Salvation: What is it and who needs it? (4)

Although man by his freewill choices separated himself from God through disobedience, God still loves him. God greatly desires to restore us to harmony with Him so that we can share an eternal salvation with Him.

In saving man, sin must first be dealt with because it is sin that introduced the sorrow, sickness, death and chaos experienced in the world. For a man to be saved, he must first be saved from sin. Man cannot save himself and cannot enter into fellowship with God in his state of disobedience. God cannot receive man to Himself as long as sin reigns in man.

Evil has a power over man that no man can shake off or deliver himself from. Man must have a mediator, who can take his part and suffer in his stead, and pay the penalty for his sins. Jesus Christ was the one who came into this world to save us from our sins (Matthew 1:21).

The sin of the world, of all men, was placed upon Him. Jesus became sin in the sight of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). He died physically on Mount Calvary where He was nailed to a Cross. He went down to Hell where He preached to the saints in prison. He rose again from the dead to everlasting life and has the keys of death and hell (Revelations 1:17-18). Because He lives, you and I shall live also (John 14:19).

The sacrifice of Jesus is enough and sufficient. We must believe and accept the love sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Unbelief is man’s greatest enemy. We must accept Jesus’ words that He Is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6).

All men born of a woman need salvation because sin has passed unto all men (Romans 5:12).  Through one man Adam, sin and death came into the world but through another man, the Lord Jesus who died for all, we have eternal life restored to us.

Why must we choose Jesus for eternal life?

§  It is Christ who came to give us life (John 10:10)

§  It is Christ who died for us (Hebrews 2:14)

§  It is the Blood of Jesus which cleanses us from all sins (1 John 1:7)

§  It is Jesus Christ who rose from the dead (Romans 6:9) and because He lives, we shall also live if we trust in Him.

How to Reconcile With God

o   First, admit that you are a sinner who cannot save himself

‘’all men have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God’’ (Romans 3:23). 

o   Secondly, come consciously to God through Jesus Christ

‘’ therefore, He (Jesus) is able to save those who come to God through Him’’ (Hebrews 7:25)

o   Third, repent of your sins. Be sorry enough to quit sinning

‘’repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.’’ (Acts 3:19)

‘’except ye repent, ye shall likewise perish (Luke 13:3)

o   Fourth, confess your sins to Jesus

‘’ he that covers his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confess and forsakes them shall have mercy’’ (Proverbs 28:13)

‘’ if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness’’ (1 John 1:9)

o   Fifth, receive Jesus into your heart and life. Only you can open the door of your heart and invite Jesus to come in.

‘’behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.’’ (Revelations 3:20)

‘’ but as many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe in His name.’’ (John 1:12)

o   Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that He was raised from the dead. Salvation is by faith in Christ.

‘’ That if thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thy heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shall be saved: For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation’’ (Romans 10:9-10)

Sample Prayer:

Lord Jesus, thank you for dying for me on the Cross for my sins. I am sorry for all the wrong things I have done. I believe that you are my Lord and Saviour. I ask you to come into my heart and life, to live in my heart forever. I trust you to make my heart clean. In your name I pray, Amen.

o   Lastly, follow Jesus

‘’…whoever will come after me, let him take up his cross, and follow me.’’ (Mark 8:34)

Today is the day of our salvation. Tomorrow may be too late. Do not postpone your decision any longer because no one knows what the next minute or hour will bring (Proverbs 27:1) (2 Corinthians 6:2). Death will come like a thief in the night but after death is judgment…sure and certain!

There are no second chances for repentance and salvation in the grave. It is dangerous for anyone to reject God’s offer of salvation and continue to harden his or her heart in unbelief. Unbelief in God’s Word has always been man’s undoing since Adam.

John 5:24 says,

‘’Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that hears my word, and believes on Him that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death to life’’

John 8:24 says,

‘’ I say therefore unto you, that you shall die in your sins: for if you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sins.’’

We enter into God’s kingdom by faith: helpless, unable to save ourselves and totally dependent on the mercy and grace of God. There is nothing else we can do besides faith and trust in Jesus to earn or merit eternal life.

Ephesians 2:8-9 says,

‘’for by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast.’’

Close.

