What about the Problem of Evil and Suffering?

There’s an underlying principle in this entire discussion on the existence of God that also applies to the issue of evil and suffering in light of a loving God’s existence; and it’s the principle of choice.

I opened and closed the discussion of God’s existence emphasizing that belief in God is ultimately a matter of faith. And choice is exercised by choosing where one is going to put their faith. The Atheist chooses to dismiss the evidence in favor of God’s existence, while the Theist chooses to believe the evidence available to the intellectually honest seeker. And by looking at the extremely complex universe, it’s evident that it was created with great care to provide Man with a comfortable place to live.

I also mentioned that God wants a loving relationship with Mankind so He limits the revelation of His existence just enough to give people the ability to exercise their choice to trust God or not to trust God. Consequently, the choice one makes reflects the love for God that person possesses because faith and trust are synonymous, and trust is the foundation of all loving relationships. Once one puts his trust in God’s existence, a meaningful basis for a loving relationship is established. But the basis for the relationship extents beyond the trust exercised by the one who merely thinks God exists; it extends to include obedience to how God prescribes forming a loving relationship with Him.

Given that background, let’s look at how the events in Genesis unfold in light of choice and the consequent evil and suffering that ultimately affect us today.

The Bible says that God created Man in His own image (Gen.1:26), meaning Man was created with attributes similar to God. God is intelligent, so Man was created with the ability to think. God is love, so Man was created with the ability to give and receive love. God has volition, so Man was created with the capacity to choose. And thus equipped, Man now needed an opportunity to exercise that ability to choose. God had demonstrated to Man His character of love by what He created. As stated earlier, the extreme complexity and variety of creation indicates that God took great love and care to create a comfortable and enriching place for Man to live. God had met all of Man’s emotional, physical and spiritual needs and in doing so, showed Man how much He loved them. If Man trusted God’s word, it would show Man’s trust in God’s character which was already revealed to a large extent by what God had made. Now Man needed an opportunity to show his love for God by trusting what He said.

That opportunity came when Man was forbidden to eat of one specific tree in the Garden of Eden, from all other trees Man could freely eat. If Man chose to disobey, the consequence would be death. If God forbade Man to eat from a putrid, rotting tree, Man’s obedience would not demonstrate his love for God but merely show his distaste for bad fruit. Therefore, the forbidden tree had to be equally attractive to eat compared to all the other trees in the Garden from which Man was allowed to eat. Unfortunately Man chose to disobey God’s word, revealing to them that their love for God was not supreme, even though God had done nothing to cause them to doubt His word or character.

Sin always brings separation. When we sin against our fellow man a schism or break in the relationship results. The same is true when we sin against God. After Man sinned against God by eating the forbidden fruit, the relationship with God was severed and Man suffered the consequence, that of death. And because God is the very source and creator of Life, to separate ourselves from God necessarily results in death, spiritually and physically. There are two types of death spoken of in the Bible; spiritual death which is the separation of Man’s spirit from God; and physical death which is the separation of Man’s spirit from his body. So when Man chose to separate himself from God, it was like Man taking himself off his own life-support system resulting in his own death. It wasn’t God punishing Man; death naturally results from separating yourself from the source of Life; namely, God Himself.

So Man was created with the ability to choose; Man was given the opportunity to choose from two equally attractive options; next God had to honor the choice that Man made. Once Man made a choice, even though it was the wrong choice, God had to allow the consequences of that choice to unfold. If God were to negate or veto every wrong choice of Man it would invalidate Man’s ability to choose. Furthermore, God had to keep Man’s ability to choose in tact after the wrong choice was made, even if the possibility of further wrong choices (and their consequences) continued.

In other words, God could not do anything to change Man’s volition in order to prevent him from making any more wrong choices in the future. If God did, He would simultaneously remove Man’s ability to repent or make right choices in the future, thus Man would be condemned after the first sin without any ability to reconcile with God. It would be “one strike and you’re out” with only one attempt at the plate. Furthermore, without volition, Man would cease to be human; he would be a robot, unable to experience a meaningful loving relationship with anyone, including God.

