Chapter 4 – TURN AROUND AND TRUST
If you’re scared that you don’t matter
If you’re lost and need to be found
If you’re looking for a Savior
All you gotta do is turn around
(“Turn Around” by Aaron Roy Parker /
Joshua Garth Cooper / Paul Andrew Mouncey /
Ric Nathan Gooch)
Up from the grave He arose
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes
He arose a victor from the dark domain
And He lives forever with His saints to reign
He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!
(“Christ Arose” by Robert Lowry)
First things first. A choice must be made. Before you can become a disciple of Jesus, you must first know Jesus. Following Jesus will be the adventure of your lifetime. Life itself will come alive in ways you never imagined. Sounds are clearer. Colors are brighter. Tastes are sweeter. But before all of this can happen, you must make things right with God. You must make the most important choice of your lifetime.
Jesus invites you into relationship with him.
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
Jesus’ words are simple; his promises are eternal. Before you can follow Jesus, you must repent and believe in His name. These two things are known by many as “receiving Jesus.”
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12-13)
Let me explain in the simplest terms what repentance is, what belief in Jesus is, and what happens when a person repents and believes.
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THE BAD NEWS
All people are separated from God. People’s tendency is to reject God and move away from the things of God.
“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
You may feel like you are a good person and have lived a good life. You go to church, maybe even more than on Christmas and Easter. You give money to the poor. You work at the local food bank. You support deserted animals. You take old things to the thrift store. You visit people in the hospital. On the other hand, you may feel like you’ve done some horrific things in your life. You abandoned your close friends. You committed crimes. You drink and drive. You cheated on your spouse and your taxes. You deserted your children. Either way, here’s the truth about people: No one living on earth has lived a flawless life. All people, regardless of their actions – good or bad – find themselves falling short of the standard that God sets for being righteous. Your standard for good behavior – whatever it is – is less than God requires.
“No one is righteous— not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.” (Romans 3:10-12)
God sets a moral standard for us – perfection. We are born sinful persons. No one is perfect. And people certainly are not intrinsically good (A very popular notion these days is that people are inherently good!) Sin mars us for life and makes us imperfect beings.
The consequence of sin is death – literal death and spiritual death – permanent separation from God. (Romans 3:23) You may have felt the terrible, emotional rip that takes place when a loved one dies. (In truth, you feel it when a pet dies.) You may have attended a funeral and had an uneasy feeling that something about death is not right. You feel that life is not supposed to work this way. What you feel is the separation from God and God’s will for his creation. Death is not natural. Death is not a part of the life that life was originally intended to be.
Because people are sinful and have a broken relationship with their Creator, that relationship must be mended. It has to be reconciled. One cannot know God, let alone be a devoted follower of God, until all things are made right between God and that person.
Let’s get personal. This is bad news for you. The bad news is that no human action can cleanse sin. No good work nor charitable action can resolve your relationship with God. Nothing that you, as a man or woman, can do during your time on earth can make yourself right with God. Nothing!
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THE GOOD NEWS
The good news is that God provides a way to heal the division that exists between you and him. God accomplished the actions necessary to heal the break between God and you. God initiated the plan to bring all humanity, including you, back into relationship with him – and without being aware of it, you sing songs about it.
You have probably heard about Jesus. You’ve seen a movie, a television show, or even a commercial about him. You may have read his name in a book. You might think that Jesus in a myth or legend, that he never really existed. Or you may think him to be a good man or a prophet. To you, Jesus may seem like some ancient man who walked around in a robe and said good things. But Jesus is more than that. In fact, Jesus is the most unique person to ever walk the earth.
Jesus is God in human form. In order for God to reconcile the broken relationship with you, God had to become a man. This is why you celebrate at Christmas: God became a human being in order to make things right with you. He came from heaven to earth as a baby, lived a fully human life with all the feelings and emotions you have. And then he did something incredible to restore the relationship between God and you.
One thing that Jesus did is something you could not do – Jesus never sinned.(Theological statement ahead!) When Jesus came to earth, he did not give up his divinity, his God-ness. From the time he was conceived as a baby his mother’s womb to the end of his life – and beyond, Jesus was fully human and fully God. Everything he did on earth, he did as a man and he did as God. Theologians call this the hyper-static union: Jesus was and is fully God and became fully human. Unless Jesus was both, he could not have reconciled you to God.
When Jesus was about 30 years old, he revealed himself to the world. He made incredible statements about himself and his God-ness.
“I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28)
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6)
“I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies.” (John 11:25)
Not only did he make these statements, but he did miraculous signs that only God could do to prove that what he said was true. He turned water to wine; he walked on water; he healed the lame; he made blind people see; he raised people from the dead.
