The Way to Salvation
In the New Testament of the Bible let us look at 1 John 5:11-12 "And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. The one who has the Son has this eternal life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have this eternal life."
This passage tells us that God has given us eternal life and this life is in His Son, Jesus Christ. In other words, the way to possess eternal life is to possess God’s Son. The question is, how can a person have the Son of God?
Man’s Problem
SEPARATION FROM GOD
Isaiah 59:2 "But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God; your sins have caused him to reject you and not listen to your prayers."
Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
According to Romans 5:8, God demonstrated His love for us through the death of His Son. Why did Christ have to die for us? Because Scripture declares all men to be sinful. To “sin” means to miss the mark. The Bible declares “all have sinned and fall short of the glory (the perfect holiness) of God” (Rom. 3:23). In other words, our sin separates us from God who is perfect holiness (righteousness and justice) and God must therefore judge sinful man.
Habakkuk 1:13a "You are too just to tolerate evil; you are unable to condone wrongdoing."
THE FUTILITY OF OUR WORKS
Scripture also teaches that no amount of human goodness, human works, human morality, or religious activity can gain acceptance with God or get anyone into heaven. The moral man, the religious man, and the immoral and non-religious are all in the same boat. They all fall short of God’s perfect righteousness. After discussing the immoral man, the moral man, and the religious man in Romans 1:18-3:8, the Apostle Paul declares that both Jews and Greeks are under sin, that “there is no one righteous, not even one” (Rom. 3:9-10). Added to this are the declarations of the following verses of Scripture:
Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 it is not of works, so that no one can boast."
Titus 3:5-7 "he saved us, not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6) whom he poured out on us in full measure through Jesus Christ our Savior. 7) And so, since we have been justified by his grace, we become heirs with the confident expectation of eternal life."
Romans 4:1-5 "What then shall we say that Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh, has discovered regarding this matter? 2) For if Abraham was declared righteous by the works of the law, he has something to boast about (but not before God). 3) For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 4) Now to the one who works, his pay is not credited due to grace but due to obligation. 5) But to the one who does not work, but believes in the one who declares the ungodly righteous, his faith is credited as righteousness."
No amount of human goodness is as good as God. God is perfect righteousness. Because of this, Habakkuk 1:13 tells us God cannot have fellowship with anyone who does not have perfect righteousness. In order to be accepted by God, we must be as good as God is. Before God, we all stand naked, helpless, and hopeless in ourselves. No amount of good living will get us to heaven or give us eternal life. What then is the solution?
God’s Solution
God is not only perfect holiness (whose holy character we can never attain to on our own or by our works of righteousness) but He is also perfect love and full of grace and mercy. Because of His love and grace, He has not left us without hope and a solution.
Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
This is the good news of the Bible, the message of the gospel. It’s the message of the gift of God’s own Son who became man (the God-man), lived a sinless life, died on the cross for our sin, and was raised from the grave proving both the fact He is God’s Son and the value of His death for us as our substitute.
Romans 1:4 "who was appointed the Son-of-God-in-power according to the Holy Spirit by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord."
Romans 4:25 "He was given over because of our transgressions and was raised for the sake of our justification."
2 Corinthians 5:21 "God made the one who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God."
1 Peter 3:18 "Because Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring you to God, by being put to death in the flesh but by being made alive in the spirit."
How Do We Receive God’s Son?
Because of what Jesus Christ accomplished for us on the cross, the Bible states “He that has the Son has life.” We can receive the Son, Jesus Christ, as our Savior by personal faith, by trusting in the person of Christ and His death for our sins.
John 1:12 "But to all who have received him--those who believe in his name--he has given the right to become God's children."
John 3:16-18 "For this is the way God loved the world: he gave his one and only Son that everyone who believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17) For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him. 18) The one who believes in Him is not condemned. The one who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God."
This means we must each come to God the same way: (1) as a sinner who recognizes his sinfulness, (2) realizes no human works can result in salvation, and (3) relies totally on Christ alone by faith alone for our salvation.
If you want to be saved by Christ and receive His Salvation right now; simply ask Jesus in to your Heart by saying this Prayer;
"Dear God, I know that I am a sinner. I know that you sent Jesus to be my Savior, and that He died on the cross to take the punishment for my sins. I know that Jesus rose from the dead and is coming back someday. Please forgive me of all of my sins, and come into my life right now and change me forevermore. Please guide me in my new life and help me to follow you for the rest of my life. Thank you for saving me and taking me to heaven when I die. In the name of your son Jesus, Amen."
If you did Pray this Prayer of Salvation, you are always welcome to let us know! Even if you want to remain private or anonymous, send us a note with just your first name so we can continue to Pray for you! Welcome to His Grace in You!
Call our Prayer line at (818) 925-5697 24 hours a day and request us to call you back and pray for you. Your eternity is very important to Grace Harvest and we want to help you along the way.