Man’s bad choices brought bad consequences that not only affected Mankind but his sin brought the earth under corruption. The earth, from that time to the present, is corrupted by the effects of Man’s rebellion. The earth was radically changed from the paradise conditions originally created by God. As a result, global weather patterns, biological systems and organisms became hostile. God had entrusted the earth to Man and therefore anything under Man’s domain was affected by Man’s actions. Thus, natural disasters, which cause large amounts of suffering to people, are the result of Man’s rebellion against God, and for millennia God has been unjustifiably blamed for the consequences of Man’s actions. For example, insurance companies will classify nature related disasters as “acts of God” when in actuality they are “acts of Man” because the weather patterns and biological systems of the earth were corrupted by Man’s sin against God. People interviewed after a disaster have often looked into the news camera and asked, “How could God let something like this happen?”

The answer is because God did not make Man as robots. Man was given the ability and opportunity to choose with the inherent possibility that the wrong choice could be made. God had lovingly warned Man of the consequence of making the wrong choice but Man still chose to distrust God and the consequences persist to this day. That is, natural disasters and crimes against humanity still occurs world wide. God’s warnings and commandments are for Man’s benefit, if followed, they keep us and our fellow man from harm. God only forbids things that are harmful to us, if it is beneficial, He allows it. Thus, God tells us to stay away from thoughts, words, or actions that are harmful to us or others. God is not arbitrarily imposing restrictions on Man because He has the authority; God is looking out for the best interest of the people He loves. Any parent understands putting restrictions on their children in order to keep them from harm; their motivated by love for their children, not lust for power. Satan tempted Eve by insinuating that God was trying to keep them away from something beneficial to them when He forbade them to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The opposite was true; God was trying to protect them and the rest of Mankind from the resultant harm of separating one’s self from God. It’s been said, “Sin is not bad because it is forbidden; sin is forbidden because it is bad.” Unfortunately, God had to allow those bad consequences to unfold in order to validate and retain Man’s volition, whereby Man could reconcile with God through repentance.

Man needed to repent because not only was his relationship with God severed but his nature was altered. Man’s nature was corrupted by sin just as the earth was corrupted by sin. Being made in God’s image originally, Man had a godly nature, one that enjoyed unbroken fellowship with God. But after Man’s rebellion, his nature was corrupted so that he now possessed a sin-nature. Man’s previous innate inclination to fellowship with God had now been altered so that his innate inclination was to sin against God. His subsequent acts only revealed the corrupted nature Man now possessed, as it has been said, “You are not a sinner because you sin; you sin because you [already] are a sinner.”

But despite having an innate inclination to sin, we are still responsible for our actions because we can still choose not to sin. We can keep the civil laws of the land and be “law-abiding” citizens. Even with a sin-nature Man can still choose between right or wrong actions. Our sin-nature does not give us license to commit crime because we are inclined. When I’m wronged, my inclination is to get angry and retaliate with greater severity, but that does not allow me to murder my antagonist. Thus, even with a sin-nature, Man’s ability to choose and repent is still available for those who want to restore their broken relationship with God due to their sinful acts which reveal the sin-nature they already possessed.

All of Mankind, inherited that nature from Mankind’s parents, Adam and Eve. There’s a saying, “You can’t give away what you don’t possess.” Or to put it positively, “You can only give away what you do possess.” Well, both versions became true for Adam and Eve after they sinned against God, commonly called the Fall of Man. The result of their sin affected them in two ways, they lost their innate godly nature; and they acquired an innate sin-nature. As a result, they could not give away (to their descendants) what they no longer possessed, namely, a godly nature. Conversely, they could only give away what they did possess, a sin-nature. And it’s the sin-nature in Man that is the cause of the majority of evil and suffering throughout human history.

Well, why should any of us have to pay for Adam’s sin? That’s not fair! Well, the Bible answers that question in Romans 5:12-21, explaining that as Adam represented all of Mankind, resulting in the Fall; Jesus represented all of Mankind resulting in redemption.

