About Us

My _testimony.doc

As a simple minister and child of God climbing to purity in righteousness to the intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, I am writing truth in this testimony;

Decades ago, I was a hitchhiker, traveling extensively across country. Seeking adventure and knowledge, seeing the world, learning about people, and having as many new experiences as I can. I loved God and he was always with me. I didn’t know the Lord Jesus, although I ran into a lot of “Jesus freaks” so called, back then. I didn't really understand them, but I was always polite to them all, in all parts of the country. There were a lot of large groups back then, it was the “movement”, in major tourism areas.

I returned to a city, late summer. Earlier that summer, I had a wonderful time when I was there with my friends. During those few months, I went completely across the country and back, camping out all though the Rockies, Yellowstone, Tetons, Glacier, Rushmore etc. with no money! What an incredible experience. I could feel that God was always with me. I always talked to Him even when I was a little boy. I always feared God, I didn’t have that much of a religious up- bringing, but I prayed to God often. There were many times I should have been afraid, but I knew he was there.

I was alone, looking for the wild gang of people I had partied with, and especially one particular girl. Things were not the same. I ran into one major friend, and he was living in that same condemned party building. He was really glad to see me. The girl I came back for was far away. For some reason I stayed, this place was party-time, there was a lot of hard stuff going on all through the neighborhood. Most of the time people just turned me on, and shared what they had with me. Now we are getting into a different world here. I started to realize the sufferings of this whole mess, so I convinced my buddy that we should take a different turn in this party scene. What we are in now, there is no return, there is only hardship for us, and having to hurt others, to keep us on this road. I convinced him to more or less change the party material, one you didn’t “have” to have. Then before we knew it, we were involved with all new friends, for the better, we thought. I’m glad we got out of that trap before we got entangled into the net of darkness.

One night the beginning of this nightmare there was a knock at the door. It was a girl saying, I’m your new connection, of course we welcomed her in. To make a long story short she became my girlfriend and I ventured into a totally different world, mostly her world, the fast lane, but a clean fast lane. I had to keep her in a straight line and she often got off the line and hurt people, and of course I had to fix it. This new life opened the door to a whole new crowd of people, and then I realized that many of them had to be straightened out themselves. I stopped a lot of evil things in the streets, and helped a lot of people get through their problems, and even saved a man from suicide. At a young age they listened to me, and most of them were much older.

Here goes the roller coaster ride. One night the cops came to the house and it started out to be a questioning, looking for someone. The cops searched the whole place and found nothing except in my girl-friends purse. We were all taken downtown and they kept us all separate. While the rest of us were telling the cops fairy tails, she was talking up a storm to save herself from jail. I saw it, and heard it, I just happened to be in the hallway at the right time. I didn’t know what to think, I could not trust her now. What kind of game are we playing now? Well they let us all go, including my girlfriend. How could they let her go? I knew they found a good amount of stuff on her. Did she give upher own people? What is she now an informant? What did she promise them? Only I was in that hallway at that particular time, and she didn’t know that I overheard everything. I’m the only person that knows what was in her purse. If she gave up her own people they would kill her. How am I going to act around her, she could be a walking time bomb. I chose to ride the roller coaster, and see what was going to happen next. I’m not breaking any laws, and if I dumped her, I might not be here to tell this story. Let’s play the game; I play a good game of chess.

The next couple of months were right out of a horror movie. The strangest things happened, in fact, I wrote a full book about this whole episode, and that is another story. “They” well you will figure out who “they” is, had me at the end of my rope, my mind was beginning to crack, I was being used as a pawn, but for what purpose? I knew they were trying to provoke me into doing something wrong, but why? Somehow I was always ahead of the game. But they didn’t play fare, they cheated, and they used helpless drug related people, to move me around the chess- board. I knew what they were doing but I couldn’t figure it out. I had to watch myself carefully, not doing the slightest thing wrong. Who would, knowing the game you were playing.

Well I got put into jail, of course for something they invented. The point of the whole story is my girlfriend told them I was the genius, and had my own laboratory, that made the stuff she had. She also told them I was the only person that knew where the laboratory was. She couldn’t give up her people, that would be suicide, so she had to give them a bigger fish, me, a hitchhiker.

