john14:6

I am fearful for those who are in spiritual blindness and don't know that they are destined to spend eternity in hell. Yes, I do feel sorrow for them.

Alex, The angels had a choice to follow satan or to remain with God. Those who chose to follow satan chose to rebel, sin, against God. Those angels who did not rebel against God did not sin. Can you honestly say that you have never sinned? John

Cog, sorry about that, I should have been more careful about reading post #3. I do have some things that I hope you can help me to better understand. In your quote from post #37, Worthy Welcome Forum, Hello-I Seek Revelation, you said “Trinity is mind, body, and spirit of God.” And, In your quote from this thread in post #3, you said “Further, what I have come to know, I do not see others speaking about clearly, but there has to be others who understand God as I do, thus they must be concealing what they know.” Could you please explain and/or elaborate on 2 things to help me understand what it is you have come to know. 1. Please explain what you know about God. 2. Please elaborate on your definition of the Trinity being mind, body, and spirit of God. Can you give supporting scripture for that definition? Thanks again, John

Cog, Will you please take a few minutes to explain, as you stated in post #3, what it is that you have come to know about understanding God, about how to properly convey the Trinity, what the keys to heaven are, and what the church actually is? Please do that and please be specific about your knowledge & understanding of those 4 things you have come to know & understand. If you will do this I think it will help me to better understand what it is you are asking in you OP. Please do not just repeat or restate your thoughts/ideas in your OP. thanks, John

If Jesus took on just one persons sins, you may have something, but He took upon Himself all the sins of every human being ... and being in sin is separation from God. Compound how one can feel lost when thinking of just their life and compound it billions of times. You can then begin to get a picture. His sacrifice does cover everyone, even those who reject His sacrifice. Nobody can blame Jesus for when someone rejects His free gift. We will all stand accountable for our own decisions. You nailed it! Jesus' blood paid the sin penalty for all. Those who reject His "pardon" spend eternity in hell for their sin of "unbelief."

Jesse, your question about serving God because you are afraid of going to hell suggests that you really don’t understand God’s way of salvation. The only way, God’s Way, to redeem mankind back to Himself is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Do you know what that means? If you have trusted in the Gospel message for your salvation then you will not go to hell for any reason. If you have not trusted in the Gospel message for your salvation then you will spend eternity in hell no matter how much you serve God. God does not ask us to serve Him so we can escape hell. He asks us to believe in that message which will result in forgiveness of our sin and a changed life where we serve Him out of a sense of gratitude instead of fear. You are right, the thought of spending eternity in hell is scary. That fear drove me to find the truth about God’s Way of salvation and I found that truth many years ago. The truth I found in God’s Word changed my life forever; it’s called the Gospel. John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one can come to the Father except by me” explains that message. There are many other scriptures that could be used to explain the Gospel but John 14:6 is my favorite bible verse so I used it here. If you do not understand how to have a genuine relationship with God through Jesus Christ then may I suggest that you look to God to show you the truth about the Gospel while reading the Gospel of John and the book of Romans. That is what I did and God, the Holy Spirit, didn’t waste any time showing me exactly what I needed to find the assurance & peace of knowing that my sins are forgiven and my home in heaven is secure in the blood that Jesus shed on the cross. If I am wrong in assuming that you don't understand the truth about the Gospel, then please forgive me and just ignore this post. Hope you find the same peace & assurance that I found about 40 years ago, which is even stronger today than it was then.

Reconsiled18602, Once we trust in the finished work of Jesus on the cross for forgiveness of our sins we are forgiven and God forgets our past. Hebrews 10:17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. These are great articles about salvation, assurance, doubting, etc. See the link below. 1. Why is it Important to Be Sure Where You Will Spend Eternity? 2. What is Justification? 3. What Does the Bible Teach About Being Born Again? 4. Held in God’s Hands: The Doctrine of Eternal Security 5. Saved for Sure: Overcoming Doubt 6. For Doubters Only I strongly recommend #1, #2 . And #5. Reading all of them would be good. http://www.jashow.org/wiki/index.php/How_Can_You_Be_Sure_that_You_Will_Spend_Eternity_with_God%3F

Sitaral, Anyone can claim to be a Christian, but not everyone who claims to be one is one

I invite you to read my testimony in the Testimonies forum. I am John14:6 and the date I posted my testimony was August 5, 2013.

