(This page builds on the content presented on page Salvation 101 by filling in a lot more information and helps to get a fuller, a more complete, and Biblical view of this subject. - RB)
The first question a person has in his/her mind when first presented with the invitation to get saved is: WHY?
And rightly so, because making such a life altering decision should be made with sincerity and with a clear understanding of all that it involves.
We're not talking about which college to go to or what model of car to buy, we are talking about your eternal destiny.
The choice presenting itself to us is one that is stark and clear, it doesn't cost any money, and it's very serious:
And rightly so, because making such a life altering decision should be made with sincerity and with a clear understanding of all that it involves.
We're not talking about which college to go to or what model of car to buy, we are talking about your eternal destiny.
The choice presenting itself to us is one that is stark and clear, it doesn't cost any money, and it's very serious:
(Romans 6:23)But what is this "death", and what is this "eternal life"? What does it all mean? The following will address the answers to those questions and a lot more.
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The Bible says that after you die, your soul will go to one of two places.
One is a good place and the other is a bad place...and both are forever:
The bad place is first Hell, until it's thrown into the Lake of Fire.
The good place is, of course, Heaven.
One is a good place and the other is a bad place...and both are forever:
(Daniel 12:2)Obviously, going to the good place would be much more desirable than going to the bad place! Salvation, or "getting saved", gives you absolute security that you will go to the good place and "saves" you from going to the bad place!
And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
The bad place is first Hell, until it's thrown into the Lake of Fire.
The good place is, of course, Heaven.
Hell is a real place:
(Matthew 10:28)
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
The Lake of Fire is a real place:
(Revelation 20:14-15)
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
And Heaven is a real place:
It breaks his heart when a person turns away and chooses the misery of hell instead of the joy of heaven.
At this point your might feel compelled to say: Heaven sounds much better than hell, if I were to die today,
to which place would I go?
First there is this little matter of your trial:
(Psalm 14:2)If God is love, light and life....then hell is hate, heaviness and horror. God loves us, and since those other places are the complete opposite of heaven, he wants us all to run for our lives away from the devil and run into his waiting arms!
The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.
It breaks his heart when a person turns away and chooses the misery of hell instead of the joy of heaven.
At this point your might feel compelled to say: Heaven sounds much better than hell, if I were to die today,
to which place would I go?
First there is this little matter of your trial:
(Hebrews 9:27)
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.
... and Jesus set the standard ...
And it spread until it had infected all peoples over all the earth.
(Matthew 5:48)... and God warned us from the very beginning to follow the rules ...
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
(Genesis 2:16-17)Notice the thing that God did not want Adam and Eve to do was to eat a fruit that would teach them about evil. But eat they did, and sin entered in, and the death penalty came with it.
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
And it spread until it had infected all peoples over all the earth.
(Romans 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.
Therefore, the inevitable verdict is guilty:
Thus the penalty:
That, my friend is why you need to get saved!
Which leads us to the next question:
(Romans 3:10)
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.
(Romans 3:23)Since none of us are perfect, we all fall short of minimum standard for getting into heaven
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.
Thus the penalty:
(Romans 6:23a)
For the wages of sin is death...
(Revelation 20:14)And it's forever.
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
That, my friend is why you need to get saved!
Which leads us to the next question:
Even though God requires perfect righteousness to be in his presence, and even though he knew Adam & Eve would sin and deserve the death penalty, even though he knew it would mean their banishment from his presence ...
... even though he knew all that,
from the very beginning he had a plan to redeem the human race so we could escape that death and receive that perfect righteousness!
After Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, God quickly demonstrated the method he would use to defeat sin, to redeem man, and that would ultimately be fulfilled by Jesus Christ on the cross.
God sacrificed a sin-free animal and he covered the shame of their nakedness with the skin of that sacrifice symbolizing how atonement works. A substitute death for our own penalty, and a covering of our shame so God does not see it.
And when Israel came out of Egypt, the use of a sin-free substitute to suffer the death penalty for the Israelis was instituted into the law of Moses.
... even though he knew all that,
from the very beginning he had a plan to redeem the human race so we could escape that death and receive that perfect righteousness!
After Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, God quickly demonstrated the method he would use to defeat sin, to redeem man, and that would ultimately be fulfilled by Jesus Christ on the cross.
God sacrificed a sin-free animal and he covered the shame of their nakedness with the skin of that sacrifice symbolizing how atonement works. A substitute death for our own penalty, and a covering of our shame so God does not see it.
(Genesis 3:9-10)
9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
(Genesis 3:21)It looked forward to when our nakedness would be covered by the blood of Jesus so that all God would see when he looked at us would be the sin-free nature of Christ instead of our sins.
Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
And when Israel came out of Egypt, the use of a sin-free substitute to suffer the death penalty for the Israelis was instituted into the law of Moses.
