If you are visiting this site and don’t yet know Jesus Christ personally, this page is to help introduce you to Him, because you need to know Him yourself before you can make Him known to others. This may be longer than a lot of salvation messages, but please take your time going through it. There’s so much more than can be contained here; after all, there is a whole Bible written for it! This is to help you get started on this wonderful journey called salvation. Also, I have included the Bible verses at the end so you will have them right with this message. I encourage you, however, to get a Bible and find the verses so you can see for yourself what He is saying to you.
I’m not going to try to prove that God is real, or that the Bible is His Word to 
us. There are many scholarly works available for that, and if you need to begin there, please do. This salvation message comes from the starting point that God is real and the Bible is True, not a myth, a fable, or an interesting literary work. The starting point also includes the Truth that God is a Trinity (also discussed in many works of the same nature) – God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. The Three are One, but are unique at the same time. (To go into it further will only be more confusing at this point, but I want you to know I’m talking about the same God, whether I refer to Father/Daddy, Jesus, or Holy Spirit.)
In the beginning pages of the Bible, in Genesis, is the description of God creating heaven and earth, land and seas, plants and trees, sun, moon, and stars, and the land and sea creatures. After creating each one, He said it was good 1. It was only after He created man in His image 2 (Perfect), however, blessing him and giving him authority over the earth, that He said it was very good! 3 Adam and Eve, the first flesh human and his wife, were perfect and lived in a perfect place – beyond anything that we can even begin to imagine as perfect – the Garden of Eden, and had an intimate relationship with Creator God. They walked and talked with God because there was no sin in them at all, for they were in the image of God. God gave them all that they saw, with access to and authority over all of it, except for one tree – just one thing they couldn’t have among everything else they could have freely, without any limitations. He told them they could eat of every tree of the garden, except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because they would surely die if they did. 4 He wasn’t withholding something good from them, for He loved them and wanted only good for them.
God created man in His image (including us) with a free will. He didn’t create puppets or robots, so that we would all automatically do whatever He said, even though whatever He wants is always the best for us. He didn’t want the people He created to relate to Him because they had to – only because they wanted to. In those early days in the garden, communicating with their Creator, their Daddy, Adam and Eve only wanted to live in the perfect place He had made, and spend time with Him. They knew nothing but goodness and righteousness, for there was no sin. Their will was to be in His presence, and His will was to have them in His presence.
Then the snake came into the picture. For some reason, a talking snake wasn’t something at which to be amazed at that time! The snake (the manifestation of Satan, or the devil) suggested that God only told them not to eat of that one tree – the tree of the knowledge of good and evil – because they would be like Him if they did. 5 But they were already like Him – created in His image! He wanted to bring about their downfall (and the subsequent downfall of all mankind) through pride. A note here: The devil began in heaven as a “good” angel of God, but became proud, wanting to be like Him, and was forever removed from God’s presence. 6 Now he desires nothing more than to bring as many people down with him as possible, starting with Adam and Eve. Hell was intended for him and the other fallen angels who followed him – not for people.
Adam and Eve chose to eat the fruit of that tree, and their eyes were opened to the knowledge of good and evil. They already had knowledge of good, because they were in God’s Presence day in and day out, and He is only good. Now, however, they also knew evil. They didn’t die physically that day, but their bodies did begin the decaying process that day, which wasn’t part of life in the perfection of Eden – before sin. There was another death that day – spiritually. Through entering into sin, they not only separated themselves from relationship with God 7, but they condemned all of mankind to life apart from God, for God does not have relationship with evil (as Satan knew well from his own experience). Sin had become part of them, and they passed on this spiritual gene (curse) to all people. 8
But God! God was unwilling to do without the fellowship and companionship of the very ones He created. Knowing even before He created us that this would happen, He already had a plan. 9 Adam and Eve hadn’t noticed before that they were naked; after they sinned, they saw and were even ashamed, covering themselves with fig leaves. 10 Their own attempts at covering their sinfulness were of no value, so God sacrificed an animal, shedding its blood, to cover their nakedness, showing that innocent blood was the required price for sin. 11 You see, God so loved the world (every person ever, with none left out!) that He gave what was required, sending His only Son 12 to earth to do completely what no animal could, and what we could never work for, earn, or deserve. 13
Jesus, the Son of God, came as a man to live a perfect life, die a horrible death by crucifixion, and then be raised from the dead – alive forever – all so we could live forever with Him! He came because of love. He died because of us, because of our sin He took on Himself 14 – the sin nature we inherited from the first man, Adam, and every sin we ever will sin on our own. He died because of that same love. Even Jesus had a free will when He was on earth as a man, yet He made the decision to do what Daddy God had planned – because He knew it was best for us all, despite His personal pain. 15 He chose to go through the incredible torture and dying on the cross so He could shed His perfect and innocent blood, paying for our never-innocent blood. He allowed Himself to be separated from relationship with His Father when He took on our sins so that we could call Him Daddy, with the affection and position of children. But Jesus didn’t stay on the cross, didn’t stay in the tomb, and didn’t keep the sin on Him. He paid the price for it, and was resurrected from the dead, victorious over sin for us, 16 just as God had said by the prophets through the ages. In that resurrection, the price for all sin was paid for all time! 17 Glory to God!
