What Is It to Receive Christ?

Q: What does the Bible say about receiving Christ?

Receiving Christ means accepting Him as Lord and recognizing His work for our salvation. The Bible teaches that receiving Christ involves acknowledging Him for who He is, the Word made flesh, God incarnate. It is to confess Him as Lord and to accept the work He accomplished for us in His death and resurrection. In John 1:12, we see that those who receive Him are given the right to become children of God. Receiving Christ is not merely an intellectual agreement but a heartfelt submission to His authority and a recognition of His sovereign grace in our lives.

Q: How do we know Jesus is God?

Jesus is recognized as God through His divine nature and witness in Scripture. The divinity of Christ is clearly presented in Scripture. For instance, John 1 asserts that 'the Word was with God, and the Word was God' (John 1:1), confirming the eternal existence and divine essence of Christ. Additionally, Colossians 1:16-17 states that by Him all things were created, emphasizing His authority and role in creation. Recognizing Jesus as God requires acknowledging Him as the life-giver and the preeminent one, who sustains all creation.

Q: Why is believing in Jesus important for Christians?

Believing in Jesus is essential for salvation and becoming children of God. For Christians, believing in Jesus is the cornerstone of faith, as it grants the privilege to be called children of God (John 1:12). Faith in Christ is not just about intellectual acknowledgment but a deep-seated trust in His works and character. Romans 8:1 assures us that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, highlighting the importance of belief in securing our salvation and relationship with God. Our faith in Him aligns us with His righteousness and allows us to partake in His divine grace.

Q: What does it mean to receive Christ as Lord?

Receiving Christ as Lord involves submitting to His authority and accepting His sovereignty in our lives. To receive Christ as Lord means to acknowledge His authority over all aspects of life and to submit to His will. This submission is an act of faith where we recognize that Jesus is not merely a historical figure or good teacher, but the sovereign God who rules and redeems. In Romans 10:9, we are called to confess Him as Lord, indicating that our acceptance of Christ involves a commitment to live under His authority and guidance. This reception can transform our lives, as we depend on Him for strength, direction, and salvation.

Q: Why did Jesus have to die for our sins?

Jesus died for our sins to satisfy God's justice and provide redemption for humanity. The necessity of Christ's death arises from the justice of God, which requires the penalty of sin to be paid. Romans 8:3 explains that what the law could not do, due to the weakness of our flesh, God did by sending His Son to condemn sin in the flesh. Christ's death was not an example to follow but a sacrificial atonement that fulfilled the requirements of the law. By believing in His death and resurrection, we are justified and freed from the penalty of sin, thereby restoring our relationship with God.

Q: What is the significance of believing in the resurrection of Jesus?

Believing in Jesus' resurrection is vital for the assurance of our salvation and eternal life. The resurrection of Jesus is foundational to the Christian faith as it affirms His victory over sin and death. According to Romans 1:4, He was declared to be the Son of God in power by His resurrection from the dead, demonstrating His divine authority. This act not only validates His claims to be the Savior but also assures believers that they will share in His resurrection and eternal life. The resurrection provides hope and confirmation that God has accepted Christ’s sacrifice for our sins, securing our justification before Him.