(Leviticus 1:3-5)The Passover lamb is the most famous example of this type of sin-free substitute death.
3 ...he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD.
4 And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.
5 And he shall kill the bullock before the LORD...
(Exodus 12:3)
Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house.
(Exodus 12:6-7)
6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.
7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.
(Exodus 12:13)But now, God has fulfilled his plan, and had provided for us the ultimate substitute stand-in to pay the price for your sins.
And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
(Romans 5:6-9)Jesus Christ is the ultimate substitute death, the ultimate passover lamb, the ultimate sacrifice for our sins because he was sinless. And being sinless means he didn't have to die for his own sins, just like the sin-free animals used previously.
6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
In addition to that, being sinless means that Jesus was not bound by the penalty of death like Adam & Eve were, but has received the keys of death and has bought us back, redeemed us, from the devil.
(Revelation 1:18)
I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
(Revelation 5:9)In addition to that, when Jesus died on the cross in your place, that was the end of all sacrifices! No more sacrifices are needed, ever! Previously when animals were used, they had to regularly make offerings. But Jesus put an end to all of that.
And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.
(Hebrews 10:1)
For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
(Hebrews 10:12-18)Jesus paid it all on the cross, for all of us! That's why The Bible says:
12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.
14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
15 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,
16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
(Acts 4:12)
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
(Romans 6:23b)
...but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The gift of God is eternal life...Amen and praise God!
You may be wondering why the God of Heaven would do such a thing for you. When he has the whole universe to consider, why would he go to this much trouble for one person?
Because he loves you, that's why. No other reason than he loves you.
(John 3:16-17)Which leads us to the next question:
16 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.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
As you can see from the two verses at the end of the last section, God asks us to believe in his son - Jesus Christ. And what does it take to believe?- It takes faith.
He doesn't ask you to climb a mountain, chant a mantra, perform a ritual, or kill a lamb...because the work is done. The only requirement remaining is faith.
And not only did God provide the perfect way for us to be saved from an unpleasant end, he made the perfect way for us to take part in it!
(Ephesians 2:8-9)But it's really not a new method, because back when they had the animal sacrifices it was faith that atoned for their sins as well.
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
(Habakkuk 2:4b)In reality, the whole Old Testament practice of animal sacrifice was an act of faith. They were supposed to believe that if they did what God told them to do, then God would do for them what he had said and save them from their enemies.
...but the just shall live by his faith.
However, being sinful humans, it didn't turn out that way.
Israel thought that because:
-they alone were doing the sacrifices,
-that they alone were making the offerings,
-that they alone were following the law, and that
-they alone were chosen by God...
...it made them very overconfident.
They believed that they would be saved as long as they continued going through the motions that The Law required.
Israel thought that because:
-they alone were doing the sacrifices,
-that they alone were making the offerings,
-that they alone were following the law, and that
-they alone were chosen by God...
...it made them very overconfident.
They believed that they would be saved as long as they continued going through the motions that The Law required.
(Romans 9:31-32)Also, the whole system of the Old Testament law was designed to prepare them for Jesus, their Messiah.
31 But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
32 Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;
(Galatians 3:24-25)
24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
So today, as mentioned earlier, we are asked to believe in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins.
(Romans 3:23-25)And that, by faith, God raised him from the dead
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God
(1 Corinthians 15:17)And that, by faith, he will dwell in our hearts
And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
(Ephesians 3:17-19)
17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
And finally, we must confess that Jesus is Lord and call on him with our mouth.
(Romans 10:8-11)
8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9 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.
11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
(Romans 10:13)After all the background information presented here on this page, it brings us to this moment. Where you must decide to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior, or not. My prayer is that after reading all this, you will know in your heart that your future depends on it, and that you will make the right decision.
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Please say this prayer:
Please post a comment if you accepted the Lord as your savior here today.
Next, there are a few things you should do right away as you start your new life:
Heavenly father, I confess I am a sinner.Praise God! You are now saved! Now you are born again and can start living for your Lord!
I confess that Jesus is Lord and I believe that he died on the cross for me so that my sins may be forgiven, and that he rose from the dead.
Please forgive me Lord.
Please come into my heart and help me to live for you.
Thank you Lord for saving me, and taking me to heaven to be with you forever when I die.
In Jesus name I pray, Amen
Please post a comment if you accepted the Lord as your savior here today.
Next, there are a few things you should do right away as you start your new life:
- Tell somebody that you accepted The Lord Jesus Christ as your savior (share the good news!)
- Get a Bible and read daily (There are 2 apps on this blog for listening/reading The Bible)
- Attend a Bible believing church in your local community, and get baptized. (This may take some time to find but be patient)
- Pray earnestly more than once a day (Pray for God's will to be done in your life and for the needs of those around you)
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