever. We can never lose our salvation. It is important to understand this truth because some people falsely teach that if we commit particular sins, we will lose our salvation and will not go to heaven. There are many passages in the Bible which prove that we are saved forever.

1. We have eternal life now. If we could lose it, it is not eternal.

And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

1 John 5:11-13

2. Nothing can separate us from God, because we are “in Christ” (in the body of Christ, united with Him forever. 1 Corinthians 12:13,27).

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39

3. We are held in God’s hands – both the Father’s hands and the Son’s hands! – and kept by His almighty power (1 Peter 1:5)

And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.

John 10:28-29

4. We are “born again” as children of God. We can never be “unborn”. Once children, we are always children.

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:26

5. The grammar of the original Greek language of the New Testament often uses the “perfect tense” of verbs. The perfect tense refers to a completed action. For example, in Ephesians 2:8-9, it can literally be read as “…you have been saved with the result that you keep being saved forever…”

Note, when we sin, we become disobedient children of God – but we are still children. When we are disobedient, our Father will discipline us (Hebrews 12:5-11) because He loves us and wants us to return to the place of obedience, fellowship and blessing. As obedient children of God, we should avoid temptation and sin.

PROMISES FOR THE NEW BELIEVER

God has made many promises to us in the Bible. He wants us to learn these promises and believe that He will fulfil them. This is “living by faith” or “believing God”.

As believers, we will still sin. Whenever we sin, we must come back to God, confess the sin to Him and He will forgive and restore us to fellowship.

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

God has a plan for our lives, and He is in control of everything that happens in our lives. Even though “bad” things happen in our lives – and they will happen, because we live in a corrupt, evil, sinful world – God is working everything together to achieve His purpose. That purpose is to conform us to the image of His Son, to make us “like Jesus”.

We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28

God will only allow us to face tests, trials or temptations which we are able to bear (if we trust Him). He will not always deliver us from these trials, but give us strength that we may go through them. As we pass through trials and suffering, we will learn to depend upon God more.

No temptation has overtaken you … but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it

1 Corinthians 10:13

God will never, never, never leave us, nor ever, ever abandon us. (This verse has very strong emphasis in the original Greek language.)

He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you”.

Hebrews 13:5

Nothing can separate us from the love of God. This verse should give us great peace and hope!

Romans 8:38-39

When we are in difficult circumstances, do not worry – trust in God.

Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

1 Peter 5:7

THE STAGES OF SALVATION

It is useful to remember that our salvation occurs in three stages:

a) When we believe in Jesus, we are saved forever. This is our “positional” salvation. Our “position” is that we are now sons of God. This stage of salvation involves our free-will (to believe that Jesus will save us), but Jesus does the work to save us.

b) During our lives as Christians, we are constantly (every moment, every day) “saved” from sin, the world and the devil. Even as Christians, we do sin. But every day, we should grow and become more like Jesus. This is our “experiential” salvation. This involves our free-will (to trust God’s Word and submit to Him every day), but the Holy Spirit does His work through us.

c) At the resurrection, the corrupt, sinful flesh will be removed, and we will be given new, eternal, glorified bodies, in which it is impossible to sin. This is our “ultimate” salvation. This depends entirely upon God.

UNDERSTANDING AND KNOWING GOD

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face.

Psalm 89:14

God wants us to understand what He is like, and to know Him in a personal relationship (John 17:3, 1 John 5:20).

God is One, but also a Trinity. There is one God, but existing in three Persons (or Personalities): the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit.