What Must I Do to Be Made Right With God?

The truth is that if you have gotten this far, and are genuinely asking this question, you are not far from the kingdom of God and eternal life. In fact, it is not what you can do for God but what God has done for you as you would ask Him to be merciful to you.

God gives you the faith to believe, the grace to receive, and the power to obey. That is what He promises to those who will call on Him.

NKJ Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

NKJ Romans 10:13 For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.

What do I tell God? Tell Him that you want to transfer your trust from yourself, your good deeds, and what you have been doing to try and merit favor with God, to what Jesus Christ has done for you on the cross. Are you willing to trust in Jesus alone as God's means of your salvation and eternal well being? Then, tell God that.

Tell Him that you want to receive the resurrected, living Christ as your Savior.

Tell God that you want to receive Jesus as the Lord of your life. You are yielding your will and life to Jesus so that whatever He says in the Bible, you are willing to do. Are you willing to recognize Jesus' authority over your life? Then, tell God that.

Lastly, tell God that you repent of your sin. Repentance is not just saying to God that you are sorry for the wrong things you have done. It is an active turning around. Instead of moving away from God, with God's help you are now going to move with the same energy as before, but now, towards Him. In other words, you want to please God with all that you do. Are you ready for that change of heart that will turn you back toward God and His ways? Then, tell God that.

Here is a simple prayer that summarizes those ideas. If you like you can use it to say to God those things that He is putting in your heart right now.

"God, I thank you for what You have done in my life. I admit and confess that I am a sinner, that I have disobeyed what You have said in the Bible. Thank you for providing a way of salvation for me in sending Jesus to die on the cross in my place. I would now transfer my trust from myself to Jesus as Your only means of eternal life. Jesus, give me a new heart, one that wants to please you in every way. I turn from my sin and my self to You so that You might give me a new life. Thank you for saving me and giving me the gift of eternal life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen."

There is a Bible verse that I want you to read.

NKJ John 6:47 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.

Do you believe in Jesus as God's means of your salvation? Then what does Jesus say that you have? That is right, eternal life.

If God were to ask you today, why He should let you into His heaven? What would you tell Him? That is right, that Jesus died in your place and rose again so that He might purchase for you a place in heaven, and welcome you into the kingdom of God as a part of God's family.

There is one other thing that might be well for you to do. In a quiet place, sit down with paper and pen in hand, and begin to write down a list of things that you know that you have done wrong in your life, sins. Ask the Holy Spirit of God to bring them to your remembrance and as He does, just write them down. It might take more than one sitting (it would for me). Write until the Holy Spirit does not bring anymore to mind.

When you have finished, realize that, as a Christian, a part of the family of God, that God has forgiven you all of those sins. Listen to what the Bible says to you:

NKJ 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

NKJ Psalm 103:11-12 For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

You have been set free from the guilt of your old record, your old "rap" sheet. God has given you a new record and it is the record of Jesus Christ who is the righteousness of God.

NKJ 2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

As a Christian, Jesus' record becomes yours, so you might want to take that list of past failures and run it through your paper shredder, or destroy it so that you remember it no longer. When you do that, we here at Open Bible would count it a great privilege to know what God has done in your life so that we might pray for you. Send us an e-mail to obministries@yahoo.org, and let us know of how God's grace has worked in your life.