Discovered a new Christmas song, new to me, last Christmas. It is now my favorite Christmas song. "It's About the Cross" by Gofish.

Last Christmas I found a video/song that I used for our family Christmas dinner to emphasize the true meaning of Christmas. The song is "It's About the Cross" by GoFish. It is now one of my favorite Christian songs.

This is my favorite hymn. Verses 2 & 3 bring a comforting peace & assurance of forgiveness and verse 4 reminds me of our greatest hope realized when we see Jesus! I often listen to this hymn while I on my computer; I use the following link: www.Scriptureandmusic.com/Music/Text_Files/It_Is_Well_With_MY-Soul.html

Luke 16:23 And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Our pastor used this verse, and others that I can't recall at the moment, to explain where old testament saints went when they died. He explained that hell had 2 compartments, one was torment and the other was paradise. The OT saints went to paradise and waited there until Jesus died on the cross at which time He, Jesus, went to paradise and removed the OT saints taking them to heaven. I'm not sure I got it all in the exact order; I sure someone here will correct me.

Widor1, It is a peace that is difficult to explain to an unbeliever; one has to experience it for himself/herself, like you and I did, to understand it. Praise the Lord!

The link below is to several articles that address salvation/eternal security/doubting salvation, etc. Thought you might find some benefit by reading some of them. http://www.jashow.org/wiki/index.php?title=Can_You_Be_Sure_Where_You_Will_Spend_Eternity%3F

Jesus said it for me; John 14:6 Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father except by me"

