Jesus didn’t come down to the earth to condemn the world but that the world be saved through Him (John 3:17). God’s word is very straight forward about believing in Jesus (John 3:36). Only when we believe in the Son, we will see eternal life; if we reject Him, we will not see life and God’s wrath remains on us. It all really comes down to our heart and what we believe (Romans 10:8-10). True Salvation is when you truly believe with all your heart that Jesus died on the cross and was risen from the dead for your sins and mine, and confess it to the world, you will be saved. Jesus has given us the awesome gift of eternal life with Him in heaven through His death and resurrection. When you receive a gift like that, you want to share it with everyone! God really does not make our salvation to be difficult. The world has been corrupted with false beliefs on this matter! Like I said in the last study, don’t allow the enemy to have you believe a false doctrine: the ultimate lie that all religion is the same and leads to heaven. That is a lie from the pits of hell! Every religion has a different belief system, so how can they all lead to the same place? If one car goes north bound on I95 and one goes south bound; will they both reach the same destination? If someone told you they would both reach the same destination would you believe them? Of course not, we know that’s impossible. God’s Word teaches about a relationship with our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus, not about religion. That is never taught in the word of God (the Bible). Religion did not go to a Roman cross and paid for our sins; Jesus did!

God gave up His only Son who suffered greatly so we don’t have to. If you have never watched the movie “The Passion of Christ,” directed by Mel Gibson, I would highly recommend that you watch it. The movie shows how much Jesus really loves us. Why else would He have gone through all of that suffering? Over and over in God’s Word (the Bible) it tells us, because that’s how much He loves us! He does not want to see anybody goes to hell (2 Peter 3:9). God desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of truth (1 Timothy 2:4). I can just picture God waving his arms and saying “hey everyone here is the way to paradise through my only Son Jesus that whom I gave for a sacrifice for you!” But it seems like we don’t care to hear Him because we think we know better. Our pride is the biggest problem, (Proverbs 16:18). Pride goes before destruction, and haughty (arrogant) spirit before a fall. We have become very prideful people that are heading for destruction if and I say “if” we do not except Truth. You still may be questioning in your heart why can only Jesus save us from going to hell and not us just being a good person? The first reason is that we learned from God’s Word that we all have sinned and fallen short of His standards (Romans 3:23). The standard that God has set to enter His kingdom is not the same standard that we as humans have. He is a Holy God and will not permit corruption in His kingdom. So we know that we can’t enter heaven because we are good, that is a lie the enemy wants us to believe so we may never search for truth. I used to believe that I’m not that bad; I do good things for people. God really cleared up that lie in my head when I read Ephesians 2:8, it says that by His Grace we are saved through faith, and that not of ourselves. It is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). See our salvation cannot be earned. It’s a free gift when we put our trust in Jesus. We may at times do good things, but we have also done a lot of bad things. God is a Righteous God, and because HE is Righteous, He will judge us for our wrong doing. Our God is a Just Judge, and He judges us 100% right. He is not corrupted or shows any kind of favoritism to anyone. He righteously looks at our wrongs and that is what we get judged for.

But God loves us so much that He made a way for us to have a choice to escape His judgement for our wrongs (Sins). once again like I said before He gives us the free will to choose to believe in Him. God is a gentleman. He does not force us to believe like most religions do. He shows us the way (truth) and then lets us decide if we want to except it or not. but let me tell you something, I will put my trust in Jesus 100% because I know he never failed on not one of His promises to me or His people; but religion has failed in so many ways. Man has twisted God’s Word and made their own god through their false beliefs. God said to not add or take away from what’s written in this book (the Bible) because there will be consequences for whoever chooses to disobey (Revelation 22:18-19). Man’s religion has done just that. I choose to stand on God’s truth and know 100% where I’m going after I take my last breath here on earth. I refuse to be deceived with false beliefs that will make me miss my entrance to the gates of heaven. I always say to people if every way leads to heaven like most of the people in the world believe I got nothing to lose. But if every way does not lead to heaven, on the day you’re standing face to face with God, He will say the only way is my Son like it was written in the book (the Bible) that will be a terrifying day! Will be a day we wish we would have listened to the truth and not allowed the enemy to deceive us with false doctrine.

