WHAT IS SALVATION?
Why do I need to be saved? What does it mean, and how can I know for sure? God has not left us to guess the answers to these questions. God's Word, the Bible, tells us in 1 John 5:13, "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may KNOW that you have eternal life..."
To know for sure that you have eternal life, you must first understand four important Bible truths:
ALL HAVE SINNED
Every person is a sinner by nature and by choice. Our sin separates us from God.
Romans 3:23
"For all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
Isaiah 53:6 "All we like sheep have
gone astray; we have turned, every
one, to his own way..."
ALL ARE CONDEMNED
Sin has a costly price tag. Our sin separates us from God, making it impossible for us to go to heaven. This means that we are destined to spend eternity in hell.
Romans
6:23 "For the wages of sin is
death..."
Hebrews 9:27 "And as it is
appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,"
Revelation
20:15 "And anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into
the lake
of fire."
ALL ARE LOVED BY GOD
Although we deserve to suffer for our sins, God gave His Son, Jesus, to suffer for us. Jesus never sinned, yet He suffered for the sins of the world. Because God loves us, Jesus died for us as a perfect sacrifice for our sin. He was our substitute.
Romans 5:8-9 "But God
demonstrates
His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died
for us. Much more
then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from
wrath through Him."
1 Peter 3:18 "For Christ
also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might
bring us to God..."
1 Peter 2:24
"[Christ] bore our
sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might
live for righteousness..."
ALL CAN BE SAVED
What we do in life, or how "good" we are, cannot get us to heaven. No matter how many good things, or "good works" we do, we will never erase the fact that we are sinful. Our sin must be paid for, because God is perfectly just. This is why Christ paid for our sins -- so we would not be required to pay for them ourselves!
Romans 6:23 "...the gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
John 1:12 "But as many as
received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to
those who believe in His name."
John 14:6
"Jesus said to him, “I
am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except
through Me."
1 John 5:12
"He who has the Son has
life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life."
This is the good news,
or "gospel":
Christ died, was buried, and
rose again for YOU. When you
believe this and
trust what He has done for you, you have eternal life. You are born
again and will live forever with God in heaven.HOW CAN I BE SAVED?
Salvation is not something you can earn. It is a gift that you can accept or reject. There is no way that any of us can do anything good enough to enter heaven. Instead of relying on your own good works, you must trust only in what Christ has already done for you. Will you accept God's gift of salvation through Jesus Christ?