When He gave to the sea His decree
that the water should not pass His commandment, when He appointed
the foundations of the earth, then I was by Him. In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. I was by Him as one brought up
with Him, and I was daily His delight. The Father loveth the
Son. and hath given all things into
his hands, rejoicing always before him." Verse 35. Verse 34, "'Blessed is the man
that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the post
of my doors. For whoso findeth me, findeth life, and shall obtain
faith of the But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul,
and all they that hate me love death. Back to the text, John 1, in
the beginning was the Word, was Christ, and Christ was with God,
and Christ was God. The same was in the beginning
with God, and verse 3 says, and all things were made by Him. Let's go to Colossians chapter
1. All things were made by Him. This is the Lord Jesus Christ
we're talking about now. Colossians chapter 1, verse 16. For by Him, now he talks about
Christ. Verse 15, who's the image of
the invisible God. Exact image, exact likeness,
exact essence, the firstborn of every creature, for by Him,
where all things created that are in heaven, that are in earth,
visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, all things were created by Him
and for Him. And He's before all things, and
by Him all things consist, are held together. He's the head
of the body, the church. which is the first beginning,
the firstborn from the dead, that in all things, all things,
He might have the preeminence. God has exalted Him above all
exaltation and given Him a name above every name. That is the
name of Jesus Christ our Lord, every knee shall bow, and every
tongue confess He is Lord. Christ is all. Verse, back to our text, verse
3, all things were made by him, and without him was not anything
made that was made. Young people, listen to it. Without him was not anything
made that was made. Listen, in him was life. In him was life. In other words,
if he created all things that live, then he's the life giver. This
is the problem that any theory of evolution, any, no matter
what direction it takes, has. Where did life come from? Life. Plants live. Animals live. People live, birds
live, fish live. In Him was life. He's the life giver. He's life.
I'm life. We don't. And the life was the
light of men. He's the life giver and that
life enlightens the mind, the heart. You know, a heart
is a strange thing. Here's this heart in here. It has no starter button. It has no jumper cables. It has no outside pores. It just keeps beating. It just keeps... It's life. It's
alive. How did it start? Who started
it? He did. He's the life giver.
He's the life giver. In Him was life. Can you see
that? Life. And any question you want
to ask some of these folks that rule out God, our God, and Savior's
Creator, or just ask them, well, where did life come from? Who
started it? who stops it. Life. It's a problem. It's not to those who know that
he's the life, in him is life. He's the life giver, there's
no problem to me. He's the way, he's the truth,
he's the life. And he's the life, he's the life that lighteth men. We, you're sitting out there
and I'm standing here, we're thinking. Thought processes or
whatever they are come from life. Isn't that right? And he's that
light of understanding. You ever hear somebody say, well,
you look in a person's eyes and the porch light's on but nobody's
home? But you can look into the average
person's eyes and the eyes are the windows of the soul. Something's
going on in here. There's life in there. Light. The light's on outside and the
light's on inside. He's the life giver. But here's
the tragedy. The light shineth in darkness
and the darkness comprehended it not. We're going to see some
more of that in a moment. But John in verse 6, he seems
to change directions. He seems to change subjects. Just abruptly changes the subject. There was a man. He starts out talking about our
great Redeemer and His glory and greatness and majesty and
power and life and light. And then he said, but there was
a man, a common, ordinary man, born of a woman, conceived by
a father, but he was sent from God. His name was John. And John, and really he doesn't
change subjects because he's going to talk about that light
again. This man came to bear witness of that light. The saying
came for a witness to bear witness of the light. You know, I ask
this question. Why would light need a witness?
What is a witness? A witness is one who's sent to
declare a truth, to declare that there's light. Well, why would
light need a witness? That's like saying that somebody
brings a candle to let you see the sun. Why would light need
a witness? Why would anybody have to bear
witness? Who needs to be told that the
sun's shining? Blind men. Blind men. That's who needs to be told that
the light's shining, that the sun's shining, is a blind man.
That's the only one. And so that takes us back to
