So, the short cut to salvation, forgiveness of sins, and life eternal if given freely to those that: ‘Believe on the lord Jesus Christ and (you will be saved) … are saved’! And become as certain as every other Christian that Jesus is enough, he does not need any helpers to save and look after His sheep, I have said it already, but I repeat it because men have complicated so much what is so simple! We have access to God, because Jesus Christ opened the way, and it is still that simple: so, I say it again ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved!’ (Acts 16: 31)

In ‘Link 82’ I introduced this second point which leads a believer into various experiences, the first being conversion and I have stated that: ‘Conversion from a dead man into a living one by the miracle of grace, will lead a man to a conviction, many things about this new life, being in Christ, a true Christian, born of God, becomes absolutely certain, He will become more certain, and more convinced, about vital things that are part of his new life!Conviction, is a blessed assurance! being convinced means being firmly persuaded. All these experiences do not arise from within a man’s intellect or some special efforts or a new intellectual capacity to overcome sin’s pulsion, it is the Holy Spirit that awakes man from death and creates the faith in him to believe the Gospel as it is preached with His anointing. He opens the heart of a person, and through the new birth that person becomes a child of God! The Gospel can reach a person not only by preaching, but by reading a sermon, or reading the New Testament, or a tract! But it is only the Gospel, the Word, that the Holy Spirit will use and anoint to convict a sinner and lead him to Jesus. It is clearly stated: ‘How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’ (Romans 10: 14-15) The Gospel did not get to Europe until Paul and Silas were sent from Troas, in Asia minor to Macedonia! (Acts 16: 11)

In the New Testament, is where we find the true Gospel, and learn that it is impossible for man to get himself out of the spiritual mess he finds himself, in the sinful state which he inherited at birth, a condition that God calls death! and because of it, it is a complete impossibility for man to think about God or find a way to communicate with Him! Mankind is under a curse, condemned, corrupt, dead, cut off from God! Since God rejected man, he turned to thousands of made-up gods, idols, ideas, various religions, things that lost men still invent, and worship, but all their efforts bring an emptiness that they still seek to fill but never can, for only Jesus Christ can fill it! The History of gentile nations is pitiful to read. Centuries before Jesus Christ was born, and long after, from various idols and ideologies, men, from all walks of life, were trying hard to find an idol that would answer their inner need, the emptiness of a man without God or a way to Him. Then came on the scene the great Greek philosopher. Great thinkers, each assembling quite a following, but by the time came the first century AD. Most of their followers became disillusioned, because it did not answer to the deep need of a soul questing to something or someone real. We get a picture of it when the apostle Paul visited Athens, the big city of thought and wisdom! It is written: ‘While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, (Silas and Timothee to join him) he was distressed to see that the city was full of idols. So, he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the market-place day by day with those that happened to be there. A group of Epicureans and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked: What is this babbler trying to say.’ (Acts 17: 16-19) Because Paul was preaching to them the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.To them it was just another new idea to investigate and talk about. That is what they used to do. But this was the beginning of a revolution, because during the next three centuries the Christians faith grew to millions of converts! All experienced great persecution!