by Ruth
In the beginning God made the heavens and the earth and everything in it. He also made the first man and woman, who were called Adam and Eve. They lived in a beautiful garden and everything was perfect and good. There was no sadness, sickness or death and God was with them. But then Adam and Eve made a big mistake – they decided to disobey God, which caused sin to come into the world. Sin means to break God’s law, like stealing, hating, lying and being proud. We have all sinned, and because of our sin, the world is no longer the perfect place God wanted it to be – it is now a broken world, full of suffering, hate, evil and injustice. But the worst thing about sin is that those who sin will go to hell when they die and will be separated from God forever. Some people don’t believe in hell but it is a very real and terrifying place from which no one can escape.
But there is GOOD NEWS!! God, who is ONE God who exists in three persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit loved us so much, that He did something wonderful. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us. When Jesus died on the cross in our place, He paid the price for our sin with so that if we believe in Him, we will be saved. This means that we will not need to go to hell when we die but can instead go to heaven and live with Him forever. The rest of this tract will explain how we can be saved and what we should do after we have been saved.
Ibhalwe nguRuth
Ekuqalekeni uThixo wenza amazulu nomhlaba nako konke okukuwo. Wenza indoda nomfazi wokuqala, ababizwa ngokuba nguAdam noEva. Bahlala kwigadi entle kwaye yonke into yayigqibelele kwaye ilungile. Kwakungekho lusizi, kugula okanye kufa kwaye uThixo wayenabo. Kodwa ke uAdam noEva benza impazamo enkulu- bagqiba ekubeni bangamthobeli uThixo, nto leyo ibangele ukuba isono size emhlabeni. Isono sokwaphula umthetho kaThixo, njengokubawa, ukuthiya, ukuxoka, nokuba nekratshi.
Sonke sonile, kwaye ngenxa yesono sethu, umhlaba awuseyiyo indawo egqibeleleyo uThixo wayefuna ukuba kuyo-ngoku lilizwe elaphukileyo, eligcwele ukubandezeleka, intiyo, ububi kunye nokungekho sikweni. Kodwa eyona nto ibaxekileyo ngesono kukuba abo bonayo baya esihogweni xa besifa kwaye baya kwahlukaniswa noThixo ngonaphakade. Abanye abantu abakholelwa kwisihogo kodwa yindawo yokwenyani kwaye eyoyikisayo ekungekho mntu unokubaleka kuyo.
Kodwa zikhona iindaba ezilungileyo … UThixo, ngubani na onguThixo MNYE okwenzeka kubantu abathathu: UThixo uYise, uThixo uNyana, noMoya oyiNgcwele, wasithanda kakhulu, wenza into emangalisayo. Wathumela unyana wakhe, uYesu Kristu, ukuba asifele. Xa uYesu wasweleka emnqamlezweni endaweni yethu, Wahlawula ixabiso lesono sethu ukuze ukuba siyakholelwa kuye, sisindiswe. Oku kuthetha ukuba akusayi kufuneka siye esihogweni xa sisifa kodwa endaweni yoko sinokuya ezulwini kwaye siphile naye ngonaphakade. Elinye iphecana liza kucacisa ukuba singasindiswa njani kwaye kufuneka senze ntoni emva kokuba sisindisiwe.
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HOW CAN WE BE SAVED?
1. BELIEVE IN JESUS
The Bible says that the only way we can be saved is to believe in who Jesus is and that He has died on the cross for our sins. We must also agree with His teachings, commit ourselves to follow Him and trust in Him for our salvation.
• Who is Jesus? Jesus is God. He is also the Son of God the Father. The Bible promised long ago that Jesus would come to save the world from sin.
• What did Jesus do for us? He came to the earth more than 2000 years ago to die in our place. While he was on the earth he was fully man but also still fully God. He never sinned, but was killed by being nailed to a cross. When He died He paid for our sins with His blood so that we may be forgiven by God the Father. After He died He was buried, but He rose from the grave after 3 days.
Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me.”[1 John 14:6] This means that Jesus is the only one who can save us. We cannot be saved by anyone else – not by Allah, the forefathers or anyone else. It also means that we cannot save ourselves by being a good person or by doing good things. Jesus is the ONLY way to heaven. There is NO other way.
SINGASINDWA NJANI?