Law, Grace, & Believing in Jesus By Larry Johnson/John14:6 I received many email responses from readers who read my article “What Does it Mean to Believe in Jesus?” I wrote that article because I suspected that there might be other people who had either lived the same experience in the past or were presently living with the same doubt & fears about their salvation hoping that some might benefit from my story. The many responses I received from readers confirmed my suspicions to be true. Almost all of the responses were from readers who told me they had lived a similar experience of doubting their salvation that I had written about. Most emails offered kind words of “thank you” to me for writing the article. There were several readers who asked me questions about related concerns; I did respond to those questions by referring to scripture & explaining their meaning as best I could based upon what I have learned from God’s Word in the 40 + years since I found the truth of God’s way of salvation. Also, two people expressed that they are currently living in the same fear & misery that I experienced over 40 years ago which was the main focus of my article; they reached out to me for help in finding the same peace that I found. My purpose in writing this article is to respond to the subject a couple of those emails that seemed to be in somewhat of a disagreement with the scriptures I used. If I understood those emails correctly one of them suggested that since the scriptures I used were from the book of John & since the Jews were under the Law not under not Grace, & since the only place in the bible where the Gospel of Grace is found is 1stCorinthians 15:1-4 that my article was meaningless. Therefore I assume he/she was saying that the scriptures God used to show me the truth about “believing” were not of Grace but of Law. Another email suggested that I read Paul’s epistles about the Age of Grace in which we are now living. Also, a reply suggested that everyone was saved when Jesus died on the cross. Each person gave supporting scripture for his/her reply. I appreciate each & every email response sent to me about my article. The emails I am referring to here caused me to really think about the things they were saying; I found myself reading scripture & praying about it and re-reading those emails several times. No, I was not offended by these emails but I do feel compelled to respond to them by explaining in greater detail the way in which the Holy Spirit revealed to me the very truths of God’s Word that I needed to find the true grounds for having a settled peace with God. I will also share my thoughts, based on scriptures I found, about Law & Grace, and universal salvation. I am going to share my experience again, this time I will give more detail about the scriptures I was reading at that time. For those who read the article “What Does it Mean to Believe in Jesus?” if you don’t want to read about my experience again then please skip down to the section “Law & Grace.” I was raised in a Baptist church where every Sunday I heard sermons about sin, heaven & hell, Jesus’ death on the cross, & salvation by believing in Jesus. I knew that I was a sinner, that because of my sin I would spend eternity in hell if I didn’t repent & accept Christ as my savior. That is what I heard over & over in church; I knew that Jesus died on the cross to pay for my sins and He would save anyone who accepted Him as their savior. At age 13 I went to the alter at church to be saved and I was led through the scriptures known as the Romans Road; I said a prayer asking Jesus to save me was baptized shortly thereafter. Basically I was relying on Romans 10:13 “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” for my salvation. Afterwards I did not read the bible; I just went to church. Later, as a young adult, I began to have doubts about my salvation which eventually led to a life of uncertainty, fear, & misery. I did not understand how just saying a prayer “in Jesus’ name” would “save” someone. The miserable state in which I found myself living drove me to seek the truth about believing in Jesus. I read several books about how to have assurance of salvation written by some well known Christian authors like Dr. H.A Ironsides, Dr. J. Vernon McGee, & Dr. John R. Rice. Their explanation of salvation was basically the same thing I had already been told in church; that to be saved I must repent of my sins and accept Jesus as my savior by believing in Him. I found myself saying the “sinners’’ prayer over & over; each time I would have a sense of being saved but that “sense” or feeling would not last and the uncertainty would soon return with the fear & misery and a sense of doom; I thought that I would never know for sure that I was saved. Somewhere in reading those books I came upon a reference to Romans 10:13 -14 where I saw that we have to “believe” in Jesus before we call on Him for salvation. My confusion was then centered around what “believing in Jesus” meant. I can remember that time a little more than 40 years ago as though it happened yesterday. It was probably the most important two days of my entire life. After reading books, saying prayers begging God to save me, going to the alter at church confessing my sins and accepting Jesus as my Lord & Savior, promising to follow Jesus, etc. the doubt & uncertainty & fear continued to dominate my life. Finally, I just gave up on all that I was doing to get saved. One night, as I lay down in bed to try to get some sleep, I looked up at the ceiling & out of a sense of having no hope, of not being able to do anything myself, and from a sense of desperation I said the following prayer “God will you show me the truth about believing in Jesus?” I went to sleep and slept better that night than I had slept in a long time. The next day I opened our big family bible to the Gospel of John. The reason I chose John was that I had heard someone say that if anyone ever wanted to know about Jesus the Gospel of John was the place in the bible to read. As I started reading John 1:1 something was different from other times I had read in the bible; I was reading the words but something inside me was explaining those words to me as I read them. It was as though I was a blind person who suddenly could see. God’s Spirit turned on the light for me and I was understanding His Word for the first time in my life. I continued to read and understand about who Jesus is and what He did for me. Note: At this time in my life I did not know about the Jews being under the law; I knew nothing about Dispensations, law, grace, covenants, about 1st Corinthians 15:1-4, etc. All I knew was that more than anything I desperately wanted to know Jesus as my savior! Next I read John 1:17 “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” In that verse the word “truth” really caught my attention because I was seeking the truth from God’s Word and I was finding it right there in John chapter 1. Another verse that got my attention was John 1:29 “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” He was talking about “my” sin right there in John chapter 1. As I continued to read in the Gospel of John I realized that I was approaching John 3:16 which I had heard all my life, but just before I got to verse 16 I read John 3:14 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:” I remembered hearing something about that story in Sunday School and that voice inside of me was telling that this verse is about Jesus going to the cross. Reading on I got to John 3:36 “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” and in this verse was the word “believe”; I really wanted to know what that meant so I continued to read on in the book of John. Next, I came to John 4:24 “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” There again the word “truth” caught my attention for I was seeking the truth. I want to repeat that during this time of reading in the Gospel of John my thoughts were about finding the truth about believing in Jesus; I had limited knowledge about the law and grace and I don’t think that knowledge of those 2 subjects would have made any difference in what was about to happen to me in just a