Start here first

A letter before you begin

These are the opening pages of In Christ. Tom asks every reader one question before anything else, because the answer changes everything about how the rest is read.

Friend,

Before you read another page, I have to ask you one question, and your answer changes everything about how you read this book. Are you in Christ? I don’t mean, do you attend a church. I don’t mean, are you a decent person. I mean, have you come to Jesus and been saved, so that you know you belong to Him? If your answer is a settled yes, then turn the page, begin the Introduction, and read on with joy. Every word that follows was written for you, and I can’t wait for you to see what’s already yours.

But if your answer is no, or I’m not sure, then stop right here. Do not move on yet. These first pages matter more than everything else I have written, because everything else in this book describes what’s true of a person who is in Christ. No condemnation. A new creation. Adopted, complete, hidden, and safe. All of it is found inside Him, and you have to come inside before any of it is yours. So let me show you, briefly and straight from Scripture, how a person comes in.

The Bible tells the truth about all of us:

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of GodRomans 3:23, ESV

Every one of us has gone our own way, and that sin carries a cost we can’t pay:

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our LordRomans 6:23, ESV

There is the whole story in one verse, the bad news and the good news side by side. We earned death. God offers life as a gift. And He offers it at the highest price to Himself:

God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for usRomans 5:8, ESV

Jesus took the death you earned, died in your place, and rose again, and now He holds out His own life to you.

You can’t earn this, and you don’t have to.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boastEphesians 2:8-9, ESV

You receive it.

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be savedRomans 10:9, ESV

It is that direct.

For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be savedRomans 10:13, ESV

Call on Him. If you’re ready to turn from going your own way and to trust Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you can come to Him right now, with words as simple as these:

Father, I have sinned, and I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus is Your Son, that He died for my sins, and that You raised Him from the dead. Right now I turn from my old life and I put my trust in Him. Jesus, be my Savior and my Lord. Thank You for forgiving me, for making me new, and for bringing me into Yourself. I am Yours. Amen.

If you prayed that and meant it, then on the authority of God’s own Word, you’re now in Christ, and everything this book describes belongs to you. Welcome to the family. Heaven is rejoicing over you at this very moment. Do three things soon:

  1. Tell another believer what you’ve done.
  2. Find a church that loves Jesus and teaches the Bible.
  3. Open His Word and begin to read. The Gospel of John is a good place to start.

Then turn the page and read the rest of this book the way it was always meant to be read, not as a stranger looking in through the window, but as one who now lives inside.

The very first promise of this book is already true of you:

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ JesusRomans 8:1, ESV

And you are in Christ Jesus.

With you in Him,
Tom

Tell us you prayed this Read the rest: In Christ