So, if Jesus has already done this, has already paid for all your sins, what do you need to do to be saved, to be born again? Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and what He has done, receiving His free gift of love, and you shall be saved, restored into right relationship with God for all time. 18 It’s that easy. You see, we are saved by the grace of God, through faith in Who He is and what He has done, not in our goodness or our works. 13 It doesn’t matter how good a person you are, how many more good things you’ve done than bad, how long you’ve attended church or sung in the choir, what a good parent or child you are, how many charitable donations you’ve made, what a good neighbor you’ve tried to be, or even how you compare to someone else. 19 None of those things will get you into right relationship with God. Simply believe and receive what God gave you because He loved you even before the world was ever formed (He already knew you! 20). This free gift cost Jesus everything, His very blood on the cross, but it was a price He willingly paid because of His love – for you. 21 Will you believe and receive salvation and the eternal life in Christ He offers? Will you be one of the “whoevers” in John 3:16? “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
If you want to be saved, receiving the amazingly wonderful gift of God’s love in salvation given through Jesus, there is no specific prayer that you must pray for it to be real. You don’t even have to close your eyes and fold your hands. God wants you to come to Him as you are, and you can say to Him what is in your heart, even as you would speak to a loved one as you received a precious gift from them – one that cost them dearly, but which they so willingly gave you to meet your need. Or, you can pray the simple prayer I include here, or use it as a guide:
God, I see from what the Bible says that I am a sinner, and that keeps me from having a relationship with You, but You love me so much that You gave Jesus for me, even before I wanted to know you. I believe Jesus died on the cross for me, taking my sins away, and was raised from the dead. Now I want to receive Your love and forgiveness, and start a new life in Christ, with Jesus as my Lord. Help me follow you all my life. Thank You for saving me! In Jesus’ name I can now pray. Amen.
If you prayed that prayer from your heart, Jesus is now living in you by His Holy Spirit. You may not feel any different than before you prayed (I didn’t when I got saved), you may feel like a million pounds has been lifted off your shoulders, or somewhere in between. I want to assure you, because God’s Word is true, that you are saved because of the blood of Jesus. 22 It is finished. Period. Salvation is the beginning of a new eternal life in Christ, 23 where you can live as Jesus lived while on the earth, and continue living forever with Him in heaven, even when your earthly body dies. It’s not a list of do’s and don’ts, but a continual relationship with Him through His Holy Spirit living in you.
There is so much to know about salvation and eternal life, but there is only so much anyone can comprehend at one time. It’s a lifelong learning process, and Holy Spirit is thrilled to help you learn. He is called the Teacher, among other titles; so, even if you aren’t able to find a human being to help you study and understand the Bible, He will help. In all you do now, remember that you started this new life by the grace of God, through faith in Who He is and what He’s done, and that’s the same way you grow in Him and live in Him – by grace, through faith – not by works. 13
If you have just been saved as a result of this message, or you have questions about it or what to do now, please email me at kay@prayforthenation.org. I don’t have all the answers, but I’ll help lead you to them in the Word of God. Welcome to the family of God in Christ!
1 Genesis 1:10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:16, 18 16 God made two great lights — the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. . . 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
2 Genesis 1:26-27 26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
3 Genesis 1:31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.
4 Genesis 2:16-17 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”
5 Genesis 3:4-5 4 “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 Isaiah 14:12-15 12 How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! 13 You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. 14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” 15 But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.
7 Genesis 3:22-23 22 And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.
Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
8 Romans 5:18 . . . the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men
9 John 1:1-5, 14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. . .14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
10 Genesis 3:7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
11 Genesis 3:21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
12 John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
13 Ephesians 2:8-9 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
14 2 Corinthians 5:21 For God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins. Then, in exchange, he poured God’s goodness into us!
15 Luke 22:42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
16 Revelation 1:17-18 17. . . I am the First and the Last, 18 And the Ever-living One [I am living in the eternity of the eternities]. I died, but see, I am alive forevermore; and I possess the keys of death and Hades (the realm of the dead).
17 Romans 6:10 For by the death He died, He died to sin [ending His relation to it] once for all; and the life that He lives, He is living to God [in unbroken fellowship with Him].
18 Acts 16:30-31 30 And he brought them out [of the dungeon] and said, Men, what is it necessary for me to do that I may be saved? 31 And they answered, Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ [give yourself up to Him, d take yourself out of your own keeping and entrust yourself into His keeping] and you will be saved . . .
19 Romans 3:10 There is no one righteous, not even one . . .
Isaiah 64:6 . . . all our righteous acts are like filthy rags . . .
20 Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you . . .”
21 Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
22 1 John 5:11-13 11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
23 2 Corinthians 5:17 When someone becomes a Christian, he becomes a brand new person inside. He is not the same anymore. A new life has begun!