The truth is the Gospel! What is the Gospel? The word Gospel simply means “Good News.” In the Bible, we have the Gospel (good news) told by four different witnesses: Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John. This is the gospel: God Himself stepped down out of His thrown in heaven, was born a man through a virgin named Marry, laid down His life for the sin of the world (us), and rose victorious the third day defeating death and all its power (Hebrews 2:14). Jesus defeated our sins that brought death by rising from the grave once and for all. Paid in full! It’s the greatest demonstration of Love the world has ever seen or known. In 2 Corinthians 5:21, the Apostle Paul writes that (God) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become righteousness of God in Him (Jesus). This is why Jesus is our only hope for salvation! The only reason He came was to take our punishment for our sins on himself so we didn’t have to do so. He’s the only way to God because when we put our trust in Him and Believe that He is God and died for our sins, then and only then, we are covered by His grace. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice for our sins. He never committed a sin (1 Peter 2:22). When Jesus died on that cross, He died for our sins not for His own. On that cross He cancelled the debt of sin against us. Jesus paid the debt for our sins in full (Colossians 2:10). All the sins we have committed Jesus took them and pinned them to the cross with Himself, so that God would not look at us and see our sins but will see the blood of the sacrifice that His only begotten Son Jesus Christ poured out for us! God gives us his Grace. What is grace? Grace means “The free unmerited favor of God.” Grace is also Gods wonderful favor, kindness, courtesy for us all. It’s God’s loving favor for us, not because we earned it or deserve it, but because He loves us! Because of His love for us, He freely gives us the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ (Romans 6:23).

Salvation is a gift that no one can earn; it is not about what we did but about what Jesus has done for us on the cross. Jesus himself said “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). To me, this statement is where my doubt comes to an end. Jesus himself was telling His disciples that He is the only way to heaven! If Jesus right now comes down from heaven and tells you in person He is the only way and there is no other way, would you call Him a liar? Well, through His Word that is exactly what He is saying, and we know that the Bible is God’s Word. 2 Timothy 3:16 states that all scripture is given by inspiration of God! We have the answer right in front of us: God’s spoken Word (the Bible)! The problem is not if it is true or not, we know it’s the written Word of God through hundreds of fulfilled prophecies. The Bible is the only book that has predictions about who the coming Savior of the world would be, and every prediction was fulfilled in Jesus. That leads us to our next point, “why is Jesus our only way”? He was the only man who has fulfilled all the prophecies about the coming Messiah. In the Old Testament of the Bible, there are hundreds of prophecies about the coming Savior. A prophecy is a “Prediction”. Why would God give predictions about the coming Savior? The first reason is that when the Messiah comes, we would know who He was from the predictions God made through the prophets. Second, it would be impossible for an imposter (fake) to say that he was the Messiah. Now, we will examine five of hundreds of biblical prophecies. This is not a prophecy but I think one that stands out for me is how the world all use the saying “BC” (the definition means “Before Christ.”) We use it every day and don’t even think about it, just like when we write a check or something else, we put the date 2015 AD. “AD” (anno domini) means “in the year of the Lord”. Where did that date come from? If we look back in history 2000 plus years ago, between 6 and 4 BC, the God-man Jesus Christ was born. We write down the date every day and don’t even question it but we always question “The Cross”! I just had to add that in there because I find it very interesting.

