That questions gives me the opportunity to share with you four key scriptures verses. When I need answers to life's deep questions, I go to my favorite book - the Bible. It seems the more I read and study the Bible, the more clear things become. I would like to share with you four passages of scripture that I call the "Romans Road."  They offer a way to salvation with the risen Christ.  These four verses are:  
                   
           (1) Romans 3:23;  (2) Romans 5:8;  (3) Romans 6:23;  (4) Romans 10: 9 & 10
                       

  In Romans 3:23, Paul tells us, "All have sinned and have fallen short of heaven (God's glory)" (paraphrase mine). That means just what it says. ALL have sinned--not the worst of us but each of us--and because of that sin, we fall short of reaching heaven and life eternal with God. Whether we like it or not, sin requires a sacrifice and because we all sin, we owe a debt to God we cannot pay.

To fully understand how deep God's love for us really goes, we need to understand the second step. Romans 5:8 says, "But God proves His love for us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Paraphrase mine) The interesting point here is that God sent His only Son to die for our sins without knowing whether any of us would accept Jesus as their personal savior or not. While we were still sinners, Jesus suffered and died to pay a debt for you and for me.

For the sins we commit, we earn death- -not physical death, but a spiritual death  or separation from God. Romans 6:23 says, "The wages of sin is death (wages are what we earn) but the free gift from God is life eternal through Jesus the Christ (Paraphrase mine)." When we sin we are "paid" for those sins through a separation or alienation from God.  God's creation, God's "good" creation has gone horribly bad because of sin. But, Jesus came so that we could have eternal life, even though we don't deserve it.  We call this wonderful gift from God "grace." We cannot earn it, we cannot purchase it and we certainly do not deserve it. God gives it to us anyway.

So what do you have to do to receive this wonderful gift of eternal life from God? It is so simple. Romans 10:9&10 says, "If you confess with your lips that ?Jesus is Lord' and believe in your heart of hearts that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Justification comes from the heart and confession with the mouth leads to salvation." (Paraphrase mine) In other words, IF you believe that God raised Jesus from the dead and you are willing to say out loud that Jesus is Lord of your life, you will be saved.  Saved from what? You will be saved from the spiritual death Romans 6:23 speaks about; saved TO eternal life with God in heaven. But, it goes deeper than just lip service. For Jesus to truly become "Lord of your life" means that you will try your absolute best to live a life that is a mirror image of the life of Christ.

 Life in Christ really is that simple and that easy. Rest assured that you are not alone in your journey. God is with you through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. If you are looking for church home and true Christian fellowship, you will find it here - at First Christian Church, in Columbus. There is a place waiting here just for you.