“How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him” (Heb.2:3).
THE SALVATION of the souls of men and women is central to the whole purpose and plan of God. In the foreknowledge of God the plan was devised to provide a way back to God after Adam sinned and death was passed upon all men as a consequence.
When God created man He made him in His own image. Man was made a free will agent who could voluntarily love and serve the Creator but because he had a free will he had choice.
The angels are intelligent spirits created by God to serve God. Their worship must also be voluntary to be meaningful. Therefore they too were given a free will to choose lovingly to serve their Creator.
Among the angels there were three arch-angels (chief-angels) each with leadership over one third of the millions of angels. These dwell continually in the immediate presence of God and their names were Lucifer, Gabriel and Michael.
When God created the heaven and earth He intended it to be the location of His throne in the new heavens and earth. Then it will be said,
“The tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God” (Rev.21:3).
When one third of the angels sinned and followed Lucifer they sinned in the light of full knowledge. It was wilful rebellion against God and His throne. It was rebellion and an attempt to replace God with Satan on the throne of heaven. It was no mere single sin of disbedience but an attempt to exalt his throne “above the stars of God” (Isa.14:13).
Satan will make a second attempt at the mid-point of the Tribulation but Michael and his angels will cast him down and confine him to the earth (Rev.12:7-12) until he is finally judged in the abyss and the lake of fire.
All the “sons of God” (angels) including Lucifer had witnessed the creation of the universe and “shouted for joy” (Job38:7) so the angels were created first. Lucifer had been given authority over the earth and its nations (Luke4:6) and with the benefit of full knowledge he sinned and he with the angels who followed him, lost their place over the throne of God. They still had access to heaven but God prepared an eternal lake of fire for “the devil and his angels” (Matt.25:41). God has allowed Satan freedom and uses him to test the obedience of mankind.
There is no mercy available for wilful sin against light. When men sin they sin due to ignorance and are deceived by the deceitfulness of sin and Satan but once fully enlightened, if a sinner rejects God he commits blasphemy against the Holy Spirit and that sin has no forgiveness now or in eternity (Matt.12:31-32). Paul said that before he was saved he
“was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief” (1Tim.1:13).
Thankfully God is patient, “longsuffering, not willing that any should perish” (2Pet.3:9) and He gives people many opportunities to turn and seek the Lord and this He does because He
“so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
Salvation is from sin, death and hell. It is sin that separates us from God and sin is disobedience to the will of God.
God is our Creator and loves us with an everlasting love and seeks our willing response. For this reason we have all been given a free will and can choose to follow Satan or God; righteousness or sin; obedience or rebellion. The choice is ours.
When we are saved it is more than a mere choice to change for “God requires that which is past” (Ecc.3:15). Past sin accrues debt and must be paid. When we sin we become sinners by nature and need a new nature.
When a child reaches the age of understanding it chooses to sin and succombs to the temptations of Satan and the world for “all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God” (Rom.3:23).
Sin brings spiritual death. We are all sinners and in our unsaved state we are spiritually “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph.2:1) i.e. separated from the life of God. Jesus said:
“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).
Eternal life with God for eternity can only be found in Jesus Christ. To reject or neglect Christ is to seal one’s eternal damnation. Jesus, the Son of God left heaven, became man and lived a perfect life among men. As God manifest in flesh He willingly took the sins of the entire world upon Himself and endured the wrath of God as our substitute and Saviour on the cross. On that cross during three hours of darkness Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, was separated from the Father that we might never be separated from God for eternity. He cried:
“My God, My God, Why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matt.27:46).
Jesus was buried and then on the third day He rose from the dead in resurrection power making it possible for us to be raised from the dead which was passed onto the human race when Adam sinned. Heaven is assured for all who accept God’s offer of free salvation in Christ. Now we can say:
“O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1Cor.15:55-57).
Thus the Apostle Paul could say when contemplating his own departure from this life
“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain … yet what I shall choose I know not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better” (Phil.1:21-23).
Paul told the Corinthians
“Therefore we are always
confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” (2Cor.5:6-8).
For those who are trusting in Jesus Christ and His blood shed on the cross to atone for their guilt, death is an assured entry into heaven at the moment of death and at the end of the age, their bodies will be raised from the grave.
How then Can I be Saved?
We wonder why things happen to us to make us seriously think about God and our eternal destiny. It may be the death of a loved one or a near death incident. Perhaps “coincidences” occur or we are caused to ponder about where the world is heading. We ask ourselves about the meaning of life; become conscious of sin and wickedness and ask about Divine justice. Our conscience troubles us about our sin and its consequences and we look for a way out. That is the work of the Holy Spirit of God.
Before Jesus went back to heaven He promised to send the Holy Spirit to “convict the world of sin, and of righteousness and of judgment” (John 16:8).
Jesus promised that if He was “lifted up” on the cross He would draw all men to Himself (John 12:32). And He does this by His Holy Spirit for though we have sinned God wants “all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1Tim.2:4).
Nothing happens by chance for God is all-powerful, all-knowing and always present to turn us from our own sinful ways.
Our first reaction is usually to think that I must change my ways so that if I am good enough God will be pleased with me. But this is just the opposite to how God changes our lives. The Bible says:
“For by grace (undeserved favour) are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works” (Eph.2:8-10).
Being saved is not a patch up but a whole new start made possible by a “new birth”. Jesus said,
“Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3).
We cannot reform enough nor even remember all our sins to confess them in order to appeal to God for in our natural state we are spiritually “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph.2:1). We need new life; the life of God; eternal life. Just as the new life in a tree in spring causes dead leaves to fall off so the new life will cause dead works to drop off. The Apostle John wrote:
“God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (1John 5:11-12).
Salvation is a free gift. It can’t be earned, paid for or worked for. It can only be received by simple faith in the Giver and
“as many as received Him (Christ), to them gave he power (authority) to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:12).
“The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom.6:23).
Sin pays wages but Christ offers eternal life as a free gift however you must receive it. A gift is only an offer until it is received.
Salvation is by faith and faith is taking God at His Word. God said it and we believe it. When He says, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom.10:9) and we call on Him to save us, then we can have complete confidence that he has done what He promised. We take the gift and thank the Giver!
What Happens When I am Saved?
Salvation is a miracle.
- I receive the free gift of eternal life and I am sealed with the Holy Spirit “unto the day of redemption” (Eph.4:30). I can never lose eternal life for Jesus said,
“I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand” (John 10:28).
- I am “born again” and become a “child of God”. God becomes my Heavenly Father and God never divorces His children. Fellow believers all become my brothers and sisters in Christ.
- I am “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom.3:24). My sins
are all paid for by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
- I am “his workmanship” (Eph.2:10). God goes to work on my life to make me a vessel for His glory and praise. Day by day as I walk with the Lord He leads and guides me in paths of righteousness. He has a plan for me and life becomes meaningful. He directs me to serve Him.
- I receive a home in heaven; “an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1Pet.4-5).
In fact
“if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2Cor.5:17).
How can I Grow as a Christian?
The Christian life is a growing experience.
“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (1Pet.2:2).
The Bible is the Words of the Living God inerrently inspired and preserved. Its prophecies never fail, its promises are sure. The Word of God is our spiritual food.
The Holy Spirit will guide you daily as we commit your way unto the Lord.
Finally, seek fellowship with other Christians who love Christ and His Word and daily pray for guidance and direction from the Lord. Remember Jesus is coming again and He may come soon.
By
John R Ecob