few minutes. Two verses in chapter 5 really caught my attention as the light God had turned on for me was getting brighter & that voice inside of me was becoming even more clear as the Holy Spirit was convincing me the of truth about believing in Jesus that I was so desperately seeking. Those verses were John 5:39 Jesus said to them, “search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” and John 5:40 “And you will not come to me that you might have life.” That voice inside of me said to me “Jesus is talking to the Jews but He is also talking to you; He wants you to come to Him.” The Light was even brighter as I sensed that God’s Spirit was showing me exactly what I needed so that I understand how to really “believe in Jesus.” I continued on into chapter 6 and when I read John 6:37 “Jesus said “all the Father gives me will come to me and anyone who comes to me I will not turn away.” and John 6:44 “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” And then in John 6:45 “it is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. Right then I knew that God was drawing me to Jesus; God’s Spirit showed me that I must cease from all the things I was doing to try to be saved and to simply trust in what Jesus had already done at the cross where He died and shed His blood to pay the penalty of my sins; that my sin debt had already been paid “in full” by Jesus at the cross.” At that moment I knew what it meant to “believe in Jesus” for salvation for God’s Spirit had just brought me out of the darkness of doubt & uncertainty into the light of the truth of the Gospel. You see, when I saw that Jesus’ death on the cross where He shed His blood to pay the penalty for my sin was all that God required for my salvation and that there was nothing I could do but cast my hopeless helpless self upon that message immediately the fear & uncertainty was replaced with a total peace and an absolute assurance of salvation. At that moment my trust transferred from myself to Jesus. Yes, I did come to Jesus; I found myself talking to Him as though He was right there in the room with me. I was thanking Him for dying on the cross to pay for my sins and telling Him that I wanted Him to change my life His way. And yes, my life did change that day, forever. I will use another scripture here although at that time I knew nothing about it but it helps to explain what actually happened to me that day: Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” VS. 9 “Not of works, lest any man should boast.” God gave me the right kind of faith to believe just like this verse says, it is a gift of God. What is the “right kind of faith?” I’ll answer that question by explaining the “wrong kind of faith” which is the focus of “self” & “works“; all the things “I” was doing to get saved were the “wrong kind of faith.” The faith God gave me was focused on Jesus’ death at the cross; that’s the “right kind of faith” and it is “saving faith.” Law & Grace Paul’s Gospel of Grace in 1st Corinthians 15:1-4 states in vs. 1-3 that the gospel he had delivered to them how that Christ died for our sin according to the scriptures, and that He was buried and that He rose again on the third day according to the scriptures. According to what scriptures? How about the Gospel of John which states in John 3:14-16 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:” “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” “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.” and John 1:17 “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” Isn’t this grace, found in the Gospel of John, the same Gospel of Grace that Paul described in 1st Corinthians 15:1-4? God showed it to me in the Gospel of John. Yes, I am aware of the different gospels, the Gospel of the Kingdom & the Gospel of Jesus Christ; the gospel found in the book of John is the Gospel massage of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. If I’m not mistaken about this, that is the Gospel of Grace. I’m not a bible scholar and I don’t understand everything in the bible but I found some scriptures I would like to consider in relation to the Law. John 5:45 “Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.” vs. 46 “for had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.“ and vs.47 “But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?” Is not Jesus telling the Jews that although God gave them the Law through Moses that Moses also told them about Jesus? Was Jesus saying to the Jews of His day that He was the end of the Law? Also, in Ephesians 2:14 “For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;” vs. 15 “Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;” vs. 16 “And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:” Does this mean that by Jesus’ death on the cross He brought the offer of salvation through God’s grace to both Jew & Gentile? And Titus 2:11 “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,” Here does “all men” refer to both Jew & Gentile? Consider Galatians 3:24 “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” and Galatians 3:25 “But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.” Does this mean that the purpose of the Law was to bring all men to believing the Gospel of Grace? Although the Jews were still under the Law in the 4 Gospels wasn’t Jesus offering them salvation through the grace of God through His death on the cross? If I understand correctly, the Jews thought that Jesus was their Messiah who had come to establish His earthly kingdom and that through his Kingdom they would be rid of the rule of the Roman Empire. But did Jesus not offer to them the message of the Gospel of Grace? Is Everyone Saved? I wish I could believe that everyone was “saved” 2000 years ago when Jesus died on the cross but if that is true then why John 3:14-16. Another scripture that comes to my mind is Acts 16:30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, “what must I do to be saved?” vs. 31 And they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” Yes, the Gospel message tells us that Jesus died on the cross to pay our sin debt “in full”, was buried & rose again to defeat death; our salvation is secure in Him. But, Romans 10:17 says “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” and John 6:63 “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.“ Also, 2 Peter 3:9 says “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” Aren’t these verses saying that we must hear that message, that we must then allow the Holy Spirit to convict us of or sin & of our need to have our sins forgiven, & finally, that we must place our faith in that message; and that all of this must happen under the convicting influence of the Holy Spirit. Finally, Ephesians 2:8 says “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” vs. 9 “Not of works, lest any man should boast.” In other words, when we hear the message of the Gospel and if we allow the Holy Spirit to convince/convict us of our sin & of the need to be forgiven, then God will give us the faith we need to believe. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT, THE FAITH GOD GIVES YOU, SAVING FAITH, WILL BE FOCUSED ON THE DEATH OF JESUS AT THE CROSS. IF YOUR FAITH IS FOCUSED ON ANYTHING YOU DO THEN IT IS NOT SAVING FAITH & GOD DIDN’T GIVE IT TO YOU. Final Thoughts My understanding of Law & Grace might not be correct BUT I know that my salvation is sure and secured by the death of Jesus on the cross where He shed His blood there to pay my sin debt “in full.” Yes, I had heard that message in church many times but my doubts & fears, my uncertainty of salvation, and the misery were all replaced with an absolute assurance of salvation and a lasting peace with God as I read the Gospel of John seeking the truth from God Himself. The faith that God gave me is in that message; it is not in anything I have done. My last comment: When I found the truth that I was seeking I was living in the Age of Grace, when I was reading the Gospel of John I was reading it during the Age of Grace, therefore God used His message to the Jews, who were under the Law, to help me understand the meaning of believing the Gospel of Grace. Hope this makes sense. 　 ljohnson3954@att.net

