Cornerstone
Research Ministry
Home
About
Articles Contact
Recognizing False Biblical Teachings and Teachers / Signs Of The Times
|
Cornerstone
Research Ministry
Home
About
Articles Contact
Recognizing False Biblical Teachings and Teachers / Signs Of The Times |
Cornerstone Newsletter
A message for Catholics and friends to share with them
Pope's World Broadcast Prayer For Ukraine and Russia Replaces the Work Of Jesus with an Idol named Mary
April 1, 2022
by Greg DesVoignes
"But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven." Matthew 10:23
"Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son." 1 John 1:22
"Do not add to His words, Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar." Proverbs 30:6
"Their land is also full of idols; They worship the work of their own hands, That which their own fingers have made." Isaiah 2:8
 |
 |
| Pope praying before an idol. God said, Don't do this! |
On March 25, 2022 a prayer by Pope Francis, given before, and addressed to, an idol in the form of a female whom is supposed to be Mary, mother of Jesus. The prayer was supposed to have been inspired in part by a prophecy given to three children in Fatima, Portugal in 1917 by a spirit claiming to be Mary. One of the prophecies this spirit spoke was that Russia would be converted to the Catholicism and there would be peace IF the Pope and all the bishops of the world would "consecrate" Russia to the "immaculate heart of Mary".
I watched this ceremonial prayer as the Pope sat under a statue of a Madonna and actually prayed to it before the whole world. I listened to it and later read the translation in amazement; but not in a good sense. This belief is not something new, but now was revealed to the world.
As Christians we are commanded to "test the spirits to see if they are from God" (1 Timothy 4:1) and not just believe that everything we see and or are taught is of God. Everything is to be viewed and tested by comparing the Word of God to what we are taught, what we see, and whatever some spirit utters that causes amazement. Even if it has been a tradition for 1500 years. Deception started 2,000 years ago and is peaking today.
What I heard and saw is that Pope Francis publically, before the whole world and not just in some church, revealed the disobedience to God's commands not make, nor to pray to a statue of any kind or spirit an image represents; and by what he prayed to this statue actually denies the word, the work and the character of Jesus Himself as will be seen.
God warned Hosea;
"My people
are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
Because you have forgotten the law
of your God,
I also will forget your
children. Hosea 4:6
If we are not studying God's word ourselves, we are lacking knowledge of him
which leads to certain deception. God gave us His word and it is not to be
rejected, but read and studied. Why? Because God said that not having
personal knowledge of him will lead to our destruction. Going to some Mass
or other service and observing traditions is not something that gives knowledge
of God. In Hosea, God warned Israel that they had forgotten His Word.
How can we even know something to forget if we have not even studied it?
So, if you are a Catholic, or even a non-Catholic who does not study the Word,
please consider what you are reading here and test these things with the Word of
God as I have done in breaking down what the Pope said in comparison to what the
Word of God says. The full prayer can be seen at:
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2022-03/pope-francis-prayer-act-consecration-russia-ukaine-mary.html
The news from the Vatican on the Pope's prayer said this;
"By Vatican News
Pope Francis—united to
all the Bishops and Catholic faithful around the world—will consecrate Russia
and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on Friday, the feast of the
Annunciation.
The Act of Consecration
will be prayed during the "24 Hours for the Lord" Lenten penitential service in
St. Peter’s Basilica, which begins at 5 PM Rome time.
The Pope will pray the
Act of Consecration around 6:30 PM, and has asked all Bishops and priests to
join him spiritually in this prayer, which will be broadcast across our Vatican
News channels - radio, website, YouTube, and Facebook - with English-language
commentary.
End quote
Below is the entire prayer the Pope prayed to the statue. I am dividing the prayer in parts in order to comment using Scripture, on those areas that oppose the Word of God and give honor to this Mary in place of, or equal to the work and character of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
O Mary, Mother of God and
our Mother, in this time of trial we turn
to you.
