God’s never-ending love for you is far beyond human understanding. He would love you even if you were the only lost soul in the world. And Jesus would have given His life for you even if there had been no other sinner to save. Never forget that you are precious in His sight. He loves you and cares about you deeply.

Because God loves you so deeply, He was willing to send His only Son to suffer and die rather than be separated from you for eternity. It might be difficult to fully grasp that kind of abundant love, but God did it for you!

Certainly not because anyone deserves it. Not one person has ever earned anything except the wages of sin, which is death (Romans 6:23). But God’s love is unconditional. He loves those who have stolen, those who have committed adultery, and even those who have murdered. He loves those who are selfish, hypocritical, and addicted. No matter what you have done, or what you are doing, He loves you and wants to save you from sin and its deadly consequences.

Christ died to satisfy the death penalty against you. He was born a man so He could suffer the kind of death all sinners really deserve. And now He offers to give you the credit for what He did. His sinless life is credited to you so that you can be counted as righteous. His death was accepted by God as full payment for all your wrongs, and when you accept what He did as a gift, you are taken into God’s own family as His child.

Consider these life-changing truths:

• because of my sins, I am under a death sentence;
• I cannot pay this penalty without losing eternal life — I would be dead forever;
• I owe something I cannot pay! But Jesus says, “I will pay the penalty. I will die in your place and give you credit for it. You will not have to die for your sins”;
• I accept His offer! The moment I acknowledge my debt and accept His death for my sins, I become His child. Simple, isn’t it?

The only thing you can do is to accept salvation as a gift. Our works of obedience will not help us to be justified, because we have already sinned and deserve death. But all who ask in faith for salvation will receive it. The worst sinner is accepted just as completely as the one who sins the least. Your past does not count against you! Remember, God loves everyone alike, and forgiveness is simply for the asking. By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast (Ephesians 2:8,9).

When you receive Christ into your heart, He begins the process of destroying your old sinful self and changing you into a new spiritual creation. Joyfully, you begin to experience the glorious freedom from guilt and condemnation, and the old life of sin becomes repulsive to you. You will see that one minute with God provides more happiness than a lifetime of being the devil’s slave. What an exchange! Why do people wait so long to accept it?

Many feel that the Christian life will not be a happy one because of self-denial. The exact opposite is true! When you accept the love of Jesus, joy springs up within you. Even when hard times come, the Christian can enjoy God’s assuring and powerful presence to overcome and to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).

Here is where the greatest miracle of the Christian life is revealed. There is no forcing yourself to be good! What you do as a Christian is the spontaneous outflowing of another Person’s life within you. Obedience becomes the natural response of love in your life. Being born of God as a new creature, you want to obey Him because His life has become a part of your life. To please someone you love is not a burden, but a delight. The psalmist says just that: doing God’s will is his desire, and God’s law is within his heart (Psalm 40:8).

The Bible ties obedience to a genuine love for God. Christians will not find it wearying to keep the Ten Commandments. With all your sins covered by Jesus’ atoning death, your obedience is rooted in His victorious life within you. Because you love Him so deeply for changing your life, you will actually go beyond the requirements of the Ten Commandments. You will regularly search the Bible to know His will, seeking more ways of expressing your love for Him. Whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight (1 John 3:22).

Legalism is trying to earn salvation by good works instead of accepting it as a gift. Saints in the Bible are identified by four characteristics: (1) keeping the commandments, (2) trusting the blood of the Lamb, (3) sharing their faith with others, and (4) choosing to die rather than to sin. These are the true marks of a person who loves Christ and desires to follow Him.

No personal relationship can prosper without communication. Prayer and Bible study are forms of communication with God, and they are essential to keeping your relationship with Him growing. His Word is a love letter that you will desire to read daily to nourish your spiritual life. Conversing with Him in prayer will deepen your devotion and open your mind to a more thrilling and intimate knowledge of who He is and what He seeks in your life. But remember, as in other personal relationships, the loss of love can turn a paradise into slavery. When we cease to love Christ and His example, religion will exist only as forced compliance to a set of restrictions.

Baptism symbolizes three significant components in the life of one who has accepted Christ: (1) death to sin, (2) birth to a new life in Christ, and (3) a spiritual marriage with Jesus for eternity. This spiritual union will grow stronger and sweeter with time, so long as we continue in love.

God seals our spiritual marriage. To seal your spiritual marriage with Jesus for eternity, God has promised never to forsake you (Psalm 55:22; Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5), to take care of you in sickness and in health (Psalm 41:3; Isaiah 41:10), and to provide for every need that could possibly develop in your life (Matthew 6:25–34). Just as you received Him by faith, keep on trusting Him for every future need, and He will never let you down.