Salvation: What is it and who needs it? (3)

Salvation: What is it and who needs it? (3)

 Eternal death
The third type of death that resulted from the sin of Adam and Eve is eternal death meaning eternal separation from the presence of God forever and ever, time without end. To experience eternal death means to die in sin without salvation, without repentance and conversion, without regeneration of the soul.

Eternal death means to spend one’s eternity in Hell, the place of eternal torment for all sinners who died in sin. Hell is described in the Scriptures as an unquenchable fire that burns eternally with sulphur and brimstone where wretched souls wail and gnash their teeth in indescribable, unbearable pain.

By the mercies of God, you and I will not end up in eternal Hell in Jesus name.

In eternity, there are only two places of abode which are Heaven where God lives and Hell which is the eternal home of the lost souls who rejected God’s offer of salvation and are not qualified for admission into Heaven because nothing unclean will be allowed into it. When man lost eternal life during his fall in the Garden of Eden, eternal death replaced eternal life.

Man by his own wrong freewill choices fell from the position of great glory, headed for eternal destruction. Man is God’s greatest investment and because of His love for man, He brought up a plan of redemption to purchase eternal life for man. The plan of redemption constitutes the salvation of man. Its characteristics are as follows:

 Sin and death must be conquered to earn eternal life for fallen man. Sin is the problem in the life of man and must be conquered before man can be restored to favour with God.

 Blood must be shed for the remission of the sins of fallen man. Without the shedding of blood, there can be no remission of sins (Leviticus 17:11).The blood of bulls and goats cannot atone for the sins of man who was created in the image of God (Hebrews 10:4).

 The blood of a sinner cannot atone for the sins of fellow sinners. The blood of a sinless person must be shed to atone for the sins of fallen man.

John 3:16
‘’ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.’’

It was Jesus Christ, the Son of God who offered His life as a sacrifice to die for man to save man. He is God who came in human form and is our perfect sacrifice. He had no sin, knew no sin and did no sin (2 Corinthians 5:21) (1 Peter 2:22). His death was God’s plan for our redemption.

He laid his life of his own accord and freewill to save you and me from our sins (John10:18) and there are no other sacrifices that can take away sin (1 Peter 1:18-19).

Jesus died on the Cross at Calvary but on the third day he resurrected, conquering death. Through his resurrection, eternal life that was lost during the fall of man in the Garden of Eden has been restored. Jesus the Risen Christ is living and lives forever. That He is living and lives forever is our guarantee of eternal life (John 14:19) (Revelations 1:18).

Men now have two options to make a choice from, either eternal death or eternal life. Through the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, eternal life was lost and eternal death which replaced it became an inheritance. But through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, the Risen Christ, eternal life is now available to man but based on freewill choice.

What choice are you going to make?
Are you continuing on the road to eternal death or want to inherit eternal life? Remember that God forces no man because man is a free moral agent. One of the characteristics of God’s love for man is to allow him make his own decisions.

But it is God’s wish for you and me to choose life, ‘’…therefore choose life that both you and your descendants may live.’’ (Deuteronomy 30:19)

Salvation: What is it and who needs it? (2)

When Adam and his wife, Eve sinned against God, they died as God had earlier warned in Genesis 2:17. Through their sin, every man on earth born of a woman became a natural sinner because all men descended from them and through their blood. Their sin has passed unto all men on earth irrespective of race, religion, color, tribe or ethnicity.

Through their sin, death came into the lives of men. Recall that God who created man in His own image lives forever and cannot die. He created the man to live forever on earth but through their sin, death came into existence and has passed unto all men on earth born of a woman.

Sin and death as repercussions of the disobedience and Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden are universal:

‘’All men have sinned and have come short of the glory of God’’ (Romans 3:23)
‘’The wages of sin is death…’’ (Romans 6:23)

The death that resulted means separation and there are 3 types of death that came into the existence of men. They are physical death, spiritual death and eternal death.

 Physical death
Recall that man was created as a three-in-one person having a body, soul and spirit. Physical death results when the body is separated from his spirit. As a result of the Fall of Man and the curses that followed, his body has to return to dust from where it came (Genesis 3:19) (Ecclesiastes 12:7). His spirit is from God and must return to God to give an account of his life on earth in the body.

As a result of the fall of the man, men on earth have lost the power to live forever on earth. Men have to die (when the spirit separates from the body) and the body returns to dust.That means that eternal life was lost during the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden. Sin has cut short the life span of men on Planet Earth.

