How many of you have gone to Church all your lives just because you were either forced to go by your parents when you were a child or just thought it was the right thing to do once a week? How many times have you walked out the door after the service ended not even remembering what the sermon was, but at least feeling good about yourself for going in the first place? Do you even know what the meaning of salvation is in your own life and that it’s a personal relationship with Jesus? How do you know you are truly saved by Gods grace and mercy that brings salvation to all who will hear God’s calling and act to that calling? Did you accept Jesus because you were told to out of force or did you accept Jesus out of your own freewill to have that personal relationship with him?
God wants us to understand salvation. God wants us to have the confidence of knowing for sure that we are saved. Briefly, let’s go over the key points of salvation:
We have all sinned. We have all done things that are displeasing to God.
Romans 3
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God ...
Because of our sin, we deserve to be punished with eternal separation from God.
Romans 6
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. Jesus died in our place, taking the punishment that we deserved. His resurrection proved that Jesus’ death was sufficient to pay for our sins.
Romans 5
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
2 Corinthians 5
21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
God grants forgiveness and salvation to all those who place their faith in Jesus -– trusting His death as the payment for our sins.
John 3
16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."
That is the message of salvation! If you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior, you are saved! All of your sins are forgiven, and
God promises to never leave you or forsake you! You can't not lose it, because it wasn't your "work" that "earned" it in the first place. He says clearly in His word ...
Romans 8
38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Matthew 28
19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always , even to the end of the age."
Remember, your salvation is secure in Jesus Christ.
John 10
28"and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.
29 "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand."
If you are trusting in Jesus alone as your Savior, you can have confidence that you will spend eternity with God in heaven! Every believer has moments of doubt, but the moments of doubt are proof that we are saved, because those who don't doubt
don't believe! Walking an aisle and saying a prayer is not salvation. That is an action taken for a reason. If that reason is not that you are convicted of sin and being a sinner in need of a Savior, and if you have not therefore made a true and sincere confession of that sin and that need to God, you are not saved, and your confession is not accepted by God. Only with sincerity of need will you be saved.
Galatians 6
7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked ; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.
8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
Emotion doesn't cut it. Emotion is often the reason the walk is made and the prayer said. If that's the only reason, there is no salvation. But yet again, how do you know? You know because, upon awakening the next morning, it is the first thing you think about. You will have a knowledge that somehow, some way, things are different.
You are different. If you start your day the next day doing the exact same thing you do every day without thinking about "what now?" -- there is more conviction to happen, more consideration of God's truth to undertake. Because the action taken the day before didn't do squat. Not until you are serious about it. Seriousness requires the knowledge shown in the verses above.
