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The wages
of sin is spiritual death; someone has to pay for sin with that
same spiritual death, and Someone did.
God has
provided a solution, and by His grace He has provided it as a
gift.
Rom 3:24
”being justified as a gift by His grace through the
redemption which is in Christ Jesus;”
Rom
5:8-10 explains the finished work of the Lord.
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having
now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the
wrath of God through Him. For if while we
were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His
Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His
life.”
If you
are willing to give me your car, much more you would be willing
to give me your bicycle.
If you
are willing to cook for me a great and expensive meal, much more
you would give me a piece of bread.
And
so, if the Lord died for us while we were sinners and
unbelievers in His name, much more now that we believe we can be
certain we will be saved by His life.
If you
concentrate on this next passage, you will understand how God
was able to give His Son as a ransom for the entire human race.
Again, we
know that when the Bible talks about the free gift, it is
talking about eternal life. Rom 6:23b
Rom 5:15
“But the free gift is not like the transgression.
For if by the transgression (sin) of the one
(Adam) the many died, much more did the grace of God and the
gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to
the many.
Rom 5:18
“For if by the transgression (sin) of the
one (Adam), death reigned through the
one, much more those who receive the abundance of
grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in
life through the One, Jesus Christ.”
If every
member of the human race became sinners because of our
relationship to the first sinner, Adam, much more God is able to
save us based on our relationship to the Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ.
God had
to do it. He had to come and save us because we have all fallen
into sin and God loves all of His creatures.
It was
part of His Master Plan.
His
all-knowing Plan of Grace.
We
were born sinners as a descendent of Adam by means of inheriting
his sinful nature. Gen 5:3
Therefore, our loving God provided salvation to us, and this
salvation could have no merit from us as sinners, it is a free
gift from Him.
Eph 2:4-6
is clear on God’s grace and love as His reason for saving us.
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with
which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions,
made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been
saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the
heavenly places, in Christ Jesus.”
Eph 2:8-9
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that
not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of
works, that no one should boast.”
Grace
means an undeserved favor, something freely given to someone.
Titus
2:11 “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing
salvation to all men,”
And how
do we receive this grace, or this
favor or gift? Through faith in Jesus
Christ.
God has given freedom from
sin, and eternal life to us through the non-meritorious system
of faith in the work of His Son Jesus Christ.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith;
John 1:12
“But as many as received
Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even
to those who believe in His name”
Tit 3:4-7
“But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for
mankind appeared(TLJC), He saved us,
not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness,
but according to His mercy, by the washing of
regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out
upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being
justified by His grace we might be made heirs according
to the confidence of eternal life.”
Once we have been saved by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ,
we cannot lose this gift from God!
Rom
11:29 “for the
gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable”
(unchangeable)
Rom 6:23
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God
is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
There are
many verses in the Bible that teach that the moment you have
believed in Christ as your Lord and Savior you cannot lose that
gift of eternal life at any time, this is called Eternal
Security.
1Cor 3:15
states that even if a man’s good works get burned up at the
Judgment Seat of Christ, HE HIMSELF WILL STILL BE SAVED.
Why?
Because his salvation is not based on works, but on the perfect
foundation that only Jesus Christ could lay down for us.
We
are saved by faith alone in Christ alone.
1
Cor 3:11-15 - 11
For no man can lay a
foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus
Christ. 12 Now if any man builds on the foundation with
gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each man's
work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is
to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the
quality of each man's work. 14 If any man's work which he has
built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man's
work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will
be saved, yet so as through fire.
The
believer in this passage will suffer loss of rewards in heaven,
his arrogant works that he only did to serve himself will be
tested by the fire and come out as ashes, but he himself will
still be saved and he will be in heaven because he has believed
in the Lord Jesus Christ.
If this
is true, why live a good life for God? Why study His Plan in
His Word?
As a
believer who lives his life for Christ, your life is not in
vain.
You have
a chance to become a witness for God in the heavenly courtroom
trial of Satan, and to become a winner believer.
