Page 14 - Youth Discipleship Student Textbook

forgiveness by receiving Jesus as your Savior and Lord, your name will be written in that book.
The Bible says that every person who has ever lived, that includes you, will stand before God in
judgment. The Bible says in Revelation 20: 15, “And if anyone's name was not found written in
the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” Is your name in the Book of Life? Do you
want it to be written there? Would you like to receive the forgiveness Jesus offers you?

9. If yes… then tell Jesus Christ that you are a sinner and need forgiveness. Thank Him for dying on
the cross and shedding his blood for you. Ask Him to be your Savior and Lord of your life. Turn
from your sin to Jesus Christ. Would you like me to help you with a prayer you can pray to Jesus
Christ?

10. If no…then realize that your sin has not been forgiven by God, and that unless you recognize
that Jesus is Lord and submit to His authority, you will pay the penalty for your sin. And you will
do so for all eternity. According to John 8:24, Jesus said, “Therefore I said to you that you will
die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am (Lord), you will die in your sins." What this verse
means is until you are willing to honor Jesus Christ as Lord of your life, you will
pay the penalty for your own sins. Either He pays the penalty or you do. You
can’t have it both ways!

What is the Gospel?
The word gospel means “good news.” It is best described in:

I Corinthians 15:3-4 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that
Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third
day according to the Scriptures,

The gospel message is that Christ died and arose to take our punishment for sin and give us eternal life.

The key word in the New Testament describing what one must do to have eternal life is “believe (to
exercise faith).” The term “believe” means more than believing a fact. It means “trusting in” or
“depending on” a fact. You can say a chair will hold you up if you sit in it, but true faith is demonstrated
by sitting down in the chair. That’s what “believing in Christ for eternal life” means. In the Bible, “faith”
in Christ means the same thing. It’s the noun form of the verb “believe.” The best verse in the Bible to
help us truly understand what a person must do is found in John.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him
shall not perish but have eternal life.

Other descriptions for “eternal life” you will find in these passages are “salvation, saved, justification,
justified.” The word “grace” describes the whole process of God giving eternal life as a free gift – apart
from works – to those who believe.

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