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Salvation is a free gift
“For by grace you have been saved through faith,
Ephesians 2:8 (New King James Version)
and that not of yourselves;
it is the gift of God”
Salvation and faith are closely related. This is because we are saved by faith and not by our works. Human efforts are not enough to bring us salvation. Salvation comes to us as a free gift from God through faith. This is why salvation is connected to faith. It is our faith in the person and the work of our Lord Jesus that saves us.
“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.”
John 3:16 (New King James Version)
From the above verse, it is obvious that our faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God is what brings us eternal life. This means that without faith in Jesus, salvation cannot be available to anyone. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6, NKJV). Jesus doesn’t have life because anything you have there is a possibility of losing it. Jesus is life! Therefore, if we believe in Him, we will have Him and have life. But, when we don’t believe in Him, we will not have Him and for that matter we will not have life.
Confession of faith in Jesus Christ
“… 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.”
Romans 10:9 (New King James Version)
For us to be saved, we must first confess “Jesus is Lord”. Secondly, we must believe in our hearts that God raised Him up from the dead. Without our sincere belief in Jesus Christ and His work on the cross, we can never be saved. In other words, our belief in the person of Jesus is absolutely necessary if we are to be truly saved.
Prayer of faith for salvation
Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness.
I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead.
I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life.
I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Saviour.
Amen.
Now that you are saved
Our only duty is to keep working on our relationship with Jesus Christ to sustain the life we have. It is for this reason that Paul said, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12, NKJV). Again, Paul instructed, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” (Galatians 5:1, NKJV).
You Are Justified By Faith, Not Works
“knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law
Galatians 2:16 (New King James Version)
but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus,
that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law;
for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.”
Jesus is the focal point
The law (or Torah) is essentially contained in the five books of Moses (also called the Pentateuch). It outlines what is right or wrong before God. The law is pristine and if anyone fails to comply with any aspect of the law, the repercussions are devastating. Anyone who failed on any point in the law quickly attracted the judgement and wrath of God. Moreover, under the law, repentance or reformation was not easily achieved.
As we cannot fully fulfill the demands of the law, God made Jesus the focal point of our salvation and not the law. Even John testified of Jesus saying, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29, NKJV). This is to make us see Jesus as the architect of our salvation. We can only depend on Jesus for our salvation. Also, Paul stated, “I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.” (Galatians 2:21, NKJV). It is through our faith in Jesus that we are saved and justified. Without our faith in Jesus Christ, we cannot be saved nor justified.
A young rich ruler’s quest for eternal life
“Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ ” And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.“
Luke 18:18-23 (New King James Version)
One day, a young rich man went to Jesus to ask one of the most important questions of life. He wanted to know from Jesus how to receive eternal life. Jesus answered the question by recounting the Ten commandments to him. He responded to Jesus by saying that he had kept the commandments since he was a boy. The young rich ruler thought that because he was in compliance with the commandments of God, he was in alignment with God for eternal life. Unfortunately, he couldn’t cross the last hurdle as Jesus indicated to Him.
Come and follow me
Jesus asked him to go and sell his earthly possessions and give the proceeds to the poor and then come and follow Him. He wasn’t happy about that because he couldn’t watch his hard-earned wealth dissipate right before his eyes. Jesus asked him to come and follow Him. The “come and follow me” instruction by Jesus was a clear indication that one can only inherit eternal life through Him. This is why Jesus said, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.” (John 5:39-40, NKJV).
Our relationship with God must not be built on just following teachings but much more on Jesus Christ. The condition that Jesus set for the young rich ruler only stressed the need for us to follow Him if we are to receive eternal life. We must understand that Jesus is the only source of life. Our works don’t mean anything to God if we don’t have Jesus as the reason for anything we do. It is our faith in Jesus that matters. Having a relationship with God is different from following a set of rules. God is looking for someone to relate with, not someone who follows religion.
It’s all filthy rags
“But we are all like an unclean thing,
Isaiah 64:6 (New King James Version)
And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags”
Our good works cannot guarantee us righteousness before God. Our good works can deceive us to think that we are righteous. Even so, our righteousness can only be described as self-righteousness which God detests. Therefore, we cannot have a right standing with a perfect God based on our good works. We are not saved by our good works. Good works are good but they are not enough to save us. Nobody can receive salvation because of his good works.
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us,
2 Corinthians 5:21 (New King James Version)
that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Jesus never sinned. Yet, He actually became sin before God for us. This is why Jesus said “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46, NKJV). Therefore, we received the righteousness of God because Jesus was made to be sin for us. We couldn’t have attained the righteousness of God without the intervention of Jesus. He took our place by being condemned. So, Paul stated, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”)” (Galatians 3:13, NKJV).
The confession and reward of a thief
“Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us”. But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong”. Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
Luke 23:39-43 (New King James Version)
From the above verses, one of the two thieves on the cross was saved at the last hour. On the cross, this thief called on Jesus to remember him. This was an expression of the thief’s faith in Jesus, who was touched by the man’s faith. I believe that Jesus had no option but to restore the hope of this thief who was condemned and would have ended up in hell. The response of Jesus to the man was touching. Jesus said to the thief, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” “So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your house.”” (Acts 16:31, NKJV). The thief on the cross believed in Jesus and he was saved. In the same vein, the other thief didn’t believe in Jesus and his condemnation was permanent.
Saved by faith alone
We must keep in mind that we are saved by faith. It is only when we exercise faith in God through the work of Jesus on earth that we are saved. On the other hand, when we fail to exercise faith in God through His Son—Jesus, we cannot be saved. That is why the Scripture says “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:17, NKJV).
Let’s keep the fire burning until the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ!