You may not celebrate Christmas or just choose to celebrate without the theme of receiving gifts. But we must know that Salvation itself, is a gift from God, so you should remember it!
Romans 6:23 says, “ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Wages are earned, gifts are not. Gifts are given. When someone gives you a gift, it is by their doing that you have something added to your possession. Now, when someone presents that gift to you, you can easily reject it just as you can receive it. God wants you to receive eternal life through Jesus Christ. This is because He loves you and provided an eternal lifespan to spend with Him and in His presence. When God gives us something (especially if we don’t deserve it), that’s called Grace. When God withholds from experiencing something (that we do deserve), that’s called Mercy.
So when God gave salvation as a gift for us, we did not do anything to deserve having life beyond ours o
n earth. We deserve death, as that is what is owed to us as a result of our sin. So, If death is what we do deserve, then life is a gift! And eternal life only given by Jesus, turns into a privilege for us!
John 11:25 says, “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the One who brings people back to life (Jesus is "the Resurrection”), and I am life itself. Those who believe in Me will live even if they die.”
Then Jesus goes on to say in verse 26, “‘Everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe that?’”
So accepting
eternal life doesn’t just mean knowing that heaven is an option for you, but actually living for Jesus Christ too. What good is it to just only believe in Jesus but not live for Him too? Jesus says to do life with Him and believe that He will lead you to heaven, where you can enjoy the gift of living forever!
But now that you know all of this, how can you receive the gift of eternal life?
- First, you h
ave to repent of your sins (this is not just you saying “I repent,” but actually changing what you used to do and turning away from your sins). Repentance is done by confessing your sins to God (with sincerity) and therefore God can forgive you and make you new! (1 John 1:9)
Romans 10:9 says, “If you confess with your mouth that ‘Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, then you will be saved (from your sins and the punishment of hell).
-After repentance and confessing this truth about Jesus, you must now put your faith and hope in Jesus going forward! Following up with the Holy Spirit (Jesus' Spirit/God is omnipresent) being given
to you so you can have all that you need to live a life that pleases God (2 Peter 1:3).
- Salvation is an open invitation for everyone, (Romans 10:13) so I invite you to accept Jesus Christ into your life and do life with Him. Don’t live your life after getting saved just by just waiting for the gift but worship and serve the One who gave it to you in the first place. Without God, there would be no gift of eternal life through Jesus. So do not just merely believe in Jesus Christ, but live in Him!
Remem
ber the gift that God gave, so you can receive it!
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