Life in Christ means that you’ve accepted a few basic biblical principles to be truth, and have made a decision to turn to Jesus and His work as the source of your hope and life. The Bible teaches that:
No one is perfect, and we are all separated from God by our brokenness which the Bible calls “sin.” “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
God is perfect or “holy”
(meaning separated from all that is not perfect). Meaning that, apart from God, we are all destine to a place of suffering and continual death called Hell. “For the wages of sin is death…” Romans 6:23a
God loves all humanity despite our sin and brokenness, though He cannot simply ignore it. “Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin.” Hebrew 9:22
God’s forgiveness required Him to make a sacrifice that is a sinless substitute on humanity’s behalf. And the only one who could meet God’s requirement was God Himself. So God came to us in the form of Jesus – The “Son of God”. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son [Jesus], that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
Because Jesus died on the cross, taking the payment and punishment we deserved for our sin, we must simply accept Him in our lives as our payment. Trusting in His sacrifice for our sin and separation from God. “He who believes on the Son has life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” John 3:36
Jesus physically rose from the grave on the third day and showed Himself to hundreds of people – just like He said He would. Just as He rose again to life, in Jesus’ name we are given a new life that is free from the power of our sin, and that is learning to love for God. “If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation; the old has past away, all things have become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17
The choice is yours. God will not force His love on anyone. But there is only one way to God, and it’s on His terms; receive the forgiveness and life that He offers through Jesus, or remain eternally separation from God. “I [Jesus] am the way the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father [God] except through Me.” John 14:6
