God loves you, and has known you from before the creation of the world.  He knew there would be a “you”.  You were created specifically to be in His family, in relationship with Him.  So, what’s wrong?  Why does it feel like God doesn’t care – that He is absent?

The answer is sin.  Sin separates us from God.  Sin is anything we think, say, or do that goes against God’s laws.  This world is broken because people are trapped in sin.  Our sinful choices affect ourselves, each other, and even entire generations and societies.  God has given us free will to choose to do as we please, and many times, people choose sin.

What is the Law of God? In the Bible, God has given many instructions for living right before Him. These include the 10 Commandments among others. But apart from the Bible, God has written His commands on human hearts, which we refer to as “conscience”.  Our conscience is what tells us that murder is wrong.  It is what makes us angry at injustices, abuses, and crime.  We know we violate our consciences.  The telltale signs are lying about it, hiding it (doing it in secret), or covering it up.  This is how God can hold us as being without excuse.  

Above all, God tells us to love Him with all our soul, heart, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.  If you love anything in your life more than you love God (or a fellow human being), you have broken this command.  Whenever you do anything you know you shouldn’t (lying, gossiping, pornography, stealing, cheating, sleeping around, saying “Oh my God”, disobeying your parents, etc), it is “sin”.  We hold ourselves up to God’s standards and see that we fall hopelessly short.  We’ve blown it, many times, and we know it.

You may ask – What if people choose to be good?  Our human condition can be compared to a drop of poison in a glass of water.  Whether there is one drop or many drops, the water is still poisoned.   There are many non-religious and religious people who are good and kind.  But no matter how “good” we are, we aren’t perfect.  God’s law requires us to be perfect. Here is a wonderful article discussing how Jesus explains our inability to save ourselves.

God’s laws are a mirror, to reflect back to us where we have failed.  Ask God to show you how lost you are.

 You know you’ve sinned, you’ve broken God’s laws.  So what does that mean?

Our physical bodies die someday.  However, God created humans to be eternal.  That means the part of you that’s “you” – your spirit/soul – is going to live on forever.  God says that He has “placed eternity in the hearts of men” – deep down, we know that physical death is not the end.  When you die, you will stand before God and give an account of EVERYTHING you have done while alive.  Everything done in the darkness and secret will be brought to light before Him (and perhaps before the angels and the rest of humanity as well).  Everything you do is recorded in a book.

According to God, breaking even one of His laws, once, results in the death penalty.

Yes, there are indications that there are different levels of suffering in hell, and that those who do worse things may suffer more.  However, everyone will suffer there, and God doesn’t want you to have to suffer AT ALL.

There is nothing *we* can do to fix our “wrongness” – no good work, no sacrament, no penance.  But because God our Father loves us, He has given us a way to restore the relationship.

Jesus says “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me.” (John 14:6 ESV)

God does not want you to be separated from Him for eternity.  He created hell and the eternal Lake of Fire for satan and the fallen angels, NOT for humans.  But you will go there if you reject God’s rescue plan. He wants you to come back to His family.  So He sent a part of Himself, Jesus Christ, to die for you. The Bible makes it clear that every sin has to be punished by death and paid by the penalty of innocent blood.  Jesus lived a perfect life on Earth – though He lived as a man under God’s Law, He never broke the Law.  This qualified Him to take our sins upon Himself to become a perfect sacrifice.  Jesus died on the cross to take our punishment for us.  His blood paid the price required by God for our sins.

“But God demonstrates His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8 ESV)

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18 ESV)

It doesn’t end there, though.  On the third day, Jesus was raised to life, to a new eternal body.  When we join God’s spiritual family, we, too, will get a new eternal body someday.

“the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord” (Romans 3:23 ESV)

5.  Turn From Yourself Towards God and Believe

We chose to sin and Jesus chose to be a “sin-bearer” and take God’s wrath for us.  God offers an all-inclusive “forgiveness slip” to every human on earth.  If we believe what God has said about us (we are totally lost and have no hope of saving ourselves), and what He has done to fix it (Jesus is the only way as a Savior), we can obtain this “forgiveness slip”.  We can ask God for Jesus’ payment to be applied to our account.  This allows us to be declared innocent and sin-free in God’s Eyes – the debt we owed for our crimes is paid.  Salvation is a change in legal standing before God – from “guilty” to “not guilty”.  Jesus didn’t just pay PART of our debt, or even MOST of it, leaving some on the tab for us.  He paid our ENTIRE debt.

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.  For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. Romans 10:9-10  ESV

When you say Jesus is Lord, this means you believe He is God and He deserves to be Lord of your life.  When you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you accept that what the Bible teaches about Jesus is true and that His death paid the price for your wrongdoings.

For many years I didn’t “get” the simplicity of salvation and tried to “earn” it or “prove it to myself” (by repeating the sinner’s prayer many times, trying to live morally, etc).  However, salvation is not about anything we DO, but about what Jesus has already DONE.