The first prophecy we are going to look at is the place where the Savior was to be born (Micah 5:2). The time frame was 750 BC; the prophet Micah predicted a “ruler of Israel” was going to be born in Bethlehem, a small village in Judea, whose going forth are from old, from everlasting”. A ruler who is from old and is everlasting; who was from everlasting, the beginning? God He created the heaven and the earth. He is everlasting proving that the Messiah was going to be God himself! This prediction was fulfilled in the Gospel of Matthew 2:1. Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king. The prophecy said from “old and everlasting”, and Jesus fulfilled this prediction, showing Jesus was born where the Messiah (the God-man) was predicted to be born. The second prediction, is that the Messiah was to be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14). In 760 BC, the prophet Isaiah wrote, “The Lord himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel which means “God with us”. This prediction was fulfilled in the Gospel of Mathew (Mathew 1:18). Jesus was born from the virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. We know that she was a virgin because it says in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 1:26-33) that the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a virgin named Mary to comfort her and tell her that she was going to have a son and was to name him Jesus. So God through the prophet Isaiah said that the virgin Mary was going to give birth to Immanuel (“God with us”). She did just that, giving birth to Jesus, Immanuel! This historical event Proves that Jesus is God with us. The third prediction is that in 760 BC, the prophet Isaiah wrote the Messiah was going to be crucified with the sinners (Isaiah 53:12). Jesus never sinned but was put to death as a sinner alongside with two sinners. The verse said “He (Jesus) poured out his soul unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors (sinners).” His mission was to die for our sins, and He did so by laying down His life alongside two sinners. This prediction was fulfilled in the Gospel of Mathew (Mathew 27:38). “Then the two robbers (sinners) were crucified with Him, one on the right and the other on the left”. If you read in Luke one of the criminals repented from his sins and believed that Jesus was God and for that reason Jesus said to him “Today, you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:39-43). Once again, this historical event shows that it is not by what you do that gets you to heaven, it’s about repenting from your sins and accepting Jesus as your Savior.

The criminal was being put to death because he did wrong, not because he did anything righteous. The sinful criminal Hanging on a cross next to Jesus accepted that he did wrong, repented, and acknowledged Jesus as Lord, only then Jesus said “I will see you in paradise”. The fourth prediction is from Psalms 22. It is predicted that the Messiah’s hands & feet would be pierced. About 1000 BC, the Psalmist David wrote, “My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs; an evil gang closes in on me. They have pierced my hands and feet” (Psalms 22:16). In the Gospel of John, (John 20:25-27) Jesus himself, after He raised from the dead was speaking to Thomas who doubted that he was alive. In verse 25, Thomas says “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my figure into the print of the nails, I will not believe. In verse 27, Jesus says to Thomas, “Reach your figure here, and look at my hands. Do not be unbelieving but believing”. Jesus came and showed Thomas His hands so he would believe and proved to him that He was the real deal by the holes in His hands. The world today is in the same position of unbelief and wants proof that Jesus is who He says He is. One day, we will see him coming down from the clouds of heaven with power and great glory (Mathew 24:31). That moment the world will see with their eyes that Jesus is who He said He is! Don’t wait until that day to believe. Jesus said “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed” (John 20:29). Jesus tells us to have faith in him by believing not with our eyes but with our hearts. Jesus said “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is myself” (Luke 24:39). Here, while he was talking to his disciples, He shows them His hands and feet so that they would believe it was Him. The fifth prediction was His Resurrection. We just read that He was talking to Thomas and telling him to believe after His crucifixion; so right here Scriptures prove that Jesus had risen and was 100% alive. In 1000 BC, the Psalmist David had a great hope that God would not leave his soul in sheol: the grave (Psalms 16:10). Nor allow your holy one to see corruption. Here David, about 1000 years before Jesus came, had a great assurance that he was going to be with the Lord after his death. The Holy One (Jesus) fulfilled that when he rose from the grave and defeated death for us all. Psalms 49:15 says that “God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, for He shall receive me”. It amazes me to see how confident David was about his life after death. This was the Spirit of God reassuring David that he was going to be with the Lord in heaven. In Matthew 28:2-9, we see how Jesus had risen from the dead and was no longer in His grave. Death lost its power the moment Jesus rose! “O death, where is your sting? O hades where is your victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57) through the power of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ death has been defeated. Anyone who chooses to believe and confess in the name that is above all names Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:9-11), death no longer has power over you! We will be raised from the grave in the same power that Jesus was raised from the grave (Romans 8:11). There is no other man in the history of this world but the God-man (Jesus) who has risen from the grave. That proves to me that’s the man I’m putting my trust in is worthy & alive! You tell me any other book or religion that gives you that assurance or proof of rising from the dead and getting to heaven. There is no other book that has that power because no other book is the word of God!

