ESL – Plan of Salvation

How To Become a Christian

 

Jesus died on the cross* to take the punishment* for your sin.  God wants to forgive your sin.  He wants you to know him and talk to him.  He wants to help you while live your life on earth.  He wants to take you to heaven* to live with him when you die.

 

You can learn many things about God by reading the Bible.  But you can’t really know him until you get rid of your sin.  Your sin separates you from God.  This is how you can have your sins forgiven and become a Christian*.

 

Admit that you have sinned.  Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned, and come short* of the glory* of God.”  God is holy.  He has never sinned.  He can’t sin.  He can’t accept people until they get rid of their sin.  Every person has sinned.  No one is good enough for God.

 

If you compare yourself to other people, you may feel that you are a good person.  You may not be as bad as many people.  But if you compare yourself to God, you must see that you still do wrong things and think wrong thoughts.  These bad things, sins, separate you from God. 

 

Romans 6:23 says, “The wages* of sin is death*, but the gift* of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ.”  Because we sin, we deserve to die.  Not only do our bodies die, but our spirits die, too.  When your body dies, if your sins are not forgiven, your spirit will be separated from God forever.  But God wants to give you eternal life so that you can live forever with him.

 

How do you get this wonderful gift of eternal life?  John 3:16 says that God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, Jesus.  Whoever believes on Jesus gets this gift of eternal live.

 

The Bible talks about one true God who is made up of three parts:  the Father*, the Son*, and the Holy Spirit*.  Jesus is God the Son.  Jesus never had a beginning.  He was always God.  He helped create the world at the beginning of time.  Then, about 2000 years ago, Jesus was born as a human baby and became a person.  At that time Jesus was God and a human person at the same time.  Jesus lived on the earth for 33 years.  After that people killed him on a cross.  Jesus did not die for his own sin.  He had never done anything wrong.  Jesus died for the sin of all people so that we could have eternal life.

 

God wants to give you the wonderful gift of forgiveness* and eternal life.  Will you take God’s gift?

 

You will not take the gift if you think you are not very bad and don’t need God’s forgiveness.  If you are not sorry for sinning, you won’t take the gift either.  Or you may not take the gift because you don’t believe God will forgive you. 

 

To take God’s gift you must know that you need forgiveness because you have sinned.  You must be sorry that you have sinned and hurt God with your sin.  And you must believe that God will forgive you because Jesus took your punishment.

 

If you do this, you will get God’s wonderful gift of forgiveness.  Then your sins will not separate you from God, so you can get to know him.  He will help you live your life.  And when you die you will live with God forever.

 

When God forgives your sin, you become a true* Christian.  A true Christian will want to please God.  When you live to please God, you become like Jesus Christ.

 

Vocabulary

Names–God

Father

Holy Spirit

Son

 

Names of Places

heaven

 

Other

cross (n)

wages (n)

punishment (n)

death (n)

Christian (n)

gift (n)

come short

forgiveness (n)

glory (n)

true (adj)

Reprinted from Bible People and Me: Life of Christ by permission of Regular Baptist Press.