INTRODUCTION:   Sadly many reject eternal life which is the gift of God. (Matthew 7:13-14; John 1:9-12,3:1621; Romans 6:23). That means they refuse His presence in their lives and thereby in reality do not have true life as God intended them to have. These who decline God's grace are physically alive, but spiritually dead.

           They live their lives apart from God's plan for them and come to the end of their lives never knowing the wonderful salvation that Jesus Christ as provided. Yet, God has provided in His clear written Word how we might be saved and receive eternal life which begin with our belief and salvation. Many come close. having known the truth, some even professing salvation, but live defeated lives not being willing to fully trust the Lord and obey Him. God's plan for each of us is simple and easy to understand, if we will submit ourselves to Him. He is our God and Creator...certainly we should believe and put our trust in His plan for our lives. No man, no matter how much of the world he tries to enjoy he will ultimately find that it is all in vain, and temporal. It can never can bring satisfaction, salvation or true peace a part from being submitted to God's desire for his life. God created us to be spiritual beings, not just physical ones.

           This study is designed to help us know God's plan as stated in His word. It will be our responsibility to believe it and allow God to fully work in our lives. We must understand that He will not force Himself on us or violate our wills. If we receive God's blessing and provision for our lives it will be because we in faith, desired and accepted His will for us.

A. Hopelessly separated from God (Romans 6:23a; Ephesians 2:1-3, 11-12; Colossians 1:21)

B. Spiritually dead in his sins (Romans 3:23, 5:12; Ephesians 2:1,5; Colossians 2:13)

C. Hostile to God (Romans 5:l0a, 8:7; Colossians 1:21)

D. Blinded by Satan (2 Corinthians 4:3-4) and held captive by him to do his will (2 Timothy 2:24-26, esp. verse 26)

E. Powerless to overcome sin's hold on his life (Ecclesiastes 7:20; John 8:34; Romans 1:28-32, 5:6, 6:16; Galatians 5:19-21; 2 Peter 2:19)

F. Unable to understand the things of God (Proverbs 14:12, 16:25; Isaiah 55:8-9; 1 Corinthians 2:14)

G. Unable to please God or to walk in His way (Psalm 143:2b; Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:9-12, 23; 8:7-8; Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 2:8-9; 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 3:5-7; Hebrews 11:6)

H. Incapable of living a spiritually fruitful and meaningful life (John 15:4-6).

A. God is just, so we all face His wrath and judgment in our sinful state (Romans 1:18, 6:23a; Ephesians 2:3; Hebrews 9:27; 2 Peter 3:7).

B. On the other hand, God is loving and doesn't want us to perish in our sin (John 3:16; Romans 5:8; 1 Timothy 2:3-4; 2 Peter 3:9), so He draws us toward His Son, Jesus (John 6:44-45, 65).

A. By His gracious and merciful love, God gave His one and only begotten Son, Jesus, as the only answer for our helpless spiritual condition (Isaiah 53:2-12; John 3:16,14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 5:6; Ephesians 1:3-12; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; 1 John 4:10).

B. Since we cannot save ourselves or do anything to merit God's favor and mercy (Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 2:8-9; 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 3:5-7), Jesus paid the full price for our redemption by dying on the cross for the penalty for our sin (Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 1:7;1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; Hebrews 10:10-14; 1 Peter 1:18-19,3:18).

C. God accepted and approved His Son's sacrificial death for our sin by raising Jesus from the dead (Romans 1:4, 4:25). Jesus Christ is eternally alive (Acts 2:32; Romans 6:9; Revelation 1:17-18), is with God (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 8:1), and is Lord of all (Philippians 2:911; Revelation 17:14, 19:16). Through His death and resurrection, the Lord Jesus Christ is victorious over sin (Romans 6:10), death (Romans 6:9), and the devil (Hebrews 2:14).

D. Through Jesus, one can:

1. Have their sins forgiven (Acts 5:31, 10:43; Ephesians 1:7,4:32; Colossians 1:13-14,2:13-14)

2. Experience a spiritual new birth (John 3:3; 1 Peter 1:3, 23; 1 John 5:1)

3. Receive the gift of eternal life through God's gracious gift of faith (John 3:16; 5:24; 6:40, 47; 11:25-26; 17:1-3; Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9; 1 Timothy 1:16; 1 John 5:11-12)

4. Have access to God (John 14:6; Ephesians 2:18, 3:11-12; Hebrews 10:19-22)

5. Be a member of God's family (John 1:12; Romans 8:15-17; Galatians 3:26; Ephesians 1:5,2:19; 1 John 3:1-2)

6. Understand the things of God (John 14:26, 16:13-15; 1 Corinthians 2:9-13)

7. Become a new person with the capability for living in a totally new manner (Romans 6:4-22; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Philippians 4:13)

8. Be empowered to change, to mature into Christ likeness, and to have an increasingly intimate knowledge of God Himself (John 17:3; Romans 8:2, 28-29; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Philippians 1:6, 4:13; Colossians 1:9-11; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Peter 1:3-4).