What Does it Mean to Believe in Jesus? By Larry Johnson/John14:6 Recently I was reading a post on a Christian forum where someone was attempting to argue that God is not a merciful and loving God. After several replies from other forum members this person apparently realized that he was getting nowhere with his argument and he signed off saying “you guys enjoy your delusion.” My reply to that post was “the delusion is yours, not ours.” That started me to thinking that there might be “Christians” who really are living a delusion. I think “deception” would be a better word to use here for I’m thinking of those who believe they are “Christians” because someone told them that they would be “saved” if they would say a prayer, or confess sin, or promise to follow Jesus, or accept Jesus as their Lord, etc. but they were not presented a full explanation of the Gospel message. Or maybe they were presented the Gospel but failed to completely understand the way of salvation. In other words they are really trusting in what they did instead of trusting in the Gospel. These “Christians” are content to believe that all is well in their relationship with God, when, actually they have been deceived and their faith is misplaced meaning they are not genuine Christians. Another group that I am thinking of are those who, like myself, had a salvation experience but for some reason are doubting their salvation and cannot find a lasting comforting assurance of being saved. For many years I struggled with a lack of understanding of “what believing in Jesus means” therefore I lived in a miserable state of uncertainty about ever being saved. I was “saved” in church at age 13 & baptized. Several years later I started to question whether or not I really was saved. After about 7-8 years of living without any assurance of salvation I found myself in a state of fear and misery. I had no peace. I went to the alter at church several times to make sure that I was saved. I repented of my sins, I confessed my sins, I accepted Jesus as my Savior & Lord, I committed my life to Christ, I confessed Jesus publicly, I said the sinners’ prayer, I believed in Jesus, I believed He was God’s only Son who was virgin born, I believed He died for my sins, I believed He was raised from the dead, I believed He went to heaven, I believed He is coming back someday, I promised to serve Him the rest of my life, and I believed all the things that I was told that I needed to believe. Each time I went to the alter I was looking for some kind of “sense” of assurance of being saved; I would feel saved for awhile but soon the doubts & fears returned and the misery started all over. I still had no peace. I began to question myself about whether or not I really repented, or if I really commit my life to Christ, or if I really accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior, or did I really commit to serve Him, or did I really believe in Jesus. I questioned all of the things that I had done to get saved. One of the bible verse that I was trusting in was Romans 10:13 “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” I had heard that preached as part of a salvation message many times. I would reason with myself that since the bible says it then if I called on Jesus name that I would be saved. Then God showed me that Romans 10:14 explains verse 13 as it says “how then shall they call on Him whom they have not believed, and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard, and how shall they hear without a preacher?” Therefore, meaning that I have to “believe” before I call on His name. The real question, then, became “what is the meaning of “believing?” I was confused that Acts 16:31 says “ believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved” but then James 2:19 says “You believe that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” So, my understanding of “believe” was at the center of my confusion. During the time that I was seeking the truth about being saved I talked to my Sunday School teacher and to our pastor about believing in Jesus. Through them I found some good books to read about how to have assurance of salvation. The books were written by well known Christian authors like Dr. Harry Ironsides, Dr. J. Vernon McGee, and Dr. John R. Rice. I read those books over and over and over. Each book referred to scriptures about salvation; some I had already heard and some were new to me. I found myself saying a sinners prayer many times, each time finding relief from the fear & misery for awhile. But the relief would last for only a brief period of time and the misery would return only now it was becoming more of a fearful dread or a sense of doom. I thought that I would never know if I was saved. To make a long story a short one I’ll get right to the point. After several years of living in this miserable condition I finally just gave up on everything I was trying to do and, out of desperation, I turned to God for help. One night as I lay down in bed to try and get some sleep I looked up at the ceiling and said a simple prayer “God, will you show me what I need to know about believing in Jesus?” The next night I got the big family bible and opened it to the Gospel of John. That was the first time I had ever read in the bible except at church. As I started to read John 1:1 immediately I recognized that God was showing me the truth about His word and about Jesus that I had not seen before. This time was different because I was seeking answers from God Himself and I turned to Him with the attitude that He was my only hope and that I desperately wanted whatever He had for me. God did not disappoint me. As I read through the Gospel of John God showed me the true grounds for having a settled peace with Him. He showed me that all of my efforts of repeating the prayers, confessing sin, making promises to Him, etc. were not faith in Him but faith in myself. God showed me that I must cease from all of my efforts to find the assurance I was so desperately seeking and to just trust in what Jesus had already done. When God’s Spirit opened my spiritual eyes to the truth of the Gospel and I saw that my salvation rested only in the finished work of Jesus at the cross, that my sins were nailed to the cross with Him, and that when He said “it is finished” that He meant that my sin debt to God was “paid in full” with His Blood that He shed there, then an enormous sense of relief immediately filled my troubled soul. Basically, God showed me that He wanted me to turn from myself to Him. That I must simply give up on self and transfer my trust to the finished work of Jesus at the cross; that to “believe in Jesus” means to believe that He will do what He says He will do when we place our trust in Him. Believing means that we rely on Jesus, that we leave it up to Him, that put our eternity in His hands, that we just believe Him without questioning Him. You see, my problem was that I thought that I had to do something like say a prayer in order to get God to save me; I was trusting my actions, my efforts, and my understanding based on what I had heard from man, therefore I was very much confused and my faith was misplaced. But, when I turned to God, by reading His word, God’s Spirit showed me the truth of His way of salvation and He immediately cleared up all of my confusion. So, for me, the lesson I learned applies to any and all acts of “self” to get saved which fail every time. I like to say it this way: “if your faith is in your faith then your faith is not in Jesus.” So, if anyone reading this should make the all important decision to come to Jesus to receive His gift of forgiveness of sin and eternal life, please remember to be careful about your faith; be sure your faith is in Jesus and not in anything you do. He doesn‘t need you to help Him; He wants you to trust in Him as the one who paid your sin debt “in full” at the cross. If you say a prayer for salvation, be sure you are trusting in Jesus and not in the prayer you just said; your prayer doesn‘t save you; Only Jesus saves. If you go to the alter to accept Jesus as your Lord & Savior, be sure you are trusting in Jesus death at the cross & not in your trip to the alter. If you promise to follow Jesus; remember you have to receive His free gift of salvation before you can follow Him; He paid for it with His blood. If you turn from your sin, remember to turn from yourself to Jesus first, then He will give you power to turn from your sin through the Holy Spirit. If you accept Jesus as your savior, remember that before you could do so that God accepted Jesus’ death, as “payment in full” for your sin. Again, be sure your faith is in Jesus and not in your prayer. We are saved by God’s grace through faith and God even gives us the faith we need as a gift. The faith God gives you will be focused on the Gospel message of Jesus and will not be focused on anything you can do or have done. Ephesians 2:8,9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” “Not of works, lest any man should boast.” 　 Following are some of the scriptures that God’s Spirit used to show me the truth of His Word that I needed so that I could understand the true grounds for having a settled peace with Him. John 6:29 “Jesus answered and said to him, “this is the work of God, that you believe on him whom he hath sent.” John 5:39 Jesus said to them, “search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” John 5:40 “And you will not come to me that you might have life.” John 6:37 “Jesus said “all the Father gives me will come to me and anyone who comes to me I will not turn away.” John 19:30 “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, “it is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.” And my favorite Bible verse, John14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no one can come to the Father except by me.” 　 ljohnson3954@att.net

