This devotional was adapted from John Maisel‘s booklet “Is Jesus God?” Click here to receive a free PDF copy.
If you prayed the prayer asking Jesus into your life, you can be confident that you are a child of God and part of His eternal family. I would like to add a few comments that may help you as you consider the decision you have made.
Receive Christ
Scripture says, “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God ... (John 1:12).” To become a member of God’s family, you must receive Jesus Christ into your life. You must understand that you are receiving a gift.
The Gift of God
The Bible says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).” As you can clearly see, when you receive Christ, you are receiving the gift that God offers. It is not based on your works. This is so that no one can boast. After you have become a member of God’s family by receiving Christ as your personal Savior, good works and changed life will result—but good works cannot bring about that relationship.
Your Choice
Receiving God’s gift is simple. In Revelation 3:20, Jesus said, “‘Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.’” Jesus is saying that He will come into your life in the same way you would open the door and invite someone into your house. This is what the Bible calls being born again, which means that you are born into and become a part of God’s family.
How to be Sure
The Bible says, “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life (1 John 5:11-12).”
A Question
Did you receive the Son?
If yes, then the fact is you have eternal life. Jesus said, “‘Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life (John 5:24).’” If you trust Christ for payment of your sins and received Him into your life, you will not face judgment.
Go back and look at each verb in the two verses just quoted:
“‘... whoever hears my word ... .’”
Did you do that? If you reply yes, then:
“‘... and believes him who sent me ... .’”
You believe what God said and trust Christ as your Savior.
“‘... has eternal life ... .’”
Does that mean later? No, right now.
“‘... and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.’”
In other words, you now have everlasting life based on the trustworthiness of Jesus’ promise to you. So when does our eternal life start? For all of us, eternal life begins the moment we believe.
And please note, these statements are based upon the fact of God’s Word, not on how you may feel. We’ll talk about that more next week.
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FaithJohn Maisel
John's travels for ministry behind the Iron Curtain led him to found East-West Ministries International in 1993. John and his wife, Susie, live in Dallas, Texas and have a grown daughter and two grandchildren.