A. If one chooses to recognize God's love (John 3:16;1 John 4:10) and accept His Truth as revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ (John 14:6) and be saved from his sin, he must in faith:
1. Believe in Jesus (John 5:24; Romans 10:8-13) who once and for all offered Himself as a sacrifice for your sin (Hebrews 10:4-22). This is more than a intellectual knowledge or belief in the existence of God. It is the conscious act of putting one's trust in Jesus Christ provision for our sins and accepting His payment, meaning suffering and sacrifice, for our sins.

2. Repent of your sin (Mark 1:15; Luke 15:7; Acts 2:38, 3:19, 26:20; 2 Peter 3:9)

3. Wholeheartedly believe that the blood of Jesus Christ which was shed on the Cross provides forgiveness for your sin (Romans 3:23-25; Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:19-23; 1 Peter 1:18-19) and likewise believe that God raised Jesus from the dead so that you might walk in newness of life (Romans 4:24-25,6:4,8:11,10:9; 1 Corinthians 15:12-22)

4. Sincerely receive the Lord Jesus Christ into your life (John 1:12; 1 John 5:12), and as a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), live in faithful and loving obedience to God's Word (the Bible) (1 John 2:3-6). Jesus becomes a true believer's Lord....and Savior. He receives Jesus as Lord because of who Jesus is....that being God and our Creator. He accepts God's authority over him, because God is his Creator and Savior. This belief is not based on one's works, ritual acts, such as baptism or the Lord's Supper, church membership, or any religious act of men, but solely on God's offer of unmerited favor, which is grace. The true believer understands he deserves hell, but God in his mercy and love freely offers salvation truth His grace.

B. If a person rejects God's truth by refusing to repent of their sin and they therefore fail to receive the gift of eternal life through God's Son, Jesus Christ. To reject the Gospel, which is the Good News of God's offer of salvation a person will remain
1. Under God's judgment (John 3:18,36; Romans 1:28-32)
2. Ignorant of spiritual matters (Isaiah 55:8-9; 1 Corinthians 1:18a,2:14)
3. Powerless to overcome sin in your life (John 8:34; 2 Peter 2:19)
4. Unable to please God (Romans 8:8; Hebrews 11:6)
5. Guaranteed increasing heartache, problems, and difficulty for yourself (Proverbs 13:15, 14:12, 17:20,26:12; Romans 2:89; Colossians 3:25)
6. Doomed to die in your sins (John 8:21-24)
7. Under condemnation to eternal punishment, forever separated from God's presence (2 Peter 3:7; Revelation 20:15).

C. If one decides to alter or change God's plan of salvation in Christ Jesus then God will cannot save that person, no matter how sincere they may be.
Human wisdom is foolish and inadequate to know God (1 Corinthians 1:21,3:19-20), Our own thoughts which are contrary to God's ways (Isaiah 55:8-9; Romans 8:6-8), or our own desires which are contrary to the Spirit of God (Galatians 5:17); and one thereby places himself under God's condemnation (Mark 16:16), His reproof (Proverbs 30:6), His chastisement (Revelation 22:18-19), and His curse (Galatians 1:6-9).

The Bible is God own very word and it and it alone is our sole authority for our faith and practice. Salvation is of the Lord and it is He....not man....who can save and give eternal life. It degrades God for a man to assume God's rightful position and seek to make the terms for God's forgiving us and imparting unto us eternal life (Isaiah 55:9). Man does not bargain with God in receiving salvation, but to the contrary, but in humility fully accepts God's plan.

If you have never taken this first step to change biblically, you can do so right now. Simply tell God you know you are a sinner and need His forgiveness of your sin. Acknowledge to God that neither you nor anyone else but Jesus Christ can save you. Ask God to forgive you of your sin because you know that Jesus died to pay the penalty for sin and rose from the dead so that you might have a new life. By faith and trust receive the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and thank God for His grace and love to you through Jesus. With a sincere and repentant heart, demonstrate your commitment to Him by being obedient to His Word. The first step of true repentance and salvation is to publicly declare your faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 10:9-11). Further the true believer is instructed by God to be baptized by immersion and join a local Bible believing church (Acts 2:41, 44, 47; 8:12; 10:48; 19:5).

A. There are two reasons the plan of salvation has been explained in detail.
1. To begin with, it is essential that you understand the spiritual principle that all of man's wisdom, philosophy, devices, procedures, manipulations, and sincerity cannot substitute for God's plan of salvation through Jesus Christ (see IV., point C. above). Any person claiming to have taken a different way to salvation except through Jesus Christ is likened in Scripture to a thief and a robber (John 10:1,7).

