Originally Posted by
Robert
(For the longest time, it has been on my heart to write this, but I didn't know how to go about it or just how to set up this topic; I pray I do it justice. This is for all those out there who visit our site and are not saved, and for those who want to be saved and wish to know how.)
Salvation.
You have heard it used here constantly, in almost every post and topic that is posted here. It is at the very heart of this forum, and it is very much on the minds of everyone that comes here as members. But why do we need it? What do we need to be saved from? And how does one become "saved?"
Well, for the purpose of this topic, salvation is defined as being saved by accepting Christ's sacrifice on the cross as payment for our sins, removing the penalty of sin from us and restoring a relationship with God. Since Christ died in our place, he suffered the punishment that we deserved for sinning against God, for which the punishment was death. This leads us to our first question:
"Why do we need salvation?"
In Genesis, we learn that originally, man was created without sin, and had been given free will. God's only rule was this:
" And the LORD God commanded the man, 'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.' " (Genesis 2:16-17 NIV)
Man had only one rule to follow, and it wasn't a terribly complex rule. But our enemy, Satan, hates mankind. So, Satan convinced man to break that rule:
"Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' " "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. " (Genesis 3:1-6, NIV)
When Adam and Eve sinned against God, they became sinners, and that trait has been passed down to the rest of Humanity from their time down until now. By sinning against God, man put a barrier between himself and God Almighty. God is love, but he is also just and holy. He cannot abide sin; HE HATES IT. And just ONE sin was enough to separate man from God: "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23)
the Ten Commandments prove to us that we cannot keep perfectly ANY of God's laws, and that if we have broken any of them, we have broken ALL of them:
"For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law." (James 2:10-11, KJV)
And man cannot bridge this barrier on his own; sin has to be paid for, and man is bankrupt. He has no righteousness to pay with, and does not have any in a hidden account:
"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." (Isaiah 64:6, KJV)
"As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God."(Romans 3:10-11, KJV)
In short: we DESERVE the penalty, because we have sinned before God.
Good works cannot save, as all of our works are contaminated, and are filthy before the Lord. We need salvation because we are unable to save ourselves from the penalty for sin. This brings us to the next point:
"What do we need to be saved from?"
God has set down that the wages of sin is death, as mentioned before. This is the reason death came into the world, but ultimately there is a second death. You see, death has always involved separation; spiritual death was the separation of man from God, while physical death is the separation of the soul from the body. But there is a final form where all those that are not saved will be permanently separated from God for all time. That is the Lake of Fire:
"Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." (Revelation 20:14-15 NIV)
"But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." (Revelation 21:8, NIV)
"And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:" (Mark 9:45, NIV, emphasis mine)
As you can see from the descriptions, the lake of fire is NOT a nice place to be. It is not the depictions of funny cartoons that show it as Satan's place of power, but a frightening region that God did not want ANYONE to go to. In fact, God so loved the world and wanted to spare them from the fires of hell, he sent his son to die in our place:
"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." (John 3:16, KJV)
God could not simply set aside the penalty; justice HAD to be served. But at the same time, it broke his heart that man would be permanently seperated from him forever. God's solution: while the penalty could not be set aside, it could be SATISFIED. That satisfaction was Christ's death on the cross for our sins, in our place. This way, instead of us being thrown into the lake of fire for all eternity, Christ's righteousness would be imparted on us, while Christ would become sin for us, and suffer the fate that we deserved. Christ was brutally beaten, spat upon, and ultimately executed in our place.
This is grace: giving to us what we didn't deserve.
God so loved us, that rather than live without us, he died for us. Yes, Jesus IS God almighty:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. " (John 1:1)
And being God almighty, he was able to pay for our sins in our place. But Jesus did more than simply pay for our sins; he BROKE the jaws of death and hell by rising again from the grave:
There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you." (Matthew 28:5-27, NIV)
Unlike others such as Mohamed, Buddha and Confucius, Jesus is NOT in his grave. He sits at the right hand of God the father, in power and glory.
My friends, Jesus has promised to return soon, to bring those that believe in him with him to heaven. It is no fairy tale, or myth: scripture tells us so:
"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." (John 14:1-3, KJV)
"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, KJV)
Now, this brings us to the final question:
"How does one become 'saved?' "
If the Lord has somehow through this touched your heart and you want to be saved, this is what you need to do:
Admit you are a sinner:
As we discussed earlier, all mankind have sinned before God and are guilty before him. In prayer (in your own words), tell God that you are a sinner. Recognize that what the Bible says about YOU personally is true, and that you deserve the penalty that the Bible says God has put against man for sinning against him. Just go to him honestly, without making any excuses for it. He's not going to berate you or condemn you for telling him this.
Be willing to turn from your sins:
This means that all the things you have done against God, you are willing to turn from and leave behind. Anything that is displeasing to God, including living for yourself, is what you are willing to turn your back on in order to come to him. Lying, sexual immorality, hatred, theft, taking the Lord's name in vain, all of it. You are willing to come to God and leave all of that to be with the Lord.
Believe that Christ died for you:
Believe that Christ paid the penalty for you; that he, God almighty, came to earth as a man and died upon the cross, shedding his precious blood, God's blood, for you. He carried the awesome burden and paid the price so that you could live forever with him in heaven. Believe that he was resurrected, and ascended to heaven in glory. You believe that Jesus Christ was whom he claimed to be, and that he did what the Gospels claim he did. That he is God, he came here to die in YOUR place, and as he promised, he rose victoriously from the dead.
Ask Christ to save you:
Putting aside all pride, self-determination and ego, ask the Lord to come into your heart and rescue you from your sins. To save you from the penalty of hell, and to restore you to fellowship in him. You cannot get to heaven on your own, and no one else can save you; you recognize that, and are relying on God alone to save you from your sins. Ask him to come into your heart as your Saviour and Lord.
If you do this, ask in all faith for him to save you from your sins, the Lord will hear you and true to his word...HE WILL SAVE YOU.
"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."(Ephesians 2:8-9, KJV)
(I know I have not done the best job of writing this, I am but a beggar showing other beggars where to find bread. Nonetheless, I pray that the Lord use this to reach out to those who so desperately need the message of the Gospel. If I have written any of this in error, please let me know folks; I am by no means a scholar and I only wish to get the message out.)
I bid you all peace, and I implore those of you reading this who have not yet decided to carefully consider this.
YBIC
-Robert.
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