Not so. The word of God does
not tell us to make Mary our mother, nor does the word of God tell us ever to
turn to anyone but Jesus / God. In
our trials we are to turn to Jesus, not some other spirit.
Jesus said,
33 These
things I have spoken to you, that
in Me you may have peace.
In
the world you [f]will
have tribulation; but be of good cheer,
I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33
“For
if you return to
the Lord, your brethren and your children will be
treated with compassion by those who lead them
captive, so that they may come back
to
this land; for the Lord your God is
gracious and merciful,
and will not turn His
face from you if you
return
to
Him.” 2 Chronicles 30:9
“Now, therefore,” says the Lord, “Turn
to Me
with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” Joel
2:12
“Look
to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the
earth! For I
am God, and
there is
no other.” Isaiah 45:22
This spirit who claims to be Mary has been elevated by the Pope and by herself to be equal with, and above Jesus. In contrast we are to turn to God only with ALL our heart, and not with any part for anyone or anything else.
As our Mother, you love us and know us:
no concern of our hearts is hidden from you.
Not so; only God know the heart of man,
“15 And He
(Jesus) said to them,
“You are those who
justify yourselves
before men, but
God knows your hearts. For
what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the
sight of God.” Luke 16:15
“The
heart is deceitful
above all things,
And desperately wicked; Who
can know it?
10 I, the
Lord,
search the heart, I
test the mind, Even to give every man
according to his ways, According
to the fruit of his doings.”
Jeremiah 17:9-10
Again, the Pope elevates this spirit to be equal with God in opposition to the
truth that it is only God that knows the heart.
Mother of mercy, how often we have experienced your watchful care and your
peaceful presence! You never cease to
guide us to Jesus, the Prince of Peace.
Here the Pope replaces the work of the Holy Spirit and Jesus with Mary
being the one who guides. The word
tells us,
7 Nevertheless
I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go
away, the Helper will not come to
you; but
if I depart,
I will send Him
to you. 8 And
when He has
come, He will
convict the world of sin,
and of righteousness, and of judgment:
9 of
sin, because they do not believe in Me;
10 of
righteousness,
because I go to My Father and you see Me no more;
11 of
judgment, because
the ruler of this world is judged…
..12 “I still have
many things to say to you,
but you cannot bear them
now.
13 However,
when He,
the Spirit of truth, has come,
He
will guide you into all truth;
for He will not speak on His own authority,
but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
14 He will glorify Me,
for He will take of what is
Mine and declare it
to you.
15 All
things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that
He
will take of Mine and
declare
it to you.” John
16:7-8, 12-15
Jesus, by the
Holy Spirit is the one who guides us to himself, not some other female entity.
The Pope again leads astray from the truth.
Yet we have strayed from
that path of peace. We have forgotten the lesson learned from the
tragedies of the last century, the sacrifice of the millions who fell in two
world wars. We have disregarded the commitments we made as a community of
nations. We have betrayed peoples’ dreams of peace and the hopes of the young.
We grew sick with greed, we thought only
of our own nations and their interests, we grew indifferent and caught up in
our selfish needs and concerns. We chose to ignore God, to be satisfied with
our illusions, to grow arrogant and aggressive, to suppress innocent lives and
to stockpile weapons. We stopped being our neighbour’s keepers and
stewards of our common home. We have
ravaged the garden of the earth with war and by our sins we have broken the
heart of our heavenly Father, who desires us to be brothers and sisters. We grew indifferent to
everyone and everything except ourselves. Now with shame we cry out:
Forgive us, Lord!
The Pope is an environmentalist and globalist which includes attempting to gather for a one world religion. And in the above treatise he is speaking as both. The fact that he says God desires us to be brothers and sisters, the Pope does not say we are to be brothers and sisters in Christ as in the true church, but as global citizens. The Pope is praying to Mary but ends the section by saying, “Forgive us, Lord!”. Mary is not the Lord, nor is she a mediator between man and God.
Paul specifically said this as seen below.
