This is a question that has baffled many people. If you were
to ask the man in the street this question, the general consensus would be – salvation
by works.
Some of the answers might be:
1.
I live a good life and don’t do anybody any harm.
2.
I go to church regularly.
3.
I give money to charities and help out with
volunteer work.
4.
I believe in God.
5.
God is a God of love and will forgive me.
6.
I hope I have done enough good in my life to get
me into heaven.
Take a close look at these answers. None of them have a note
of certainty about them. If you have to work at being saved you definitely don’t
have any assurance that you are saved.
What do the Scriptures say about salvation?
Ephesians 3;8, 9 tell us, (8)”For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of
yourselves; it is the gift of God, (9) not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
Now this is very clear cut. The apostle Paul told the Ephesian believers
in the Lord Jesus Christ that they were saved “through faith” and “not of
works”.
Let’s have a closer look at these verses.
1.
It is by grace we are saved.
2.
We are saved through faith.
3.
It is God given faith.
4.
We are not saved by our works.
5.
There will not be anyone boasting to God that
they have achieved salvation by their own efforts.
6.
This salvation by faith is a gift from God.
You don’t earn a gift! You don’t pay for a gift! A gift has
not cost you anything. All you have to do with a gift is receive it and then it
becomes yours.
It is the same with God’s offer of salvation. The penalty
for your sins was borne by the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary. God punished His
Son upon a cross for your sins. There is no cost to you – the price has already
been paid!
In Acts chapter 16 we read of a Philippian prison
keeper awaking from sleep about midnight by an earthquake. The earthquake’s
tremors opened all the prison doors. The keeper thinking that all the prisoners
had escaped, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. The apostle Paul
stopped him and reassured him that all the prisoners were still in the prison.
Acts 16:29-31, (29)”Then
he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas.
(30) And he brought them out and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ (31)
So they said, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved and your
household’.”
Acts 16:34, “Now
when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced,
having believed in God with all his household.”
The prison keeper could not point to his good works before
God – he was a pagan! He asked Paul and Silas what he had to do to be saved.
The answer is simple and very clear cut. “Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved...”
He believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and was saved there and
then. In verse 34 we read, “...and
he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.”
When a man or woman comes face to face with the realisation
of their sins before God, it is a dreadful moment in their life. They have a
choice to make:
1.
Accept God’s offer of salvation in the Lord
Jesus Christ, or
2.
Carry on in their wicked ways and die in their
sins; later to stand with all the wicked dead before the Great White Throne of
judgement (Revelation 20:11, 12).
I sincerely hope that you are not trusting in your good
works to enter into heaven. Salvation does not occur when you get to heaven, it
happens here and now before you die. Once you are dead it is too late to be
saved! Don’t let your pride stand in the way of your salvation.
“Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and you will be saved...”
Jon Peasey
[All Scriptures quoted are from the New King James version]
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