This principle of representation is not foreign to any of us. For example, when the U.S. sends athletes to the Olympic Games, it sends the best athletes it can offer in hopes of winning a Gold Medal. Whatever award or lack thereof, that athlete earns; they do so representing the entire nation. If our athlete wins a Gold Medal, the entire nation celebrates because “we won the Gold.” Even though the nation did not compete in the Games, we as a nation shared the victory of our representative! Conversely, if our athlete failed to win any medals, we as a nation shared in the defeat of our representative! In fact, ancient warfare was carried out in much the same manner. You are likely familiar with the story of David and Goliath. In that episode, Goliath taunted the Jews to send forth their designated champion, their representative, for battle. If Goliath won, the Philistine nation would be the victors; but if David won, the nation of Israel would be the victors. So whether it’s in ancient warfare or the Olympic Games, the principle of one person representing a large group of non-participating people has been an acceptable and fair method of interaction.

In a similar way, Adam was the best “athlete” Mankind could offer; he was created without a sin-nature, placed in paradise with all his physical needs met and enjoyed unbroken fellowship with God.

If any man in history were in the best place to “bring home the gold,” it was Adam. But tragically, Adam did not succeed and the Nation of Mankind inherited the results. However, Jesus also represented Mankind and He did not fail! He gained the victory for all Mankind throughout history when He died and rose again from the dead for the redemption of Fallen Mankind. Thus, Adam and Jesus both represented Mankind but at different times with opposite results; Adam failed, whereas Jesus was victorious. If it is unfair that I should inherit “the agony of defeat” from Adam’s sin-nature, then it is also unfair that I should inherit “the thrill of victory” from Jesus’ righteousness and resultant salvation He provided for all Mankind by dying on the cross.

But unlike National citizenship, citizenship into God’s nation or Kingdom is not a birth right; nobody can be born into it, they must be born-again into the Kingdom. Jesus stated this clearly to Nicodemus, a very religious and moral man in John 3. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a “ruler of the Jews,” and the teacher in Israel. This description is germane to the point. As a Pharisee he devoted his life to keeping the letter of God’s Law in every respect. A “ruler of the Jews” meant he was a member of the Sanhedrin, the religious “Supreme Court” of Israel. As the teacher of Israel he would be among the honored, elite, well respected to whom others deferred. This man was no slouch! Yet, all his religious training and success failed to earn him entrance in God’s Kingdom. Jesus said to Nicodemus three times in the same conversation that in order to see or enter into the Kingdom of God, “You must be born-again”! In other words, something that is dead or non-existent needs to be birthed in us, not by us.

Good works will not earn us entrance into God’s Kingdom, but God does expect us to be law-abiding citizens, He also expects us to obey His moral laws. As I stated earlier, even possessing a sin-nature, Man can still choose the right action. But God makes it clear that even if we were to perfectly obey His moral laws that we could not earn our citizenship into His Kingdom. Galatians 2:16 says,

“Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law…
for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”

Then why did God give us the Law if we could not earn entrance into His Kingdom by obeying it? There are at least two reasons: First, God wanted to order society to insure its common good and well-being. Second, God’s Law was a diagnostic tool to lead Man to the awareness that something deeper than our actions was flawed or corrupted; revealing the fatal spiritual “cancer” that will result in eternal spiritual death.

One of the most lethal and undetected diseases in society today is cancer. Every doctor will tell you that early detection is paramount to recovery or cure. Well, Mankind has the “cancer” of a sin-nature he inherited from Adam that demands early detection for recovery and cure. And if left undetected and untreated will result in that person’s spiritual death, which is eternal separation from God. Fortunately, God gave Man the diagnostic tool for early detection (His Law) so that Man would acknowledge his sin and accept God’s remedy, which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In Matthew 7:27-28, Jesus amplified the fact that Man’s problem is not his actions, it’s his corrupted nature. He referred to the Law that said, “Thou shall not commit adultery,” but added that if you look upon a woman with lust in your heart, you have committed adultery already. Jesus was pointing out that the real corruption is inward, not outward; it’s our nature, not our actions that need changing. So the remedy for the “cancer-of-sin” is not self-reformation or behaving correctly, the remedy is getting a new nature from God, birthed in us, not by us.