And you
will be graciously rewarded by the King, our God and Savior,
Jesus Christ. Joh 20:28, Tit 2:13.
Any
divine good works, done in the filling of the Spirit and
motivated by Bible doctrine, will shine brighter after
the test of fire, and will remain as rewards of gold, silver and
precious stones.
What
happens to gold when it goes through fire? It becomes more
clean and pure. And it is not destroyed.
These
rewards will last forever and ever for the winner believer.
But
our salvation itself is not based on our
works, it
is based on faith alone in Christ alone.
Titus
3:4-7“But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love
for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds
which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy,
by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,
whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our
Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made
heirs according to the confidence of eternal life.”
Good
works in this life is just our opportunity to glorify Him, and
the credit goes to the Holy Spirit for teaching and guiding us,
and giving us divine power to complete them.
Works
are a result of our salvation, not the way to
salvation.
Works are
a way to say thank you to the Lord for His gift of salvation.
But
our salvation is a gift from God…
Eph 2:9
“not as a result of works, lest any man should boast”
Jesus
said in John 5:24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he
who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has
eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has
passed out of death into life.”
There are
also false ways of salvation that many religions agree with, and
you must be careful to obey the Bible way, not the way of
religion.
Here are
some important questions:
-
Did you believe in Christ alone?,…
or did you add your own
works or give yourself credit in reaching heaven?
(Rom 11:6, Acts 8:20, Rom 6:23b; therefore
rejecting the free gift of eternal life?)
If so, then
you are not saved!
-
Did you believe in Jesus Christ as the Messiah,
God in the flesh, the Son of the Living God?,… or did
you believe in Jesus as just a nice man and a prophet?
Then not you are not saved!
If you
have believed these falsehoods, you have added to the work of
Christ on the Cross.
You
have not accepted God’s free gift of eternal life.
You
have tried to pay for it yourself, or you have tried to add to
His perfect sacrifice.
As Jesus
asked Peter, Matt 16:15-16 "But
who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the
Christ, the Son of the living God."
The
Corinthians had trouble believing in the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead. But this is part of the good news!
If
Christ hadn’t been raised from the dead, then we are all still
dead in our sins!
1Cor 15:17
Even
today they cannot find the remains of Jesus’ body in the tomb.
Paul goes
on to say that he did not believe in vain. In fact, his faith
through the grace of God was so strong that he labored (studied
and taught Bible doctrine) more than all of the other apostles.
Paul
mentions that if Christ has not been raised from the dead that
our preaching and our faith are in vain! (1Cor 15:14)
Our faith
would be useless if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead.
But He
did, as even ancient history books have recorded for us (such as
historians Josephus and Tacitus).
When
the Lord Jesus rose from the dead 3 days after His burial, as He
predicted He would earlier in His life, it was a seal of our
salvation. It was proof of His victory on the Cross, that His
selfless sacrifice for our sins was valid in the Father’s eyes.
And now
we know there is eternal life, life after death, for any who
trust in Jesus Christ as their God and Savior.
Jesus
told us He was the One, and He was the way. He is the Savior of
the whole world, the only One who can remove our sins from us.
John
14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and
the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”
Thank God that He made salvation simple for us. If it were not
a simple gift from God, none of us could be saved.
We know
the Bible is the Word of God (see Proof by Prophecies page).
And the Bible says anyone can accept God’s gift of eternal life
by believing or trusting in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Acts
16:3 They said, " Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will
be saved, you and your household."
Don’t
just believe Jesus existed, believe means to TRUST.
Trust in
Him now to save you.
2 Cor
6:2 Behold, now is "THE ACCEPTABLE TIME," behold, now is
"THE DAY OF SALVATION" —
Do it the
Bible way, and don’t delay. Life is short. We all have a day
of death prepared. And then it will be too late to accept the
Savior.
James
4:14 “Yet you do not know what your life will be like
tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while
and then vanishes away.”
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