verse 5. So this light was shining, shining, But the darkness didn't
see it, didn't comprehend it. So God sent a man named John
to bear witness. He came to bear witness of the
light that all men might, through him, believe in that light. Now John's not the light. He
was sent to bear witness of the light. That was the true light
that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. So God
sends his messenger to declare the light is shining. The light
is shining. Now look at verse 10. He sounds
a dismal, tragic note. And he, the life, and he, the
light, and he, the truth, and he, the way, was in this world.
He was literally, he was in this world. This world was made by
him, and he was in this world. But here's the tragedy. The world
didn't know him. The world didn't know him. The
wind and the waves knew him. He stood out there on the deck
of that ship and said, peace be still, and the wind stopped.
The wind knew him, recognized his voice. The waves knew him
and recognized his voice and lay down. The fish knew him. He told Peter and the apostles
one time, he said, push your boat out there in the water. I've gathered some of my fish
together for you. I've called them and they've
heard my voice and they're all around the boat there to catch
you." And they got in the net. The fish knew him, heard his
voice. The birds knew him, they heard
him, they fed his servant Elijah. They did what he told them to
do. The wind, the waves, the birds, the fish, the animals,
they obeyed him. But the world didn't know him.
Men despised, it says he was in this world and the world knew
him not. They despised him and rejected
him. Esteemed him not. They didn't
know him. The light came and the darkness comprehended it
not. God sent messengers, witnesses, and the world didn't know him.
He walked through the graveyard and the dead moved not. He walked
through the world, and the world knew him not. He spoke, and the
deaf heard him not. The light shone, and the blind
saw it not. Here's a sadder note, verse 11. He came to his own, and his own
received him not. My, what depravity! What corruption! He came to his own, to his own
people. to the sons of Abraham, to the
sons of Isaac and Jacob, to the people who said, we have Moses.
Moses wrote of him. Abraham was just to see his day,
and even his own didn't receive him. He came to his own people,
came to his own city, the city of David, Jerusalem. He came
to his own temple where his prophets ministered, where his priests
offered sacrifices, where his people gathered to worship. He
was there and they didn't know him. He didn't know it. He came unto His own, and His
own received Him not. He came to His own type. There was the mercy seat sitting
there behind the veil in the temple. And Christ, the mercy
seat, came in, and they didn't know Him. They kept this one
and turned down that one. He came to His own, His own received
Him. No room in the inn, no room in the city, no room in the temple,
no room in the heart. They knew Him not. Isaiah wrote about it, said,
He hath no farm, no comeliness when we see Him. There is no
beauty to us that we should desire Him. He's despised and rejected
of men. He's a man of sorrows. He is
acquainted with greed. We hid, as it were, our faces
from Him. He's despised. And we esteemed
Him not. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that amazing? In the beginning
was Christ. He's God. He's with God. He made
all things. In Him is life. He gave us life. And that life is the light that
lighteth every man that cometh into the world, but yet he walked
right through this world and nobody, nobody knew him. He even came to his own, own
people, his own city, his own temple, his own types, his own
sacrifices, his own ceremony, his own day, and they didn't
know him. He walked through a field of corn one day, he planted the
corn, he grew the corn, he gave life to the corn, he picked the
corn, somebody said, you can't do that. This is a Sabbath day, you can't
do that. What death, what depravity, what darkness, what shame, what
ignorance, what judgment. As I read this, it just grabs
me. He was in the world. The world was made by Him. It's
His world. And the world knew Him not. Everybody
turned thumbs down on him. He came into his own, to his
own people, his own temple. And his own received him not.
Nobody! It is a little three-letter word
in verse 12. But... But... I tell you, some big doors swing
on little hinges, don't they? In that right gym, some big doors
swing on a little engine. I read over there in Ephesians
where, you were dead in trespasses and sin, walked according to
the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of
the air, the spirit that ruleth, reigneth in the and the children
of disobedience among whom we all had our citizenship in times
past, in the lust of our flesh, in the pride of life, in the
lust of our eyes, in all these things. But, oh boy, boy, but,
but, but God, but God. And that's what this says here,
but. The world didn't know Him, even His own didn't know Him.
