BELIEVE & REBORN

Step 3 of the 12-Step Christ Intentional Living Plan

Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. — Jesus Christ, Savior of the World, Mark 16:16

Q AND A

Q: Call me stupid or something, but I don’t get what Jesus means by whoever believes and is baptized will be saved. Believe in what exactly and saved from what?

A: First of all, you aren’t stupid. Never give yourself labels except for positive ones. Secondly, that’s actually an excellent question. We’re going to do it justice by breaking it into four sections:

1. BELIEVE

2. WHOEVER BELIEVES

3. IS BAPTIZED

4. WILL BE SAVED

1) Believe…

According to Oxford Dictionaries, to believe is to feel certain that something is true or that somebody is telling you the truth. That is, to accept that (something) is true, especially without proof.

In Jesus’s case, there is plenty of historical evidence that proves that He DID exist, from his baptism and teachings to his death on the cross. Mr and Mrs Random, from Randomville, did not invent Him.

2) Whoever believes…

WHOEVER BELIEVES means whoever believes that Jesus is The Son of God who came down on earth as a human being to die a cruel death on the cross for our daily and eternal peace of mind. In short, whoever believes that Jesus died and resurrected to make things right between God and us.

Q: Actually, hold on a minute. Why did The Son of God (or Jesus, as you said) have to die to make things right between God and us?

A: Sometime after the world’s creation, there was a major fallout between God and human beings when Adam and Eve (the first-ever humans) went against Him.

3) Is Baptized…

“Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” — Jesus Christ, Savior of the World, John 3:5-8.

Q: The Kingdom of God, what does that even mean? You’d better not be talking to me about death. I’m too young and too juicy to die!

A: OK. Wow. Huh, death is not selective. But anyway, the Kingdom of God is here and now because the Kingdom of God is God, and God is within you.

Now when He (Jesus) was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He (Jesus) answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” — Jesus Christ, Savior of the World, Luke 17:20-22

Q: Can I stop you there?

A: Sure.

Q: I can really get this whole Kingdom of God is within me kind of thing, but your whole being born in water and Spirit sounds seriously shady and fake.

A: To be born of water and of the Spirit simply means to be baptized (total water immersion) in a church that hooks up with God and Christ the right way.

Q: What do you mean by that?

A: A church that hooks up with God and Christ the right way is a church that believes that Jesus IS the Son of God and the ONLY way to God.

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father (God) except through me.” — Jesus Christ, Savior of the World, John 14:6

Q: You keep banging on about this guy. Who is he, actually?

A: You mean God, Jesus’s Father?

Q: Yeah. Who’s he? Is he like a celeb or something?

A: God is the one who created you, your world and the world around you. You can say He’s the ultimate celeb, as everyone knows about Him on some level.

Q: Oh, OK. Is he on Instagram then?

A: Sorry to disappoint, but God is not on Instagram.

4) Will be saved…

Even if you are too young and too juicy to die, you will end up in hell unless you believe in Jesus and are baptized before you die. Yep, went straight to it. Hell does exist. And so does heaven, also known as paradise. We won’t sugar-coat this for you. This thing just got real. After you die, you will either go to hell or heaven. Those are your only two choices. There’s no other option on the drop-down menu for you to select.

Nope. Nuh-huh. No.

Your life on this earth is the foundation of where you go. If you DON’T want to go to heaven, there is nothing more to do. Just keep doing whatever it is you are doing, and you’re good to go. If you DO want to go to heaven, hook up with Jesus.

Q: That’s a bit harsh. Honestly, can’t even! Why should I be saved? I don’t need to be rescued by anyone, let alone by Jesus.

A: Yes, you do. When Adam and Eve fell out with God, so did you as their descendant. And the only way to make things right between yourself and God is to believe in Jesus and be baptized.

Q: WHAT?! You’re telling me that God is blaming ME for something that I didn’t do? I mean, come on, I don’t even know who Adam-what's-his-name and Eve are!

A: OK, let’s give you a brief background on Adam and Eve. When God created them, He placed them in a garden called Eden, gave them everything they could ever wish for, and asked them to multiply. So basically, make love, have babies and be merry.

The tree of good and evil was in the Garden of Eden, and God told Adam and Eve not to eat its fruit or they would die. But did they listen? No. That pair of know-it-alls ate the fruit when a snake in the grass tempted Eve. Their bad behavior unleashed a chain of events that saw them being cursed by God and separated from Him and Eternal life.

Q: It doesn’t mean that I get to pay for something I didn’t do! I ate no apple!

A: You don’t need to pay for it. Jesus has already paid for you when He died on the cross. And it wasn’t an apple.

Q: Anyway, I think God should just let it all go. I mean, life’s too short for all this.

A: He’s already done so by bridging the gap between you and Him with Jesus. But let’s put it to you another way. Imagine your husband cheats on you with his fitness instructor and gets her pregnant. You divorce him. He marries the fitness instructor and has more kids with her. A few years down the line, your now ex-husband loses all his money while you become a multi-millionaire. Knowing your financial status, his mistress’s kids beg you to pay their university fees. Will you do it or slam the door in their faces because of what their father did to you?

