Five Steps To Salvation Series

It’s true that God hates sin. Why wouldn’t He? Sin is a killer. It separates us from Him, cutting us off from the source of life. He hates sin, but He loves sinners—you and me. Because He is also a God of justice, He must punish sin. It is here that the glory of the salvation plan becomes clear.

3 Look to Jesus

Just as I needed a savior that day in the swimming pool, we humans needed Someone to save us from drowning in sin. That Savior came in the person of the God-Man Jesus Christ. Jesus came to reveal the love of the Father and to be our Sin Bearer. He bore the punishment for our sins upon the cross. “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows. . . . He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4, 5). In her book The Desire of Ages, Ellen White put it this way:

Christ was treated as we deserve, that we might be treated as He deserves. He was condemned for our sins, in which He had no share, that we might be justified by His righteousness, in which we had no share. He suffered the death which was ours, that we might receive the life which was His.

4 Believe

As you look at Jesus dying on the cross and realize that He suffered that agony so you could be saved, you begin to understand the ugliness of sin and want to be forgiven, cleansed, and set free. You confess your wretchedness to God, and you repent. In other words, you turn away from those things that separate you from Him. As you do this, you accept God’s promise to “forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

You cannot atone for your past sins; you cannot change your heart and make yourself holy. But God promises to do all this for you through Christ. You believe that promise. You confess your sins and give yourself to God. You choose to serve Him. Just as surely as you do this, God will fulfill His word to you. You believe the promise—believe that you are forgiven and cleansed—and God supplies the fact. You are made whole, just as Christ gave the paralytic power to walk when the man believed that he was healed. It is so if you believe it.

The criterion for salvation hasn’t changed. “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).

5 Receive the gift of eternal life

If I hadn’t accepted my friend’s help when he jumped in to save me, I would have drowned. Similarly, each of us must accept Christ as our Savior, or His gracious act on the cross will not benefit us. Potentially life-saving medicine does no good while it’s in the bottle. The sick person must receive the pills into his or her body in order to be cured.

Trust Christ alone to save you. Neither good works nor being religious can save you. “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).