And the solution or remedy God offers is given to the person that acknowledges they have the incurable cancer of sin and accepts God’s only cure, (you guessed it!) by faith or trust in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Read the complete text of Galatians 2:16, referred to above, where it says,

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ,
and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

So it is clear that entrance to God’s Kingdom is not achieved by my ability to do good works, that is, by keeping God’s Law perfectly on an outward basis. As Jesus pointed out earlier, even if I never committed adultery, my lust (or strong desire) for someone other than my wife renders me guilty of adultery by God’s standard. Paul echoes the fact that the real essence of the Law is spiritual, stating in Roman 7:14, “For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin;” meaning the nature and intent of God’s Law is not outward (or carnal) but is inward (or spiritual). That is why according to the intent of the Law; everyone is guilty before God and in need of a Savior, as God says in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” And when anyone comes to the realization that they are a sinner, unable to save themselves by their own good works, thus, in need of salvation in Jesus; the Law has worked its intended purpose in their life, to lead them to Jesus Christ for salvation. As Galatians 3:24 says, “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified [declared ‘not guilty’] by faith.”

But simply realizing one is a sinner separated from God is only the first step; repentance is required. Repentance occurs when one comes to the place in their life where they have a change of will and mind about their own sin. No longer content to live with their sin, they commit to live without it in response to God who loved them by sending Jesus to be Man’s Savior and offering freedom from sin’s dominance and eternal consequences. Prior to receiving salvation the Bible describes the person living according to their sin-nature as being a “slave or servant to sin.”(Rom.6); their sin-nature had dominance over them to the extent that even when they kept the Law outwardly, they still violated it inwardly. Thus, they may have been a “law-abiding” citizen in the eyes of Man, but in God’s eyes they were Law-breakers. Being made aware of their plight by the Law, they resolve to be governed or controlled not by their sin-nature, but by God and make a “U-turn” in the road of life. Prior to repentance I was living life according to my philosophy, morality, goals, and values; but once made aware of my sin, I chose to turn away from those governing factors and turn to God to be the governing factor in my life. Repentance is in effect saying, “My kingdom, go! His kingdom, come!”

Repentance and faith can be simultaneous or separate events; but both are required for salvation. In the ministry of John the Baptist repentance is preached in preparation for the coming Messiah’s ministry and work. In addition to preaching repentance, John’s ministry was utilizing the ritual of baptism as the outward demonstration of the inward effect in the lives of his followers. Once John’s hearers repented of their sin, they would later respond in faith by committing to Jesus as their Savior or Messiah. The Apostle Paul refers to this in Acts 19:4 saying, “…John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on Him (i.e. Jesus) which should come after him (i.e. John the Baptist) that is, on Christ Jesus.” Jesus also seems to refer to repentance preceding salvation in Mark 1:15, where Jesus says, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” In this case, repentance precedes faith. But in the case of the sinful woman of Lk.7:37-50, repentance and faith seem to be simultaneous. She came to worship Jesus and showed her gratitude by washing Jesus’ feet with her tears. Jesus’ final words to her were, “Thy sins are forgiven…They faith hath saved thee; go in peace.” (Lk.7:48, 50). A similar case exists in Lk.18:42 where repentance, faith, and physical healing are simultaneous events. In all these case, repentance is evidenced by the change of mind and will concerning one’s sin-nature and sinful actions when one turns away from sin and turns to Jesus for the freedom from sin they seek.

But despite all of the suffering in the world due to Man’s rebellion, Man remains willful and obstinate by refusing to admit that he is a sinner or that Man’s sin is the source of the evil and suffering in this world. In fact, most people hold the mistaken notion that Man is inherently good; it’s only Man’s environment that causes him to act inappropriately. Therefore, they seek to improve Man’s environment convinced that Man’s true character would prevail and the world, according to the John Lennon song Imagine, would “live as one.” However, Man rebelled in the first paradise and he will rebel in the second. There is coming a time when paradise on earth will be restored for 1,000 years and Man will once again rebel against God (see Rev.20) proving once and for all that Man’s sin-nature is the problem, not his environment.