wouldn't receive Him, but as many as received Him, to them
gave He the glorious privilege. Oh, what a high lofty privilege,
power, privilege, right to become sons of God, sons of God. even to them that believe on
His name." This is my subject. What is it to receive Christ? He was in the world and the world
didn't receive Him. He came to His own and His own didn't receive
Him. But as many as, as many, there's
no, it doesn't say But every American or every Jew, it says
as many as. There's no nation designated,
there's no race, there's no number designated. I know a lot of folks
say, well, it'll be 144,000, a heap more than that. A number of as many as, as many
as. I can get in on that. Many, that's
me, as many as. I like what that fella said down
in Alabama. He said, I've got an aunt that's
as famous as any of the grand old opera stars. Oh, really? Yeah, she's as great as, she's
as well known as Acup or Jim, Tex Ritter, any of these
singers. He said, Ritter? I said, what's
her name? He said, many others. He said, you seen that sign Roy
Acuff and many others? Text reader and many others?
Somebody else said, that's my aunt, many others. That's what
he says, many, many. As many as. Whomever. As many as what? As many as received
Him. What does it mean to receive
Him? That's where I want to camp for
a moment. What does it mean to receive Him? As many as. All of those who do. As many as. No name given. No nation. No age. No number. Just many. As many. As many as. Receive them. All right. What
is it to receive them? Would you look at four things
with me and remember these four things? First of all, it's to
receive Him for who He is. He's been telling you who He
is. Isn't that right? I've been reading who He is.
That's the reason I took so much time with who He is. In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
It's to receive Him as He is. The Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. John said, we know that the Son
of God has come. The Son of God has come. Peter
said, we know you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. We
know who He is. It's to receive Him, to bow to
Him, submit to Him as He is. King of kings and Lord of lords. He's not poor little Jesus. He's not an infant in a manger. He's not even a substitute on
a cross, he's Lord. He's Lord. And I'll tell you
this, when he was on his way to the cross of Calvary, when
he had submitted to the harassment and the ill treatment of those
soldiers, and they had beaten him and put that crown of thorns
on his brow, and he was walking towards Golgotha's Hill with
that heavy cross, dragging it and supporting it on his shoulders. And the blood was streaming down
his face from the crown of thorns, and from his face where they
plucked out his beard, and from his back that was shredded to
ribbons with a cat of nine tails. And he walked along under the
weight of that cross, and all these women were following him,
weeping, he said, the Scripture says, and lamenting, and he stopped. and turned around. He turned. He said, don't you weep for me. Don't you weep for me. Christ didn't come to gain your
pity, but your reverence and worship. Don't you weep for me. You weep for your children. You weep for yourselves and for
your children. Don't weep over the remedy. Weep
over the disease. Don't weep over the cure. Weep
over the cause. Don't weep over the triumphant
conqueror. Weep over those who will fall
underneath His heel, footstool, His enemies. That's the people
for whom you should weep. He's the King. Right, Rob? That's to receive Him. This preacher,
you or whomever, to receive Christ is not to receive a pitiful,
defeated, sad, impotent fellow out yonder that wants to do and
can't do. It's to receive him as he is,
my Lord and my God. Isn't that right? That's what
Thomas said, my Lord and my God. Mary said, my soul rejoices in
God my Savior. He's God. If thou shalt confess
with thy mouth Jesus to be Lord, to receive Him as He is. And
it seems like every preacher in the world is trying to get
somebody to pity Jesus, to feel sorry for Jesus. Don't waste
your time. He stood there before Pilate
in his weakest moment, looked like defeated, crushed, sad,
dripping with blood. And Pilate asked him a question. He didn't even answer him. And Pilate said, answerest thou
not, knowing I've got power to crucify you and let you go? And Christ didn't let that get by.
He said, you have no power over me at all except it be given
you from my Father. My Father has given me authority
over all flesh, and I'll give eternal life to whom He has given
me. So you first receive Him. Secondly,
to receive Him is to receive Him for who He is. Secondly,
to agree and consent with what He's done. What He's done. Turn to Romans
3 a moment. Romans chapter 3. What he's done,
Romans chapter 3, listen to this. Romans, I beg your pardon, Romans
chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. What he's done.
Romans the 8th chapter. It says here in Romans 8. Romans 8 verse 3. For what the law could
not do. in that it was weak through the