1. KHOLA kuYESU
Ibhayibhile ithi ukuphela kwendlela esinokusindiswa ngayo kukukholelwa ukuba ungubani na uYesu, nokuba ufile emnqamlezweni wezono zethu. Kufuneka kwakhona sivumelane neemfundiso zakhe, sizinikele ekumlandeleni kwaye sikholose ngaye ukuba uza kusisindisa.
• Ngubani uYesu? UYesu nguThixo. UkanguNyana kaThixo uYise. Ibhayibhile yathembisa kwakudala ukuba uYesu wayezakusindisa umhlaba esonweni.
• UYesu wasenzela ntoni? Weza emhlabeni ngaphezulu kweminyaka engama-2000 eyadlulayo ukuze afe endaweni yethu. Ngelixa wayesemhlabeni wayeyindoda epheleleyo kodwa wayesenguThixo ngokupheleleyo. Akazange one, kodwa wabulawa ngokubethelelwa emnqamlezweni. Xa waswelekayo wasihlawulela izono zethu ngegazi lakhe ukuze sixolelwe nguThixo uBawo. Emva kokuba efile wangcwatywa, kodwa wavuka engcwabeni emva kweentsuku ezintathu.
UYesu wathi: “Ndim indlela, ndim inyaniso, ndim ubomi. Akukho namnye unokuza kuBawo, engezi ngam. ”[1 Yohane 14: 6] Oku kuthetha ukuba nguYesu kuphela onokusisindisa. Asinakusindiswa nangubani na omnye-ingenguye uAllah, ookhokho okanye omnye umntu. Ikwathetha ukuba asinakukwazi ukuzisindisa ngokuba ngumntu olungileyo okanye ngokwenza izinto ezintle. NguYesu kuphela indlela eya ezulwini. Ayikho enye indlela.
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2. ASK GOD TO FORGIVE OUR SINS
We must first admit that we are sinners. We must realize that we will one day stand guilty before God when He judges us for how we have lived. When we stand before God we will not be able to make any excuses for our sin, like blaming other people for what we did or blaming things that have happened to us.
We must then truly be sorry for our sins and ask God to forgive us. To be truly sorry means to also turn away from our sin and to not want to sin anymore. The Bible calls this ‘repentance’. If we are serious about that, God will forgive us of all the sin we have ever done [1 John 1:9] No sin is too big for God to forgive.
3. ACCEPT JESUS AS OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR
The Bible says that we must confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead [Romans 10:9]. Making Jesus our Lord means that He becomes our King and Master, which means that we obey and follow Him and love Him with all of our hearts. It is very important to understand that we must keep on obeying Him, loving Him [Mark 12:30] and believing in Him for the rest of our lives [Colossians 1:22-23]. We must then ask Jesus to be our Saviour – to save our souls. [Colossians 1:13]. God the Father then rescues us from the kingdom of darkness and brings us into the kingdom of His Son. We then belong to God – we become His children [John 1:12] and receive His Holy Spirit [John 14:17] who will never leave us and who will makes us new on the inside [2 Corinthians 5:17]. The Bible calls this being ‘born again’.
Apart from becoming our Lord and Saviour, God also becomes our loving Father and our Friend. The Holy Spirit becomes helper and our constant Companion. If we know that we have been saved, we no longer need to be afraid of dying because we know that we will go to heaven when we die.
2. BUZA UTHIXO UKUXOLELA I
Zono zethu Kufuneka kuqala sivume ukuba singaboni. Kufuneka siqonde ukuba ngenye imini siya kuma phambikoThixo xa sinokusigweba ngendlela esiphila ngayo. Xa simi phambi koThixo asizukukwazi ukwenza izizathu zokungxengxezela isono sethu, njengokugxeka abanye abantu ngezinto esizenzileyo okanye ukugxeka izinto ezenzekileyo kuthi.
Kuya kufuneka ke sizisole ngokunyaniseka ngenxa yezono zethu kwaye sicela uThixo ukuba asixolele. Ukuxolisa ngenene kuthetha ukuphinda uyeke isono sethu kwaye ungasafuni isono kwakhona. Ibhayibhile ibiza le ‘inguquko’. Ukuba sizimisele ukwenza lonto, uThixo uya kusixolela kuso sonke isono esisenzileyo [1 Yohane 1: 9] Akukho sono sikhulu ukuba uThixo asixolele.
