Here is a link to a video walk through the Bible with key Scriptures and brief commentary on each one that may help you to come to faith in Jesus for your salvation.
You may also want to use it in your personal evangelism efforts to guide other to the Lord as well.
[Text of the Video]
HOW TO BECOME A CHILD OF GOD
Being a child of God is a REAL POSSIBILITY
John 1:12
12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—
Being a child of God is not AUTOMATIC
Romans 3:23
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
NOT being a child of God is a PERILOUS position
Romans 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We CANNOT SAVE ourselves
Ephesians 2:8-9
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
There is a WAY to become a child of God
John 14:6
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Despite our sinfulness, God (in Christ) has BECOME the way for us to become Children of God.
Romans 5:8
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Christ WANTS to have a soul-saving relationship with each one of us.
Revelation 3:20
20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
A relationship with Christ ENABLES us to live differently
1 Corinthians 10:13
13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
A relationship with Christ CHANGES everything!
2 Corinthians 5:17-21
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
When we establish a relationship with Christ, He begins living INSIDE of us, and that changes our relationship with the Father as well as with the Holy Spirit.
Romans 8:10-17
10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
[This relationship does not make us unable to sin; but it does make us ABLE to NOT SIN.]
12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
[Simply HAVING the Spirit is only part of the equation, we must also HEED and FOLLOW the Spirit’s guidance, not as slaves, but as obedient children.]
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” [“Daddy!”] 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
[Being a child of God has its responsibilities; but it also has its benefits.]
17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Believing inwardly is part of the responsibility of the child of God. CONFESSING that belief is also essential.
Romans 10:9
9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Confession of Jesus as Lord is inevitable; but if it is done WILLINGLY in this life, it will alter our everlasting destiny.
Philippians 2:9-11
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Being children of God brings with it certain responsibilities. We must WALK in the light and CONFESS our sins.
1 John 1:5-10
5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
Being a child of God also brings and incredible PROMISE, and an ongoing RESPONSIBILITY.
1 John 3:1-3
3 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
The PURPOSE of becoming a child of God is to enable us to LOVE as HE LOVES.
1 John 4:7-21
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
Becoming a child of God starts with FAITH. John OPENS and ENDS his Gospel by showing the relationship between BELIEVING and RECEIVING salvation and adoption as children of God.
John 20:30-31
30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
PRAYER OF CONFESSION:
Heavenly Father,
I know that I have sinned and fallen short of the glory that You intended and desired for me.
I know that I cannot save myself from the condition that I am in.
I believe that Jesus Christ is Your Son.
I believe that He died for the sins of every human being, including mine.
I believe that you raised Him from the dead.
I believe that He is at Your right hand side and is even now praying for me.
Heavenly Father, in Jesus' name, I ask you to forgive my sins and make me as clean as if I had never sinned - not even once. Remove my sins from Your memory as far as the East is from the West, which You promised to do.
I ask that you adopt me as Your child.
Give me Your Holy Spirit to come alongside me, to live within me, to guide me into every truth that I need to continue as Your dearly-loved child.
Give me the strength I need to make right choices whenever I am tempted; to keep myself clean and pure from sin.
Walk with me every step of my life and take me to be with you when my time on this earth has come to an end.
Amen.
