Salvation by grace. Only Christianity contends that God loves us with an unconditional love And what God demands of you, he knows you cannot live up to it. So he came to this earth to live up to it himself and give you credit for it. So if you will give God your life he will give you credit for the life of Jesus, which was a perfect life. That’s grace. Salvation is by grace meaning you don’t actually earn it and you don’t deserve it, but it’s a free gift from God. And it’s available to anyone who will admit that they’re a sinner and believe that Jesus Christ is God and Savior who died on the cross for our sins and rose again. And if you will admit that you’re a sinner and believe that Jesus is God and Savior and trust in him by giving him your life, he will take that life, he will forgive it and he recreates you spiritually. He starts you over. You’re now a new person in Christ. You’re no longer your own god, headed to your own destruction. He is now your God and Savior, the true God. And you’re headed to eternal life.
That’s why the bible says: for it is by grace that you’ve been saved through faith, faith in Jesus, and that’s a gift from God, it’s not of works so no man can boast. It’s one of my favorite verses in the bible. You know Bono of U2, everybody knows Bono right? He talked about what draws him to Christianity. He talks about this “Man, I lived a terrible life” and he said “I dabbled in different things and did all sorts of things but I’ve been drawn to the Christian faith like never before.” And I want to show you what he said. Bono said “It’s a mind-blowing concept that the God who created the universe might be looking for a real relationship with people. But the thing that keeps me on my knees is the difference between grace and karma.” He said “the idea of karma, what you put out comes back to you, and yet along comes the idea of grace to upend all of that.” He said “Man, I don’t know what I’ve done. I need grace” he says “For me this is very good news indeed because I’ve done a lot of stupid stuff.” I’m gonna finish with this. He says, Bono says “I don’t excuse my mistakes but I’m holding out for grace, I’m holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the cross because I know who I am and I hope I don’t have to depend on my own religiosity.”
Friend, he’s right. That’s the difference. Karma or amazing grace? Which one do you want? Come to Christ right now. Would you like to receive Jesus’ grace right now? Let’s bow our heads and go to the Lord in prayer. All the Christians in the room, I’m asking you to pray. Pray right now for those who need to open their hearts to Jesus. I’m praying for you that are watching us online, watching live. Maybe some of you will be watching this video weeks from now. We’re praying for you already at this church. Right now, you can meet the true, one true living God. He knows you, he created you, he loves you. You say “Pastor, what do I need to do to meet him?” Well you just gotta reach out to him in your heart. It’s simple that way. I mean he’s God. He doesn’t have an address or phone number. He’s right here with you right now. The problem is that you’ve ignored him, you’ve run from him, so stop right now. Stop running. In your heart, humble yourself and talk to him. Maybe you sense his spirit talking to you right now. It feels like conviction, it feels like a weight of sin upon you right now. That’s the Lord, the guilt of sin, the acknowledgement. Yes I’m guilty. So right now say “God I know I’m a sinner. I confess that I’m a sinner. And if salvation is based upon me ever getting it all right, then I’m definitely doomed. So God I ask you right now to forgive me of my sins and give me the gift of salvation and eternal life by grace. I don’t earn it. I don’t deserve it. But Jesus Christ according to the bible, according to the word of God, you can even say according to this preacher, Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins and he loves me. I need him. I give him my life. God I ask that the spirit of the Lord come into my heart right now and take over. Let Jesus be my God and my Savior.”
Well that’s just my way of leading you through a simple prayer, a thought. No magic words there. You say it your own way. Music to God’s ears is that a person gets honest with him. If you want to be saved, you can pray something like that. But I tell you what you do. You go home today and you start seeking God. Seek him, get on your knees and talk to him and pray. Humble yourself. Open the word of God, open the bible. If you don’t know where to start reading, email me. I’ll give you some tips because through the bible, God’s gonna start speaking to you. And you can begin a relationship and a walk with Jesus Christ today. And it will change everything.