3. YAMKELA NGOYESU NJENGENKOSI YAKHO KUNYE NOMSINDISI
Ibhayibhile ithi masivume ngemilomo yethu ukuba uYesu uyiNkosi kwaye siyakholelwa ukuba uThixo wamvusa kwabafileyo [KwabaseRoma 10: 9]. Ukwenza ukuba uYesu abe yiNkosi yethu kuthetha ukuba uba nguKumkani kunye neNkosi yethu, oko kuthetha ukuba simthobela kwaye simlandela kwaye simthanda ngentliziyo zethu zonke.
Kubaluleke kakhulu ukuqonda ukuba kufuneka siqhubeke simthobela, simthanda [uMarko 12:30] kwaye sikholwe kuye ubomi bethu bonke [KwabaseKolose 1: 22-23]. Kuya kufuneka ke sicele uYesu ukuba abe nguMsindisi wethu – ukusindisa imiphefumlo yethu. [KwabaseKolose 1:13]. U-Thixo uBawo ke usihlangule ebukumkanini bobumnyama, asingenise ebukumkanini boonyana wakhe.
SingabakaThixo ke thina – singabantwana bakhe [Yohane 1:12] kwaye samkela umoya wakhe oyiNgcwele [Yohane 14: 17] ongasokuze asishiye kwaye ozosenza sibesitsha ngaphakathi [2 KwabaseKhorinte 5:17]. IBhayibhile ibiza oku ‘ukuzalwa ngokutsha’. Ngaphandle kokuba yiNkosi noMsindisi wethu, uThixo ukwanguBawo wethu onothando noMhlobo wethu. UMoya oyiNgcwele uba ngumncedi wethu kunye noMlingane wethu ohlala ehleli. Ukuba siyazi ukuba sisindisiwe, akusafuneki soyike ukufa kuba sisazi ukuba siza kuya ezulwini xa sisifa.
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WHAT SHOULD WE DO AFTER WE HAVE BEEN SAVED?
1. READ THE BIBLE
The Bible is God’s message to us and everything in it is true. Try to read the Bible every day. The more we read and study the Bible, the more we will know and love God and the more we will understand how He wants us to live. When you read the Bible, ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand it and to show you how you should apply it in your life. If you have never read the Bible, start by reading the New Testament first (a good place to start is in the book of Luke) and after that, the Old Testament – both are very important. Underline what stands out to you and try to memorize important verses.
2. PRAY
Pray every day. To pray is to talk with God. We talk to Him the way we would talk to someone we really respect and love. God wants us to talk to Him about everything and anything – He is interested in every detail of our lives. If there is something we are worried about or something we are afraid of, we can tell Him about it and ask Him to help us. When we pray we also thank Him for Who He is and for everything that He has done for us. It is also important to pray for others.
When we pray we usually close our eyes because it helps us to give our full attention to God, but we can also pray with our eyes open. We can pray out loud but God will also hear us if we pray silently. Prayer brings us closer to God.
KUFANELE SENZE NINI EMVA KOKU SINDISIWE?
1. FUNDA IBHAYIBHILE
Ibhayibhile ngumyalezo kaThixo kuthi kwaye yonke into ekuyo iyinyani. Zama ukufunda iBhayibhile yonke imihla. Okukhona sifunda kwaye sifunda iBhayibhile, kokukhona siya simazi kwaye simthanda uThixo, kokukhona siya kuyiqonda indlela afuna siphile ngayo.
Xa ufunda iBhayibhile, cela uMoya oyiNgcwele ukuba akuncede uyiqonde kwaye akubonise indlela onokuyisebenzisa ngayo ebomini bakho. Ukuba awuzange ufunde ibhayibhile, qala ngokuqala ufunde iTestamente eNtsha (indawo elungileyo ukuqala kwincwadi kaLuka) kwaye emva koko, iTestamente Endala- zombini zibaluleke kakhulu. Krwela umgca kuwe kwaye uzame ukukhumbula iivesi ezibalulekileyo.