"5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.. 1 Timothy 2:5-6
This Mary did not give her life for us, thus cannot be a mediator between God and man as is claimed. And, there is only ONE, not more.
P
Holy Mother, amid the
misery of our sinfulness, amid our struggles and weaknesses, amid the mystery of
iniquity that is evil and war, you remind
us that God never abandons us, but continues to look upon us with
love, ever ready to forgive us and raise us up to new life. He
has given you to us and made your Immaculate Heart
a refuge for the Church and for all
humanity. By God’s gracious will, you are ever with us; even in the most troubled moments of our
history, you are there to guide us with
tender love.
All of these bolded statements are not of the truth, but again are
giving Mary the position of Jesus.
God himself reminds us that He will
not forsake us through His Word. The
Word says that it is only through being forgiven by God that it is only God raises us
up to new life.
“5 Let your conduct be
without covetousness; be
content with such things as you have. For
He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
6 So we may boldly say: “The
Lord
is my helper; I will not
fear. What can man do to me?”
Hebrews 13:5-6
There is nowhere in the Word where God said he gave us
some other spirit as a refuge other than Jesus.
The Word says in contradiction to the Pope,
“God
is our
refuge
and strength, A very present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1
And it is only Jesus who is our guide,
“He makes me to lie down in green
pastures;
He
leads
me beside the still waters.” Psalm 23:2
““Most
assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but
climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
2 But he
who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
3 To
him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear
his voice; and he calls his own sheep by
name and
leads them out.
4 And
when he brings out his own sheep, he goes
before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know
his voice.
5 Yet
they will by no means follow a
stranger, but will flee from him,
for they do not know the voice of
strangers” John 10:1-5
Any voice other
than the Words of Jesus as found in His Word, are
the voices of false spirits and teachers.
We now turn to you and knock at the door of your heart. We
are your beloved children.
Again there is nowhere in Scripture that says any are the children of a
being that says it is Mary. The Word
says,
“Beloved, now we are
children
of God; and it
has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is
revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”
1 John 3:2
Nowhere does
God say we are to turn to anyone but Him.
We are to knock on the door of God, not on the heart of some entity behind an idol God
said not to worship or pray to or even make such a thing.
Jesus said to direct our prayers to God and God alone.
In opposition to what the Pope and this spirit who says she is Mary,
Jesus says,
“7 “Ask,
and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find;
knock, and it will be opened to you.
8 For
everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it
will be opened. 9 Or
what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a
stone? 10 Or
if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?
11 If you
then, being evil, know how to
give good gifts to your children, how much more
will your Father who is in heaven
give good things to those who ask Him!
Matthew 7:7-11
In every age you make yourself known to us,
calling us to conversion. At this dark hour, help us and grant us
your comfort. Say to us once more:
“Am I not here, I who am your Mother?”
You are able to untie the knots of our hearts and of our times.
In you we place our trust. We are confident that, especially in moments of
trial, you will not be deaf to our
supplication and will come to our aid.
Again the Pope has Mary replacing the work of the Holy Spirit and Jesus.
Jesus said of Himself,
“32 I
have not come
to call the
righteous, but sinners,
to repentance.” Luke 5:32
“15 “If
you love Me,
keep My
commandments.
16 And
I will pray the Father, and
He will give you another
Comforter, that He may abide with
you forever—
17 the
Spirit of truth,
whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but
you know Him, for He dwells with you
and will be in you.
18 I
will not leave you orphans;
I
will come to you.” John 14:15-18
While Jesus
was on earth, he was the Comforter.
But he would send another Comforter to us, the Holy Spirit whom Jesus said was a
He, not some spirit masquerading as a
female and made in the likeness of man to pray before as the Pope has done.
The Pope says
he is placing trust in this female spirit whom he prays to before the world in
the form of a female idol he was sitting under and looking up to in prayer.
But the Word says,
“Trust
in the
Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In
all your ways acknowledge Him, And He
shall direct your paths.”
