I am not asking if you go to church, keep the Commandments or do good works - what I am asking is: have you given your life to Jesus?

If not, why not take that step now?

This page explains in simple terms God's plan for our salvation, what it means to be a Christian, and how you can become a Christian right now! If you would like me to help you, please send me an email now and I will get back to you as soon as I can and will keep you in my prayers.

• Salvation
• What it means to be a Christian
• How to become a Christian

"Our justification comes from the grace of God" (Catechism of the Catholic Church: 1996)

"In Jesus Christ who became man, died and rose again from the dead salvation is offered to every man as the gift of the grace and mercy of God Himself" (Pope Paul VI - Evangelii Nuntiandi: 27)

Salvation

God created a beautiful world for mankind so that we could live in harmony with the whole of creation.

"And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good" (Genesis 1:31)

However, Adam and Eve rebelled against God's plan and went their own way, allowing destruction and death to enter the world.From that day things went from bad to worse as mankind replaced God's way by their own way, resulting in the suffering and despair that we see around us today

But from the beginning, God had a plan:

"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned each one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6)

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16)

Our sin had become so great that we all deserve Hell - nothing we could ever possibly do could be enough to put right all the offences we had committed against the Creator of the universe. God is a loving God, but He is also a just God: justice demanded a payment for all our sin. Only by the Son of God taking our sin on His shoulders and paying the price for us could justice be done and we could be saved!

Before this could happen, God needed to prepare the way by establishing a people to be set apart - the people of Israel. The whole of the Old Testament is the story of God's covenant with Israel and how He prepared them to receive the Messiah. Through Moses, He gave them the Law (the Ten Commandments), not as a means of salvation, since man's sinful nature means that God's law is continually being broken. It was to make mankind aware of our sinfulness and prepare us for the new covenant that He had in store:

"No human being will be justified in His sight by works of the law, since through the law comes knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20)

"Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, the house of Judah ... I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each man teach his neighbour and each his brother, saying 'Know the Lord,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more" (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

When Jesus died on the cross, He took our sin - all of it - on His shoulders and paid the price, that we may be set free.

"For our sake (God) made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21)

In dying for us, Jesus gave us salvation as a free gift which we can accept or reject. We could never earn salvation by our own efforts, but Jesus has earned it for us and gives it to us freely. All we have to do is to believe in what He has done for us and accept it as a gift:

"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is a gift of God - not because of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)

"He saved us, not because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit, which He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that we might be justified by His grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life." (Titus 3:5-7)

What it means to be a Christian

First of all, it is so important to realise that being a Christian is not the same as being a church-goer, keeping the Commandments and doing good works! You could spend your life attending church regularly and doing good works but you cannot earn salvation.

Being a Christian simply means acknowledging that we are all sinners and deserve Hell, but believing that Jesus has taken our sin on His shoulders and paid the price by His death and resurrection.

We do not need to work at salvation, but just accept it a gift given freely. When we realise what Jesus has done for us and start to grasp His overwhelming love for each one of us, then we will want to do good works for Him, not to earn a reward but simply because we love Him.

How to become a Christian

Becoming a Christian is so simple, though at the same time it can be so hard. It is simple because it just involves a decision; it is hard because it requires you to surrender yourself completely to Jesus and make Him Lord of your life.

There are three steps to become a Christian:

• Acknowledge your sinful nature and that you need God to save you from the punishment you deserve. We are all sinners and without Jesus we are all excluded from Heaven "Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as an expiation by His blood, to be received by faith" (Romans 3:23-25)
• Believe, with your heart as well as your mind, that Jesus died for you personally, paying the price for your sin. Ask Him to take charge of your life and be your Saviour. Let others know that you are a Christian - you can't be a Christian in secret! "If  you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For man believes with his heart and so is justifed, and confesses with his lips and so is saved" (Romans 10:9-10)
• Find a good church to attend - you will need the fellowship of other Christians - and be baptized. "Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:5).

If you are ready to take the most important step in your life, then say this simple prayer, whilst giving your life to Jesus:

Lord Jesus, I confess that I have sinned against You, and I ask that You forgive me for all my sins.
I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who shed His blood on the cross for the remission of my sins.
I give my life to You and ask that You come into my heart, that I may live with You eternally In Jesus' name.
Amen.

If you have said this prayer and meant it, and would like further help, send me an e-mail and I will get back to you as soon as I can.