We can’t earn it or maintain it in any way – we are not and will not ever be worthy of salvation.  The critical element is faith.  Faith in Jesus’ provision.  Faith in His completed work for us on the cross.  That’s the beauty of God’s grace.  “It is finished”.

For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God;  it is not from works, so that no one can boast.  Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV

Asking for Jesus’ sacrifice in our stead results in immediate salvation and sealing of the Holy Spirit.  That’s what being “Born Again” means.  We are forgiven.  We can’t accidentally lose our salvation, and God will never remove it from us.  We cannot be kicked out of the sheep fold. 

[I don’t wish to be dogmatic about it, but there is some Biblical evidence that suggests we may retain free will to reject our salvation and leave the faith by our own choice.  It’s entirely possible that those who appear to do so were never TRULY in the faith.  However, some most certainly believed and acted like they were “Christians” at one point.  It is possible that they were deceived by their hearts and lulled into a false assurance of faith.  Regardless, it is very important to examine your own heart to see if YOU are in the faith.  It doesn’t matter about the past – what about today?  Are you trusting Jesus for salvation today?]

 

6.  What Next?

If you asked God to forgive you, and have chosen to follow Him, you are now part of His family.   He has forgiven you, and you have a clean slate.  It’s time to learn more about Him, grow your relationship with Him, and choose to obey Him.   It’s like any relationship – it takes time and dedication!

First, talk to God.  This can seem awkward at first, but talk to Him as you would to a best friend.  Nothing fancy, no complicated words or phrases, just talk to Him.  Tell Him how you feel, what you’re doing, what questions you have, what you need.  God’s not a magic genie – he doesn’t give us things for our selfish purposes.  He wants you to see yourself in His bigger picture.  He wants you to grow in holiness, to become more like Him.  If you ask God to help you know Him better, to help you understand His word and how He wants you to live, he always answers those prayers!

Second, read the Bible.  The Bible is more precious than food or gold – find one and keep it very safe. Read it every day.  Start in the book of John, then Romans, and then read the rest of the New Testament.  Each time, ask God to help you understand what you read.

Third, try to obey God.  Ask Him to help you.  As you read the Bible, He will teach you what He wants you to do. Deliberately choose to stop doing things He doesn’t like and commands against.  Deliberately choose to allow Him to help you be more like Him – patient, kind, forgiving, joyful, serving, gentle, self-controlled, honest.  You will still struggle with doing what you don’t want to do, and not doing what you want to do.  When you sin, ask God to forgive you.

If you do not feel secure in your salvation, IT IS RIGHT TO EXAMINE YOURSELF, to see if you are in the faith.

 

You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.  Jeremiah 29:13 ESV

Do not give up!  Do not despair!  Cling to God with all your might, no matter how things look, no matter what others are believing, no matter how you feel.  Hold on firmly in the faith until death.  Refuse to allow doubt or thoughts of giving up to creep into your mind.

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WARNINGS IF THE “APOCALYPSE” HAS BEGUN:

You will be responsible for remaining faithful in the face of severe deprivation and persecution.  Plead with God not to take His Holy Spirit from you.

This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.  Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” (Rev. 14:12-13)

Anyone who is destined for prison will be taken to prison. Anyone destined to die by the sword will die by the sword. This means that God’s holy people must endure persecution patiently and remain faithful.  (Revelation 13:10)

You are required to act on your faith.  Anything you do for other believers is done for Jesus Himself.  Anything you don’t do for other believers you are withholding from Jesus Himself.  You will be held accountable for what you do, or what you do not do (Matthew 25).

At some point you will be required to take a certain mark on your right hand or forehead to be able to buy or sell.  It may be something that affects DNA.  If you do this, you will be eternally lost to God (Revelation 14:9-11).  You must surrender your life if necessary rather than take the mark.

It’s going to be extremely difficult, but you need to admit to your faith in Jesus before others, even if it means physical death.  “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”  (Matthew 10:28).  God may have called you exactly for this purpose, and the witness of your death may plant the seeds of salvation in others.  “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.”  (Mark 8:35)  Remember that God’s viewpoint is one of eternity.  Our viewpoint is often limited to the here & now.  Be encouraged:

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.  Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.  So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.  (2 Corinthians 4:7-18)

What to Do if You Missed the Rapture

Commentaries on things to come:

1. God’s Mosaic – A Whole Scripture Overview of Things To Come
2. God’s Mosaic – Possible Sequence of End Time Events
3. Revelation Outline and Summary
4. The End of the Age According to Jesus
5. The Daniel Story
6. The Revelation Story
7. Revelation  (or free ebook)
8. Daniel
9. Olivet Discourse Overview
10. The End of the Age According to Jesus – Matthew, Mark, Luke
11. The Day of the Lord
12. Daniel’s 70 Weeks
13. The End Times According to Ezekiel
14. The End Times According to… (all the rest)