A Certain Salvation |
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1 John 5:11-13 |
| And this is the testimony: that God has given us
eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not
have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in
the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may
continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. |
 The Apostle John writes that you and I can know
that we have eternal life. Eternal life becomes very important to us as we begin to
look at our life and see that we face death and eternity. The crucial question for all of
us is, "Where will I spend eternity?"
Eternal life has to do with salvation. Being saved or lost is something we must all come
to grips with. The Bible says, "all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of
God" (Rom.3:23). "All" is all inclusive. It leaves no one out. That means
everyone-you and I. We are all in the same proverbial boat. We are lost and need a Savior.
There are no exceptions.
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 God in His holiness demands perfect
obedience and we have all missed the mark. The situation looks hopeless, but there is
"Good News." Paul says in Rom.1:16-17, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of
Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew
first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to
faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith." Gospel means "Good
News." God in His marvelous grace has provided a way for us to be saved. He gave His
Only Begotten Son to die on a cross to save us (Rom.5:6-9; Isa.53:5,12). The apostle Peter
writes, "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin,
and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed" (1Pet.2:24). Jesus paid
our sin debt.
"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is
the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk
in them" (Eph.2:8-10). Salvation is a free gift from God. It is offered to all. It is
to "whosoever will" (John 3:16). But God does not force it on anyone. He does
not force anyone to be His friend. Salvation has already been bought. The price for our
salvation has been paid for by the precious blood of Jesus, but this free gift must be
accepted.
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 Salvation is conditional. To say that God has
made salvation conditional does not mean that man must somehow earn God's friendship. It
cannot be earned. There is nothing we could do or give to earn it-our faith, our
obedience, or our good works. Yet, there are Scriptural conditions for receiving God's
free gift. Ephesians 2:8-10 that we mentioned earlier says that God's grace is received
through faith. This faith is trusting the work of another. It is trusting what Jesus did
for us on the cross.
The Book of Acts also reveals how we are to receive salvation. The Book of Acts is a
record of the history of the early church. We see the birth of the New Testament church
there and how the first Christians became Christians. In Acts chapter two Peter is
preaching about Jesus (the object of our faith). Once the people heard the Good News they
asked, "what shall we do?" (v.37). They were asking how they were to receive
this Good News-Salvation. Peter responds by telling them "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" (v.38).
Once you have put your trust in Jesus, repented (turned away) from your sins, and have
been buried with God in baptism (Rom.6:3-5), you can know you are saved. With every
command of God there is a promise. We see this in our passage in Acts. The crowd was
commanded to repent and be baptized as an expression of their faith in Christ. The promise
was that they would receive the forgiveness of their sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit
to dwell in their hearts.
This same promise is to us today. When we are obedient to God's command He is faithful to
give us His promises. By this I can know that I am saved because God is faithful to all
His promises.
Do you want to know more? Contact us via
email, or the phone number listed below and we will send you a free pamphlet entitled "A
Certain Salvation." It is our free gift to you. |
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