After about 3 ½ years of preaching, teaching, and doing miralces to prove who he was, Jesus sacrificed his life (laid his life down for you) and was crucified on a cross to bear your sins. Suffering before his Father, he reconciled your sinfulness through his sacrifice. The blood that he spilled on that day healed you and made you righteous before God. Jesus’ death on a cross forgave all of your sins – past, present, and future – so that you can stand before God the Father blameless and holy, untainted by sin. (Theological term ahead!) Jesus became the propitiation for your sins. That means he satisfied all of God’s requirements to forgive your sins.
Then, if that wasn’t enough, to prove that he had power over death and could give you what he promised, eternal life, Jesus miraculously rose from the dead. He appeared to several women with whom he traveled, he appeared to his disciples gathered in a room, he appeared to Peter, and he appeared to more than 500 people at a time. Shortly after that, he ascended to heaven. His physical body rose, disappeared behind a cloud, and ascended into heaven.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas [Peter], then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me [the apostle Paul] also. (1 Corinthians 15:3-8)
This is the good news for you and for all humanity of which the angel spoke to the shepherds at Christmas. This is the good news that you sing about when you sing “Joy to the world, the Lord is come” and “Noel, noel.” This the good news that changed history and brought humanity back into relationship with God.
However, you must receive the offer that God made to you. Until you do, you continue to live separated from God. To know the good news is not enough. Something must be done.
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REPENT
The first thing you must do to move toward God is to repent. Repenting means changing your mind about Jesus. It literally means to turnaround, to turn 180 degrees and go in the opposite direction. You must make a U-turn from the way you are headed. You make an about-face and walk the other way. If you once thought Jesus was just a nice teacher or a baby on a Christmas card, you must think differently about him. If you thought he was a myth or a legend, you must change your thinking and realize he was a real, historical figure. If you thought that you never needed a Savior to be right with God, you must change your mind and confront that you need God. Jesus is the Son of God, a Savior, a giver of rest, a forgiver of sin. You must change your mind to believe that. You may have seen REPENT! on a street sign, a bumper sticker, or on a placard held by a man standing on a corner. That is what “repent” means: to turn around.
Repenting, coming to a place where you change your thinking, may be simple or it may take years. At one moment, you may want nothing to do with God, and then one day, the things of God appear attractive to you. Or you may not consider yourself a sinful person or recognize sin as being anything related to you, but later, you realize that you, personally, have sinned and fall short of God’s glory. You may be a hard-core, independent person, a “I’ve made my own life what it is!” person, or a “I’ve never needed anyone to get where I am!” person, or a “I don’t need anybody!” person, but you must repent of such thinking and realize that you need God in order to be all that God created you to be. Before you can believe in Jesus, you must repent.
Repentance comes first, then belief. Repentance leads to belief. Repentance leads to you placing your faith and trust in Jesus and leads to the resulting forgiveness of your sins. The apostle Paul, speaking about his ministry, said, “[I was] solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Acts 20:21) The apostle Peter, after healing a lame man, told people that gathered to see what had happened, “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” (Acts 3:19) Repentance leads to belief in Jesus; belief in Jesus results in the forgiveness of your sins.
As I stated before, repentance may happen in a second – at a point in time, or repentance, can take days, months, even years. Each person is different; each person meets God in his or her own way. The process of repentance and belief is individual. There is no “right way” to repent and believe. Your story will be unique.
Repentance and belief have been part of the biblical message for reconciliation with God from the beginning. God’s prophets preached repentance and belief. Noah preached repentance to the people of his time before the flood that came and destroyed them. Jonah directed his message of repentance to the people of Ninevah. Moses, Ezekiel, Isaiah all told the people to stop sinning and follow God. Ezra, Hosea, and Amos also pleaded with Israel to turn (repent) from their wicked ways and obey the Lord.
Historically, after a period of 400 years during which no prophet communicated with God’s chosen people, a man named John the Baptizer appeared in the desert. His message was one of repentance. He came into the desert of Judea saying: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3:2)
Jesus also preached repentance. Following his forty days in the wilderness and the testing by the evil one, he had the same message: From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17)
The twelve disciples of Jesus, being sent out by him on their first missionary journey, preached the same message. And they went out and preached that men should repent. (Mark 6:12)
God wishes all people to come to repentance. God desires all people to follow him. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)
Once you change your mind about who Jesus is and what he did for you, you can then believe and take a simple action to display your belief.
