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Pretty much everyone wants Jesus as Savior to save them from eternal torment in Hell but most of us do not want Him as Lord telling us what we can and cannot do here and now. Get it? We sort of think; "Just keep me out of trouble and I will take it from there." We don't really trust Him enough to risk anything. The problem is then we go on getting ourselves into trouble...precisely by doing those things He has warned us about. Go figure.
Some of us learn faster than others and some never learn (or they learn too late). I, personally, wasted years thinking I could do good works (you know, like volunteering for charity work or donating to some cause or helping out friends and family) in order to sort of balance out my account with God. But it doesn't work that way with Him because I still had the stain of sin on my soul that hadn't been addressed. (Remember, God is Holy and absolutely cannot have sin in His presence.) And it wasn't like I didn't know the whole time that I was only kidding myself. Even a human judge doesn't let you get away with committing a crime just because you do volunteer work once or twice a year. I just did not want to give up my favorite sin. It was that simple.
So He let me have it. My sin of choice, I mean. Funny thing is, I didn't want Him telling me what to do so I ended up with my sin controlling my life. As the saying goes, I had to hit bottom before I would admit I was a sinner. I had accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior more than once in my life and wondered why it never seemed to take. This time was different. Now I trusted Him. I could see that He had been right all along and had made me realize that accepting Him as Lord and Savior were inseparable. If you don't trust Him, then you will live your life your way instead of His because you believe, inside, you might miss out on something good. That is the same old lie Satan has been telling since the Garden of Eden and you cannot believe Satan and end up in Heaven. But follow Christ and He will take you to Heaven (hence...Lord and Savior).
Maybe you have never had any big sin in your life. Maybe the worst you've ever done is feel sorry for yourself and complain against God for how your life has gone. That is still sin and that makes you a sinner because, in your heart, you don't trust God. You think you missed out on something good because He wasn't there for you.
Then there is probably the biggest sin of all and, very likely, the most prevalent. The one where we say to ourself, "I'm not a bad person. I take care of myself and my family, work hard, never get in trouble, and also do alot of nice things for the community. After all, the Bible says, 'God helps them that helps themselves...doesn't it?' " No. It doesn't. In fact, we can actually hate God and do all of those things. So the insistence on professing ourselves to be a good person and then maintaining that God would not be being fair if He sent a good person to Hell is, itself, a sin. In fact, the Bible says there is no one who is good.
(Genesis 8:21, Luke 18:19, Romans 3:10, Ephesians 2:8-9) and "good deeds" have nothing to do with realizing and confessing to God that we are sinners who need His healing and forgiveness in order to live with Him in Heaven. We cannot make our own rules, tip our hats to God occassionally and then expect Him to welcome us, with all our pride, into His Home.
In any case, whatever the size of our sin, the requirements are the same: believe, confess, repent (turn and follow Jesus now) and you will be saved.
(Acts 16:31, Romans 10:9, Matthew 4:17)
If you have repented and would genuinely like to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, here is a simple prayer (as a guide) to help you:
I know I am a sinner and I want to change but I cannot do that without You. I do believe You died on the cross to pay the penalty for my sins and then rose from the grave to give me a new and eternal life. Please forgive my sins, come into my life and make me a new creation in You so that I may glorify Your name. I am now placing my trust in You, alone, for my salvation and I accept your free gift of eternal life. Thank you, Father, for your mercy and your grace in my life. Amen.
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