The Gift of Christmas … We Believe (part 2)

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him…

John 3:16

December’s flying by. Still 21 days left though to choose the perfect gift. Now let me ask you a silly question: when you go shopping for Aunt Sally, when you search high and low for what will please her, when you wrack your brain to be creative, when you wrap your selection in a pretty package and tie it with a bow, what do you expect Aunt Sally to do with her gift? Suppose she thanks you profusely, and gushes over the festive paper and bow, and sets it on her mantle, and never opens it.

You will have to agree, when you get a gift, it really is not yours until you open it. Yet that is exactly the way many folks have treated God’s greatest gift—they have left it on the shelf unopened.

So how does one open God’s gift? Belief in Who Jesus is, is not the complete answer: Even the demons believe that—and shudder (James 2:19). However, you must start with Who He is. John 1:1 clearly tells us He is divine, was “with God in the beginning”, in fact “was God”, as does Philippians 2:6: Christ Jesus was “in very nature God”.

Then you must believe what He did: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve… (and then) to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time (1 Corinthians 15:3-6).       

It begins with the urging of the Holy Spirit. In context, Jesus and Nicodemus are having a conversation about the second birth, much to Nicodemus’ bemusement: “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit” (John 3:5-6).

Once your heart has enough facts to believe, you must confess Jesus as your Lord. If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved (Romans 10:9-10).

The A-B-Cs of salvation are fairly elementary: A—admit you are a sinner; B—believe Jesus paid the price; C—confess Him as your Lord. Amen—you are saved!

Nancy P