flesh. What the law couldn't do, what I couldn't do, what
works couldn't do, what the church couldn't do, what no man can
do because of the weakness of this flesh. God sending his own
Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned
sin in the flesh. What did he do? What the law couldn't do, what
the church can't do, what you can't do, what religion can't
do, what circumcision can't do, Special day what none of these
things can make me righteous before God Or put away my condemnation
or guilt But God sent his son and the likeness of sinful flesh
and far sin condemned sin in the first he did it Christ did
Christ did the law couldn't do it, but he can And to accept
Christ, to receive Christ, is to receive Him for what He has
done. What He has done. Turn to Hebrews 1. Listen to
this. Hebrews chapter 1. This is such
an important scripture here. Hebrews chapter 1. Listen to
it. Hebrews chapter 1. Beginning with verse 1. God, who at sundry times and
in divers manners spake in times past unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken to us by his Son."
Now, who is he? Identify, receive him for who
he is. "...whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom he
made the worlds, who being in the brightness of his glory,
whose expressed image of his person, who upholdeth all things
by the word of his power, by him all things consist, when
he hath by himself purged our sins." That's who he is and that's
what he did. You got it? By himself. To receive
Christ is to receive him for who he is. And to receive him
and to agree with and consent to what he has done. by himself
purged our sins. Not Christ and my profession,
not Christ and my baptism, not Christ and the law, not Christ
and... Christ. By himself. All right,
thirdly, what is it to receive Christ? It is to receive Him
for who He is and to agree and consent to what He's done and
to understand something of why He did it. This is so important. Back to
Romans 8 again. Why did he do it? Why did he
do it? Romans 8, verse 3. What the law couldn't do, in
that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son
in the likeness of our sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned
sin in the flesh. Verse 4, that. This is why. that the righteousness of the
law might be fulfilled in us." You see, that we might have a
righteousness, that we might have a holiness, that he might
accept us, that he might be just and justify them who believe
in Christ. That's why he did it. Christ didn't die as an example. Christ died as a substitute.
You see, the law demands that I obey it perfectly. And justice
has a price on my head. And Christ came and obeyed the
law perfectly and paid the price. You're not your own, you're bought
with a price. And now the law being satisfied has no claim
on me. And justice being satisfied cannot
require my death. Suppose that a man's guilty of
murder kills a man. And you try him in our courts.
We try him. Judge sentences him. I sentence
you to die in the electric chair. So you take him, and you put
him in the electric chair, and he dies. And you bury him. The law has no more claim on
him, does it? Justice has no more claim. Suppose he rises
from the grave. Could you try him again? No. Well, Christ did rise from the
grave. He came and kept the law and satisfied justice, and he
was slain on the cross. He died. The judgment and wrath
of God fell on him, and they took him and buried him. And
the law has no claim on him. He that is dead to sin, sin has
no more claim on him. And he rose. And I rose in him. I died in him, was buried in
him and rose in him. Free from the law, oh happy condition. Jesus has died and there is remission. Cursed by the law, bruised by
the fall. Christ hath redeemed us. I rose. Huh? And that's the reason Paul in
Romans 8 could say, who can lay anything to the charge of...
Here's the charge of God's elect. This man who killed a fellow
and you executed him and you buried him out here at Rose Hill
and he rose. You know he can walk right down the street of
Ashland tomorrow? You can't touch him. He can walk up to the policeman
and say, how are you Mr. Policeman? He can go up to the
judge and say, how are you Mr. Judge? He can go up to the executioner,
the one who pulled the switch, and say, how are you, Mr. Switchman?
Glad to see you. You're guilty. No, I'm not. I
paid my price. Isn't that right? I'm not guilty. The law, therefore, there's therefore
now no condemnation to them who are in Christ. There's no judgment. That's clear as I can explain
it. And that's why he did it. To receive Christ is to receive
Him for who He is. No shortcuts. Bow down. To receive Christ is to receive
Him for what He did. Everything God requires. Everything. He left nothing, not one jot
or tittle. To receive Christ is to have some understanding
why He did it. Because I had a problem with God and He solved
it. My sin had separated me from
God and He removed it. The law had a claim on me, and
judgment had a right to me, and Christ took that claim away and