I haven't always known that the Bible is true. I was a real doubter but when I became a "true" believer in the Gospel all the doubts were replaced with certainty of the truth of God's Word and an absolute assurance through God's Word that my sins are forgiven and my eternity is secure in Jesus who is The Way, the Truth, and the Life(John14:6).I will try to explain how I know the Bible is true; First I need to use a verse of scripture, 1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. This verse describes me before I became a believer in the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. It describes all non-believers. Next I will use another verse of scripture to describe me after I became a believer: Corinthians 5:17 - "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a NEW CREATURE; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." That verse also describes all true believers. Genuine believers have the Holy Spirit living inside of them. The Holy Spirit is God who indwells the believer at the moment a person truly believes the Gospel message for forgiveness of sin. The following verse is just one verse that explain the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer. John 16:13 “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” Notice this verse says that the Holy Spirit will guide the believer into all truth. THAT IS HOW WE KNOW THE BIBLE IS TRUE. I'll never forget the first time I read in the bible, the Gospel of John, as a new believer. From the first verse I knew immediately that God was showing me the truth, I knew immediately that the Bible IS true, I knew immediately that Jesus IS God, I knew immediately that Jesus is the Creator of all things. How did I know those things? The God who created all things lives inside of me. That's the only explanation I can offer to you.