Proverbs 3:5-6
That is what you did at
Cana in Galilee, when you interceded with
Jesus and he worked the first of his signs. To preserve the joy of the
wedding feast, you said to him: “They have no wine” (Jn 2:3). Now,
O Mother, repeat those words and that
prayer, for in our own day we have run out of the wine of hope, joy has
fled, fraternity has faded. We have forgotten our humanity and squandered the
gift of peace. We opened our hearts to violence and destructiveness. How
greatly we need your maternal help!
Therefore, O Mother, hear our
prayer
Mary is not an intercessor with Jesus.
The Word never said that we would need this idol’s help, nor will God
answer any prayers to it. Again, the Word
says,
“5 For
there is one God and
one Mediator between God and
men, the Man
Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be
testified in due time,” 1 Timothy 2:5
“26 Likewise
the Spirit also helps in our
weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the
Spirit
Himself makes intercession
[g]for
us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the
hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is,
because
He makes intercession for the saints
according to the will of
God.”
Romans 8:26-27
When the Pope
asks this entity to hear a prayer, he fails to acknowledge the truth of the Word
that we pray to God, to the Father, never anything else; especially praying to
an idol. This is an abomination to
God. God was very explicit when He
commanded,
 |
| Idol of Mary at the Vatican: The work of man's hands. |
“You
shall not make idols for yourselves;
neither a carved image nor a sacred
pillar shall you rear up for yourselves; nor shall you set up an engraved stone
in your land, to bow down to it; for
I
am
the
Lord
your God.” Leviticus 26:1
“Not unto us, O
Lord, not unto us,
But to Your name give glory, Because of
Your mercy, Because of Your truth.
2 Why should the Gentiles
say, “So where
is their God?”
3 But
our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.
4 Their
idols are silver and
gold,
The work of men’s hands.
5 They have mouths,
but they do not speak;
Eyes they have,
but they do not see;
6 They have ears,
but they do not hear;
Noses they have,
but they do not smell;
7 They have hands,
but they do not handle;
Feet they have,
but they do not walk;
Nor do they mutter through their throat.
8 Those
who make them are like them;
So is
everyone who trusts in them. Psalm 115:1-8
There are many
more verses on making images and statues which God says not to do such as;
Isaiah 44:8-20
Ark of the New Covenant, inspire
projects and paths of reconciliation.
Queen of Heaven, restore God’s peace
to the world.
Eliminate hatred and the thirst for revenge, and
teach us forgiveness.
Free us from war, protect our world from the menace of nuclear weapons.
Queen of the Rosary, make us realize
our need to pray and to love.
Queen of the Human Family, show
people the path of fraternity.
Queen of Peace, obtain peace for our
world.
While all of the above titles for this entity called Mary are not
depicted of anything positive in the Word of God or in it at all, I want to bring attention to
three; that this entity is called the “Ark of New Covenant”, “Queen of Heaven”,
and Queen of the Rosary”.
The Ark of the New Covenant
First, as seen in the Scriptures, the Ark was the dwelling place of God within
the Tabernacle and then within the temple at Jerusalem.
It had the “Mercy Seat” between the two angels on which God resided.
The Ark was placed in, “The Holy of Holies” in the temple.
Only the High Priest could go into it once a year to pray to God for the
forgiveness of sins. What is taught
to the Catholics is that Mary is the “Holy of Holies”; the womb where God dwelt.
I won’t go into the lengthy reasons for this belief.
Jesus said of the Scriptures to the Pharisees,
“37 And the Father
Himself, who sent Me,
has testified of Me. You have
neither heard His voice at any time,
nor seen His form. 38 But you do not
have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.
39 You
search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and
these are they which testify of Me.
40 But
you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.” John 5:27-40
The Scriptures testified of Jesus, not some other entity.
This includes the Ark which testified of Jesus and the sprinkling of the
blood of a lamb upon it as a symbol of a New Covenant to come which is today
seen in Jesus, not in something who says it is equal to Him.
