Salvation

I have heard people say, "there are many ways to heaven" or, "we're all on different roads which lead to the same place." Some claim that so long as you believe in some God, you'll be fine. All of these are lies. The fact is that there is only one way to heaven: To enter through Christ, Jesus! In John 14:6, Jesus proclaims, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me."

Like everything, it seems there are two extremes in the beliefs regarding salvation. We will show that the truth lies in the middle!

One extreme believes that salvation is something that must be earned. In other words, these people believe that salvation is an act of grace put forth by Christ which must be earned by actions. This is a lie. There is nothing we can do to earn or pay for our salvation. In fact, what we have earned is death (more about that later). By adding to the very basic 'grace' of salvation, this group is making salvation unreachable by some. There are some people who simply say they cannot earn their salvation, so why bother. How sad!

The other extreme offers a simple salvation -- the so-called '1-2-3-pray after me' salvation. This group is also a dangerous extreme. In this group, people are coerced into praying a prayer. When they repeat this rote prayer, they are pronounced to be saved by the one who lead the prayer. I do not doubt the intentions of these people. I have met many and I am friends with some. I know, in the depths of my heart, that they genuinely want to see people in heaven. But sadly, they are a tool in the devil's arsenal. By pronouncing someone to be saved in this way, they are, no doubt, giving countless scores of people a false sense of eternal security.

As I said, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Done right, salvation is easier than falling off a log and eternally life-changing.

You must realize your need.

If you are honest, no matter how 'good' you appear in the eyes of everyone around you, you can think back to a time in your life when you did something that you knew was wrong. This is sin. Sin is simply the transgression of God's law. This can be something simple such as a little white lie, or something else. I could create a list of sins here, but I won't. I'll miss your sin! Again, if you are honest with yourself, you know you have done something wrong in your life. You know you have sinned.

Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God

Rom 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned

You must realize Christ is the only way.

Good works cannot save you.

Eph 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.

Your good works – the best things you have ever done are merely 'filthy rags' in the eyes of Jesus. This is not because we are so puny, it is simply because we have absolutely no idea how holy God is! Simply, there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation.

Sin requires a payment.

Rom 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death…

There is yet another part to Rom 6:23, but the first part sums up the need for salvation as well as the penalty for sin. We deserve to die because we have sinned. That is the penalty that Adam and Eve earned when they sinned against God, and that is the penalty that was passed down from Adam to all of us. We all deserve to die for our sins.

Salvation.

As I said above, salvation is a free gift. Before we can accept this gift, there are a few things we must do:

• We must be willing to repent: Luke 13:3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
  

  Repentance has taken on a dramatically different meaning to some than what it really means. To repent does not mean that you have to clean up your life before you could be saved. It does not mean that you have to come to God with a clean heart or life. If repentance meant that, none of us would ever be qualified to be saved. Repentance is simply a change in mind or a change in direction. In other words, it is something like agreeing with God that you are a sinner and that you do not want to sin any more.
  

• We must believe in the Lord Jesus and confess that belief in Jesus: Rom 10:9-10 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
  

Once someone agrees with God about their sin, their need for salvation, the payment for their salvation (Jesus), they need only ask to be saved. Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Usually, someone confesses to Jesus that they are a sinner and simply asks Jesus to save them. There is not a specific set of words that need to be said to be saved. Simply crying out to God is sufficient.

Now that you have asked God to save you:

You are now a child of God: John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name

Many people claim to be a child of God. Some pronounce that all men are God's children. This is not so. Everyone who has drawn a breath has received the blessings of God, but they are not a child of God.

You are now a new creature: 2 Cor 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

I think this is where people get the cart ahead of the horse, so to speak. They try to say that you must do this or that to be saved. Perhaps this is even where the lie that you must live a certain way to be saved came from.

The fact is simple: if you are saved, you will live a different life. You will want to do different things. You will want to clean your life up. Someone who is saved is not doing these things to be saved, they are doing them because they are saved.

The salvation of the Old Testament saints.

How were the people in the Old Testament saved? Were they saved by their sacrifices? There are some who believe there was a different way for them to be saved. Simply: No. Their sacrifices were symbolic. The shedding of the blood of various animals -never saved a single soul -- not Able, not Noah, not Abraham. No one has ever been saved through the shedding of the blood of an animal. Salvation has always been by faith in Jesus. How were the saints of the Old Testament saved by faith in Jesus before Jesus was? They were saved by their faith in the forth coming Messiah.

There is one faith, one salvation and one Gospel:

Eph 4:4-6 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; (5) One Lord, one faith, one baptism, (6) One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Mat 4:23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

Mark 1:1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;

Mark 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.