Of course they made it impossible to get bailed out on an appeal, and broke all family ties. Now, I was all-alone. Here is where the fun begins. I didn’t get sentenced yet either, although they had to change a few things for that. A few weeks on the inside, they handed me a sheet and told me I had 20 years for a sentence. I guess they wanted me to talk, give up the so-called lab, and fall for the old scare tactic. I caused a scene, and that opened the door to getting dragged and beaten down to the “hole”. While entering I was injected with all kinds of hallucinogens. I was then tied with chains and cuffs to a bed on my back, arms stretched across to each corner, and my feet tied together at the bottom of the bed. I yelled out “ you can’t do this to me”, a strange looking man looked at me, and said, “We can do anything we want to you, in here” I guess that’s fear, I figured I was going to lie like that for twenty years! I was wet and was almost naked, tripping on some kind of hallucinogen, and couldn’t figure out what kind it was. My wrists were bleeding, and my ankles were cut bad, from the cuffs and chains. They didn’t even put the pressure locks on, the cuffs just got tighter and tighter every time I moved, digging into my flesh. Sometime the next day they took the chains off, and gave me another injection. Now I was really tripping. I realized this was a different hallucinogen, I was familiar with it because I had eaten the raw plant in the Midwest and it was the only stuff I hated, and I only told my girlfriend, strange huh? The next couple of days were rough. The drug made you have strange visions of different settings of people, appearing only for seconds, then they would disappear, people out of the past in groups, you would here maybe a few words, and you would try to communicate back naturally, but the visions would be gone. This particular hallucinogen is a poison, it also affects your eyesight, everything from an arms length in, was blurry. I remember after we ate the plant, we went into a camping store and we couldn’t read any of the price tags. I hated that feeling, it also made you sick in your stomach, and it was almost impossible to urinate. These guys were smart, they wanted me to talk, and this was the perfect stuff for that. To utter a few words or give up a name or place, would defiantly help them. The visions appear for only seconds, and you might say something, so I had to have complete control of what I said, and kept my mouth shut, no matter what happened. Lets not forget I knew my girlfriends people too, I had to keep my mouth shut, or die. This could have been their plan “B” if all else fails, they would try to get something out of me, but it didn’t work.. If I didn’t eat the raw plant years ago, and understand its affects, I wouldn’t have been able to handle any of this. Praise God!

I stayed in the “hole” for two weeks, which is long for most people, I would freak every time they would come by the door and shake the chains to make me think they were going to put them back on. That was sick! I spoke to a real doctor, I think from the outside, and he thought I was telling a story, he didn’t believe a word I said. Then I showed him my wrists and ankles, he was shocked, and they were bad. I ended up having scars on my ankles for 7 years. I was still forced to take some liquid drug every day, but I was conditioning my mind to straighten out, no matter what they gave me. The hallucinogenic effects were tapering off. I guess they gave up, for now.

They sent me back to maximum security and I was forced to take a high dose of a strange drug everyday. Every one of the guards got a thrill making me take that drug 4 times a day. They would always threaten me with the “hole” each time. After a week or so I started to feel funny, like I could not sit still, or read, so I started to pace everywhere, back and forth , in a small area, I didn’t have much room, and it got worse, day by day. About the third week, I had no control over myself, I walked around shaking, couldn’t sleep, couldn’t think, then I met “Bible Man” I visited him quite often, he read the bible to me, and talked about Jesus, that was my only sanctuary. As I got worse in front of his eyes, he started to pray with me, he also told me to go into my cell, and pray to Jesus the sinner’s prayer. I prayed many times, on my knees over and over, and still no peace. Then one day I went to his cell and talked about suicide, I could not handle what was going on with my mind and body. After lock down at night I could not sleep or pace, I had to do hundreds of push-ups and jumping jacks to try to exhaust my body to even lay down. One night a guard caught me, and sent the squad up to hold me down and give me another injection. That, I will never forget. I went back to “ bible man” and he told me it was the drug causing all the problems. I thought it was me, or within me. The same night I saw one of the MT’s this one was a woman, thank God. I went over to her and told her a little about what was going on, I guess I sweet-talked her. She took me down to the hospital area, sat and talked with me a while, I guess to see if I was telling the truth. She got up and went to the closet, took out a syringe, put some liquid stuff in, and gave me an injection. I sat there for a while and kept on saying thank-you for saving my life, she knew I needed it. She motioned, to me we had to go back upstairs. She told me she was taking a big chance bringing me down there, she also said, she had no idea what they were doing to me. I began to feel the hands of God upon me.

