The book of Hebrews in the bible tells us in chapters 9 and 10 that Christ’s self-sacrifice, willfully accepting the suffering of crucifixion and earthly death on the cross, is so great that it provides salvation “once for all”:
But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself. Hebrews 9:26 (NRSV)
And it is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Hebrews 10:10 (NRSV)
This means…
Once, for all time – No future sacrifices are needed. This one sacrifice is even for those who have yet to been born, since the payment for sin is complete, for all time.
Once, for all people – Jews and Gentiles alike, for all who believe
Once, for all sin – No sin is so great that Christ’s sacrifice can’t pay for it
The good news is that this gift is available freely to all who believe. No sin is too foul, and no amount of sin is too great. Without this gift all are guilty, and with this gift each is made righteous.
Jesus’ death was not the result of his earthly trial, but was actually the fulfillment of his purpose in coming to earth as a man – so that he could serve as a perfect once-for-all sacrifice for all of us. He told others of his imminent crucifixion and the necessity of it, and he accepted the pain and suffering that he knew would result. But because he bore this cost on the cross, the cost of our sins, all that is now required of us to have eternal life is faith in Him. Faith that he is the Messiah, the Son of God, that he rose from the dead, and that his self-sacrifice covers all of our sins, no matter how awful they may be.
A simple way to express this faith and accept Christ is through prayer, telling God what you believe. The links below are to churches and ministries of many denominations, across the United States and around the world, with examples of prayers to tell God you now believe in Jesus and accept Him as your savior. If you check them out you’ll notice strong similarities in them despite the denominational differences, because accepting Christ as your Savior isn’t a denominational issue, it’s a biblical calling.
But what does “accepting Christ” mean? It’s more than just believing that Jesus saves. It’s about Jesus saving you. So it’s also acknowledging that you have sinned and need saving, that you know there is no way for you to save yourself, and that you will change the direction of your life to follow Him and His ways as best you can, starting now.
The exact wording of the prayers isn’t important – what matters is that you really believe in your heart that Jesus is the Son of God who was crucified and rose from the dead, and in doing this, Jesus paid the penalty for your sins instead of you. He is literally your savior – He saves you from bearing the penalty of your own sins, which is death, and provides eternal life instead. If you believe these things, we encourage you to tell God this in your own words, or through a prayer in a link below:
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Scripture quotations marked “NRSV” are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked “NKJV™” are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked “WEB” are taken from WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE, public domain.
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