2.THANDAZA
Thandaza yonke imihla. Ukuthandaza kukuthetha noThixo. Sincokole naye ngendlela ebesiya kuthetha ngayo nomntu esimhloniphayo kwaye simthandayo. UThixo ufuna ukuba sithethe naye ngayo yonke into nangayo nantoni na- Unomdla kuzo zonke iinkcukacha zobomi bethu. Ukuba kukho into esinexhala ngayo okanye kukho into esoyika, singamxelela ngayo size simcele ukuba asincede. Xa sithandaza siyambulela nokuba ungubani na, nangayo yonke into asenzele yona. Kubalulekile nokuthandazela abanye.
Xa sithandaza sihlala siwavala amehlo kuba ayasinceda ukuba sinikele ingqalelo ngokupheleleyo kuThixo, kodwa sinokuthandaza nangamehlo ethu. Siyakwazi ukuthandaza ngokuvakalayo kodwa uThixo uya kusiva ukuba sithandaza buthule. Umthandazo usisondeza kuThixo.
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3. OBEY GOD
The Bible tells us that God loves us [John 3:16] more than we can ever imagine, but that He is also a holy God and that He expects us to live holy lives [1 Peter 1:15]. To live a holy life means to do what the Bible tells us to do. When we don’t do what the Bible says, we sin [1 John 3:4]. Jesus said that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments [John 14:15]. We must also do the good works that the Bible tells us to do [Ephesians 2:10] God loves us but He hates the sin that we do because He knows the terrible consequences of sin.
When we become a born-again Christians we must no longer want to sin. When we do sin we must ask God to forgive us and to help us not to sin anymore. Sin builds a wall between us and God so that we feel far from Him. When we ask God to forgive us and we turn away from our sin, the wall is broken down and we can be close to Him again. If we hold on to our sin and do not want to give it up, we can drift so far away from Him that we might even turn our backs on Him. The Bible also clearly tells us to stay away from witchcraft and idolatry – we do not need to be afraid of witchcraft [1 John 4:4] and we must not have anything to do with it. God said ‘You shall have no other gods before Me’ [Exodus 20:3].
Please remember that we do not obey God to be saved. We obey God because He commanded us to obey Him and because we are thankful for what Jesus Christ has done for us on the cross. The more we grow in our faith, the more we will want to obey Him.
3. THOBELA UTHIXO
Ibhayibhile isixelela ukuba uThixo usithanda [Yohane 3:16] ngaphezulu kunokuba sicinga, kodwa ukwanguThixo ongcwele kwaye ulindele ukuba siphile ubomi obungcwele [1 kaPeter 1:15]. Ukuphila ubomi obungcwele kuthetha ukwenza oko iBhayibhile isixelela ukuba sikwenze.
Xa singakwenzi oko iBhayibhile ikutshoyo, siyona [1 Yohane 3: 4]. UYesu wathi ukuba siyamthanda, siyakugcina imiyalelo yakhe [Yohane 14:15]. Kufuneka kwakhona senze imisebenzi elungileyo iBhayibhile isixelela ukuba siyenze [Kwabase-Efese 2: 10] UThixo uyasithanda kodwa yena usithiyile isono esisenzayo kuba esazi iziphumo ezibi zesono.
Xa sisiba ngamaKhristu azelwe ngokutsha akufuneki sifune ukwenza isono. Xa sisenza isono kufuneka sicele uThixo ukuba asixolele kwaye asincede ukuba singoni kwakhona. Isono sakha udonga phakathi kwethu noThixo ukuze siziva sikude kuye. Xa sicela uThixo ukuba asixolele kwaye siyekelele kwisono sethu, udonga luye phantsi kwaye singasondela kuye kwakhona.
Ukuba sibambelela kwisono sethu kwaye asifuni ukusiyeka, singakhukuliseka kude kakhulu kuye kangangokuba sisenokude simnikele kuye. Ibhayibhile ikwasixelela ngokucacileyo ukuba sihlukane nobugqwirha nokunqula izithixo-akufuneki sisoyika ubugqwirha [1 Yohane 4: 4] kwaye akufuneki sibenento yokwenza nawo. U-Thixo wathi ‘Uze ungabi nathixo ngaphandle kwam’ [Eksodus 20: 3].