2. The next reason is consistent with, and follows, the same basic spiritual principle as the first. The problems brought on by man as a result of his sin of disobedience in the Garden of Eden (Genesis chapter 3; Romans 5:12) cannot be solved by man's devices and philosophies (1 Corinthians 3:19-20; Colossians 2:6-8), regardless of the futile attempts to mix God's Word with unregenerate suppositions and theories (Deuteronomy 4:2; Proverbs 30:6; Revelation 22:19).

a. This futility is especially realized when you see that God's Word claims total sufficiency to solve all of life's problems (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:2-4).

b. By merely dealing in a superficial way with the basic problems of rebellion and disobedience, man's wisdom seeks to thwart the very will and plan of God to bring him to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and to a subsequent reliance on the Word of God for every area of life.

B. The Word of God has been given to man as the sole source for finding God's solutions to the real problems that plague him (Psalm 19:7-11; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 4:12; 2 Peter 1:2-4).

A. The primary difference is that man's way is oriented to self: to please self, to comfort self, to rely on self, to fulfill self, to forgive self, to exalt self, and to love self. This is described in Scripture as the old self-nature (Romans 6:6; Ephesians 4:22; Colossians 3:9).

B. God's way is:

1. To regenerate and change you. No man has within himself the power to save or spiritual change Himself or establish a true relationship with God. It is God who does the changing as we in faith obey Him taking Him at His word. Our obedience to the Lord is God's way to affect this change. God is able to work in the life of one who is committed to letting God be his Lord and to letting God make him into what God wants him to be. We must obey God by:
a. Putting off from you the old nature (Romans 6:6; Ephesians 4:22; Colossians 3:9)
b. Putting on you the new nature (Romans 6:7-8; Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10).
c. Renewing the spirit of your mind as part of your continual process of maturing in Christ likeness (Romans 12:2; Ephesians 4:23; Colossians 3:10).

2. God's way is to empower and strengthen us and thereby to mature as us as we:
a. Deny self and follow Jesus (Luke 9:23-24)
b. Lay aside (put off) the practices of the old self-nature (Romans 6:11-22; Ephesians 4:25-32; Colossians 3:5-17; Revelation 2:4-5) and walk in a manner worthy of the Lord (Ephesians 4:1; Colossians 1:10)
c. Please God in all things (2 Corinthians 5:9; Colossians 1:10).

C. God's plan, instead of the ideologies which focus on self, establishes our true position in Christ and gives us God's provision for us to be:
1. Forgiven of all your sins (Colossians 2:13-14) and become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) by partaking of God's divine nature (2 Peter 1:4)

2. A child and heir of God and a joint-heir with Jesus Christ (Romans 8:14-17)

3. A citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20), blessed with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3) and fully complete in Christ Jesus (Colossians 2:9-10)

4. Strong in the Lord (Ephesians 6:10-17) as a functioning and maturing member of the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-16)

5. More than a conqueror through the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 8:37; 1 John 4:4), since you have been released from sin's slavery (Romans 6:5-7) and have been delivered out of the domain (authority) of darkness and into the kingdom of Christ (Colossians 1:13)

6. An ambassador for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20), a member of a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a citizen of a holy nation, a possession of God (1 Peter 2:9), and a holy temple of the living God (2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 2:21)

7. Transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2), taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5)

8. Full of His peace (John 16:33) and joy (John 15:11, 17:13)

9. Changed by the Word of God (1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:16-17)

10. Led by the Spirit of God (Romans 8:14) to understand the things of God (1 Corinthians 2:9-13)

11. Able to accomplish (or endure) anything in God's will for you through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:13), knowing that God is in total control of your life (Romans 8:28-29, 1 Corinthians 10:13; Philippians 1:6)

12. Empowered to practice biblical love, thus proving yourself to be a disciple of Christ (John 13:35).

D. The difference between Satan's plan and God's plan for your life is that:
1. Satan's plan is to keep you oriented toward gratifying, pleasing, exalting, and esteeming self. Man, apart from God, is a totally selfish being, because he is directed by the old carnal sinful nature (Romans 8:9, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11).

2. God's plan emphasizes that we are to live for Him, and the true believer's old self-nature was crucified and buried with Christ in order that he might walk in newness of life (Romans chapter 6; 2 Corinthians 5:15-21; Colossians 3:2-17). It this God alone who enables us to live a righteous life pleasing to the Lord.

E. Even as man has sought continuously for substitutes to the new birth, he also seeks self-centered solutions to his problems resulting from his original sin. These man-contrived solutions to problems of the mind, heart, and spirit are as unacceptable to God as are man's futile speculations and substitutes for salvation and the unalterable truths of God's Word (based on Psalm 119:160; Proverbs 14:12, 30:5-6; Jeremiah 17:9-10; Matthew 15:1-20; John 4:23-24; Acts 4:12; Romans 1:21,25, 28; 8:5-10; 1 Corinthians 3:18-20; 2 Corinthians 7:1; Ephesians 4:22-24; Philippians 2:3-5, 3:18-19; 2 Timothy 3:1-5). .God Has a Plan for your Life.

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