When
it comes to Salvation the Bible makes a distinction between the Salvation of the
soul (from damnation) and the Salvation (deliverance) of the believer in daily
Christian living.
Here we'll briefly discuss the Salvation of the soul
from damnation which is the necessary step for an individual to become a
true born-again Christian. At this point a person enters the
Christian life. Without the Salvation of the soul, a person is not able to
understand the issues regarding the Christian life as only at the moment
of Salvation a person receives the Holy Spirit who is necessary for understanding spiritual issues as taught in the Bible.
One amazing aspect of
Grace is that we do not need to debate the false teachings regarding
Salvation, because there are only two basic teachings regarding Salvation:
(1) Salvation can
supposedly be obtained by the efforts (works, performance, rituals,
merit, etc.) of an individual or a group, which of
course is not compatible with the principles of Grace;
or:
(2) Salvation is
free: a gift/benefit available to all who want to receive it by Grace
through faith, and that's
exactly what the Word of God teaches.
The Bible clearly teaches
the only condition for Salvation of the soul from damnation as the Salvation question was
put forth in
Acts 16:30-31 by one individual who wanted to know
exactly how
to obtain Salvation:
"What must I do to
be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
thou shalt be saved, and thy house."
―Acts 16:30-31
Not only are there many
Scripture passages that support the Grace doctrine of Salvation, but
Salvation by Grace is the only teaching regarding Salvation that is
compatible with the very nature and essence of God. For further explanation read e.g. the
following verse:
"For by grace are
ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift
of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."
―Ephesians 2:8-9
This distribution of
Grace was made possible by an act of Mercy by God which was rooted in His
Love based on His character and nature.
In order to accept us into His presence, He had to take care of our rightly
deserved punishment and consequences of sin as He as a holy God cannot look upon sin.
There had to be a qualified sacrifice and/or substitute to satisfy His
justice and to pay the debt
that we couldn't pay. As God is perfect, He can only accept perfection.
Therefore trying to do the best we can, just doesn't cut it, because it isn't
perfect. But God had a perfect solution as He sent His son, Jesus Christ,
who was the perfect sacrifice and the only acceptable payment for our debt.
"For God so loved the
world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son
into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might
be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth
not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the
only begotten Son of God."
―John 3:16-18
Again, in this
Scripture passage we read that the only condition for Salvation is to
believe in Jesus Christ, meaning God offers every human being Salvation by
Grace (as a gift). HIS Mercy took care of the judicial issue so that
now Grace can be distributed freely. Please also read the following
verses:
"So Christ was once offered to
bear the sins of many."
―Hebrews 9:28
"Who His own self (Christ) bare our
sins in His own body on the tree."
―1 Peter 2:24
"For Christ also hath once suffered
for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God."
―1 Peter 3:18
"And He (Christ) is the propitiation
for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole
world."
―1 John 2:2
"Wherefore He is able also to save
them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him."
―Hebrews
7:25
As we can see, Christ took care of sin
and therefore it is no longer a sin issue, but instead, now Christ is the
issue. Do I have Jesus Christ as my personal Savior or not? If we accept
Jesus Christ as our personal Savior with our free will, by Grace through
faith, then we have freely received Salvation and therefore Eternal Life (1
John 5:12). As we read above, He is able to save us to the
uttermost―it is a complete Salvation.
Salvation is freely offered to every
person here on earth (1 Tim. 2:4;
Titus 2:11;
2 Pet. 3:9) and as an
individual exercises his/her free will to believe (trust) in Jesus
Christ as his/her personal Savior, such a person takes advantage of God's
freely offered Salvation unto men and becomes a born-again Christian.
At the very moment an individual
believes that Jesus Christ is his/her only way of Salvation (Acts 4:12;
John 14:6) and
therefore puts his/her trust in Him regarding this essential issue, a
person is saved, which means that such a person has received Eternal Life
at that very moment. There are
95
Things God provides at the point of Salvation.
Salvation is a gift, something we don't deserve and we can never earn
(Rom. 4:5), but
we can make a decision in our free will to accept this glorious gift.
Practically speaking: as we hear the Gospel, faith in Jesus Christ becomes
freely available (Rom. 1:16) as the Holy Spirit convicts us
of the fact that we need Jesus Christ as our Savior, and with our free
will we'll make a decision to either accept or reject Jesus Christ as our
personal Savior.
Salvation by Grace is the
basis for the Christian life. Without it, an individual is left to himself
and to his desperate attempts and poor efforts trying to please God
according to his/her own concepts apart from the plan of God. A life like
that, as humanly good as it may be and as "religious" as
it may appear, is truly a struggle and a waste. Such an individual misses
out on the gift of Eternal Life (1 John 5:11-13), and also on the
benefits of an Abundant Life (John 10:10) here on earth. God will
accept you just as you are right now. HE loves you so very much!
Why not accept this beautiful gift from
God of Salvation by Grace
through faith right now as He stretches his hands out to you to give you Eternal
Life? You don't have to change and you don't have to do anything, but
simply believe (trust) in Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. HE
already died on the cross for you and He rose from the dead so that He can
offer Eternal Life as a gift to you. If you want to receive Salvation by Grace as a gift right now as you truly
believe in your heart that Christ is your sole personal Savior, then
please say a simple
prayer like this:
"Dear
Lord Jesus Christ, I know I'm a sinner; I cannot save myself, but I
believe that You died for me on the cross and that You shed Your
precious blood for me to pay for all of my sins. Come into my heart to
live as I accept you now as my personal
Savior. Thank you for Eternal Life. Amen."
While a prayer like this
by itself wouldn't save you, a prayer like this, if you truly meant it
in your heart, confirmed your genuine Salvation because of your exclusive trust in the Lord Jesus Christ
as the only Savior of your soul. And now you're saved forever and Christ lives in you through the Holy Spirit, leading
and guiding you in your life as you let Him. Your eternal destiny is
forever secure as you've received Eternal Life at the very moment when
you believed
(trusted) in Jesus
Christ as your personal Savior.
(Please note that you may not
understand and/or know all the theological details about
Salvation and these aren't an issue at this time, but you've
simply believed with child-like faith the finished work of Christ on the
cross and that Jesus Christ is your personal
Savior; and that's the only requirement for salvation and to receive
that Eternal Life for an eternal destiny in the presence of God).
And remember, nobody
(incl. yourself) can ever take this precious gift of Salvation/Eternal Life away from you
as we are kept by the power of God (1 Peter 1:5) and we're sealed
by the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13;
4:30). Your Salvation was fully the work
of God and He can't deny Himself (2 Tim. 2:13) and whatever He
does shall be forever (Eccl. 3:14).
If
you've just accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, we'd love to hear from
you―please send us a
note to:
