Do you sometimes feel like you need to be in a certain condition before you can come to Jesus? Maybe you think you must be positive, happy, responsible, or all clean physically and mentally. Maybe you think you must be feeling spiritual and have your life in order before He will accept you.
We’re going to explore what it truly means to come to Jesus just as we are, without changing anything first. Before we do this, will you ask God to send the Holy Spirit to teach you the Word of God in a fresh and meaningful way? And ask Him to take the message from His Word deep into your heart and soul—so deep that you will no longer be the same.
Keep Coming to Jesus As You Are Every Moment!
Read: Matthew 11:28-30
Ask Yourself: When do we come to Jesus? (Answer from the Bible text only.)
Read: Luke 5:30-32
Ask Yourself: According to Jesus, what qualifies us to come to Him? (If we are sick/if we are sinners!)
Jesus invites you to come to Him at the altar each day, as you are. When you are sick and wonder why He does not intervene, when you are exhausted and don’t feel like caring about anything or anybody, when you have sinned against God or people and feel too ashamed to approach the spotless Son of God—come to Him anyway! Come to Him when you are discouraged and feel alone. Come to Him when darkness presses around you and you feel overwhelmed with depression. Come to Him when you are angry that He did not show up or did not protect you and when your requests seem to be met with silence.
Come to Him in every and all circumstances. He will not turn you away.
Horseback Accident
When I was a teenager, I had a bad accident while racing on horseback with my friend. We were racing bareback (no saddle) across a plowed field. As my horse lunged forward across a rough stretch of field, I lost my grip and slipped under her pounding hooves!
She trampled my right leg very badly. My friend took me back home, where I tried to take care of my leg while my parents were out of town. A day later, my parents returned. My mother looked at my badly injured leg and noticed that my foot was very swollen and had a strange color.
She took me to see the doctor—just as I was. The doctor examined my leg and my foot and asked me seriously, “Son, do you want to keep your foot?” “Yes, sir!” I said. “Then you need to go immediately to the hospital so they can work to save your foot before it has to be amputated. There is almost no blood flow to your foot!”
I am thankful for my doctor, who saw me just as I was, but I am also thankful he did not leave me that way. I still have my leg and foot and joyfully walk or hike almost every day! Thank God for doctors who take us as we are! Thank God for Jesus who does the same!
Jesus said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17).
Jesus takes you just as you are. You do not need to try to heal yourself before coming to Him. He alone is the Healer. He offers to heal you inside and out! He is the Doctor who stays with you throughout your healing process and forever. He says to you, “...I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). This is His promise to you.
"If you see your sinfulness, do not wait to make yourself better. How many there are who think they are not good enough to come to Christ. Do you expect to become better through your own efforts? 'Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.' Jeremiah 13:23. There is help for us only in God. We must not wait for stronger persuasions, for better opportunities, or for holier tempers. We can do nothing of ourselves. We must come to Christ just as we are."1
You can trust Jesus right now and throughout eternity. He is looking forward to coming to take you to heaven to be with Him. He says, “I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:3). But you may be wondering, “Am I ready to meet Jesus?”
Discover How You Can Be Sure of Your Salvation!
If Jesus came back tonight, would you go to heaven? Why or why not?
Come to the altar—come to Jesus just as you are—and know that you can be sure about your salvation. When you come to Jesus, remember that you are coming also to God the Father who gives you salvation in Jesus!
Now we are going to study seven simple steps showing us how we can have the assurance of salvation.
Seven Steps—Being Sure of Your Salvation!
(The intention is to read God's Word, ask yourself and/or others the below questions and then arrive at the step)
- Read: Romans 5:8
- Ask: How do you know that God loves you?
- Read: Romans 8:38, 39
- Ask: Can anything separate you from His love?
Step #1 – You can be sure that nothing will separate you from God’s love.
- Read: Romans 3:23
- Ask: What problem do we all have?
- Read: Romans 6:23 (first part)
- Ask: What is the result of our sin?
Step #2 – You can be sure that, as a sinner, you need the Savior.
- Read: Romans 6:23 (last part) and Ephesians 2:8, 9
- Ask: What free gift does God offer you?
Step #3 – You can be sure that salvation is God’s free gift to you.
- Read: John 3:16
- Ask: How does this gift of eternal life become yours?
Step #4 – You can be sure that Jesus is your Savior when you believe in Him.
- Read: Revelation 3:20
- Ask: What is your answer to Jesus’ request?
Step #5 – You can be sure that Jesus wants to make His home in your heart by faith.
- Read: 1 John 1:9
- Consider: When we confess our sins and invite Jesus to be our personal Savior, He comes into our heart immediately by faith via the Holy Spirit. He comes in His righteousness, purity, and perfection. We realize like never before how much we need Jesus to clean our hearts.
- Ask: What does Jesus do for you when you confess your sins?
Step #6 – You can be sure that Jesus completely cleans your heart.
- Read: 1 John 5:13
- Ask: What does this verse tell you that you can know for sure?
Step #7 – You can be sure that Jesus gives you eternal life.
God tells us in Revelation 7:9 that there will be a countless multitude of those who are saved. God has planned for you to be one of them!
Coming to Jesus as we are leads us to live in His peace. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful” (John 14:27).
Coming to Jesus as our Savior
leads us to live in His joy! “And
though you have not seen Him, you love Him,
and though you do not see Him now, but believe
in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,
obtaining as the outcome
of your faith the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8, 9).
Our Father God is the Giver of all good gifts to you (James 1:17). These endless gifts include salvation, eternal life, a new heart, peace, and joy.
Call to Action & Challenge
- Read Revelation 3:20 again privately and invite Jesus into your heart as your Savior.
- Are you ready to come as you are and trust your life with Jesus as your Savior?
- Pray the following:
“Dear Father in Heaven, You are the Giver of the gift of salvation. We are sinners in need of Jesus as our Savior. We thank You for sending Jesus to die so we can have eternal life and be covered by His perfect righteousness. We choose to believe that this gift of salvation and righteousness is ours now. We ask Your Son, Jesus, to come into our hearts by faith and be our Friend, Savior, and Lord. We confess our sins and claim His forgiveness and cleansing from all of our unrighteousness. Thank you that we can be sure about our eternal life with Jesus our Savior. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
This passage in Steps to Christ is so encouraging:
"With the rich promises of the Bible before you, can you give place to doubt? Can you believe that when the poor sinner longs to return, longs to forsake his sins, the Lord sternly withholds him from coming to His feet in repentance? Away with such thoughts! Nothing can hurt your own soul more than to entertain such a conception of our heavenly Father. He hates sin, but He loves the sinner, and He gave Himself in the person of Christ, that all who would might be saved and have eternal blessedness in the kingdom of glory. What stronger or more tender language could have been employed than He has chosen in which to express His love toward us? He declares, 'Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee'" (Isaiah 49:15 KJV).2
Challenge
Every moment, practice coming to Jesus as you are: happy, sad, worried, peaceful, defeated, or victorious. Having the assurance of our salvation in Jesus gives us the freedom to run to Him always.
Go home and review the seven steps of assurance of salvation and then share them with someone.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman \ Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org
- Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ (Mountain View, California: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1892), 31.
- Ibid, 54.