Q: I… huh… I… huh, it’s a different scenario!

A: No, it’s not. Despite what Eve and Adam did, God didn’t slam the door in your face.

Q: You’re twisting everything!

A: OK. Bottom line. Hell exists. Heaven exists. This deal is real. You cannot argue your way out of this. You have the free will to choose not to know anything about either. But when you die, that will is going to be taken away from you. Then you will be forced to know. Knowledge is power. Knowledge is Jesus.

The worst thing that can happen to you is realizing when it’s too late that you knew the truth but didn’t use it to your advantage. This life is finite, and we are finite creatures with infinite spirits. That is, though we die, our souls never die. When your body sleeps, your spirit is awake — that’s why you have dreams and nightmares. Your spirit is the most precious thing you own. You have to invest more time in it than in your body. You need to pamper it constantly so that it can look its best for eternity.

God — Good Engineer

When God formed your body, He placed His salvation in you through Christ, His Son. God literally tattooed your right to become His child through Christ inside you from the go, regardless of gender, beliefs, ethnicity and orientation. Whatever your behavior and character, God valued you enough before you were conceived by ingraining His Grace through Christ in you.

We are not just chatting blah-blah-blah here. This is backed by science. So backed, it’s quite frightening to see the supreme engineering that is God’s mind. In every human body, there are laminins, which are large cell-adhesive glycoproteins required for the formation and function of basement membranes in all animals. Humans are animals, yeah. The short of it is, if our laminins malfunction, we malfunction too.

Now, let’s see the supreme engineer at play: structural studies by electron microscopy in the early 1980s revealed a cross-shaped molecule, which subsequently was shown to consist of three distinct polypeptide chains.

You read that right. Science proves that laminins are integral to the structural scaffolding of almost every tissue of an organism—secreted and incorporated into cell-associated extracellular matrices. Basically, without these cross-shaped molecules that make you function, you die.

God embedded Christ’s Cross in you at the base, that is, at the planning stage, before He formed the first-ever humans. Even knowing that Adam and Eve would sin against Him, God embedded His Salvation through Jesus in you. God’s Goodness through Christ also makes your physical body breathe, think, walk and sleep. You cannot survive without your laminin molecules in this life—just as you cannot survive without your laminin molecule in the other life.

Jesus is TLC — The Tender Loving Christ and The Laminin Molecule

You might not think it a big deal now, but just imagine all your worst nightmares being relived days after nights for eternity after eternity. When it comes to God, everyone has questions that need to be answered. Most are angry with Him for the way things are going in their lives and/or around the world. It’s good to ask questions.

It’s best to be smart.

It’s smart to be sheltered in Jesus while asking questions. Jesus is your Fort Knox. Trust us. He’ll answer your questions AND remove you from the danger of hell. Nobody can force you to believe in Jesus or be baptized. We can only give you all the facts available about heaven and hell. What you do with them is up to you.

Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

But just think for a minute about being in a fire. Think about the suffocation and the burns. Think about the heat. Think about all your escape routes blocked and inaccessible. Think about the fire not actually killing you. Think about being alive in this hell for infinite years. Then think the roof has just opened up, and Jesus is hoisting you out of the fire.

Actually, scrap that last bit.

Once you die, Jesus cannot save you from hell. That will be it.

He can only save you while you are alive. So don’t leave anything to chance. That’s our advice. Cover all the angles. That way, whatever happens, you are protected, cocooned and saved. Jesus is the Cover. Jesus is the Protection. Jesus is the Cocoon. Jesus is the Savior.

Yes, Give me that Jesus!

Is that a yes? You believe in Jesus and want to be born of water and of the Spirit? That’s great! When you believe in Christ, you also own your stuff and acknowledge that your wrongdoings have separated you from God. No matter what you have done, Christ has paid a high price for it with His blood, so God will automatically forgive you and wash you in Christ’s Blood. Please close your eyes and bow your head as you say the following prayer:

As you have acknowledged Christ as your savior, rescuer and redeemer—and have asked God to forgive your wrongdoings and to wash you in Christ’s Blood, you must be born again to tap into the full range of God’s Grace through Christ. Being born again means to be born of water and of the Spirit, or simply to be baptized (total water immersion) in a church that hooks up with God and Christ the right way.

Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. — Jesus Christ, Savior of the World, Mark 16:16

“Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” — Jesus Christ, Savior of the World, John 3:5-8

Ready to be baptized and tap into God’s Grace and Goodness through Christ? Email us your name, city and country, and we will do the rest!💌

WHAT NEXT? READ CHRIST BOOST CARDS💌

Download Christ Boost Cards now. The FREE pick-me-up and on-the-go cards will amp up your relationship with God and Christ, yourself and others.

ALL STEPS

1. God

2. Christ

3. Believe & Reborn

4. Spirit

5. Live

6. Respect

7. Pray

8. Nest

9. Stack

10. Make

11. Care

12. Worship