When I became a true believer in the Gospel message of Jesus the Holy Spirit removed all the doubts I had about the truth of the bible and gave me an absolute assurance of the truth of God's Word. I don't need arguments from scientists, or archeologists, or theologians, or knowledge of any man. I have all the proof I will ever need; the indwelling witness of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is God who stepped out of heaven, came to earth, and became a man so He could die on the cross to pay my "sin debt" that I could not pay

what would be your definition of the word believeth (believe), sometimes the English words don't carry all the full thoughts of the Greek writer... other one, I lived in misery for several years in fear that I wasn't really saved because I did not understand the meaning of "believe in Jesus." I have written & published 2 articles on the Rapture Forums website about how God showed me the real meaning of believing when I turned to Him through His Word seeking the truth about what "believe" really means, Since that time in my life, 42 years ago, I have lived in the peace of an absolute assurance of salvation that only a genuine "believer" could understand. The original article is "What Does It Mean to Believe in Jesus?" The second article "Law, Grace, and Believing in Jesus" was written in response to some readers who questioned the scriptures I used in the first article. I invite you to read them. Also, I am including a link to a story about the cross that I wrote for my 6 year old granddaughter which is about believing in Jesus. http://www.raptureforums.com/FeaturedCommentary/whatdoesitmeantobelieveinjesus.cfm http://www.raptureforums.com/FeaturedCommentary/doyouseethenails.cfm 　 http://www.raptureforums.com/FeaturedCommentary/lawgraceandbelievinginjesus.cfm

I lived for years in fear & misery because I did not understand what "believe in Jesus" meant therefore I had no assurance of salvation. I wrote the following article about my experience which explains how God showed me the truth about "believing" and brought me out of the fear of doubting my salvation into the peace that only a true "believer" can understand. Published on Rapture Forums website; can be accessed using the following link: http://www.raptureforums.com/FeaturedCommentary/whatdoesitmeantobelieveinjesus.cfm

My wife had severe sinus infections for years. The sinus infections frequently led to bronchitis & she would need antibiotics. We found an article on a website that suggested irrigating the sinuses with a saline solution to flush out the bacteria that was causing the infections. She did that for a few months and found almost immediate relief. Today she seldom has a sinus infection; she no longer does the irrigation instead she takes a daily dose of an OTC antihistamine.

so, are you going to tell me these people didn't believe??? Your scripture is referring to apostates who were never born again, preaching religion and not love. Comment #48 was referring to unbelievers who know their unbelievers. Good scripture here. The Lord is teaching us that you cannot cast out demons and perform miracles without the Holy Spirit in you. He is also teaching us that the devil is the father of lies and to be aware of false prophets. AMEN, exactly what I was thinking.