 Spiritual death
Spiritual death means a separation between the spirit of man and God. God is a spirit and man also is a spirit. Sin has polluted the spirit of man and made him an unclean person before a Holy God who cannot behold sin. Sin has caused a separation between God and man meaning that communication has broken down between the spirit of man and the spirit of God.

Isaiah 59:1-2 says,
‘’Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His hear heavy, that it cannot hear:
But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that He will not hear’’

All men born of a woman, descended from Adam and Eve were born spiritually dead in sin. We were born with the sin nature in our blood and are natural sinners cut off from God. No one teaches a baby to commit sin. It is when he comes of age that he naturally begins to do things that are sins in the sight of God.

Being born spiritually dead and cut off from the Spirit of God, every man born of a woman who descended from Adam and Eve was born into the Broad way to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14).
Repentance and conversion is necessary to move a man who was born into the Broad Way to destruction, to the Narrow Way that leads to life.

It is spiritual death that leads to eternal death. Eternal death will occur when a man born spiritually dead, still remains spiritually dead while passing away in physical death. A man who was born dead in sin i.e. spiritually dead must be made alive to be reconciled with the Spirit of God.

Fellowship and relationship with man was God’s original purpose for creating man before sin thwarted it creating a separation. But God is still interested in reconciling with man for the benefit of the fellowship and relationship.

Two Possibilities Before Man, But Only One Choice!

Man is a free moral agent created with the power to make personal voluntary decisions and to decide his own destination. He had no choice about his entry into the world but after his birth and coming of age to be accountable, he will be held personally responsible for his salvation or damnation.

Every man has the power to accept or reject God’s means of salvation (John3:16) (Revelations 22:17) and will give an account of his choices on the Day of Judgment.

There are two possibilities placed before man and he can make only one choice:

 Life or death (Deuteronomy 30:19)
 Good or evil (Deuteronomy 30:19)
 Blessings or curses (Deuteronomy 30:19)
 Righteousness or unrighteousness (Romans 6:12)
 Holiness or Sinning (Leviticus 11:44) (Romans 6:14)
 Light or darkness (John 8:12)
 Eternal life or eternal death (Matthew 19:16) (Mark 3:29)
 Heaven or hell (Matthew 4:17) (Psalm 9:17)
 The Narrow Way to Life or the Broad Way to Destruction (Matthew 7:13-14)
 Salvation or damnation (Luke 13:3-5) (Mark 16:15-16)

Deuteronomy 30:19 says:
‘I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before thee life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life that both thou and thy seed may live’

God is advising man to choose life by choosing His grace and means of entering into eternal life. Men can, and should make the choice, for God will not force the will of any to serve Him, to surrender to Him or remain obedient to Him. All men, always and without exception are free to choose eternal life or eternal death.

Jesus Christ is the door to the salvation of all men born of a woman because all men have sinned (John10:9) (Romans 3:23). He died for the sins of all men and His Blood was shed for the remission of their sins. The blood of bulls and goats cannot atone for the sins of any man created in the image of God (Hebrews 10:4).

His name is the only name given for the salvation of men (Acts 4:12) because He alone died and resurrected from the dead. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John14:6). He is our guarantee of eternal life (John 3:16).

God loves man and He is merciful, not willing that any man perish, but that they come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). He is this day calling on all men everywhere including you and I to repent now before it is too late (Acts 17:30) (2 Corinthians 6:2).

Choosing Jesus Christ means choosing life, blessings, righteousness, holiness, light, eternal life in heaven and salvation. To reject Jesus Christ means choosing death, evil, curses, sin, darkness, eternal death and everlasting punishment in Hell.

The choice is yours!

To choose Jesus and eternal life, act as follows:
 Acknowledge that you are a sinner (Luke 18:13)
 Repent of your sins (Luke 13:3) (Acts 3:19)
 Confess your sins to Jesus (Proverbs 28:13) (1 John 1:9)
 Ask Jesus for mercy and forgiveness and determine in your heart to forsake sinning (Isaiah 55:7)
 Confess with your mouth that Jesus is your Lord and Saviour and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9-10).
 Allow Him to come into your heart to take control of your life (Revelations 3:20)

Act now because no one knows what will happen in the next minute. After death, comes judgment (Hebrews 9:27). There are no second chances for repentance and forgiveness in the grave.

Ayodele Adegbulugbe
Lagos,Nigeria