Category Archives: Salvation

Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Salvation, Share the Good News

Salvation In Jesus Through Grace Alone

We gain important insight into salvation in Romans 10:1-15.

10 Dear brothers and sisters,[a] the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved. 2 I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. 3 For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. 4 For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given.[b] As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God.

5 For Moses writes that the law’s way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands.[c] 6 But faith’s way of getting right with God says, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven?’ (to bring Christ down to earth). 7 And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead?’ (to bring Christ back to life again).” 8 In fact, it says,

“The message is very close at hand;
    it is on your lips and in your heart.”[d]

And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: 9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. 11 As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.”[e] 12 Jew and Gentile[f] are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. 13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”[g]

14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”[h]

A few key comments that strike me from this passage:

  • As followers of Jesus, we want God’s people to be saved. We want them to do more than claim the label Christian, but to understand God’s word and change their lives and hearts to seek Jesus wholeheartedly.
  • Often even people with zeal for God end up on the wrong path, seeking to do things their way instead of God’s way. This is true of the Jewish people who rejected Jesus when this scripture was written and is true today of people who accept their sin or the sins of others and ignore the Bible because they do not want to change or cannot see the need to change.
  • None of us can meet God’s holy standard for salvation by ourselves, our sin comes between us and God.
  • God loved us enough to make a way to reconcile and forgive that sin through grace alone. We are to openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. 
  • We are all called to be messengers of the good news of the gospel, the news of forgiveness and grace through Jesus Christ with the world.  

We must ask ourselves… Do we really believe? Are we sharing the good news? Are we proclaiming Jesus Christ as our lord and savior? Does our life… our behaviors and thoughts … reflect our submission to Jesus and His teaching? Are we in fact living differently from the world of non-Christians and people who claim the label of Christian but live the lifestyle of the world?

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Can I Trust the Bible?, Consequences of Sin, Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Salvation

The Resurrection Was Real

The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is foundational to the Christian faith. Jesus took our punishment for our sins upon Himself and suffered the penalty… death. We need only accept Him as Lord and ask forgiveness. When we genuinely accept Him as Lord and ask Him into our lives we change our behaviors and repent from our sins, not immediately and perfectly but repeatedly and consistently as on a long journey, always seeking to move closer to His perfect standard.

John 3:16-21

16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave[g] his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. 19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. 20 All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. 21 But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.[h]”

What a gracious and wonderful God we serve in Jesus Christ.

Despite the fact that the death and resurrection of Christ had many witnesses, and was well documented in and outside of the Bible, people make up many excuses to try to explain away “the empty tomb”.

I can simplify with a few key points:

  • Jesus was easily recognizable. Crowds of people lined up outside Jerusalem to meet Him and watch Him enter the city a week before He was executed. The people of the city knew who He was and what He looked like.
  • Jesus was brutally beaten and tortured to great physical harm and then publically executed where all could see. Again this was a big public event, crowds gathered and saw Him before and during the crucifixion. It lasted hours.
  • After Jesus’ body was buried in a tomb, Roman soldiers were put on guard. Roman soldiers were well trained and effective troops. The guard was ordered by Pilate himself and thus the guards would have taken the job seriously.
  • The tomb was undeniably found empty. Even the great majority of educated skeptics who have studied historical records cannot deny the empty tomb. To deny Christ, they have to make up wild theories to explain it.
  • Jesus was witnessed by many after He rose from the dead. He moved about freely, not limited by any injury from those that caused His death. He remained among His disciples and followers for 40 days giving many proofs that He was alive.
  • His true followers (excluding Judas, who betrayed Him) went to their deaths (or in John’s case, exile to small island) without ever denying the truth of Jesus Christ as Lord and God. The men closest to Jesus and the events surrounding His death and resurrection were willing to suffer and die for Him when simply denying Him in words would have saved their lives.  They were convinced. They profited nothing in the eyes of the world for staying true to Jesus Christ and gave up all.

I recommend The Third Day, by Hank Hanegraaff as a thorough, easily digestible, and even short book (less than 100 pages and the pages are small) to read to help put in perspective the reality of the resurrection and the foolishness of the myths and lies that people make up to reject it. (This is strictly a personal recommendation as I found this book helpful for me.)

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How do I get started?, Jesus Christ / Yeshua, Salvation

ABC’s of Salvation

On a recent trip through a store selling groceries and household items I was handed a blue card by someone as I walked by the aisles near the front of the store. After reading the card, I was delighted to see that it was a Christian outreach from a local church. I thought they captured a good overview of salvation in a few words and felt it would be good to share more broadly.

ABC’s of Salvation

Acknowledge – that we are born sinners into this world and that we can’t save ourselves.

Believe – that Jesus Christ died for your sins, and by accepting Him as Lord, you can become a born again Christian.

Confess – Romans 10:9 which says, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Prayer of Salvation is not about specific words but the heart. A prayer of salvation may sound something like this…

Heavenly Father, I come to you in the name of Jesus Christ. I confess that Jesus is Lord. I believe in my heart that you raised Him from the dead. Come into my heart Jesus, and be Lord over my life. Thank you God for saving me.

I will add here that when you truly accept Jesus as Lord of your life, it is more than words or a one time profession of faith. It is more than going to church once a week and saying you are a Christian. Your behaviors and values change to be more like Jesus.  You want to study His word to learn more about His character, what He wants from His people, and how He interacts with His people.

Someone who accepts Jesus as lord of their life learns over time to be less concerned about the opinions of the world and more concerned about the truth of God’s word.  It is a wonderful experience that starts us on a journey of transformation to become more like Jesus Christ and less like our old sinful nature. People cannot help but notice true Christians living joyfully for God in their daily life, even during difficult times.

If you find yourself blending in with the world so much that nobody notices you are different as a Christian… you  should prayerfully consider if you are really living for Christ.

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