Salvation explained in the Scriptures
The Problem
Sin keeps us in a 'fallen' state, spiritually dead , without excuse, and condemned before a holy God
The Bible says,,,,,,,,,,
"But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear."(Isaiah 59:2)
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, who can know it?' (Jeremiah 17:9)
"They have all turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good. No, not one." (Psalm 14:3)
"For I know that in me (that is in my flesh), nothing good dwells." (Romans 7:8)
"For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.(Romans 3:23)
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23)
"He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." (John 3:18-19)
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the Truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible attributes- His eternal power and divine nature- having been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened." (Romans 1:18-21)
"Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him
to whom we must give account." (Hebrews 4:13)
Salvation is NOT about church, religion, commitments, promises, resolutions, getting on God's side, or being a better "you",,,
It is much more serious than that,, it is about CHOOSING,, Life or Death,,,, Heaven or Hell,,,, serving Christ or serving Satan,,, REALLY! You CHOOSE!
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The Choice
You must choose where you want to be! With God or without God? Serve God or serve Satan?
The Bible says,,,,,,,,
"See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you go to possess,,, I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live." (Deuteronomy 30:15, 16, 19)
"Now fear the LORD and serve Him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24:14-15)
It's pretty easy,,,,,
Jesus said: "You must be born again"
In the Garden of Eden, God gave Adam and Eve only one commandment,, "Do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,, or you will surely die."
Satan deceived them by saying they wouldn't die,, so they went ahead and ate the fruit,,,,, and they died,,,,, but not physically. They died spiritually!
Ever since that moment, mankind has been spiritually dead to the Spirit of God, and the only way he can know God is by having his spirit made alive again.
Jesus told the religious man, Nicodemus, "you must be 'born again". Nicodemus didn't understand what that meant. He obviously had been born and was
wondering how he could go back into his mother's womb to be born a second time! He was very much alive,,,, or so he thought! He was alive physically but not spiritually.
That is why the first thing Jesus told him was that he had to be born-again to see the kingdom of God. Jesus explained he had to be born once, to give him natural life,
and then, 'born again',,, 'born from above',, by the Holy Spirit,,, to give him spiritual life. Only then could he be saved, cleansed from his sin and become a child of God.
Just like Nicodemus,,, you must turn to God,,, to accept His free gift of salvation,,, to be born again,, to be washed clean, made spiritually alive and given a new life.
The Bible says,,,,,
"Look to Me and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other!" (Isaiah 45:22)
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 4:17)
"Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38)
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)
"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved,,,,,,,,,,, (Acts 16:31)
"If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9)
"I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will remember your sins no more." (Isaiah 43:25)
"Come unto Me , you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)
"And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved." (Acts 2:21)
" Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me." (Psalm 50:15)
"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)
"Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness
by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead." (Acts 17:30-31)
Today may be the only day you have to do this,,,,,,,,
The Bible says,,,,
"Behold, now is the accepted time, behold, now is the day of salvation." (2 Corinthians 6:2)
"Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring." (Proverbs 27:1)
"Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me." (Revelation 3:20)
By now you realize that no priest, pastor, promise, performance, posture or prayer can save you,,,,,,,only Jesus can!
Being born-again is only between you and Him,,,,,, it is very personal and very serious ,,,,,, but it is not complicated,,,,,,,
Just follow these ABC's
A Admit you are a sinner and need forgiveness. Admit you are lost and need the Lord to direct you. Be willing to turn away from your sins and turn towards God.
B Believe Jesus Christ is the ONLY One who can save you. Believe He died for your sins and rose from the dead to show His power over all. Believe Jesus is LORD.
C Cry out to God with a broken heart and ask Him to save you! It is not about emotions or tears. It is a matter of you doing business with God. Put your faith and trust in Him!
Are you ready?
Just talk to God,, out loud,,, from your heart,, something like this,,,,,
Heavenly Father,
I confess that I am a sinner and I know my sins have separated me from You. I admit that I am not right with You, and I want to be right with You.
I am truly sorry for my sins and the life that I have lived. I need you Lord and ask You to please forgive me. I am willing and ready to turn away from my past sinful life.
Wash me. Cleanse me and make me a new person. I believe that Jesus Christ died on the Cross to take away my sins and, that He rose again from the dead so that I may have right standing and eternal life with You through faith in Him. I believe in my heart and I confess with my mouth that Jesus is both Savior and LORD.
I now call upon Jesus Christ and I ask You to be my Savior and Lord. I surrender my life to You. I choose to follow You, and I ask that You fill me with the Holy Spirit,
that I may obey You, and do Your will for the rest of my life. With all my heart, I say thank You for forgiving me! Thank you for saving me! Thank you for giving me a new life!
I declare this day, I am saved, I am a child of God and I am born again by the Holy Spirit! In Jesus’ name, Amen!
If you prayed this prayer,,, hallelujah!,,,,, welcome to the family of God! We would love to hear from you!