There is only one truth. The Bible is the only authentic book that proves the true way to heaven. We looked at already five predictions about the Messiah and Jesus fulfilled all five with perfection. If the resurrection is not enough evidence for you to believe and your still in doubt, in a letter by Apostle Paul to the Church of Corinth, Paul writes in verse 3 and 4 that Christ died for our sins and rose the third day according to the Scriptures, the prophecies we just seen (1 Corinthians 15:3-8). Verse 5 tells us that He was seen by Cephas (Apostle Peter) and all the other twelve apostles (Luke 24:25-31). Jesus came to His disciples again as they were in Jerusalem. Jesus showed them that He was not a spirit but flesh and bones (Luke 24:36-49). He also talked to them and explained that His death was necessary. Why was it necessary? Verse 47 tells us “That repentance and remission (cancellation) of sin should be preached in his name (Jesus) to all nation”. Jesus is the only one who can cancel the debt we owe for our sins through His death and resurrection.

More than 500 people saw Him (Jesus) and some of them were still alive at the present time Paul wrote this letter. That means at the time this letter was written, you could go to the house of some of these witnesses, knock on their door, and ask them if they had seen Jesus after they crucified Him? They all would have answered “Yes, I have seen Him”! in verse 7, He was also seen by James (Jesus half-brother) and all the apostles again. Now, we all know for those who have brothers and sisters, no matter how long you don’t see your sibling, the moment you do see them you’re not going to mistake them for someone else. James saw his half-brother, and he was not going to be mistaken that was his brother indeed! In finally, in verse 8 Paul (Saul of Tarsus) himself saw Jesus on the road to Damascus. This was Saul’s encounter with Jesus before he turned his life over and put his trust in Him (Jesus). If you didn’t know, Saul was a man persecuting and killing Christians for their belief in Jesus Christ. Here, Saul’s life was radically changed in a major way because he met Jesus. Jesus changes his name to Paul and he became one of the strongest witnesses for Jesus. The same man (Saul) who hated Christians is now Paul a follower of Jesus and he went to write most of the New Testament. Every time I read about Paul’s experience with Jesus, it blows my mind to see God’s mighty power. You can read about it in Acts 9. The same power that changed Saul can change and save you.

I have experienced this power in my life. By the grace of God, I’m able to understand the true way to salvation and write this to you. The best gift we can ever receive is the gift of salvation. Not only will you have a peace and assurance of where you are going after this life but also by accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we have a Father who can provide, heal, comfort, and love us like no one else can. He will change our messed-up ways into a new awesome life. As I said before, I have personally experienced this in my life, and I can tell you that there is nothing better than the peace Jesus gives me every day. I’m not saying that I don’t have trials or problems because those never end here on earth. We live in a fallen world, but the peace that you get from Jesus, strengthens you to deal with all the problems & trials of this world. So I encourage you if you never met Jesus, now is the time. He will change your life in an powerful way! He is the only power and the only way. I pray that this truth will guide your heart in making the right choice and accept the free-gift God has for you through His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus last words before His death on that cross “It is finished”. He bowed His head and gave up His spirit (John 19:30). Jesus loves you to death are you going to reject His loving gift? Now that you know the truth what are you going to do with it? What are you going to do with Jesus? Are you going to open your heart all the way and let Him in or are you going to close your heart and just throw Him off to the side? If you want to accept Him as your Lord and Savior, here is a little prayer to help you. Remember just repeating a random prayer is not what saves you. What saves is what you truly believe about Lord Jesus in your heart, and then confess it with your mouth. Let’s pray,

PRAYER

Dear Lord Jesus, I confess that I have sinned and cannot save myself. I thank you Lord for dying on the cross to pay for my sin’s debt. Come into my heart, forgive my sin, and be my Lord and Savior. I want to follow You this day forward. Thank you for making me a child of God and giving me eternal life. In Your name, I pray. Amen! If you truly prayed that with all your heart God’s word says you have been saved. Find yourself a church that teaches the Word of God and not man’s opinion and allow His Word to direct you in this new commitment you made to follow Jesus. May God bless and grow you in a powerful way!