12. How do I accept Jesus?

The first step is to recognize that you can’t save yourself. The Bible says that all have sinned (Romans 3:23) and that the wages or result of sin is death (Romans 6:23). That’s pretty bad news.JTL10 7.4

But there’s hope for every one of us! The rest of Romans 6:23 reads, “But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Note that our salvation is a gift from God that He extends to us. We can never earn it by our own good works. Jesus took the death that should have been ours, and if we accept Jesus as our Messiah and Lord of our life, we have eternal life (John 3:16).JTL10 7.5

To be justified means “made right with God.” When we accept Jesus as our Savior and ask Him to forgive our sins, He gives us peace. He credits us with His righteousness. By faith in Him, His goodness becomes our goodness. He changes our hearts as we meditate about Him, pray to Him, and read His Word.JTL10 7.6

When we pray, “Lord Jesus, save me! I accept you and believe You died for ME,” God accepts us into His family (John 1:12). All heaven celebrates our adoption! With His blood, Jesus washes away our sins and we stand before God wonderfully clean (Isaiah 1:18). Believe that He has done that on your behalf. Jesus loves you! He has pledged Himself to open before you all the treasures of His grace.JTL10 7.7

Jesus wants us to KNOW that He has saved us (1 John 5:13) and not be in doubt about the status of our salvation. After we have made life’s most important decision, to accept Jesus as Savior, His Spirit teaches us to become more like Him (1 Corinthians 3:9-11). We then keep God’s commandments out of a response to His incredible grace (John 14:15). Don’t postpone your decision to accept Jesus as Lord! Now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2)!JTL10 8.1