Salvation
Perfect. That can be an imposing word, especially as we think about God. God is perfect. It’s only fitting that God’s home, Heaven, is perfect, too. Who doesn’t want to go spend eternity in a perfect place with no depression, no death, no cancer, no bills, no aging... well, you get the idea. So, if Heaven is a perfect place, then all we have to do is be perfect. Easy enough. Or maybe not.
If I can be honest, I’m not perfect, and if I can venture a guess, you aren’t either. I know, I know, I don’t know you, but the Bible assures us that no one is perfect. It refers to imperfection as sin, and Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” In other words, not even the best of us could enter Heaven and not tarnish its shine. That’s why Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death.” If God is Life, and we’re not perfect enough to go to Heaven, being separated from God for eternity is like eternal death. Unfortunately, there are only two locations on eternity’s map: Heaven and Hell. Hell is a very real place, just as much as Heaven. In fact, Jesus spoke more about Hell than He ever did Heaven. For instance, in Matthew 13:49-50, Jesus said of Hell, “The angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” In Mark 9:46 he described Hell as a place “where their worm (soul) dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”
That’s a terrifying thought to me; I’m not perfect, so I have Hell to look forward to? It doesn’t matter how good I am for the rest of my life, because of even one past mistake, I can never be perfect again. Or can I? 2 Peter 3:9 tells us that God is “not willing that any should perish.” God never planned Hell for a single human being, and He doesn’t want any of us to end up there, so knowing we would fail to be perfect, He had a plan. In John 3:16, a passage you may even know well, we read that plan: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son (Jesus), that whosoever (me and you included), believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” God decided before we were ever even created that even though we would mess up and separate ourselves from Him, a perfect substitute could be sacrificed in our place, His beloved Son Jesus, and we could be made “perfect” before God again. If you look at the last part of 2Peter 3:9 again, it says God is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
That’s the process. We believe we aren’t perfect. We believe Jesus came to earth and lived a perfect life, died on a cross for our sins (imperfection), and rose again. And we repent, or confess to God that we have messed up, we want to claim Jesus’ substitution for us, and we need Him to come in and clean up and take control of our lives. After all, the Bible says in Galatians 2:20 of those who choose to follow this plan, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” But, can we trust His plan? Well, He is the all-knowing Creator of this all, and He did love us enough to give up His own life just so we could have a relationship with Him again.
So, how do you make this a reality in your life? How do you “do” this process? The answer is simple: a prayer. There is nothing magical about this prayer itself. What’s important is that you’re sincere about what you pray. You can pray the prayer below, or you can put it in your own words, but, remember, God knows your heart. He knows your sincerity. So, if you’re ready to make this decision, pray, right now.
"Dear God, I know I’m not perfect, but I know You are. I’m sorry for trying to live life my way and not yours. Thank You for sending Jesus to be my substitute. Right now, I want to invite You into my life; I give You control. Help me live a life that honors You."
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