HOW TO BE SAVED?
Have you come to a place in your life, where you know for certain, that if you died you would go to heaven?
The only answer is, “Yes” or “No” or “I don’t know.”
If you were standing before God’s right now and He were to ask you, “Why should I let you into my perfect heaven? What would you say?
You might say, “I go to church. I try to live a good life. I try to keep God’s law.”
These responses and the like will not allow you to enter God’s heaven.
Most would probably say, “I don’t know what I would say.”
GOD LOVES YOU.
“For God so loved the world [put your name here] that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
How can God love me?
Me and Ann have several children. When they were born they did nothing for us! They kept us up all hours of the night; had to change their diapers; had to feed them; etc.
But we loved them – why? Because we had something to do with them being in this world. They are our children.
Without God you would not even exist! He is the Creator and Sustainer of life. He loves you even though you have done nothing to deserve it.
GOD HAS A PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE.
“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)
God has a purpose for your life. Where did you come from? Who are you? Why are you here? Where are you going? Most people have no answer to these questions. Most people lack any kind of real purpose in life. Jesus Christ came to give you a purpose.
TRANS: If God loves us, and has a purpose for our lives then how come you do not experience that love and purpose? It is because of your sin.
MAN IS SINFUL AND THUS SEPARATED FROM GOD.
You are a sinner.
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
You are a sinner by Birth. God created Adam and Eve and put them in a garden with one commandment. They were not to eat of a certain tree. They disobeyed God and ate and thus they sinned.
What kind of babies will two sinful people have? It is the law of biogenesis – like produces like.
“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—“ (Romans 5:12)
You are also a sinner by Choice. Have you not sinned? The Bible commands us to love God with all our heart, mind, and soul. Have you always done that? Have you really ever done that?
Have you ever told a lie? Have you ever wanted too? God not only looks at our deeds but at our desires. The Bible clearly declares we have all sinned.
SO WHAT?
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
What you have earned from your sin is death. Death means separation…
There is Spiritual death – the separation of the spirit/soul from God.
“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." (Gen 2:16-17)
The day they ate of it they did not physically die, that took place many years later. But God said “in the day” you eat of it you will die. They did die spiritually that very day.
There is also Physical death – the separation of the spirit/soul from the body.
“And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” (Heb 9:27)
The fact that everybody dies physically is proof that every body is a sinner.
If you die physically, while you are spiritually dead, you will die Eternally.
Eternal death – is the eternal separation of the spirit/soul/body from God’s goodness, grace, mercy, and blessings. It is to be fully conscious and live in a place call the lake of fire.
“Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Rev 20:14-15)
QUESTION: How can you say God loves me and yet condemns me at the same time?
Imagine if you were a just Judge. And your son, who you love very much, committed a crime which demanded the death penalty. Would you sentence him to death? If you were a just judge you would, in spite of your great love for him.
God is holy, righteous, just as well as love.
TRANS: This looks like bad news! But there is good news!
JESUS CHRIST IS GOD.
“ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1)
GOD BECAME GOD/MAN.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)
JESUS CHRIST PAID FOR YOUR SIN.
He lived a perfect life and then died in your place.
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
What if that Judge sentenced you to death, and then took off his robes, and took your death sentence! He would be both just and loving.
We do not understand all of this but must accept it by faith. I do not understand electricity but I still do not live in the dark; I do not understand how the digestive system
works but I still eat; I do not understand how a brown cow, eats green grass, and produces white milk; You do not have to understand everything to be saved! Just that you are a sinner and that Jesus Christ died for your sin.
JESUS CHRIST ROSE FROM THE DEAD!
“ For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. 6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.” (1 Cor 15:3-6)
By rising from the dead He proved that He paid for all of our sins, if He hadn’t death would have held Him. It also proved that He had no sin of His own; if He had He would have stayed dead like everybody else.
HE IS THE ONLY WAY TO BE SAVED.
“Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)
If 1,000 of us leave from Long Beach California and try and swim to the State of Hawaii, a distance of 2,400 miles, one thing we will all have in common is, we will all drown! Some will swim farther then others, but it is impossible to swim from California to Hawaii. You need a boat.
