GOD'S SIMPLE PLAN OF SALVATION:
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 wayto 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
But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God; your
sins have caused him to reject you and not listen to your prayers.
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:
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.
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.
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 useternal 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!!
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.
who was appointed the Son-of-God-in-power according to the Holy Spirit
by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.
He was given over because of our transgressions and was raised for the
sake of our justification.
God made the one who knew no sin to be sin for us,
so that in him we would become the righteousness of God.
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.
But to all who have received him--those who believe in his
name--he has given the right to become God's children
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.
NOW WHAT??
Now you must pray and ask Jesus into your life. To be the center of your
life, and to make you a new person. Confess your sins to God and ask for
His forgiveness. Getting baptized by emersion is a step of faith and
signifies dying to your old self and being reborn to your new self.
Pray without ceasing: Ephesians 6:18 With all prayer and petition pray at all
times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and
petition for all the saints NASB
Read and Study your Bible: Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active.
Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and
marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (NIV)
Bring others to know the Lord: Mark 16:15,16 And he said unto them, Go ye into all
the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be
saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. (KJV)
Lastly, to summarize:
Ephesians 6:10-18 says it with SPIRIT andCONVICTION!! :
" Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on thefull armor of God
so that you can take your stand against the devil'sschemes. For our struggle is
not against flesh and blood, but againstthe rulers, against the authorities, against
the powers of this darkworld and against the spiritual forces of evil in the
heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of
evilcomes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you havedone everything, to stand.
Stand firm then, with the belt of truthbuckled around your waist, with the
breastplate of righteousness inplace, and with your feet fitted with the readiness
that comes fromthe gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith,
with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.Take the helmet of
salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is theword of God.
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds ofprayers and requests.
With this in mind, be alert and always keep onpraying for all the saints. "
Discipleship Resources and Information
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7 Practices for Every Follower of Jesus
7 Practices for Every Follower of Jesus -
Personal Bible Studies
Want to enrich your personal Bible studies? -
7 Steps in the Right Direction
Are you a new Christian? Do you need some basic information about the Christian faith? -
COD Website
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