A few days later I was near the end, I couldn’t stop shaking, I stood in front of “bible mans” cell, He looked at me and told me “ go up to the guard right now and tell him your not going to take anymore medicine, I said “but they will take me to the hole again and I will probably die” He said “ I got a feeling about this, it has to be done right at this time, I can’t explain it, you know what I mean. “What did you learn in this cell?” “Why did you come here? Go and do it right now!”

My stand in faith, I walked towards the guards station and had visions of them taking me down to the hole again, beating me, tying me down, the chains!, I kept walking. I got to the guard and told him “I am not taking anymore medicine.” His face lit up, and said “ well buddy we are just going to take you down to the hole again, and put you through the same or worse than last time.” I stood tall. “I am not taking anymore medicine.” He looked so excited, “I’m going to call downstairs” A few seconds later he slammed down the phone, now that I remember, I think he smashed it. He told me to get out of there.

To sum up my testimony, there were 5 MT’s medical techs, and one doctor over all, it was latter in the afternoon, so the doctor wasn’t there. Now we have 4 male MT’s and one woman, the 4 males were involved in the first “hole” incident, So if anyone of these men answered the phone at that particular time I would not be here, or a complete vegetable. Of course “bible man” new something through the “Holy Spirit” about the time. The innocent woman MT, that liked me and saved me, answered the phone, at that particular time, and cleared me, of taking any more medicine. God’s perfect timing!

The story doesn’t end here but this is my testimony on how I found Jesus Christ.

Being Saved

• Index

• 1. Summary

• 2. Introduction

• 3. The Bible and God

• 4. Human Problem

• 5. The Solution

• 6. True Belief

• 7. God's Promises

• 8. Following Him

Summary

Here is a brief rundown of what Christianity and salvation is all about! It's got the major points from this article, most of them with a short, representative Bible verse.

God is perfect, loving, holy and just.

The Rock, his work is perfect;

For all his ways are justice:

A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,

Just and right is he. Deuteronomy 32:4 (ASV)

People, on the other hand, are full of sin and wrongdoing.

Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. Ecclesiastes 7:20 (ESV)

For this evil, we deserve to die and be punished.

For the wages of sin is death; first part of Romans 6:23 (KJV)

But God loves us so much that He sent us His Son, Jesus Christ, Who is God in essence.

I and the Father are one. John 10:30 (ASV)

Jesus, Who is perfect, died for us and was raised back to life.

This was a substitution for us so that we don't have to die for our sins, and it cleans us from our sin.

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, Colossians 1:21-22 (ESV)

To get this cleansing, we have to believe in Jesus (this means believing in God and the Holy Spirit too).

Doing so means that we receive the free gift of eternal life, or salvation. This faith in Jesus is what counts us among the saved!

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16 (KJV)

However, our belief can't just be in our heads. It has to be true belief, which has certain characteristics. One of these is that we must confess our sin and repent of it (wholeheartedly turn away from it and turn towards God).

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 (KJV)

From that time Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matthew 4:17 (NASB®)

We must also love God and people.

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

There is none other commandment greater than these. Mark 12:30-31 (KJV)

We must obey the Lord.

for not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified: Romans 2:13 (ASV)

Persevering in living for the Lord is also required in our faith.

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. James 1:12 (ESV)

We also need to believe correctly - that is, to believe what God says in the Bible.

Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. 1 Timothy 4:16 (NIV)

There are also other things we should do, like reading God's word, joining together with other believers, being baptised, and so on. But importantly, it's faith which saves us, not deeds themselves.

