Advancing in Life Articles
Gospel Tracts: Please scroll down to the bottom of this page for Gospel Tracts ...
On this page you will find articles and links to articles that we hope will help with advancing your relationship with The Lord Jesus Christ and our understanding of His Word. We do not claim to have all the answers, but His Word is a Lamp unto our feet and a light to our path. So, on this site we trust the reader will find words of encouragement that will edify and build up our faith and love in the Lord Jesus. For myself, the writer and administrator of this site, I can say that I have been a follower of the Lord Jesus for many years now and along the way I have come to know with complete certainty that God is utterly faithful to His believing children and that the Word of God is totally reliable. You can 'bet your life' on it.
We will be adding more material as time and space allow, so please bookmark this site and return often. Every blessing in Christ, John.
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Scroll down for more articles. Links to 'Simple Church' as well as a range of other useful articles stored on Dropbox (< this link is clickable) and accessible from this site appear at the bottom of the page.
Scroll down for more articles. Links to 'Simple Church' as well as a range of other useful articles stored on Dropbox (< this link is clickable) and accessible from this site appear at the bottom of the page.
"How Can I Have Assurance Of My Salvation?"
How can you know for sure if you are saved? Consider 1 John 5:11-13 (NLT): "And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. So whoever has God's Son has life; whoever does not have his Son does not have life. I write this to you who believe in the Son of God so that you may know you have eternal life." (John 1:12). If you have Jesus, you have life. Not temporary life, but eternal.
God wants us to have assurance of our salvation. We cannot live our Christian lives wondering and worrying each day whether we are truly saved or not. That is why the Bible makes the plan of salvation so clear. Believe in Jesus Christ and you will be saved (John 3:16; Acts 16:31). Do you believe that Jesus is the Savior, that He died to pay the penalty for your sins (Romans 5:8; 2 Corinthians 5:21)? Do you trust Him alone for salvation? If your answer is yes, you are saved! Assurance means to "put beyond all doubt." By taking God's Word to heart, you can "put beyond all doubt" the fact and reality of your eternal salvation.
Jesus Himself affirms this regarding those who have believed in Him: "I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. So no one can take them from me" (John 10:28-29 NLT). Eternal life is just that—eternal. There is nobody, who can take Christ's God-given gift of salvation away from you.
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How Can I Know For Sure That I Will Go To Heaven When I Die?
Do you know for certain that you have eternal life and that you will go to Heaven when you die? God wants you to be sure! The Bible says: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13). Suppose you were standing before God right now and He asked you, “Why should I let you into Heaven?” What would you say? You may not know what to reply. What you need to know is that God loves us and has provided a way that we can know for sure where we will spend eternity. The Bible states it this way: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
We have to first understand the problem that is keeping us from Heaven. The problem is this - our sinful nature keeps us from having a relationship with God. We are sinners by nature and by choice. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We cannot save ourselves. “For by grace are you saved, through faith, and this not of yourselves – it is the gift of God. Not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). We deserve death and hell. “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
God is holy and just and must punish sin, yet He loves us and has provided forgiveness for our sin. Jesus said: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Jesus died for us on the cross: “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous to bring you to God” (1 Peter 3:18). Jesus was resurrected from the dead: “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (Romans 4:25).
So, back to the original question – “How can I know for sure that I will go to Heaven when I die?” The answer is this – believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved (Acts 16:31). “To all who received Him, to those who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). You can receive eternal life as a FREE gift. “The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). You can live a full and meaningful life right now. Jesus said: “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). You can spend eternity with Jesus in Heaven, for He promised: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you may also be where I am” (John 14:3).
If you want to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and receive forgiveness from God, here is a prayer you can pray. Saying this prayer or any other prayer will not save you. It is only trusting in Jesus Christ that can provide forgiveness of sins. This prayer is simply a way to express to God your faith in Him and thank Him for providing for your forgiveness. "God, I know that I have sinned against You and am deserving of punishment. But Jesus Christ took the punishment that I deserve so that through faith in Him I could be forgiven. I place my trust in You for salvation. Thank You for Your wonderful grace and forgiveness! Amen!"
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From Ray Comfort, Living Waters, www.livingwaters.com
How to Witness to a Closed-minded Person
You are about to share the gospel with someone, and he says, “I don’t believe in God or the Bible, it’s all bogus.” If you think it’s the end of the conversation, I have some good news for you. I have found a key that unlocks a door that has just been slammed in your face. This key works. I know, because I have used it a thousand times.
Before we look at the key, let’s establish what we want to achieve (this is important, because our theology will dictate our methodology). If we believe that people can be saved by making a decision, then our agenda will be to get decisions for Christ. But if we believe that salvation is a work of God from beginning to end, we will be guided by that conviction. I believe that we have as much to do with someone’s salvation as we do in making a tree. All we can do is plant the seed, and make sure it’s watered. It is God who makes the tree grow. So my aim is simply to plant the seed of the Word of God in the prepared soil of the human heart. Paul said, “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase” (1 Corinthians 3:6).
