What we believe and why we believe it...SALVATION

In Acts 16 the Philippian jailer asks Paul and Silas the question, “What must I do to be saved?” He asked this question after he came to the realization that he may lose his life.

It is no different with our eternal life. Before someone can be saved (receive eternal life), they must come to the realization that their eternal life is in jeopardy…or lost. But what does it mean to be lost? We know this is a biblical term, for Jesus said, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10 – HCSB).

Those who are lost are those who are separated from God because of their sin. The bible states, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 – HCSB). The “glory of God” is God’s presence. When we sin – disobey God’s commandments – we fall short of His presence. Therefore our sin separates us from God.

In His earliest recorded message, Jesus said, “Repent and believe in the good news!” (Mark 1:15 – HCSB). “True repentance means a complete and irrevocable about-face from the past to a future shaped by the demands of God’s reign” (The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary). We must be willing to turn away from a life of sin and self. But in the turning away from one thing, we turn to another – the belief in the good news…the gospel…the person of Jesus Christ.

“Now brothers, I want to clarify for you the gospel I proclaimed to you; you received it and have taken your stand on it. You are also saved by it, if you hold to the message I proclaimed to you—unless you believed to no purpose. For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor 15:1-4 – HCSB). This is the good news…the gospel.

Jesus said, “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 – HCSB). When we believe in Jesus, we believe that who He is and what He did pays the penalty for our sin. We trust only Him with our life.

Just before Jesus died on the cross, He said, “It is finished” (John 19:30 – HCSB). There is nothing more to be done. He did it all. If we add anything else to His sacrifice, we are implying that He is not sufficient.

From this we believe that salvation comes only by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. “For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— not from works, so that no one can boast” (Eph 2:8-9 – HCSB). It is nothing that we do to earn salvation, but it is a gift given to us, as we are willing to receive it. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23 – HCSB). And this gift is solely in Christ Jesus.

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