Yet another aspect of being a Christian is the many wonderful things God promises us if we follow Him.

So to start being a follower of Jesus, believe in God, the Holy Spirit and God's Son, Jesus. This involves the things described above. Call on God, confess, repent, love, have faith... and grow as a child of God, with an inheritance of eternal life! Read the Bible to learn all about it.

To read more about the things discussed in this summary, continue on through the article.

Introduction

Christians talk about "being saved" a lot. But, being saved from WHAT? What does it mean to be "saved from your sin", and what's so wrong with people that they need saving? After all, most people don't go around murdering others or anything.

Christians believe that there is more to life than what you see with your eyes. They believe there is a spiritual side to what goes on in the world, and that people have a soul, which doesn't die when your body dies. But that soul is in great need of rescue, because people have a basic problem with spiritual dirtiness, or sin. And we are completely, hopelessly lost and unable to get ourselves fixed from this spiritual rottenness.

Christians believe in Jesus Christ, Who is the Son of God. They believe that He died for everyone in the world, and in doing so, He did something amazing - He offered to clean our souls for us and rescue us spiritually. To get this cleaning, we must simply become a true believer and follower of Jesus.

That's a bare bones outline of what is called "The Gospel". Read on to find out about it in a bit more detail, and learn how to actually be spiritually saved. First we will discuss the Bible and God.

The Bible and God

The Bible

Apart from being a book most people have never read, what actually is the Bible? It is the written-down word of God. That doesn't mean God literally used a pen and paper - instead, He worked through humans who wrote it down. They didn't just make it up, rather God spoke through them. In the Bible, God teaches us about Himself, we humans, and how He deals with us. It teaches us the way to have spiritual life.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ASV)

But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Matthew 4:4 (KJV)

There's no proof that these statements about the Bible are true. They are things which people take on faith.

God's nature

One important thing the Bible says is that God is completely holy, loving, perfect and powerful.

Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. Isaiah 44:6 (KJV)

The Rock, his work is perfect;

For all his ways are justice:

A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,

Just and right is he. Deuteronomy 32:4 (ASV)

And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,

"Great and amazing are your deeds,

O Lord God the Almighty!

Just and true are your ways,

O King of the nations!

Who will not fear, O Lord,

and glorify your name?

For you alone are holy.

All nations will come

and worship you,

for your righteous acts have been revealed." Revelation 15:3-4 (ESV)

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;

his love endures forever. 1 Chronicles 16:34 (NIV)

According to the Bible, God is amazing! We should worship and obey Him and live in awe of Him. The Bible doesn't only talk about God though, it also talks about people.

Human Problem

People's nature

Another important truth found in the Bible is that people aren't like God. We are not righteous, holy, loving or perfect like God. In fact, we are pretty horrible.

The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God,"

They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice;

There is no one who does good.

God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men

To see if there is anyone who understands,

Who seeks after God.

Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt;

There is no one who does good, not even one. Psalm 53:1-3 (NASB®)

The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it? Jeremiah 17:9 (ASV)

For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23 (ASV) (capitalisation and punctuation edited for easier reading)

Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. Ecclesiastes 7:20 (ESV)

What we deserve

In fact, we are so full of wrongdoing and evilness that we all deserve death! How many wrong things have you done in your life, both great and small? We have all sinned, as the above verses make clear. Even if you haven't murdered millions of people like Hitler did, you have certainly done an almost uncountable number of other evils like hate, lust, theft, and lying. These are not minor things in God's eyes. He calls lustful looking, adultery, and hatred, murder. God is so great, and we are so disgusting. All this sinfulness makes us unworthy of God, and deserving of eternal punishment - to go to Hell instead of Heaven. We are so far from God.

Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. James 1:13-15 (ESV)

For the wages of sin is death; first part of Romans 6:23 (KJV)

He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 (NIV)

"So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous,

and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 13:49-50 (NASB®)

We all deserve to go to Hell forever for our evilness, and there's no way that we can get out of this dismal situation on our own. We are helpless to remove our sin or be forgiven for it under our own steam, no matter how hard we try. What can we do?