The ONLY Solution to the problem
Jesus provided the only way to the Father by dying on the Cross for our sins
The Bible says,,,,,,,,,,
"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)
"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)
"Most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3)
"He who has the Son has life, he who does not have the Son does not have life." (1 John 5:12)
"If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever desires
to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, will save it. For what profit is it to a man
if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul." (Luke 9:23-25)
"Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him
and dine with him, and he with Me." (Rev 3:20)
"But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, to them He gave the right to become children of God." (John 1:12)
Listen very carefully!
The world today is all about Rights and Pro Choice. Isn't it? We have fought for our rights and now we choose what we want and have the absolute right to do so!
God created us with a free will and grants us freedom of choice, and today we choose what we feel is best for our health, our bodies, our children, our spiritual wellness,,,, everything!
We even get to choose where we spend eternity! Contrary to false teaching, there isn't a 'nowhere' after this life ends. There most definitely is a 'somewhere',,,,,, an afterlife.
The Bible says there is an eternal existence in either Heaven or Hell. There is no purgatory in the Bible! Heaven or Hell. Period! And you get to choose where you go,,, either Heaven or Hell!
The common lie many people believe is that God 'sends' people to hell. That is not true. God deeply loves you and has always wanted you to spend eternity in Heaven with Him.
He loves you so much that Jesus died on the Cross so you can now have a choice to be with Him if you want to. God does not send you anywhere you don't choose to go.
He gives you the option of accepting or rejecting His free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Simply put,,,, salvation is about choosing Jesus to have eternal life with Him in heaven or rejecting Jesus, and by default, choosing eternal death in Hell. It is your choice!
Bottom line,,,,,,,,,
If you are not saved and CHOOSE to stay right where you are now,,, then, regardless of how, good, moral, religious, or intelligent you are,,, you are rejecting God's offer of salvation and you are choosing Hell. But,,, if you choose to believe in Christ to forgive you and save you,,, then you are choosing salvation and eternity in Heaven.
Like it or not, it is and always has been about Jesus! "You can't do 'nothing' about Jesus." You have to do 'something' with Him! There never has been neutral ground!
You are already condemned because of Adam. Jesus offers you the only way out. You must either choose or reject Jesus. This truly is about life and death! Isn't it?
One more thought,,,,,
simply think of it this way,,,,, like the Titanic,,,,,,never made to sink,,,,, but,,,, it hit the iceberg and was doomed to destruction.
your life is like the Titanic,,,,, never expecting to fail or be lost,,,, but due to the iceberg of sin,,,,,it is also doomed,,,
And,,,, like the Titanic,,,, there is a choice! ,,, sinking ship or floating lifeboat?,,,,,,,,stay on the doomed ship and die,,,,or,,,,,,, get into the lifeboat and be saved! Pretty simple!
Jesus is that lifeboat of safety,,,, provided for you. Salvation is about you choosing Christ to save you from perishing! Rejecting His offer is choosing to be lost forever.
Think about this,,,,,,,,,,,,
Before the Titanic set sail, the office of White Star Line, (owner of the Titanic), had a list of names of the 885 crew and the 1343 passengers on board. The passengers were listed in three categories,,,,,,,. (337) in 1st class (wealthy, prominent members of upper class society),,,,,, (285) in 2nd class (middle class travelers, professors, authors, clergymen, tourists),,,,
(721) 3rd class (primarily immigrants). After the disaster, the White Star Line posted on the wall outside their office, another list of those same passenger and crew names.
However, that list had only two categories,, with 705 names in one,, and 1523 in the other,, the two categories?,,, Those known to be saved and those known to be lost.
What list do want your name to be found on,,,, for eternity? Those known to be saved or those known to be lost. It's all up to you.
Are you ready to make that choice?
At our first Nursing Home service, we told the residents we believed the Bible to be the absolutely true Word of God and we promised
we would always tell them the Truth, the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth,,, so help us, God!
We now make that same commitment to you!
On this page, you will read what God says about sin, being "lost", the need for repentance and the only way to salvation.
This may be 'uncomfortable truth' for you to hear, and you may think it is too harsh or even unfair, but nevertheless, it is the Truth
of the Bible, and if you are willing to ask God to help you embrace it,,,,,,, it is this Truth and only this Truth that will set you free!
Bible Teaching
Evangelism
Do all roads lead to God?
To start, we must first warn you of two very popular, misleading and dangerous false teachings of today. Firstly, the New Age Spirituality movement is one that tells us the "New Religion" is very much like a spiritual buffet, where one can select whatever they wish from all that is out there; Catholicism, religious practices, Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Gnosticism, Eastern mysticism, meditation, yoga, spiritual energy healing practices, the Occult,,,,
anything and everything that is spiritual or just feels good,,, then blend it together, season to your personal taste,, adjust as required,, and enjoy!
Basically, the "New Age" person becomes their own "god" and chooses what is 'best' for them, regardless of what God and His 'outdated' Bible says!