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BELIEVE
Belief in Jesus is more than merely realizing that he was a real, historical person. Belief in Jesus is more than knowing he lived and walked on earth. Belief in Jesus is more than acknowledging that he said some good things about living or that he was a good person. Belief in Jesus is more than saying he was a prophet or knowing the historical fact that he died on a cross. Of course, all these things are true and part of belief in Jesus, but belief in Jesus involves surrender.
Belief in Jesus involves surrender, trust, and faith which results in the forgiveness of your sins. To believe in Jesus means:
- You have come to the point in your life where you realize that you need a Savior to forgive your sins; by faith, you surrender your will to God and his grace and mercy;
- That by faith, you agree that Jesus is the only son of the living God and is able to forgive your sins;
- That by faith, you understand and grasp that Jesus’ gracious and sacrificial act of dying on a cross and rising from the dead will forgive your sins and give you eternal life;
- And that by faith, you trust in Jesus and him alone (not anything that you have done or can do, or that anyone else has done or can do) to forgive your sins and wipe them away forever.
There is no secret formula to believe in Jesus – no hoops to jump, no baggage to carry, no official way to do it. Belief in Jesus is simply internal and external. It takes place in your mind and is expressed with your mouth. In the same way that you changed your mind about God when repenting, you use your mind to believe and your mouth to express – and all of this is done by faith.
…that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, leading to righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, leading to salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes upon Him will not be put to shame.” (Romans 10:9-11)
Speaking to God is an important action in the salvation process.[i] Speaking with God is called “prayer,” and that’s all it is – talking with God. You can do it all by yourself. You do not need a priest, a pastor, a counselor, or some other intercessor in order to speak with God. It is conversation with God.
In order to make things right with God, a person repents, believes, and expresses that belief by talking with God. And God forgives his or her sins. Nothing else is needed.
There are no special words you have to say to God; there is no “right” way to do this. You might pray a prayer of confession to ask God to forgive your sins. You might pray and raise your hand or stand at your seat in a church service. You might walk forward at a church or evangelistic service and confess that you need Jesus. You might throw a stick or a pine cone into a campfire and say that you need Jesus. You might drive a stake into the ground and say that Jesus is who you need. At conferences, some people pray, write a small note of thanks to God, and attach it to a cross. You might cry out to Him on a mountaintop or whisper to him in the quiet of your bedroom. You can even do this with your last breath on your deathbed (but you won’t be able to read this book if that is the case.)
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A SIDEBAR ABOUT BAPTISM
Some, after praying, are immediately baptized in water while others wait to be baptized in a situation where friends and family can witness it and share in the celebration. The baptism does not save you. The raising of a hand does not save you. The pine cone in the fire does not save you. The only thing that saves you is your surrender to and belief in God and telling God, by faith, that you trust him. Nothing else is needed.
Biblical examples of belief in Jesus differ from person to person. The fact that different people respond to Jesus differently is a good thing because, undoubtedly, ancient church leaders would have made these actions part of the “formula” to believe in Jesus. Those gathered at Pentecost believed and were baptized. (Acts 2:41) The Philippian jailer and his household believed and were baptized, but it is reasonable to assume that the jailer believed in Jesus at the jail prior to returning to his home. (Acts 16:25-40) The Ethiopian eunuch stopped on the side of a desert road, believed, and was baptized, but the implication is that he believed before coming to the water and asking to be baptized. (Acts 8:21-38) However, the thief on the cross next to Jesus merely spoke. He did nothing other than speak. He asked Jesus to remember him. (Luke 23:42) He did nothing else after that except hang there and expire. He was never baptized.
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THE DECISION OF A LIFETIME
Do you want to follow Jesus? If you’ve never talked to God about your belief, do it now. If you believe Jesus is the son of God, that he can forgive your sins and give you life that lasts forever, say these words to God:
God, I need you.
Thank you, Jesus for dying to forgive my sins and raising from the dead to give me eternal life.
Please forgive my sins.
Please give me eternal life so I can live with you forever.
Thank you for hearing my prayer.
Thank you for saving me.
Amen.
(“Amen” is an ancient Hebrew word meaning “So be it” or “Let it be.” Most God-followers end their prayers by saying “Amen.”)
If you just prayed this prayer, your sins – past, present, and future – are forgiven forever.
