Forgiveness of sin, an awesome new life on earth, and eternity in heaven are all yours,  the cost has already been paid!  It's yours for the asking, if you accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. 
 
If you have not yet claimed the free gift of eternal life in heaven and abundant life on earth, you can do so today...right now. Only God can give you eternal life, and you can't do anything to earn it. God offers it as a free gift; all you have to do to accept it is (1) believe that Jesus Christ is God's Son and that He died on the cross to save you, and (2) accept Jesus as your personal savior.

It's so simple really. There's only four basic truths you need to understand:
1. We are all sinners.
2. The penalty of sin is death (our death)
3. Jesus Christ died on a cross to pay the death penalty for everyone who has ever lived.
4. Jesus Christ will save you today if you ask Him to.

We'll talk about each of these four truths a bit more below, but if you're ready to accept Jesus as your savior right now, pray this prayer:

Lord, I know that I'm a sinner - I've done some terrible things - and I know I deserve to be punished for them. But I'm sorry for all that, and I know that you loved me enough to bleed and die on a cross to pay the penalty for my sin. I ask you to come into my life right now and forgive me and make me the kind of person you want me to be. Give me strength to live for you each day. Thank you, Lord Jesus.
We are all sinners.

You may be rich or poor. You may live in a mansion or in an abandoned car. You may ride a shiny new $23,000 Harley or a beat up, rusty $700 Kawasaki. You might have the perfect family or live in a crack house with drug dealers and prostitutes. You might be a drug dealer or a prostitute or a respected deacon in a church. Wherever you're at in life, you're not all God wants you to be.

No one's perfect, that's for sure - including "church people". You may have seen that TV preacher asking for your money or been mistreated by a church-going neighbor. Maybe a guy with a "I love Jesus" bumper sticker cut you off on the highway or gave you the finger when you passed him. Well, Christians make mistakes too and don't always live the way God wants them to live. They're no better or different than you, but don't judge God by how his children act.

Because everyone does stupid and ugly things, the world is filled with pain and heartache. We can try to live good lives, but in the end, we just can't do it on our own. That's because we're all sinners at heart.

Ecclesiastes 7:20 - There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.
Romans 3:10 - There is no one righteous, not even one.
Romans 3:23 - All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

The penalty of sin is death.

The Bible teaches what you already know from experience - doing bad, stupid things leads to disaster, and lying about it or trying to cover it up, in the end, only makes things worse. Choosing to do wrong leads to heartache, pain, loss of family and friends, and eventually suffering and death. Oh, it may take awhile, but the end result is always the same - death.

Romans 6:23 - The wages of sin is death.
James 1:15 - After desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death.

Jesus paid the price for our sins.

The stupid, bad things we do may have earned us death, but God loves us - enough to sacrifice his Son, Jesus, on our behalf. That's right, it's as if God went to the prison our sins had built, opened the door to the cell on death row we had put ourselves in, and ushered us out to freedom and then watched as his only Son was executed in our place and for our sins. That's how much God loves us.

John 3:16 - God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Nothing you have ever done or are doing in your life can stop God from loving you and wanting to save you. You may have cheated on your wife. Maybe you stole money from work or betrayed a friend. Maybe you're into pornography in a big way. Perhaps you have a violent temper, and it cost you your job. Maybe you killed someone and it's been gnawing at you for years. Whatever you've done, God loves you - as you are and where you're at. God loves you right now, and He loves you as much as He loves anyone else who has ever lived!

Not only does God love you, he has already forgiven you for all the bad and stupid things you've done - all of them. That doesn't mean you don't have an obligation to make things right with those you've hurt, but God doesn't hold any of that against you.

Romans 5:8 - While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
 

Salvation is for the asking.

You probably have heard of Jesus. He is sometimes called "Christ". You may have heard about him in Sunday School when you were a child. Maybe you heard his name mentioned at a funeral or in a church service. Maybe the only time you've heard the name "Jesus Christ" was when someone got mad or hit their hand with a hammer.

Jesus came to earth 2000 years ago for one purpose - to pay the penalty for our sins by dying on a cross. Jesus offers the free gift of salvation to everyone, but he won't force it on anyone. To take advantage of what Jesus did for us, we have to accept the gift of salvation that He offers. We do that by confessing our sins and asking Jesus to forgive them and to be Lord of our lives. It really is that simple. If you ask Jesus to forgive your sins and give control of your life to Him, He will save you.

Psalm 34:4 - I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.
Romans 10:9-10 - 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.
Romans 10:13 - Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

It's that easy, and if you've done that and meant it, welcome to the Family of God! You have just received something nothing or no one can take away from you.

Now for the hard part.

Salvation is easy, but it's not for whimps. Living for God is tough. Making right choices is harder than making wrong choices. Getting into trouble is easier than staying out of trouble. Being a Christian is politically incorrect. The "world" will reject you and make fun of you. Old friends won't understand the new you, and they'll try to get you to go back to their old miserable way of life, because misery loves company.

Living for Jesus takes practice and constant effort. Sometimes you'll still fail. Don't get discouraged. God understands, and he'll pick you up, dust you off, and help you get back on the right path. You're going to get tired of being a Christian all the time, but Jesus will be there for you every step of the way.

I John 5:5 - Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
I John 5:12 - He who has the Son has life.

Living for Christ isn't easy; in fact, it's the toughest job you'll ever love. The pay is lousy; working conditions are hard; and there are no vacations; but the retirement plan is AWESOME!

What now?

If you're ready to experience unconditional acceptance, true joy, complete satisfaction, and real love by accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior (and I pray that you are), then pray the prayer at the top of this page.

Don't delay. Life is uncertain. God wants to save you right now.

Proverbs 27:1 - Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.
II Corinthians 6:2 - Now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.