There are those today who even go so far as to claim that Man is God! In fact, actress Shirley McLaine, sister to actor Warren Beaty, declared she is god in her 1986 book Out On a Limb (pictured left). Talk about conflicting positions; God says Man is sinful, Man says he is God! But can anyone look back through the thousands of years of misery caused by Man abusing his fellow man and despite all that evidence, correctly conclude that Man is God? Or even the watered-down conclusion that “Man is basically good!” The answer is, NO! Instead, the correct conclusion is that Man’s rebellion corrupted the earth and Man’s nature, and the fruit of that rebellion (natural disasters and sinful acts) is the source of evil and suffering in the world.
If these conflicting positions between God and Man lacked consequences there would be no problem. But consider the implications of Man’s deaf ear to the roar of pain and suffering he’s caused over the centuries?

Second, Man would never see or feel the need to repent. Think of how difficult, if not impossible it would be for Man to admit he is a sinner in need of a Savior if the evil results of his sinful acts NEVER manifested themselves in the world! You see a man hit woman, and instead of feeling pain or bleeding, she quietly endures the abuse. Shocked, you exclaim, “Are you O.K.?” She says, “Of course, why wouldn’t I be?” You respond, “That man just hit you in the face. Didn’t it hurt? Aren’t you angry?” The woman says with a smile, “Why, no. I didn’t feel a thing? By the way, what is pain?” In frustration you turn to the man and say, “What you did was wrong, you should never hit anyone.” The man says, “Why shouldn’t I? It never hurts anyone. They never even bleed. It would only be wrong if someone gets hurt, and obviously, she is not hurt.”
You can see the point; if Man never saw the results of sin or his own sinful acts; he would never come to a realization that a problem exists for which he was the cause. He would continue to deny that he needed to accept Jesus and would be indignant that anyone would accuse him of being a sinner. And at the end of his life, he would come to shocking realization that he’s condemned because he never accepted God’s remedy for the sin-nature he was completely unaware of his entire life. As was stated earlier in the first point, God allows the consequences of Man’s sin to unfold so that Man would realize (1) a problem exists (evil and suffering) and (2) he is the source of the problem (by his sin-nature).

Furthermore, God warns in His Word that there would be those who denied the existence of Man’s sin-nature and resultant sinful acts. God says people in such denial are deceived and implying God is a liar! Why? Because they’re willfully and directly contradicting God’s verdict on Man’s state and obvious evidence in the world that establishes the verdict; Man’s guilt is beyond all reasonable doubt. Listen to how God puts the matter in 1John 1:8-10, “If we say that we have no sin [nature] we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us…If we say that we have not sinned [our sinful nature has not born any fruit], we make Him [i.e. God] a liar, and His word is not in us.” So if Man claims that he does not posses a sin-nature, nor committed any sinful acts, as C.S. Lewis states, “…pain shatters the illusion that all is well.”[ref] C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain, p.95.[/ref] So the conclusion of the matter is this: Man allowed sin (the cause of evil, pain and suffering) to enter the world and to enter into his nature when he rebelled against God. Obligated to honor the wrong choice, God let the consequences unfold to validate Man’s humanity and to keep alive the possibility of repentance as the means by which Man could be rescued from sin’s ultimate effect, eternal separation from God. And because living in a pain-free world would mask the existence of sin and the need to repent, it is better to experience temporary pain and suffering resulting in repentance and salvation than experiencing a pain-free existence unaware that you posses the “cancer” of sin-nature resulting in eternal pain and suffering for failing to repent. Thus, God makes use of the suffering He must allow in order to awaken Man to the existence and source of evil, pain and suffering (e.g., the “cancer” of sin in Man’s sin-nature) with the hope that Man would accept God’s remedy (Jesus the Messiah, Savior and Lord) for freedom from sin’s dominance and eternal consequences.

