Steps to peace with God

The Bible tells us how to overcome the obstacles that prevent us from being reconciled with God. First, we need to recognize God’s purpose for us.

God’s purpose for us is peace and life

God loves you and wants you to experience peace and life – abundant and eternal.

The Bible says:
– “We have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us” (Rom. 5:1NLT).
– “This is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16).
– “My purpose is to give them [people] a rich and satisfying life” (Jn. 10:10).

So we need to recognize that God’s purpose for us is peace and life. Why don’t most people have this peace and abundant life that God planned for us to have? Because there is an obstacle or barrier in the way. In order to remove the obstacle or barrier, we need to realize our greatest problem.

Our problem is that sin separates us from God

God created us in His own image to have an abundant life. He did not make us as robots to automatically love and obey Him. God gave us a will and a freedom of choice. We choose to disobey God and go our own wilful way. We still make this choice today. This results in separation from God.

The Bible says:
– “Everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Rom. 3:23).
– “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23).

So we need to realize that our choice results in separation from God. But people have tried many ways to remove the obstacle or barrier that separates us from God.

The Bible says:
– “There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death” (Prov. 14:12).
– “It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, He has turned away and will not listen anymore” (Isa. 59:2).

So none of these ways remove the obstacle or barrier that separates us from God. We need to realize what God has done about our greatest problem because that’s the only way to remove the obstacle or barrier that separates us from God.

God’s remedy for our problem is Christ’s substitutionary death

Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose from the grave. He paid the penalty for our sin and  removed the obstacle or barrier that separates us from God.

The Bible says:
– “There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5).
– “Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but He died for sinners to bring you safely home to God” (1 Pt. 3:18).
– “God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Rom. 5:8).

So Christ’s death is the only way to overcome the obstacles so we can experience God’s peace and life. Now that God has done His part, we need to respond by doing our part. We need to respond to God’s remedy.

Our response is to trust in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord

God’s remedy to overcome the obstacle that separates us from God is a gift that can be accepted or rejected. To receive the gift we must trust in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

The Bible says:
– “Look! I [Jesus Christ] stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends” (Rev. 3:20).
– “to all who believed Him [Jesus Christ] and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God” (Jn. 1:12).
– “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom. 10:9).

So the steps you can take for peace with God by trusting in Jesus Christ right now are:
– Admit your need (I am a sinner).
– Be willing to turn from your sins (repent) and ask God to forgive you.
– Believe that Jesus Christ died for you on the cross and rose from the grave.
– Invite Jesus Christ to control your life through the Holy Spirit.

This can be expressed in a prayer:
Dear God. I know that I am a sinner. I want to turn from my sins, and ask for your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ is Your Son. I believe that He died for my sins and  that You raised Him to life. I want Him to take control of my life. I want to trust Jesus as my Savior and follow Him as my Lord from this day forward. Amen.

Assurance of salvation

If you followed these steps to peace with God, the Bible says:
– “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rom. 10:13).
– Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and He is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand” (Jn. 10:27-29).
– “God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it” (Eph. 2:8-9).
– “Whoever has the Son [Jesus Christ] has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life. I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life” (1 Jn. 5:12-13).

It says “will be saved”, not “might be saved”. Salvation is one of God’s promises. One of the purposes of the Bible is so we can know that we have eternal life. So we can know that we are forgiven and restored because God says it in the Bible.

Acknowledgement

This post is based on information from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Written, March 2019

Also see: Obstacles in life