Faith in Jesus and repentance from sin are the foundation of a powerful life transformed by God.
Whether you’ve been away for two weeks, two years, or ever since you can remember, your Father loves you very much and wants you to come home by putting your faith in Jesus.
Faith in Jesus and repentance from sin are the foundation of a powerful life transformed by God. Where does this kind of faith come from? “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17, NIV). And what is Christ’s message? “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you” (John 15:9, NIV). Pause for a moment and consider how much love that must be. It’s hard to take in, isn’t it?
Faith in Jesus and repentance from sin are the foundation of a powerful life transformed by God.
God wants you to know that no matter what you’ve done, you can be forgiven because Jesus loves you and died for your sins. This is what the Bible calls the gospel, or good news: “God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8). The penalty for all your past, present, and future sins has been paid for by the sacrificial death of Jesus.
God wants you alive. “Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4–5, NIV). And not just in this life, but forever: “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
At 2:00 a.m. Kennon was lying in bed, listening to a sermon on faith by John Piper through a set of headphones and wondering why he didn’t feel closer to his wife. He said later in an e-mail to me,
I was desperate to experience God—to experience faith, to feel an affection for Him. For the first time, faith as a gift clicked—and heart and mind understanding formed into one. I asked God to experience faith in my heart, not just in my head—and I began to feel the weight of sin like I never had before. My “sin” became personal between me and God for the first time—I realized I had nailed Him to the cross. It crushed me and I felt my insides turning inside out, with an ache for forgiveness and desire for God—and instantly forgiveness and faith came and I experienced a treasuring in Christ like I never had before. I gave my life to Jesus, not like the other times, but in real surrender. My tears of desperation quickly turned into tears of joy and I began laughing—because it was so simple, yet so mysterious, and I knew I had nearly nothing to do with receiving this gift other than accepting my need and then Him.
Can you relate to the ache Kennon felt? Do you feel like God is drawing you to also give—really give—your life to Jesus? You don’t need any special knowledge to put your faith in Christ. Bishop William Temple wisely said that conversion is to simply give as much of yourself as you can to as much of God as you understand.
But there is a caution. Receiving Jesus, having your sins forgiven, and receiving the gift of eternal life is easy, but only if it’s sincere. Consider what happened to Julio,
I prayed the sinner’s prayer probably ten times. At first because I thought I would get something in return—like money, good fortune, and friends. Later, I prayed the prayer because I wanted some of my “Christian” friends to just leave me alone. But I never left my sin, never believed in my heart, never made Jesus Lord—not even for a minute. Until one night after years of sex, drugs, alcohol, and general debauchery, God drove me to my knees and I cried out, “Please help me, God—I need you. I cannot live like this anymore.”
That night, Julio experienced the relief of salvation just as Kennon did. And he is a changed and growing Christian today.
Praying a sinner’s prayer is not the same as believing in Jesus, but prayer is a great way to express yourself if you really, truly want Christ in your life. If you’re ready, here’s a prayer you can offer right now and receive everything that Jesus promised. Let me suggest that you say it out loud because of Romans 10:9: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for wanting me to experience the Father’s love and acceptance. Thank You that I am valuable just the way I am. Thank You for loving me so much that You sacrificed Your life for my sins. By faith, I receive You into my life as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins, for which I am truly sorry. Thank You for the gift of eternal life. Thank You for making me alive in You. Let me find rest for my soul. Change me into the man You created me to be. Amen.
If you just accepted Jesus Christ into your life, congratulations and welcome to the fellowship of much-loved sons! Any man who is walking with Christ will tell you the same thing: it’s the single greatest decision he’s ever made.
What if you have previously made a profession of faith in Jesus yet find yourself away from God and wanting to come home? Maybe you strayed off course. Maybe you got caught up in some sinful behavior. Maybe you had a major setback. Maybe you’ve lost hope.
As we learned from the parable of the lost son, your heavenly Father is always waiting with open arms. There are many ways to leave the Father but only one way to come back home.
There are many ways to leave the Father but only one way to come back home.
Or what if you are walking with the Lord, you do love Him with all your heart, and you have fully surrendered to the lordship of Jesus, but you still struggle to trust and accept that God loves and likes you? If, for example, you’ve had a rocky relationship with your human father, this may be a lifelong struggle—I know it has been for me. But you can live by the truth of God and not your emotions.
Here’s a prayer you can pray now or anytime you find yourself not walking rightly with God or whenever doubts creep in:
Lord Jesus, I need You in my life right now more than I ever have. I want to come home. I need to come home. You are my God. Yet I have struggled to believe—really believe—that You know about me and care about me personally and that I can trust You. I would like to settle this right now. I have done sinful things of which I am ashamed. I know that I will never be good enough to earn Your love. Instead, You love me because You made me. You know me full well. And by faith I accept in my heart that You care about me and that I can trust You. I do love You. Help me to love You more. Forgive my sins. I invite You to once again take Your place as the Lord of my life. Continue changing me into the man You created me to be. Amen.
If you just prayed this prayer of renewal, congratulations! Your Father loves you and He likes you. Affirm this every day and learn to walk with a settled confidence in His love and care. Learn to trust Him with all your cares. Seek Him, and He will make you into a man fully alive in Christ.
Trusting that God loves and cares about you is the foundation to leading a transformed life. I urge you to build on this foundation so you can release the full power and potential of God’s love into every one of your primal needs.
For suggestions on how to do that, please turn the page.