It is just as impossible to get to heaven by any other means other than Jesus Christ. Some might seem more godly then others, but all fall short of the glory of God.
If you do not agree with this you cannot be saved. It would be like arguing that 2 + 2 does not equal 4! You may argue but the mathematical equation remains the same.
IT IS NOT ENOUGH JUST TO BELIEVE THIS!
Many if not most American’s believe what I have just shared with you.
WE MUST INDIVIDUALLY RECEIVE JESUS CHRIST AS OUR SAVIOR.
He must be received.
“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:” (John 1:12)
He must be received by grace through faith.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Eph 2:8-9)
Faith is not a work…faith is believing in the work of another.
Faith involves three things:
Intelligence – you have to know that you are a sinner and that Jesus is the only savior through His death, burial, and resurrection.
Acceptance – you have to accept that knowledge as true.
Reliance – you have to rely upon Christ as you receive Him as your Savior.
ILLSTRATION: A man put a wire across Niagara Falls, and walked across it on that high wire. He then went across it in a wheel barrel. He then put bricks in the wheel barrel and took it across. A crowd gathered and he asked them, “Do you believe I can put a person in this wheel barrel and take him across?” The crowd said, “Yes, we believe you can do it!” He turned to one young man and said, “Will you be the first to get into the wheel barrel?” He said, “No way!” and walked off.
He did not really believe. He believed with his mind that the man could do it; he believed with his emotions; yet he would not commit himself to get into the wheel barrel. Therefore he did not really believe.
Or say you went to your doctor and his diagnosis showed you had a fatal disease. Now you know that you have a disease. He gives you a pill that says it can cure the disease. Now you have a choice. Do you accept that fact that the pill can cure the disease? If you put the pill in your pocket with that knowledge and acceptance of the value of the pill but never actually take the pill, it will do you no good.
Salvation is not just believing in Jesus Christ like you believe in George Washington!
“ You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe--and tremble!” (James 2:19)
You must, and this only happens as the Holy Spirit enables you, receive Jesus Christ by Biblical faith which involves you mind, emotion, and will.
It is by Grace – meaning that you cannot earn, merit, or deserve it.
Jesus said, “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”(Matt 5:20
Did you know those religious leaders prayed 3 times a day; fasted 2 times a week; never missed going to the House of worship; memorized the Old Testament. And yet Jesus said if you are not more righteous then they are you are not going to make it!
Then he says this, “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matt 5:48)
Perfect righteousness is required to get to heaven! How can we be perfectly righteous before a perfectly righteous God?
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Cor 5:21)
Jesus not only offers us forgiveness of all our sins but His own righteousness placed on our account! The only sin Jesus ever knew was ours; the only righteousness we will ever know is His.
NEVER THE SAME!
Salvation is not just an external thing. When you receive Jesus Christ as your Savior He makes you a new creature within!
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Cor 5:17)
And the Holy Spirit takes up permanent residence within you.
“And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!" (Gal 4:6)
Thus you now have the desire [new nature] and the power [indwelling Holy Spirit] to live for God. You are Positionally changed – from being in Adam to now being in Christ; and Experientially changed – because of the inner transformation.
“for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” (Phil 2:13)
While you still have an old sin nature and Satan as an enemy, your entire life is different!
If you are, what you’ve always been, you’re not saved. I know that I am saved because on the 07th of May 1974 I received Jesus Christ as my Savior; and because I never got over it!
ARE YOU READY TO BE SAVED?
Here is a suggestive prayer; the words are not what’s important but your heart. If God is dealing with you, and if He is not you do not want any of this anyway, but if He is then cry out to God.
“Lord Jesus, I need you. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I cannot
save myself. I cannot even help you save me. But the best I know how I confess that I am a sinner and believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins and rose from the dead. I open the door of my life and receive you right now as my Savior. Come in and make me the kind of person you want me to be.”
If you just received Jesus Christ as your Savior - then you are saved! Based on the authority of God’s promise. If you have just received Jesus Christ I would love to hear from you. Write to:
Johnny Palmer
16797 Hideway Lane
Decatur, Ar. 72722
www.strugglingthruscriptures.ning.com
www.Blogtalkradio/strugglingthruscriptures
