SALVATION

"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." John 3:16 Jesus loves YOU so much that He would have given His life if you were the only human to ever live! He is worthy of all our love and all our praise!

Sometimes the "false churches" are mocked for "simplifying" the gospel with John 3:16. But let us take another look:

* Romans 6:23 . . . the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

If someone were to purchase a gift and present it to you, would you gave to accept it? No, of course not. You can choose to accept it or reject it. Now if this gift is very expensive and precious, and you try to pay for it with money you have worked hard to earn, then it is no longer a gift is it? It is the same way with God's gift of eternal life, you can either accept it or reject it. If you try to earn it, you are refusing it as a gift.

* Ephesians 2:8-9 - 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.

God's plan is to give this free gift of eternal life to those who choose to accept it. There is nothing we can do to earn it or to deserve it.

Even though heaven is a free gift, many do not accept it. We can see this more clearly when we understand what the Bible says about man.

* Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.

There are many different opinions today about what sin is.

Sin means to miss the mark, to miss the target, to fail to live up to God's standard. Suppose we were to put a dart board up on the wall. If you threw a dart and missed the bull's eye by one inch and then I threw a dart and missed it by five inches, which one of us missed it? Both of us. It doesn't make any difference how close we are, the point is we both missed the mark.

If we think of the bull's eye like God's standard of perfection, some people may get closer to the bull's eye than others, but none of us can live up to God's standard of perfection.

Some people think, "If I am just good enough, if I am just humanitarian enough, or if I give enough money to the church or to charity, then, somehow, I will earn the right to go to heaven." Other people think that it really doesn't matter; all roads lead to heaven. But, the Bible tells us . . .

* Proverbs 14:12 - There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

. . . or eternal separation from God. This is because man cannot take care of his own sin problem.

A neuro-surgeon cannot operate on his own brain. A heart specialist cannot perform surgery on his own heart. A dentist cannot pull out his own teeth. A doctor cannot remove his own cancer. Neither can man remove the cancer of sin by himself.

Man's case seems hopeless, but let's see what the Bible has to say about God.

* Hebrews 10:31 - It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Some people think God is like a kindly old man sitting in a rocking chair in heaven who winks at our sin, who will overlook our sin. But the Bible is clear that if our sin problem is not taken care of it will be a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Imagine that we could get so good that we only sinned 3 times a day. That doesn't seem like very much does it? But that would mean we would sin over 1000 times a year. If a 30 year old person had been able to be that good all of their life, on the average, that would mean that person would have sinned over 30,000 sins by that point in their life. Can you imagine what would happen if that person went before a judge with over 30,000 traffic tickets? He would probably be locked up and the key thrown away. In the same way God cannot overlook our sins. There has to be a payment for those sins.

This is because God is just. God is holy. God is righteous. He cannot overlook our sin.

* 1 Timothy 2:3b-4 . . . God our Savior; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

This appears to be a contradiction doesn't it?

If God is just and must punish my sin, how can he love me and save me? God Himself solved this problem by coming to earth in the person of Jesus Christ.

Who do you think Jesus is?

One time Jesus said to the crowd around Him --

* John 14:9b - he that hath seen me hath seen the Father

Jesus claimed to be the exact representation of the Father. In fact, Jesus claimed to be God. We can see this over and over in the Bible.

* John 1:1,14 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us

Let's suppose I had been carrying around a book that contained all the sins I had ever committed. Each year, this book was becoming bigger and heavier and it was weighing me down and separating me from God. What Jesus did when He went to the cross was to take this book from me and place it on His own shoulders, along with the sins of everyone else.

* Isaiah 53:6 - All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Jesus was God's payment for our sins. He died in our place. As a result we can now stand before God with our sins completely paid for.

* Hebrews 9:22 - . . . without shedding of blood is no remission [forgiveness.]

The Bible says that only those who receive Christ by faith have this free gift of eternal life and can stand before God with their sins completely paid for.

In essence then, faith is the key to receiving this free gift of eternal life.

Most people carry a set of keys. They all work in some lock somewhere, but only one of these keys unlocks their front door. In the same way, there is only one key to heaven -- the key of faith.

* Ephesians 2:8 - For by grace are you saved through faith. .

But be careful to understand that this does not mean just mental agreement with the facts. It does not just mean a head knowledge.

* James 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the dvils also believe, and tremble.

We know the demons won't be spending time in heaven. So what is saving faith? In studying the Bible we can see that saving faith has four requirements.

It's like the story about the tightrope walker who stretched a cable across Niagara Falls. While he was working, a crowd gathered to see what was going to happen. When he was done, he asked the crowd if they believed he could walk across the cable. They cheered and said, "We believe," so he walked across the cable and back. Then he asked the crowd, "Do you believe I can cross the cable again, this time with a chair strapped to my back?" The crowd cheered and said, "We believe." So he had a chair strapped to his back, and walked across the cable and back again. This time he asked the crowd, "Do you believe I can walk across the cable with this chair strapped to my back, and a person sitting in the chair?" The crowd went wild. They clapped and cheered and cried out, "We believe, we believe." Then he asked the crowd, "Who wants to be first person in the chair?" The crowd went totally silent. Saving faith is like getting into that chair. It means trusting in Jesus Christ with our whole being. It means getting into the chair, not standing on the shore and saying, "I believe."

* John 14:6 - Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

So we see that the first requirement of saving faith is trusting in Christ alone for your salvation.

Saving faith means acting on what we say we trust in. Saving faith and obedience cannot be separated.

Jesus said in Luke 6:46 - No why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

Acts 17:30b - ..but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent

Repentance is that conscious change of mind regarding God on the one hand, and sin on the other.

In the Bible, the word repentance literally means to turn. It means to turn from sin, and to turn to God. It means a 180° change in direction, like driving south on a roadway, making a U-turn and heading north.

Rom 10:9 - That if thou shalt confess with they mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Confession means to openly declare our faith in Christ - that we are not ashamed of Christ. We confess Christ by our actions, attitudes and words.

Rev 3:20 - Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and weill sup with him, and he with me.

Jesus is knocking at the door of your heart. He wants to come in and to give you the free gift of eternal life.

Do you want to receive Jesus Christ into your heart right now?

If so, are you:

1) Willing to trust Christ for your salvation?

2) Willing to obey Christ?

3) Willing to repent?

4) Willing to confess Christ?

If you answered “yes” to the preceding four questions, tell God. You can say a prayer similar to the following:

Dear God. I know that I am a sinner. Thank you for Jesus Christ dying on the cross, for paying the penalty for all my sins. I know you're knocking at the door of my heart and I accept you into my heart right now. Help me to be the type of person you want me to be. In Jesus name. Amen.