GOD SENT YOU A TEXT

(A timely Gospel Tract, punctuated with apologetics)

Most people today send and receive text messages multiple times daily. They may be long or short, dull or exciting, important or trivial. Yet… is there one “ultimate text message” that everyone in the world needs to hear? One that will benefit them hugely forever?

GOD SENT US A MEGA-MESSAGE

We have a loving heavenly Father who delivered the most important message of all time to every person—even to those who don’t have a cell phone! Truly, it is good news because:

    • It’s an amazing invitation to come to know God personally.
    • It reveals that God understands us fully and loves us unconditionally.
    • It says that He created us to enjoy fellowship with Him, now and forever.
    • It tells us how we can get to heaven.
    • It states that He freely offers us the gift of everlasting life.
    • And our part is merely to receive that incredible gift.

SO, WHAT IS THIS MEGA-MESSAGE?

The gospel—God’s Good News to all people—is conveyed in John 3:16. On this cell phone is a paraphrase of that Bible passage:

Believing in the Son of God is our way of acting upon that grand offer. Jesus declared, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live” (John 11:25).

GOD’S GLORIOUS MESSAGE OF GRACE

People commonly think they must work hard enough or obey rules or be good enough to get into heaven. That certainly would not be good news! Thankfully, Jesus has already paid the full price for our salvation.

In contrast to Christianity, “religious systems” teach, in one form or another, that people need to earn God’s acceptance through good works. However, the Bible clearly teaches that we are saved by God’s grace alone (His undeserved favor toward us) through our faith in Jesus, the Savior of the world (Eph. 2:8–9; Gal. 2:16–21).

Every person is born with a fallen, sinful nature (inherited from our original forefather, Adam). Thus, each of us started out separated from our holy God, heading toward destruction. But Jesus came to set the captives free. Our Redeemer shed His blood on a Roman cross and took the penalty for all our sin and guilt. He then declared, “It is finished!” (John 19:30).

WHO DELIVERED GOD’S TEXT MESSAGE TO US?

The Bible is God’s complete, written revelation to us—like a super-long text message. God’s Holy Spirit was the divine Author, over a 1,500-year period. (See 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:21.) He inspired the Old Testament prophets and certain New Testament disciples to write His mega-message—which contains many of the very words Jesus spoke in the first century AD.

CAN WE KNOW THIS TEXT MESSAGE IS TRUE?

There is extensive manuscript evidence that shows the Bible is reliable and historical. And consider the precise unity of its message (written by 40 authors over a span of fifteen centuries). Also, the centerpiece of the Bible is Jesus Christ, and He validated His claim to be God’s divine Son by three basic credentials:

    • His performance of countless miracles,
    • His fulfillment of hundreds of prophecies,
    • His supernatural resurrection from the dead.

(See footnotes 1 and 2.)

IS THERE ONLY ONE WAY TO HEAVEN?

All religions contradict one another in their major beliefs (e.g., regarding the nature of God and which “sacred writings” are genuine). Therefore, logically they can’t all be true. So which one is right? One major factor is the amount of evidence for biblical Christianity: it’s like a mountain that towers over every religious system.

Why, then, don’t most people in the world believe in Jesus? The Son of God has revealed to us that narrow is the road that leads to life, so few people find it (Matt. 7:13–14). The Bible warns us that there’s a spiritual battle going on for the destiny of our souls. Our Enemy, the Devil, has an agenda to discredit God’s truth. He wants people to die without a Savior (John 10:10).

THE TIME IS RIPE TO RESPOND TO GOD’S TEXT

Jesus Christ—the Savior of the world—is offering you the free gift of eternal life, even now! And the Bible encourages us not to delay responding (2 Cor. 6:2).3 God also has a unique plan for your life right now that will bring you purpose, fulfillment, and joy. If you are ready to begin a love-relationship with God through Jesus, pray something like this from your heart:

If you prayed a salvation prayer such as this one…

Welcome to God’s family!

You can tune in to God’s heart by meditating on His text messages throughout the Bible. As you do, He will fill your heart with love, truth, and peace.

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1To review solid evidence for the truth of Christianity, see the series of TWT apologetics pamphlets at http://www.TrueWayTracts.com. 2Evidence That Demands a Verdict, by Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell (Thomas Nelson, 2017) is a classic and comprehensive Christian apologetics book. 3For an online article explaining several biblical reasons to not delay confessing sin and to embrace Jesus Christ, go to https://www.gotquestions.org/today-is-the-day-of-salvation.html .

Scripture quotations taken from the New King James Version. Copyright ©1982 by Thomas Nelson Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.    

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