"...repent and believe in the gospel." (Mark 1:15 NASB).
We must understand that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone based upon Scripture alone for God’s glory alone. The Christian Bible teaches the true gospel. It is essential to believe the true gospel of the Bible. Do not turn and believe a different gospel. Rather, believe the gospel of the Bible (Gal. 1:6-10). This tract is about your desperate need for the gospel.
First, are you born again? God must give you a new heart in order for you to believe: "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh" (Ez. 36:26 NASB). Only God makes someone born again. God does not save from obligation. Rather He saves voluntarily in graciousness. Have you experienced the work of the Spirit (2 Tim. 1:9)? Have you been convinced of your sin and misery (Acts 2:37)? Have you been enlightened in your mind of the knowledge of Christ (Acts 26:18)? Have you been persuaded and enabled by God the Holy Spirit to embrace the gospel (John 6:44-45)? If you desire God to change your heart of stone, listen or read the Word of God daily (i.e., start off with the Gospel of Luke), and hear the Word preached. Ask God in your prayer closet to change your heart (John 3). Have you been chosen by God (Rom. 9:11-13)?
Second, do you believe that God is holy? God is perfect, good and holy. He does not tolerate sin (Is. 6:2-3). Therefore, we are not like Him, and He is not like man that He should sin.
Third, have you believed that you are a totally depraved sinner, and that nothing you do in the flesh can please God? "...as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE..." (Rom. 3:10-12 NASB). "...and those who are in the flesh cannot please God" (Rom. 8:8 NASB). Even though mankind is totally depraved and totally unable, mankind still has total accountability. Do you have a profound hatred regarding your sin nature? In order for you to become able, your heart must be changed by God the Spirit and the written Word of God in being born again.
Fourth, since you are a sinner without righteousness that avails before God, do you see the need for the unified righteousness of Another, that is, Christ? "But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; or all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed..." (Rom 3:21-25 NASB). "...But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works…" (Rom. 4:5-6 NASB). Only the righteousness of Christ avails before God the Father: "...and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith..." (Phil. 3:9 NASB). On the last day, will you stand in your sinful righteousness (that which will not avail before God the Father), or will you be found to be in Christ, standing in the righteousness of Christ alone?
Fifth, do you have the evidences of being born again? The fruits of being born again are faith and repentance. A person cannot have faith without repentance and a person cannot have repentance without faith. Have you placed your trust in Christ, and have you repented of past particular sins? You must place your faith in Christ, and what He has done regarding living a perfect life and atoning for sin. Understand that if you repent and believe in the divine Christ; faithful repentance does not end but rather it is a life-long priority. The sin of God’s people was punished on Christ on the cross. He satisfied divine justice in the place of His people. He appeased the wrath of God the Father. He saved His people from sin, misery and eternal hell. The people without Christ are under God’s wrath, and their sin will be punished in hell if they do not come to Christ. The inspired Word calls people to repent: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt. 3:2 NASB). Have you bore fruits consistent with repentance (Matt. 3:8)? Evidence of being born again is following the gospel: "...repent and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15 NASB). Christ calls sinners to repentance: "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance" (Luke 5:32 NASB). If you do not repent, you will perish: "I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:5 NASB). Therefore "...Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house" (Acts 16:31 KJV). And “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19 KJV).
Sixth, have you believed that Christ alone is sufficient for how you are declared righteous before God? The Bible teaches that Christ is wholly sufficient for the basis for how a person is declared righteous (but not made righteous) before God (Rom. 3:28; Gal. 2:16). It is a judicial edict of God. Justification (that is, declared righteous before God) is not a process but an event. After justification other changes will occur. In justification the standing of the sinner is changed, freed from the charge of guilt and the complete righteousness of Christ is transferred to the sinner’s account. It is Christ plus nothing else that forms the grounds of justification. He alone is the all-sufficient Savior Who took the place of His people. Christ said "It is finished" on the cross (John 19:30). It literally means "paid in full." Therefore Christ is enough. It is not by our works but by faith alone (from a changed heart): "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast" (Eph. 2:8-9 NASB). It is not by works of righteousness at all: "He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit..." (Titus 3:5 NASB). It is of Him alone Who calls: "...for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls..." (Rom. 9:11 NASB). It is Christ Who finds His own, because He first loved His people: "We love, because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19 NASB). Ask for forgiveness for sin and guilt to God the Father through Christ crucified (that is, repentance unto remission). Go to Christ. Come to Him and beg for His mercy. Additionally, repent of your total depravity for all the days of your life.
Seventh, have you trusted the true Jesus of the Bible? Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man; two natures in one person. God the Son took upon flesh: "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us..." (John 1:14 NASB). Jesus is the Second Person of the Trinity (Matt. 28:19), and He is the eternal Son of God. He declared: "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins" (John 8:24 NASB). Jesus refers to Himself as the Great I AM. This is a clear indication of His deity as the divine Son of God Who bodily rose from the dead (see John 20:24-29). To have true life in Christ, one must believe the true Jesus of Scripture. Jesus Christ is the only Son of the Father. It has been ordained that Christ alone is the only way to God. Do you trust Christ alone?
Eighth, have you trusted God the Father and God the Spirit? Trust God the Father: "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life" (John 5:24 NASB). The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is a divine Person (see Acts 5:1-4). God’s people know the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-18). Therefore, God is one in unity, being and essence, but three in person: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (see Matt. 28:19; Deut. 6:4). Without the Holy Trinity (the one true God) there would be no creation, providence or salvation.
Ninth, when is it the time for people to repent and believe the gospel? The Bible declares the time is now: "...Behold, now is "THE ACCEPTABLE TIME," behold, now is "THE DAY OF SALVATION..." (2 Cor. 6:2 NASB). God does not invite people to repent. Rather He commands them. Hearken to the gospel command: "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent..." (Acts 17:30 NKJV). So therefore I ask as Moses did, "...Who is on the LORD's side?..." (Ex. 32:26 KJV). In Matthew 11, Christ preformed miracles in places where they did not repent. Christ denounced them as damned people. He refers to the reprobates who would have believed if He preformed the miracles He did in certain places in His earthly ministry. Christ in His divine all-knowingness knew what would have happened. He refers to the past reprobates so people would be convicted and converted. Do not be like the reprobate who did not repent. Sinners were damned with less light then you have. Beware, repent and believe the gospel. It is your responsibility to repent.
Tenth, if you have truly believed, now what? The destination of a Christian is heaven. What we do now counts for eternality. God created His people to do good works (Eph. 2:10), but these works do not save at all in how a person is declared righteous before God. People are to do good works to show their faith. It is a true, lasting and living faith but not a dead, fruitless and reckless faith. If a person is truly born again, he will truly preserve unto the very end. After someone is declared righteous before God, he must grow in grace through a process. Out of love for Christ we must follow His commandments (1 John 5:3), and seek to please Him (1 John 3:22). Do not use your freedom for evil (1 Pet. 2:16) or God will judge you. Regarding Christian discipline, begin (or build up to) a daily private 30-minute Bible study. Daily mediate and memorize His Word. Finally, join a Reformed (Calvinistic) church and get involved in the things of God (Heb. 10:25). "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock” (Matt. 7:24-25 NASB). Are you the wise person who will put into practice what King Jesus has declared? My prayer for you is to believe the God of the Bible for God’s glory. Poor sinner, may you believe the gospel and ask for forgiveness to God, and do what God rightly commands.