Now, let’s get back to the key that opens a closed door. I approach a stranger and say a warm, “Good morning.” He gives a friendly response, so as I hand him a gospel tract I ask, “Did you get your trillion? I’m trying to fix the economy.” I then ask, “What’s your name?” and introduce myself.
I say, “John, that’s a gospel tract. What do you think happens after someone dies—do you think that there is an afterlife?” He says, “No. There’s not. I don’t believe in God or the Bible. It’s all bogus.” The door is closed, so most of us at this point would probably say, “Okay then. It’s nice to meet you. Goodbye.”
Here now is the key that unlocks the closed door. I simply say, “I know that you don’t believe in those things, but if Heaven does exist, will you make it in--are you a good person? ” The word “if” is the key that will unlock the door. I deliberately emphasize it as I say it, because it’s non-threatening.
Our goal is to present the gospel, and to make it make sense we need to do what Jesus did, and go through the moral Law (the Ten Commandments) to bring the knowledge of sin (Luke 10:25, Romans 3:19,20 and 7:7,13) and show the need for the Savior.
God has given us two very powerful helpers for this task. The primary helper is the Holy Spirit, and the other is the sinner’s conscience. In Romans 2:15--16 the Scriptures speak of this second helper:
“They show that the essential requirements of the Law are written in their hearts and are operating there, with which their consciences (sense of right and wrong) also bear witness; and their [moral] decisions (their arguments of reason, their condemning or approving thoughts) will accuse or perhaps defend and excuse [them] on that day when, as my Gospel proclaims, God by Jesus Christ will judge men in regard to the things which they conceal (their hidden thoughts)” (Romans 2:15-16, Amplified Bible).
When the Bible says that “the essential requirements of the Law are written in their hearts” it means that the unregenerate person knows intuitively the code of conduct required by the Law. In other words his conscience is like an impartial judge in the courtroom of his mind, and that voice will accuse him of moral misconduct, if it is awakened from its sleeping state.
When the moral Law is properly presented, something wonderful begins to happen. The sinner’s dormant conscience awakens to do its God-given duty. It affirms the truth of the Commandments. He intuitively knows that it’s wrong to lie, to steal, to blaspheme, and to commit adultery. After going through the Commandments, “if” is once again used—“If God was to judge you by the Ten Commandments on Judgment Day, would you be innocent or guilty?” What he is hearing isn’t exactly what he wants to hear, but the accusations of guilt aren’t coming from without. They are coming from within his own heart, and that has the effect of stopping his mouth of justification, and helping him see that he has sinned against God.
Let me put it another way. It’s a very hot day. You are about to lift a glass of cool clear water to your parched lips. Nothing else matters but quenching your ravenous thirst. Then you hear someone say, “There’s arsenic in that water!” If it’s coming from a credible source, you will more than likely believe what you hear, pull that water away from your lips and tip it onto the ground.
We live among a hedonistic generation that drinks iniquity like water. Nothing else matters except quenching the thirst for sex, porn, parties and pleasure. As the Scriptures say, “God is not in their thoughts.” However, a biblical presentation of the gospel injects God into his thoughts and makes him think seriously about his own eternal salvation.
Acknowledgment: I have taken the liberty of reposting this from the Living Waters Weekly Update and the 'This Week with Ray'.
If you want to see this happening at Living Waters and The Way of the Master, please watch GeniusTheMovie.com and if you want further instruction, listen to “Hell’s Best Kept Secret” on LivingWaters.com
New! Living Waters have just released another wonderful tool: The Atheist Delusion. This is a 'must see' as it will build your faith and equip you to share the truths of Gospel with those who have been tricked and deceived by the enemy of men's souls into the hopelessness of atheism and agnosticism. To view click this link: The Atheist Delusion
Gospel Tracts: Listed below are some useful Gospel tracts that may be downloaded and printed on your own printer -or emailed to those you wish to share the Gospel with. These are all stored on Dropbox and may be freely accessed by simply clicking: CIF Dropbox and then opening the folder 'Gospel Tracts'.
Note: When you access a file from a shared folder on Dropbox the best way is to double click the selected file and once it has opened as a web page then click the large blue Download button at the top right hand side of the page. Click it and then click on the 'Direct Download' option. Choose 'Save file' and then navigate to the folder where your Browser saves downloaded files and open it from there. That way you will have a saved local copy available for access or to print at any time.
Every 18 Minutes | The Most Important Thing in the World | How To Be Sure of Heaven When You Die | How To Become A Christian in Chinese | Helen Shapiro's Testimony | Robyn Jackson's Testimony | Hopelessly Misplaced Faith, by Ray Comfort (Note: While this was actually written as a simple article on Ray's regular email, it makes an excellent short and very simple tract to hand out to the right person on the right occasion. I heartily recommend it.)
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Other Articles and Links to Simple Church
Be Sure To Click these Links for more information about: |what we believe|, to watch some great |movies and video clips|, to access |Advancing in Life| articles and read more about |Simple Church| and |other articles on Dropbox| or visit the blog sites attached to this site -|CIF Blog| & |The Most Important Thing in the World Blog|.
CIF Blog: Also check out our CIF Blog for inspirational and teaching articles published approximately every two weeks on this site.