Let’s continue our conversation through exploring common questions about unity.  If you have a question or comment, share your thoughts at the bottom of the page.

Question: How does a person become part of God’s family?

Answer: God created people, and let them decide if they wanted to follow Him.  The very first people chose to turn away from their Creator, and the result was that every one of their descendants inherited a spiritual propensity toward following their example.  So every person on this earth becomes guilty of turning away from their Creator.  Because God justifiably expects complete obedience, that guilt causes separation from God in this life and the one to come.

God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to heal this spiritual brokenness, relieve the guilt of turning away from Him, and reconcile His people back to Him.  Here’s what Jesus did: He lived exactly the way God intended His people to live (a perfect life of following God). Nevertheless, God placed the guilt of His people’s sin on Jesus and sentenced Him to the punishment His people deserved (sacrificial death).  With the same power God displayed when He gave life to His people, God rose Jesus from death to life (victorious resurrection).

Once again, God lets each person decide: will they follow Him by believing in Jesus Christ?  Any person on this earth can say yes to this question.  First, they must agree with God that they are unable to follow Him because of their spiritual propensity to turn away from God.  Second, they must believe that God loves them so intensely that He sent His Son to do what they could not do: live a perfect life, die a sacrificial death for them, and rise to life in victory (victory over the propensity to turn away from God and victory over separation from God).  Third, they must commit in their heart to follow God (remember, that’s where this whole thing got off track) by following Jesus.

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