Secondly, there is Universalism, which is the foundation of the upcoming one-world global religion. It basically states God is very inclusive about who goes to heaven. Universalists say there is no hell, no judgement and therefore no need to repent of one's sin. Everyone goes to heaven as long as they are morally 'good', because God is love and He totally understands. Many prominent religious leaders have been swayed by this teaching to make heretical statements like: Jehovah, Allah, Jesus and Muhammad are just different names for the same entity, and all faiths, beliefs,religions,,even athiests
will be accepted by God, as is! We are not to judge anyone. We are all God's children. We must find common ground, lay aside our differences,
embrace our similarities, and come together for the sake of love, peace and world unity. (Pope Francis)
Sounds wonderful, doesn't it? It seems like New Age and Universalism has created the perfect solution to mankind's problems. We are now in charge!
Hell doesn't exist,,, sin is not important,, therefore no need to repent of anything,,, God understands,,,, love wins,,,, all roads lead to God,,,,, Perfect!,,,,
However the Bible says something VERY different. There is only ONE road that leads to God.,,,and that road is Jesus Christ!
The Bible says,,,,, (Jesus speaking) "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except by Me." (John 16:4)
The universalists say the way to eternal peace is inclusive, wide and easy. However, God says it is exclusive, narrow and difficult.
The Bible says,,,,, (Jesus speaking)
" Enter by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.
Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way to eternal life, and only a few find it." (Matthew 7:13-14)
"So,,,,, why Jesus? Aren't there a lot of ways to get to Heaven? Why does the way have to be narrow and difficult? Isn't that a little extreme?
I mean,,, really?,,,, Aren't all religions the same? Why can't I just be a good person? I'm confused! Doesn't God love me?
Of course God loves you,,,, but that is not the point in question,,,,, nor the problem,,,,,,,,,,
Do you remember the question from the previous page? [Why would I need this? The one word answer is,,,,,,,, sin,,,]
Well,,,, there is also a one word answer to the forgiveness of sin and the only way to God,,,, Jesus!
To explain,,,,,,
God did not make robots to automatically obey and serve Him. Instead, God made Adam and Eve in His own image, perfect and complete and He gave them a free will to choose to love, trust and obey Him. However, in the Garden of Eden, they succumbed to the deceit of Satan's lie about God and chose to disobey the one command God had given them. By this willful disobedience, sin had entered the human race, and the sin had to be judged by a just and holy God. Consequently, Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden and mankind's intimate fellowship with God was disrupted. Since then, every generation has been born sinful, condemned and separated from God, and if you are a human being, you are in this category by default.
Man had a terrible problem,,,, there was now a huge chasm between him and a holy God. Man had tried everything to build a bridge to restore the relationship, but the problem was sin and despite the greatest of sacrifices and the most noble of efforts, the stain of sin could not be removed.
Man had tried everything he possibly could to be good enough to please God,,, but how good is good enough for a holy God? Are you good enough?
What do you do when your best is not good enough? Man was doomed and lost.The requirement was beyond man's ability to supply.
There had to be a greater sacrifice,,, a perfect and holy one that was able to cleanse man's sin,,, once and for all. But how? Who could supply it?
God Himself had to supply it,,,, to make a way for us,,, to be cleansed,,, to be reconciled,,, to be saved,,,,
Man needed a Savior to make the way back to God available again. That Way was Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ was the ONLY One who was Holy and perfect. He was the ONLY One who was good enough to pay the price for our sins.
He was God in the flesh, the ONLY One to leave the glory of Heaven, to come to Earth to be crucified on the Cross and die for the sins of His creation!
Think about that for a moment! God in human flesh!,,,,, God Himself! ,,,,,, dying for you!,,, to pay for your sins,,,,, to save you!
No other 'gods' or 'deities' of any other world religion, faith, cult, pagan belief or otherwise, have ever died for the sins of their followers. Never! Not one!
Rather these 'gods' demand strict obedience and adherence to laws, rituals and religious practices so that their followers may hopefully appease them and perhaps find favor enough to be granted access to 'heaven' or 'paradise' or 'nirvana' or whatever!
It is the only TRUE GOD of Christianity, whose name is Yahweh, the great I AM, Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Holy One of Israel, the Alpha and the Omega, God Almighty, Yeshua the Messiah, Jesus Christ,,, who loves us so much that He was willing to die in our place,
suffer wrath and punishment to pay the price for our sins and put us back into right standing with Himself in order for us to spend eternity with Him.
For this reason, the name of Jesus is exalted above every name,, and it is ONLY by the name of Jesus that a person can be saved!
The Truth, the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth,,,
so help us God!
The Attempts to fix the problem
Since the Fall of Adam and Eve, mankind has always tried to get back into right relationship with God.
Man has tried everything to bridge the gap,,,,,,,, good works, religion, piety, philosophy, morality, spirituality, mysticism,,,,, the list is endless,,,,,,,,,,, but none of these can nullify the problem of ,,,,,,, sin.
The Bible says,,,,,,,,,,
",,, every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes." (Deuteronomy 12:8)
"All of us have become like an unclean thing, and all our righteous acts are as filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf." (Isaiah 64:6)
"Beware lest anyone cheat you through deceit and hollow, empty philosophy, which depends on human tradition
and the elemental spiritual forces of this world, rather than on Christ." (Colossians 2:8)
"There is a way that seems right to a man, but it's end is the way of death." (Proverbs 14:12)
"You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life,,," (John 5:39)
"This people honours Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me, And in vain they worship Me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." (Mark 7:6-7)