took that right away. And I'm free. That's my liberty
in Christ. I'm free, free from the law.
All right, fourthly, to receive Christ, what is it? It's to receive
Him for where He is now. Where is He now? He's exalted
at the right hand of God, and He makes intercession for us.
He's the King. That's right, He's the King.
He's the intercessor. He's the only Mediator. I heard a preacher say one time
on television, he said, well, sinners need a Mediator, but
believers do not need a Mediator. They can come to God. Hold it!
Hold it! Stop right there. That whole
Old Testament typology of the priest going into the Holy of
Holies offering the sacrifice, and the priest praying for the
people, and the priest ministering and things pertaining to God
and the people still exist, and Christ is that priest. Isn't
that right? Listen, we have a high
priest. Seeing we have a high priest
who has passed into the heavens, Jesus Christ the righteous, let
us come boldly before the throne of grace. I dare not come to
God except in Christ, through Christ, because of where He is
now. Okay? I receive him as my mediator. I receive him as my great high
priest. I receive him as my intercessor. That's the reason, John, when
you prayed in Christ this morning, you said, we ask this in the
name of Christ, for the sake of Christ. I said that, I think,
a while ago, but when I said it's not, that's the way it is.
Otherwise, God couldn't hear my prayer. I'm still a flesh
person. The thief on the cross said to
Christ, you're not going to stay dead, you're coming into a kingdom.
Remember me when you come into your kingdom. That's how I'm
receiving Christ. I'm receiving Him as one who
has entered within the veil into the kingdom, and He's there reigning,
interceding. I want you to listen carefully
to this. I wrote it down so I could get
it right. Charles Spurgeon said this, when I received Christ and came
to Him for mercy, I had no knowledge of any personal or saving interest
in His death. I hear preachers say, you accept
Jesus as your personal Savior. That's not how you receive Christ.
Not as your personal saving. Because like Spurgeon said, I
had no knowledge of any personal saving interest in his death.
I just knew several things. Number one, I knew I was a sinner. I knew the Word of God said I
was a sinner. I knew the Word of God says look
unto Christ and be ye saved, for He's God and there's none
else. I knew the Word of God said this is a faithful saying
and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners of whom I am chief. I knew I was a sinner
and He was the only Savior. So I looked to Him. I trusted
Him. I believed on Him. I bowed to
Him on the strength of His Word. Sink or swim, I cast myself on
Him. Great Son of God, You live. You
have lived and died and made atonement for sinners like me.
And You commanded us to trust Thee. I trust Thee. You commanded
us to believe. I believe. You promised to save
all who come. I come. I come. Jesus, I come. And I believe as the days go
by that You receive some kind of personal assurance that He
included you. But when you receive Him, and
when I receive Him, in this initial reception of Christ, we bow to
Him as Lord. We receive Him for what He did
and why He did it. And we submit to Him as the only
mediator. You're a king with a kingdom.
Would you remember me? It's not that I have a right.
It's not that I have a claim. It's that I have a need. Is that all right, Tom? You agree
with that? I have a need. I have no claim
on him. No claim. I bow to him. All right, let's close with this,
verse 12. As many as received Him, Him,
not a doctrine, Him, to them gave He the privilege, the high
honor, the glorious privilege to become sons of God, even to
them who believe on His name. Now, that's not a period there,
so I've got to read the next verse. And to give Him all the glory,
You know, the hymn writer says, My heart owns none above thee,
for thy rich grace I thirst, this knowing if I do love thee,
you had to love me first. So it says, which were born,
these people who received him, they were born, not of blood,
that of not bloodlines, natural genealogy. They weren't born
of the will of their flesh, nor the will of man's flesh. Anybody
else, they were born of God. If I have a conviction of sin,
God convicted me. If I have a revelation of who
Christ is, God gave it to me. If I have faith to receive Him
and believe on Him, I don't get the glory. He does. He does. To receive Christ, I hope that's
helpful. To receive Christ is to receive
Him for who He is, what He did, Why did it? That God may be just
and justify where He is now. No compromise. No compromise.

What Is It to Receive Christ?

What does the Bible say about receiving Christ?

How do we know Jesus is God?

Why is believing in Jesus important for Christians?

What does it mean to receive Christ as Lord?

Why did Jesus have to die for our sins?

What is the significance of believing in the resurrection of Jesus?

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