Is the main reason to accept Jesus Self-Preservation. Escape from Hell to heaven, accept Jesus . Does this not cause a person to become a Christian for the wrong reasons ?

What else can you expect from a sinner, except contrition or to beg for mercy. Ps 51:17 "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise".

But remember we must conform to the terms of the Gospel for salvation and that includes repentance and a living faith in Jesus Christ.

THe good news is the Gospel also promises these:

Ezekiel 36:26 "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh."

Rom 6:14For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

I don't know if there is such a thing as becoming a Christian for the wrong reason.

For one to become a Christian, a genuine Christian, we must repent of our sins, preached by John the Baptist, Jesus, and later in the book of Acts by Peter, Paul and others.

It tells us in Matthew 1v21, ' ...you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.

Our sins are our ticket to hell. If we are saved from our sins, we are saved from hell. If not, then we are not saved from hell.

It wasn't the fear of hell that made me become a Christian, rather, it was the fear of missing out on Christ's return. How many chances would I have to make it to heaven, if I missed Christ's return?

That was my fear.

We can't pull the wool over God's eyes. He knows who is and who isn't a Christian.

Let's see to it that He sees us as genuine.

Many people do not go beyond the fact that being saved is for their ultimate benefit. I believe salvation goes far beyond the bounds of our own good self. We are saved for God's praise of his glory as it is mentioned 3 times in Ephesians chapter 1:

3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he[c] predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.


11In him we were also chosen,[e] having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.

Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory.

I am also saved for the benefit and help of others and to be a living witness of him.

The fact that I enjoy eternal life and bliss is rather a welcome byproduct than the main thing.

narrowpath

KJV Luke 18:9-14

9. And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

10. Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

11. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

12. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

13. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

14. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

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Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately wicked: who can know it?
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Mark 2:17 When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

paris reidhead describes that the reason we should come to Christ is because we deserve to give god the obedience he deserves for his glory. Not to get a ticket to heaven but so we can be made righteous in the eyes of God and be brought back to him through repentance and trusting jesus. Not for us but for him, we do not deserve his grace but he loved us.

Why did God create man or the universe? So that his glory would be known! The earth declares his glory! Man would never be able to glorify god unless he was saved!

So the ultimate reason for salvation is included in the answer to the question what is the purpose of life the purpose of creation! Which is God being so completely worthy of all praise, glory and honor due to his immense holy character which is to such a extreme degree that all of mankind will give an account to God of what he did to know God and his glory and how you allowed God to use your life to to be a light in this dark and lost world! Our benefits are secondary to Gods glory!

Holy, Holy Holy is the Lord God Almighty!

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Jon De Vet

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Jordan

I loved the last 2 replies, great answers. Everything be to the glory of God.