God offers salvation freely by grace through faith in Jesus, His Son. God loves YOU so much that He made a way for you to be forgiven and have a new life, no matter what you may have done.
There are four essential ideas behind salvation.
1. Everyone needs Forgiveness.
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” – Romans 3:23
Nobody is perfect. We have all made sinful choices. I know we live in a world where people say right and wrong are relative terms, and the idea of “sin” is considered out of date. But most people are ready to admit they’re not perfect. They have done things that are wrong. And that guilt can feel unbearably heavy.
Most of the time, we prefer to measure ourselves by other people. “I might not be perfect, but I sure live my life a lot better than some people.” We like to think we are good people, probably better than average. At least, we haven’t done some of the terrible things others have. We have a moral code we keep. That’s what we tell ourselves.
But if we are completely honest, we kinda have to admit, we don’t really live up to our own moral code. We say we believe people should be honest. And yet, we have all been dishonest. We insist people should not be selfish. And yet, we’ve all been selfish. And there’s lots more where that came from.
As much as we might try, we don’t quite practice what we preach. We insist that people should keep some moral standards … but we don’t always keep them. There’s a word for that – hypocrisy. Ouch. This is definitely uncomfortable. But don’t disengage just yet. Let’s go a bit further down the rabbit hole.
If we don’t always live up to our own expectations, imagine how much further we must be from the perfection of God. He doesn’t measure us in comparison to other people. He holds us to the standard of Jesus. Jesus never, ever, ever sinned. Not even once. He never broke a single commandment of God.
Perfection. We can’t manage that, as much as we might try. We can’t even hold up our own moral code perfectly. How are we supposed to live up to God’s standards? We can’t. And that’s a serious problem.
2. Our choices have eternal consequences.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 6:23
3. Jesus paid the Price for us.
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8
Jesus took our place. That’s how He did it. He took the consequences of our choices and gave us the blessings of His Choices. He took the Death and gave us the Life. His Life for ours. That was what the Cross was about. On the Cross, He took the punishment for all people who will ever live.
Jesus does not wait until we “clean up our lives.” He doesn’t wait for us to fix as much as we can, then He cleans up the rest. No, He steps in “while we were still sinners.” While we were wallowing in the filth of our sins. He loves you right where you are, but He will not leave you where you are!
Life change doesn’t come before salvation. It comes as a result of salvation. If you are really saved, your life will begin to change in ways it never could before.
4. Cry out to Jesus in faith.
“if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’” – Romans 10:9-13
We have all sinned, and we will face the consequences of our sin. Jesus has fully paid that debt. All that remains is for us to cry out to Jesus in faith. Ephesians 2:8-9 says: “For by grace you are saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, so no one can boast.”
We are saved by God’s Grace – His free gift. We receive His Grace by faith. Faith means believing. But even the faith to believe comes as a gift from God. Therefore, nobody can make any claim to have contributed to their own salvation. All we can do is give up on saving ourselves and trust in Jesus. Not just mentally believing that Jesus is real and the Bible is true, but putting all your hope in Him.
So what now?
Do you believe these four essentials are true? Ask yourself:
“Do I know that I am a sinner, and want to be free of my sin?”
“Do I believe that Jesus really is the Son of God, Who came to earth as a man?”
“Do I believe that God sent Jesus to give me eternal life?”
“Do I believe that Jesus died for me, to take away the penalty of my sin?”
“Am I ready to turn from my old life and live for Jesus?”
If you answer “yes” to each of these questions, what are you waiting for?
Do not be surprised if you feel as though God is working in your heart right now. That is the conviction of the Holy Spirit. If it is time for you to be saved, the Bible tells us to believe with our hearts and confess with our mouths. This means we pray to God, telling Him we believe, confessing our sin, and asking Him to save us. It is not about just reciting the words. Anyone can read a paragraph. This is about truly committing your heart to God. The exact words aren’t as important as the commitment in your heart. You could pray something like this:
“Dear God, I believe that Jesus is Your Son. I believe that He came to earth and died for my sins. Please forgive me for all my sins, and give me a new life. I want to live for You. Please save me and change me. I give my life to You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
If you have just asked Jesus to be your Savior, let somebody know! And let us know! You can email us at recreate.church.hillsville@gmail.com. And if you have questions or need more information, we would be glad to help you!