The Solution

Jesus Christ

Well, God loves even wicked humanity so much that He gave us the solution.

For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 (ASV) (emphasis added)

Jesus Christ is God's Son. He is perfect, being God in essence.

For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, Colossians 2:9 (NASB®)

I and the Father are one. John 10:30 (ASV)

He is the way out of our sin death-trap. He was killed by crucifixion, and this was a sacrifice for us. Jesus was our substitute, bearing our sins for us and dying for us even though He was sinless, so we don't have to die spiritually. He was later raised back to life by the Holy Spirit, so giving us life. Jesus' death and resurrection cleanses us from our deadly sin and gives us life, so that we don't have to pay for our sins eternally. This is "grace".

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 1 John 1:7 (NIV)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1:3-5 (ESV)

He also enables us to live in a way which is pleasing to God instead of pleasing to ourselves. This is another part of salvation.

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. 1 Peter 2:21-25 (ESV)

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,

so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Romans 8:1-4 (NASB®)

Jesus is in fact the only way to be saved and to be right with God. He is the way to go to Heaven instead of Hell.

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6 (ASV)

Believe in Jesus

But we don't get this salvation automatically. It's available to us freely, but we have to respond to it. We need to accept it and move into it. We do this by believing in Jesus in a true manner.

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. John 1:12-13 (NIV)

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. John 3:16-18 (KJV)

That's how we are forgiven for our sins - by having faith in Christ! But there's something else here that's very important to point out. Belief which is simply in our heads isn't what God wants. He wants all of our heart, soul, mind and strength to be His. He doesn't tolerate mere lip service. We must be wholehearted followers of Jesus, who follow Him in our actions all the time, not just on Sundays at church. It has to be true belief.

True Belief

It's not that we can be saved by human effort, it's completely God who saves us.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:8-10 (ESV)

But that doesn't mean we can cheat the Lord by being double-minded.

“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. Matthew 6:24 (NIV)

You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? James 2:19-20 (NIV)

The faith which God wants us to have has certain characteristics. They need to be part of our faith in Him if we are to be called His children. Here are some of them. They are some of the central Biblical teachings about salvation. They are gifts from God which come through His Spirit working in us, and which He enables us to do, but they are also things we are told to do. They are all aspects of true belief, the belief which saves. They go hand in hand with each other.

So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;

for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Philippians 2:12-13 (NASB®)

Have faith

As pointed out in the previous section, we must have faith in Jesus Christ. We must confess Him and call on Him.

because, if you confess with your mouth that 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. For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame." For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Romans 10:9-13 (ESV)

And he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." Luke 23:42-43 (ESV)

Believing in Jesus means believing in God and the Holy Spirit too, Who are all one with God.

Confess and repent of sin

We must confess and repent (turn wholeheartedly away) from our sins. If you go back to your sin after you have received the Lord, you must repent again.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 1 John 1:8-10 (ASV)

From that time Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matthew 4:17 (NASB®)

My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. James 5:19-20 (ESV)

Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother. 1 John 3:7-10 (NIV)

As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. 2 Corinthians 7:9-11 (ESV)

Love

We must love God and other people.

And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. Mark 12:28-31 (KJV)

We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. 1 John 3:14-18 (ESV)

"You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.'

"But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

"For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

"If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

"Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:43-48 (NASB®)

Obey, follow, and work

We must obey God, follow Jesus, and do good in our service of Him.

Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. John 12:26 (NIV)

"He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him." John 14:21 (NASB®)

for not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified: Romans 2:13 (ASV)

to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality. Romans 2:7-11 (ESV)

Persevere

We must persevere in the Lord to the end.

"Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. Mark 13:12-13 (NIV)

yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach--

if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister. Colossians 1:22-23 (NASB®)

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. James 1:12 (ESV)

Understand

We must believe correctly, only holding onto truth.

Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. 1 Timothy 4:16 (NIV)

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you--unless you believed in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:1-2 (ESV)

For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works. 2 John 1:7-11 (ESV)

Involved in believing correctly, as well as learning and growing spiritually, is reading the Bible. An example of this is:

These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Acts 17:11 (KJV)

And more

There is so much more to following Jesus than a list of Bible verses which some people put in an article! We need to pray, tell others about the Lord, and not put the world or material possessions in front of Him. We should be baptised, join together with other true believers, and show the fruit of God's Holy Spirit in our lives.

Now, again, these things don't "get you to Heaven". Remember the verse at the start of this section, which shows that we are saved by God's grace when we have faith! And this is from God, not ourselves. But these aspects of following Christ are part of the package and are evidence that one is truly believing and being saved.

We wouldn't be balanced if we only talked about the requirements for salvation, though. The next section shows some of the things God promises to people who follow Him.

God's Promises

Thankfully, God helps us to do all of the things which He requires of us. In fact, we can't do any of them without His help. And what wonderful promises we get from the Lord if we are His children! Here are some of them.

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one." John 10:27-30 (NIV)

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Romans 8:26-27 (ESV)

Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. Luke 12:27-31 (ESV)

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? Romans 8:32-35 (NIV)

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.

For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.

Therefore comfort one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (NASB®)

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:15-16 (ESV)

The Lord will bless us abundantly with these things and more if we follow Him. He's so loving and merciful to us. Making the decision to follow Christ is described in the final section.

Following Him

If you would like to become a Christian and have eternal life, then follow Jesus for the rest of your life. Put your faith in Him. Believe in God and His Holy Spirit also, pray to Him, and ask Him for help to believe in Him and His Son, Jesus. Confess your sins to God, ask Him to forgive you and ask Jesus, God's Son, into your heart. Following Jesus is both something which He chooses us to do...

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. John 15:16 (NIV)

...and something we are told to do.

Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, "One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." Mark 10:21 (NASB®)

Get stuck into God's word and believe and obey the things He teaches us in there - some of which we have discussed in this article. Check the Bible Info (http://www.dansfriends.com/bibleinfo.shtml) page for some info and thoughts on different Bible versions to read. You could start reading at the New Testament, which is the part of the Bible written after Jesus was born. If you are new to the Bible, you should be aware that the Old Testament (the first 3/4 or so of the Bible) has some parts which talk about the "Law", which were the rules that God commanded the Jews to live by before Jesus' death and resurrection. Christians are not to be under the Law, but are to live by loving and obeying and having faith in Jesus and God.

If you do start reading the New Testament, another thing which may be confusing is that the first four books of it all tell the same basic story, except written by four different people. That story is the life, teachings, death and resurrection of Jesus. After that in the New Testament are other stories, and further teaching about the meaning and practice of being a Christian and being saved.

Another part of being a Christian is to not just live in isolation. We should tell other people about Jesus. Christians are also part of a body of believers. These are our brothers and sisters in Christ. We should be together with them, encourage them, and get help from them. One way to do this is to go to church. Be careful choosing a church however, as a proportion of churches seem to teach a false belief these days: that Christians can live however they want to or even turn their back on God, but still expect to be saved. Avoid churches which teach this doctrine - it flat out isn't true, and it's dangerous. The Bible says that the Lord does provide safety for us, but as we have seen in some of the verses quoted in this article, there is also a strong element of us having to remain living in Him for us to retain that security. Read the Salvation Security? (http://www.dansfriends.com/osas1.shtml) article for more information on this topic.

Thank you so much for reading. We really hope you have benefited from this article. Maybe you have learnt something or been challenged about something, or would like to learn more about God or become a follower of Jesus? A wonderful way to find out more is to read the Bible. Online Bibles are available for free at www.biblegateway.com. Please also feel free to email us at contact@dansfriends.com if you'd like. We feel very under qualified, and might have trouble responding properly all the time, but we want to be available to anybody with genuine questions, criticisms, comments or anything at all. Even if you would just like to say hi or ask for a prayer about something. God bless you.

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Scripture quotations marked (ASV) are from The Holy Bible, American Standard Version, public domain.

Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (KJV) are from The Holy Bible, King James Version, public domain.

Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

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