What Is Salvation?
By
Rev. Francis Tabla
(Scripture references are from the Living Bible)
Why do we need salvation?
We need salvation because we are all sinners.
“We are the ones who strayed away like sheep! We, who left God’s paths, to follow our own. Yes, all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious ideal. If we say that we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth.” (Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:23; I John 1:8)
We need salvation because the payment for sin is death – eternal separation from God.
“For the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23)
We need salvation because we cannot save ourselves.
“Because of his kindness you have been saved through trust in Christ. And even trusting is not of yourselves; it too is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good we have done, so none of us can take credit for it.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
How can we receive salvation?
We must recognize that we are sinners.
“Yes, all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious ideal. If we say that we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves, and refusing to accept the truth.” (Romans 3:23; I John 1:8)
We must repent from our sins.
“Now change your mind and attitude to God and turn to him so he can cleanse away your sins… If we confess our sins to him, he can be depended on to forgive us and cleanse us from every wrong.” (Acts 3:19; I John 1:9)
We must receive Jesus Christ into our hearts as our Lord and personal Savior.
“But to all who receive him, he gave the right to become children of God… For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son so that anyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 1:12; 3:16)
Dear Friend,
Jesus has already done all that is necessary for your salvation. The Bible says God commanded his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for our sins (Romans 5:8)
All you need to do is to trust Him as your Lord and personal savior. If the Spirit of God is speaking to your heart right now to accept Christ, why don’t you pause and pray like this:
Dear Jesus, I realize that I am a sinner. I realize that I cannot save myself. I realize that if I should die without accepting you into my heart as my Lord and personal Savior, I will be eternally separated from you. I believe you died to save me from my sins. I am very sorry for all of my sins. I confess all of my sins and turn away from them. I accept you into my heart as my Lord and personal Savior. Cleanse me, and make me a new person. Thank you Lord for saving me.
Let us personally welcome you to the big family of Christ if you sincerely prayed to accept him into your heart as Savior and Lord. We also want to share with you some important things that you need to know.
You must know and be sure that you have salvation
Your assurance comes from the word of God:
“For if you tell others with your own mouth that Jesus Christ is your Lord, and believe in your own heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. When someone becomes a Christian he becomes a brand new person inside. He is not the same any more. A new life has begun!” (Romans 10:9; II Corinthians 5:17) (Read I John 5:12; Revelation 3:20).
Your assurance comes from the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in your heart.
“For his Holy Spirit speaks to us deep in our hearts, and tells us that we really are God’s children. And he has put his own Holy Spirit into our hearts as a proof to us that we are living with him and he with us.” (Romans 8:16) (I John 4:13)
You need to know some things you can begin to do to help you grow in your Christian life:
You must spend time daily with God in prayer (I Thessalonians 5:17).
You need to study the Bible daily (II Timothy 2:15).
You need to find a Bible believing church to fellowship with other Christians through Bible studies, prayer meetings, revival services, Sunday school, worship services and other Christian activities (Acts 2:42; Hebrews 10:25).
You need to witness, or tell others about your faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 1:8; I Peter 3:15).
Kindly share with us and with others what the Spirit of God has done in your life through this gospel message
Salvation is the total deliverance of the body, soul and spirit from
the bondage of sin and spiritual death.
“For sin’s power over us was broken when we became Christians and were baptized to become a part of Jesus Christ; through his death, the power of your sinful nature was shattered. Your old evil desires were nailed to the cross with him; that part of you that loves to sin was crushed and fatally wounded, so that your sin-loving body is no longer under sin’s control, no longer needs to be a slave to sin. Sin need never again be your master, for now you are no longer tied to the law where sin enslaves you, but you are free under God’s favor and mercy.” (Romans 6:2,3, & 14)