Jesus said of this,
“27 Then
He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it
to them, saying,
“Drink from it, all of you. 28 For
this is My blood
of the
new covenant, which is
shed
for many for the
remission of sins”
Matthew 26:27-28
There was no blood sprinkled on Mary.
The curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the outer court was
split open when Jesus died for our sins.
The womb of this Mary has nothing to do with the Ark; the Ark and the
Holy of Holies have to do with Jesus and the work He did for us.
O Mother, may
your sorrowful plea stir our hardened
hearts. May the tears you shed for us
make this valley parched by our hatred blossom anew. Amid the thunder of
weapons, may your prayer turn our thoughts to peace. May
your maternal touch soothe those who suffer and flee from the rain of bombs.
May your motherly embrace comfort those forced to leave their homes and their
native land. May your Sorrowful Heart move us to compassion and inspire us to
open our doors and to care for our brothers and sisters who are injured and cast
aside.
We have already seen that this is the work of the Holy Spirit, not some other spirit the Pope cries out to in this prayer. It is the blood of Jesus that was shed for us that brings the believer to new life, not the tears of a Mary. It all may give rise to emotions and sound loving, but it is not in the Word of God and detrimental.
Queen Of Heaven
The Bible does speak of a “Queen of Heaven”; but it is not the Mary of Bible.
The only Queen of Heaven spoken of is a demonic entity, a goddess, called
“Ashtoreth”. She is also known as
the pagan goddess, Ishtar, the Babylonian “Virgin Mother” “Holy Virgin” and
Isis, the Egyptian Mother goddess.
Of this goddess God said,
“The
children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to
make cakes for the queen
of heaven;
and they pour out
drink offerings
to other gods,
that they may provoke Me to anger.”
Jeremiah 7:18 See also
Jeremiah 44:17-19
Queen of the Rosary
The Rosary is also one of man’s additions to worship taken from pagan religions
such as Hinduism. The Rosary is not
in the Word of God. In fact the very
concept of the Rosary opposes the Word of God.
First, when the disciples of Jesus asked him to teach them how to pray,
Jesus said,
“In this manner,
therefore, pray: Our
Father in heaven, Hallowed be
Your name”.
Matthew 6:9
Our prayers are to be directed to
God, not anyone or anything else; including statues or images of saints.
We don’t make up the way we
worship or pray; God does.
The Rosary is a repetitive prayer method to something God told us
not to pray to, nor not to do at all.
Jesus said,
“And
when you pray, do not use vain
repetitions as the heathen
do. For they think
that they will be heard for their many words.”
Matthew 6:7
Jesus said repetitive repetitions are vain; worthless. According to what I have read, the praying to the Rosary has been influenced by
the apparitions of this spirit who says it is Mary.
Again, this is not in the Word, but comes from the
outside.
Holy Mother of God, as
you stood beneath the cross, Jesus, seeing the disciple at your side, said:
“Behold your son” (Jn 19:26). In this
way he entrusted each of us to you. To the disciple,
and to each of us, he said: “Behold, your
Mother” (v. 27). Mother Mary, we now
desire to welcome you into our lives and our history. At this hour, a weary
and distraught humanity stands with you beneath the cross,
needing to entrust itself to you and,
through you, to consecrate itself to Christ. The people of Ukraine and
Russia, who venerate you with great love,
now turn to you, even as your heart beats with compassion for them
and for all those peoples decimated by war, hunger, injustice and poverty.
Therefore, Mother of God
and our Mother,
to your Immaculate Heart we solemnly
entrust and consecrate ourselves, the Church and all humanity,
especially Russia and Ukraine. Accept this act that we carry out with
confidence and love. Grant that war may end and peace spread throughout the
world. The “Fiat” that arose from your
heart opened the doors of history
to the Prince of Peace. We trust that,
through your heart, peace will dawn
once more. To you we consecrate
the future of the whole human family,
the needs and expectations of every people, the anxieties and hopes of the
world.
Again, we do not entrust ourselves to anyone or anything, but God.