Nceda ukhumbule ukuba asimthobeli uThixo ukuze sisindiswe. Sithobela uThixo kuba usiyalele ukuba simthobele kwaye sinombulelo ngento asenzele yona uYesu Krestu emnqamlezweni. Okukhona sikhula ngakumbi elukholweni lwethu, kokukhona siya kufuna ukumthobela
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4. GO TO CHURCH
Find a church that preaches the truth of the Bible and try to go to church every Sunday. If you hear the pastor say something different from the Bible, always believe the Bible [John 17:17] because pastors can sometimes make mistakes and misunderstand the Bible. If your church is not preaching according to the Bible, rather leave that church and look for one where the truth is preached. Do this, even if you need to travel further to get there. God wants us to get to know other believers so that we can learn from one another and so that we can encourage one another to stand strong in our faith. Other believers are our spiritual family.
5. BE BAPTISED
Jesus told those who followed Him to baptize those who are born again. [Mat 28:19] When you get baptized, the pastor will baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. When he puts you under the water it means that you have died to your old self. When he lifts you out of the water, it means that you are a new person in Christ [Romans 6:4] Just as Jesus was raised from the dead, we get raised to life and we are then no longer under the power of sin. When we get baptised we are also able to show those around us that we have accepted Jesus and now follow Him
6. TELL OTHERS
Just before Jesus went up to heaven, He told His disciples to go to all the nations to tell others about Him, so that they can also believe in Him and follow Him [Matthew 28:19-20] We need to do the same. There are so many people who have not yet heard about Jesus or do not yet believe in Him and follow Him. Jesus wants us to take the good news of what He has done for us on the cross to as many people as we can so that they can also get to know Him, love and follow Him and go to heaven when they die.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
4. Yiya EBUCHUKWINI
Fumana icawe eshumayela inyaniso esebhayibhileni kwaye uzame ukuya ecaweni rhoqo ngeCawa. Ukuba uva umfundisi esitsho into eyahlukileyo ebhayibhileni, khawuhlale ukholelwa kwibhayibhile leyo [Yohane 17:17] kuba abefundisi ngamanye amaxesha banokwenza iimpazamo kwaye bangaqondi ngebhayibhile.
Ukuba icawa yakho ayishumayeli ngokwebhayibhile, kungcono uyeke kuloo cawa ukhangele indawo apho kushunyayelwa khona inyaniso. Yenza oku, nokuba ufuna ukuhamba ngakumbi ukuya apho. UThixo ufuna ukuba sazi amanye amakholwa ukuze sifunde omnye komnye ukuze sikwazi ukukhuthazana ukuba somelele elukholweni. Amanye amakholwa yintsapho yethu yokomoya.
5. UKUZALWA
UYesu waxelela abo babemlandela ukuba babhaptize abo bazalwa ngokutsha. [Mat 28:19] Xa ubhaptiziwe, umfundisi uya kukubhaptiza egameni loYise, loNyana, loMoya oyiNgcwele. Xa ekufaka phantsi kwamanzi oko kuthetha ukuba uswelekile kwisidala sakho.
Xa ekuphakamisa emanzini, oko kuthetha ukuba ungumntu omtsha kuKristu [KwabaseRoma 6: 4] Kanye njengokuba uYesu wavuswa kwabafileyo, siyavuselwa ebomini kwaye ke asisekho phantsi kwamandla esono. . Xa sibhaptizwayo siyakwazi ukubonisa abo basingqongileyo ukuba samkelwe nguYesu kwaye ngoku simlandela
6. XELISA ABANYE
Ngaphambi kokuba uYesu anyukele ezulwini, waxelela abafundi bakhe ukuba baye kuzo zonke izizwe ukuba baxelele abanye ngaye, ukuze nabo bakholwe kuye, bamlandele [UMateyu 28: 19-20] Kufuneka senze okufanayo. Baninzi kakhulu abantu abangamvanga ngoYesu okanye abangakholwayo kuye, bamlandela. UYesu ufuna ukuba sithathe iindaba ezimnandi zezinto asenzele zona emnqamlezweni ukuya kubantu abaninzi kangangoko sinakho ukuze bamazi, bamthande, bamlandele, baye ezulwini xa besifa.
Yohane 3:16 “Kuba wenjenje uThixo, ukulithanda kwakhe ihlabathi ude wancama unyana okuphela kwamzeleyo, ukuze bonke abakholwayo kuye bangatshabalali, koko babe nobomi obungunaphakade.”
2 Petros 3: 9 “INkosi ayithandi ukuba kutshabalale nabani na, kodwa ukuze bonke baguquke.”