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Scripturally Based Answers For life's Questions
Answer - PEACE
There are many different religions in the world and all of them have a focus in mind; to make peace with God, to be and do what is required to be accepted by Him. Different religions have different perspectives, practices and requirements, but the motivation driving all of them is to get to a place where a person is accepted by God.
The Bible says, the wrath of God abides on the unbeliever
CLICK-John 3:36. A channel of anger flows from God to sinful mankind, and people sense that every day. They know that peace has to be made and a sacrifice of some kind is required.
Many people wish that God would just leave them alone. They just want to live life and have peace doing as they please. They prefer not to think too deeply about what will happen when they pass from this life. They just desire to pass through this life and face death in peace. Others wonder how they could have peace with God knowing that they will one day stand before Him. They would like to know how they could have God’s blessings in their daily life here in this world.
Atheism is also very common. Many people feel if they just deny God altogether, He will surely go away. They often get irritated at believers for no particular reason because when they come into contact with them, it brings the presence of God, something the atheist does not want to feel. It condemns their unbelief.
So, how can people have peace with God in eternity to come, and in the present as life goes on here on earth? God gives us the answer in the Holy Scriptures:
Peace does not come through any religious practice or self-merited statues gained through time by a certain lifestyle or committed actions. It comes through the person and work of Jesus Christ. Religion has its place in our lives. It is how we practice our faith, but it does not bring people to God, nor does it establish peace between God and mankind. People cannot overcome God’s wrath, they must be delivered from it.
A person cannot bring himself/herself to a point where God will accept him/her. There is no practice, works, activity, sacrifice, gift or thing he/she can do that would make God accept them. God accepts and receives people at the point where they accept and receive Him. The issue is not that God rejects people, it’s that people reject God. Receiving Jesus Christ as Savior is the key to being received by God and having peace with Him.
First, a person must recognize and acknowledge his/her need for Him.
People who trust in their own works or religion do not recognize their need for a Savior, and without recognizing the need and acknowledging it, one cannot have Him. People must understand and confess that they stand condemned in the sight of God in need of being justified by Him, and that they cannot justify themselves through their own ways. They must recognize that they are at the mercy of God.
The soul that sinned, it shall die. CLICK-Ezekiel 18:20
There is not a person on the face of the earth that does not stand guilty in the presence of God in desperate need of justification. The death penalty is upon all people, and eternal damnation will proceed unless deliverance is accepted. It is common for people to excuse their sin by focusing on the good they do, but nothing justifies a man in the sight of God. The penalty for sin is death, an eternal separation from God.
Secondly, a person must acknowledge his guilt.
Jesus paid the penalty of sin and overcame its power for all mankind, but He did not take responsibility for it. We must take that responsibility. Every person in this world stands guilty of sinning against God. God gave us His law to reveal that.
Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
Until people come to God to declare their guilt of sinning against Him, they cannot be forgiven and delivered from the penalty. Generally, people come to God declaring their goodness and their noble intentions in hope that God will overlook their sin, but God will not do that. God is not looking for an explanation; He is looking for a confession.
Repentance is a change in focus, attitude and mindset. A person must take his focus off himself, his philosophy, religion and false hope and place it on God. It is God who saves, and He must be the focal point of our salvation. The recipient must first turn his focus to God and humble himself in His sight. … God resisted the proud, but given grace unto the humble. CLICK-James 4:6 He must change his mind about what he previously thought about salvation and then believe the truth.
Often, when we hear about something we have not yet experienced, we develop our own preconceived idea about it. Whenever I am invited to come to a place where I have not been before, I have preconceived ideas of what it will be like, and generally they are wrong. When I arrive I see that, in actuality, the place is not like I figured it would be. I must change my mind about it, and accept the truth. Every person has a preconceived idea of what God is like, but our naturally developed ideas are wrong. When we hear the truth about Him, we must change our minds and receive the truth. Religion is based upon preconceived notions people have about God. Salvation in Christ is based upon the truth. A person must reject the false mindset he/she has and acknowledge the truth; there must be a change of mind.
When the apostle Paul preached to the people in Athens, Greece, he explained to them that they were serving idols, and the God of creation was unknown to them, but if they wanted salvation they would have to repent and then turn to Him for eternal hope.
Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwellers not in temples made with hands;
“Neither is worshiped with men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he has given to all life, and breath, and all things”—
Fourthly, a person must place his faith in Jesus Christ.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believed in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
He that believed on him is not condemned: but he that believed not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. CLICK-John 3:16-18
The words “in him” of verse 16 are keywords in this passage. It is common for people to believe in Jesus Christ’s existence, and even believe that He is God and died on the cross and rose again, but they do not believe in that being sufficient for their salvation. They may believe that Jesus died, but they do not trust in that for their own salvation. To believe in Him, one must completely rely upon Him and place all of their faith in Him as the only hope for salvation.
For those who believe in Jesus Christ and in what He has done for the salvation of mankind, He is only a prayer away. All a person has to do at this point is call upon Him, confess to Him his/her sin and guilt, and invite Him to come and be his/her Savior.
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believed unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believed on him shall not be ashamed.
For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”—CLICK-Romans 10:9-13
How can one receive Jesus Christ?
Thirdly, a person must repent.