The Pope twists the Word of God speaking something about John 19:26 that
is not there. The Word says we are consecrated to God alone!
“Then
Moses said, “Consecrate
yourselves today to the Lord, that
He may bestow on you a blessing this
day, for every man has opposed his son and his brother.” Exodus 32:29
“19 Therefore,
brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 by
a new and living way which He
consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and
having
a High Priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true
heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”
Hebrews 10:19-22
Through your intercession, may God’s mercy be poured out on the earth
and the gentle rhythm of peace return to mark our days. Our Lady of the “Fiat”,
on whom the Holy Spirit descended, restore among us the harmony that comes from God. May
you, our “living fountain of hope”, water the dryness of our hearts. In
your womb Jesus took flesh; help us to foster the growth of communion. You
once trod the streets of our world; lead us now on the paths of peace. Amen.
First, as seen before, neither this entity nor any other intercedes for
us; only Jesus. This Mary is not “our living fountain of hope”.
Again, the Pope took away the work and character of Jesus and gave it to
the spirit of an idol. For the Word
says in opposition to the Pope,
“For
My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken
Me, the fountain
of living waters,
And hewn
themselves cisterns—broken cisterns
that can hold no water.”
Jeremiah 2:13
Jesus told the
Samaritan woman at the well,
“but whoever drinks of the water that
I shall give him will never thirst.
But the water that I shall give him will become in him a
fountain
of water springing up into everlasting life.”
John 4:14 See also Revelation
7:17, 21:6
“And again, Isaiah says: “There shall be a root of Jesse;
And He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles,
In Him the Gentiles shall
hope.” Romans 15:12
"7 “And to the [e]angel of the church in Philadelphia write,
‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”: 8 “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, [f]and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. 9 Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. 10 Because you have kept [g]My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. 11 [h]Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. 12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.
13 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ’ Revelation 3:1-13
A Message To Those Who Don’t Know God and His Salvation
If you are not a believer, but you just might think that there is something to
what you have read here, you may want to learn more.
God does not want anyone to perish eternally, nor to even go through the
Tribulation which is seven years of Hell on Earth.
Here is a place to start to learn about the salvation that God has for
you.
The ABCs of Salvation
Some people think a personal relationship with God is something only theologians
can comprehend. Actually, God’s plan of salvation is simple enough for everyone
to understand. Here are the ABCs of salvation.
Admit
Admit to God that you are a sinner. All persons need salvation. Each of us has a
problem the Bible calls sin. Sin is a refusal to acknowledge God’s authority
over our lives. Everyone who does not live a life of perfect obedience to the
Lord is guilty of sin. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
(Rom. 3:23). Since none of us is perfect, all of us are sinners (Rom.
3:10-18).The result of sin is spiritual death (Rom. 6:23). Spiritual death means
eternal separation from God. By God’s perfect standard we are guilty of sin and
therefore subject to the punishment for sin, which is separation from God.
Admitting that you are a sinner and separated from God is the first step of
repentance, which is turning from sin and self and turning toward God.
Believe
Believe in Jesus Christ as God’s Son and receive Jesus’ gift of forgiveness from
sin. God loves each of us. God offers us salvation. Although we have done
nothing to deserve His love and salvation, God wants to save us. In the death of
Jesus on the cross, God provided salvation for all who would repent of their
sins and believe in Jesus. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and
only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”
(John 3:16).
Confess
Confess your faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord to others. After you have
received Jesus
Christ into your life, share your decision with another person. Tell your pastor
or a Christian friend about your decision.
If you do not go to church or have a pastor, ask God to lead you to a
church that teaches truth and the gospel.
Following Christ’s example, ask for baptism by immersion in your church
as a public expression of your faith. “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is
Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be
saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is
with your mouth that you confess and are saved” (Rom. 10:9-10).
Then take the time to learn from, and of God. Study the Bible. Get a
New King James, New American Standard, or a King James version to begin your
study. The first two are easier reading. The King James has more
word study materials with it but the old language may be a little harder to
read.
The time is short