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A NOTE ABOUT “CHEAP GRACE”
Dietrich Bonhoffer, A German pastor and theologian, coined a phrase “cheap grace.” Some have borrowed this term to describe the prayer to receive Jesus without hearing a profession of Jesus’ lordship in a believer’s life as “cheap grace,” believing that such a prayer to gain eternal life is too easy, too simple to warrant entry into the kingdom of God. They demand a profession of Jesus’ lordship in the believer’s life – a kind of promise to God to follow him in all his ways and leave behind the life once led. Some churches do this in the form of a formal testimony in front of the church. Some churches make this a part of the baptism ceremony. Some churches have actually voted regarding whether they believe the new believer is sincere about his or her intentions to follow Jesus.
I do not agree with this practice (though many churches demand it.) It gets ‘the cart before the horse.” It confuses justification (being made right with God) with sanctification (the spiritual process of becoming holy in thought and action.)
Such critics of the “sinner’s prayer” fail to consider the arduous spiritual journey that some persons take to come to a place of repentance. They fail to fully acknowledge that for some persons saying, “Lord, I need you” takes years of questioning and evaluation. For some, the journey from asking questions like “How do I know there is a God?” “How could God create a world filled with heartache and sorrow?” “Why does God allow children to suffer with cancer?” “Why did God take my son or daughter?” to come to a place of repentance and making the declaration, “God, I need you” takes months, and even years. There is nothing “cheap” about either their questions, their doubts, their hesitations, their processing the truths of God, or their final decision to follow God.
My grandfather, Clyde Johnson, was a man’s man. Tough and rugged, he could drink anyone under the table. He usually finished work with a beer or two at the bar. Bowling with work buddies was usually accompanied by a six-pack.
Clyde was a welder and a machinist. In World War II, the induction board denied his application for service deeming him more valuable in the war effort as a welder than as a soldier. So, he cut steel for the manufacture of warships in Long Beach, CA. He could cut steel straighter with a torch, unaided by any template, than any other man on the crew. We grandkids used to sit on his lap and beg him to “make a muscle” by flexing his bicep. Embedded in his bicep was a small chip of steel that had flown red-hot from a sheet of steel he was cutting. The years had turned it blue in his arm. When he flexed his muscle, we could see and feel the small piece of steel which made a small bump in his bicep. “Come on, Grandpa. Make a muscle!”
My aunt Vady, grandpa’s sister, prayed for her brother daily. She begged God that he would find Jesus before the drinking killed him. She prayed for years. She warned him not to drink. “Don’t pour the devil down your throat to steal your mind,” she cautioned. My grandpa told me years later that I used to sit on his lap and say, “Grandpa’s got beer breath again.” He told me my words were something that haunted him.
One Friday after his shift, as usual, he headed to the local well and started drinking. Evidently, he went on quite a binge, because he regained enough sobriety on Monday morning to wake up and realize he was standing at his drill press. He had no recollection of anything that had happened for the past three days. Vady’s words came back to him. Aware that he had experienced a lost weekend and scared about what he might have done, he surrendered and got on his knees at his drill press. Tears covered the floor, and he gave his life to Jesus with a simple prayer. “Jesus,” he wept, “Take this away from me. Rescue me.” After that prayer, he dried his face and stood up – stone cold sober. He never took another drink for the rest of his life.
So much for “cheap grace.”
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Pay attention to this truth: Eternal life begins when you say “yes” to Jesus. If you just prayed this prayer, God heard you, God forgave you, and God gave you a life that lasts forever.
So, first things first. Once you repent and believe in Jesus, your life is made right with God. You are blameless before him. Now, you start a lifelong journey; now, you take your first steps to follow him (which will take place over your lifetime).
Repenting and believing may happen quickly, or they may occur over an extended period of time. For many skeptics and non-theists, coming to a place of repentance may take years of questioning, debate, research, and seeking after truth. For some people, it may mean reaching the lowest depths and hardest times in order to say a simple statement like “Lord, I need you.” Repentance comes easily to some; to others, it may involve a lifetime of struggle. To all who reach that point, repenting and believing means eternal life – a life with God the Father, Jesus his Son, and the Holy Spirit forever.
Are you ready to follow Jesus? Let’s get started. Onward, forward!
[i] Speaking as part of gaining salvation is important to God. In establishing a type (a picture, an illustration) for salvation, God used the image of a spring of water. When Israel wandered the wilderness, God provided water for them springing from a rock. He commanded Moses to merely speak to the rock in order for the water to gush out. This would complete the picture of salvation. However, Moses, for some reason, decided to strike the rock instead. His disobedience not only destroyed the purity of the illustration, but resulted in Moses being denied to see God’s Promised Land. (Numbers 20:1-13) On a totally different subject, people who are unable to speak use other forms of communication. Even those who are unable to communicate can be saved. God certainly knows the hearts of all people who trust in him.