Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/6449

6449 Convinced acknowledgement of Jesus Christ....

January 11, 1956: Book 69

No one can free himself from satan's bondage without Jesus Christ.... But it is of no use if a person only calls himself a christian in name, if he does not consciously reject Jesus, but the person must first have seriously committed himself to Him.... he must be aware of his guilt, he must recognize his own imperfection and believe that Jesus Christ can redeem him from his guilt and weakness and consciously ask Him for it.... So he must place himself under His cross.... Every person must realize that salvation through Jesus Christ is not a formal, general act which is carried out in a template-like way for everyone; he must realize that he himself must do something in order to participate in salvation through Jesus Christ.... Jesus Christ has indeed redeemed all people, i.e. no-one is excluded from His work of mercy, yet His redemption does not take place against the human being's will.... And therefore the human being must first declare his will to want to be redeemed by Him.... And therefore it is a fully conscious matter which first requires to mentally deal with the problem of God's human manifestation and Jesus Christ's crucifixion, to consciously profess Jesus Christ and now also to live according to His will on earth.... The convinced acknowledgement of Jesus Christ will also let people call to Him for help, which will certainly be granted to them for the sake of the work of redemption.... To be redeemed means to become free from the power of the one who pulls man down.... To be redeemed means to be able to strive upwards carefree, which was not possible before Jesus' death on the cross, because God's adversary did not let any soul go free. But how many people on earth believe that by merely confessing Jesus Christ with their mouths they are 'christians', i.e. that they have a claim to salvation through Him....? They believe that by doing so they have escaped the supposed fate of those who are heathens in their eyes.... They believe that their 'faith' in Jesus Christ and His work of redemption is enough, but it is only a formal faith as long as the inner transformation into a living christian has not yet taken place in them. This is why even these formal christians will not be able to resist when they are forced to make the final decision, they will then give up their faith with an easier heart because it has not yet come alive in them, and they will bear witness to the fact that they are and were true pagans who had only acquired a false name.... But there is no salvation without Jesus Christ.... And therefore this last decision means a strengthened fetter which God's adversary puts on them, and to become free from this fetter will take an inconceivably long time until once again Jesus Christ will reach out to them, which they did not want to see in this life and therefore did not take hold of.... How easily all people could still escape this great danger, because Jesus Christ is proclaimed everywhere in the world.... and His name is made known everywhere with persuasive power, because every person could be impressed by it and seriously think about the significance of His act of salvation.... for once. If only the will were present, Jesus Christ Himself would help and bring Himself to people's minds.... He would mentally speak to him Himself and truly make it easy for him to walk the path to Him.... if only the will were present to receive light on this question, which is truly the most important for you humans.... But the formal believer has nothing in advance of the unbeliever, for he is just as far removed from Jesus Christ as the latter. And therefore there is great hardship amongst humanity, and only a few people will escape this hardship....

Amen

Translated by Doris Boekers