Concluding Remarks
What started out a philosophical question ends with a spiritual conclusion, bridged by scientific evidence. Science, when objectively examined supplies abundant evidence in favor of God’s existence. The Big Bang theory derived from Einstein’s theory of relativity proves that the universe had a beginning, thus creating a scientific basis for the logic of the Kalam argument. The scientific and logical principles taken together describe the Cause of the universe possessing striking similarities to the God of the Bible who is omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, spirit, eternal, personal and loving. And these characteristics are consistent with inferences that can be drawn from the Cause of the universe existing prior to the Big Bang because until the Big Bang started, matter, energy, space, and time did not exist!
Although God’s existence can be established, there are those who still refuse to believe in God because of the existence of evil and suffering. However, the Christian can present a reasonable response to the problem of suffering and evil that is consistent with a loving Creator.
God desired to have a loving relationship with Man so He created Man in His image: Man was given volition, a mind, and the ability to give and receive love. But despite God demonstrating His love for Man by what was created, Man chose to distrust God’s character by rebelling against His word. Disregarding the loving warning from God, Man ate from the forbidden tree and plunged him and the world into a corrupted state. The original paradise conditions of earth became volatile and hostile, while Man’s nature degraded into a sin-nature. As a result, evil, pain, and suffering has impacted Man from that time to the present.
While obligated to allow the negative consequences of Man’s rebellion to unfold, God provided the remedy for the source of Man’s suffering by God’s substitutionary death on the cross. By dying on the cross and rising from the dead, Jesus paved the way for Man to be reconciled with God and escape the eternal consequences of Man’s sin. God made use of the suffering He must allow as the “alarm clock” to awaken Man to the awareness of his sin with the possibility that Man would respond by repenting and receiving Jesus as Savior and Lord. Thus, temporary pain, if responded to correctly, would lead to eternal salvation.

Jesus said in order to receive salvation you must “repent and believe the gospel.” (Mk.1:15). Repent means to make a “U-turn in the road of life.” By resolving to turn away from being governed by your sin-nature, you resolve to be governed by God instead. Confessing to God that you are a sinner in need of salvation through Jesus Christ opens the door of your heart and life to receive Jesus who promises to reside in the person who invites Him in by faith. Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock, if any man hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and abide with him and he with Me.” (Rev.3:20)

You recall the Eastern European physicist who rejected her atheism and embraced theism after examining the Big Bang theory in light of the Kalam argument. Her faith needed to extent beyond her belief in God’s existence and include obedience to God’s requirements for establishing a loving relationship with Him. She personally acknowledged her sin and need for salvation and prayed to invite Jesus into her life as Savior and Lord. As a result, she was freed from sin’s dominance and eternal consequence manifested by discarding her alcohol and tranquilizers.

So the issue of God’s existence and God’s ultimate remedy for salvation from sin, pain and suffering all hinge upon trust or faith. The atheist and the theist hold their positions by faith; although the theist has more compelling scientific evidence in favor of his position, and the Christian receives salvation from sin and its consequences by faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
There’s a final quote I want to leave you with that eloquently remarks on the tension between atheistic materialism and theism. Dr. Robert Jastrow, founder and director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Director of the Mount Wilson Observatory, a confessed agnostic but intrigued by theism as his investigations into God’s existence progress, remarks on the impressions his studies have made on him in his book, God and the Astronomers,

The scientists’ pursuit of the past ends in the moment of creation. For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the last peak, and as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.[ref] R. Jatrow, God and the Astronomers, p.116.[/ref] The question is: will you join those theologians by accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior? The gospel is so simple; just believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. If you have been stirred to respond, you may be asking the same question the Philippian jailor asked the Apostle Paul in Acts 16:30-32, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.'”

And then Paul went on to elaborate on what it means to believe on Jesus to the jailor and to his family and they responded by receiving Jesus as Savior, as verse 32 says, “And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.” You’ve heard of the 3R’s in school: here are the 3R’s of salvation: recognize, repent, and receive.

Recognize:  God loves you and sent Jesus to die on the cross for your sin (Jn.3:16) You are a sinner that can’t save themselves by good works (Rom.3:23; Gal.2:14)

Repent: Turn from your self governed life to one governed by God (Mk.1:15; Acts 3:19; 26:20)

Receive: Receive Jesus into your heart for the forgiveness of sin (Matt.10:40; Jn.13:20; Rev.3:20)
If you’re unsure how to pray, use the following prayer as a guide to express your heart to God:
Heavenly Father, thank you for sending Jesus to die for my sins, I know I’m a sinner and can’t save myself by good works. I turn from my sin and turn to you to be Lord of my life. Lord Jesus, come into my heart and live in me so I can live a life that pleases you from this time forward. In Jesus name I pray, amen.