Being saved...the Long Version
THE CURSE & PENALTY OF SIN - In the beginning God created all things good and He placed Adam and Eve in a place of perfection, a beautiful garden called Eden, where they had total reign with only one restriction. They had all they needed yet wanted more. In violating that restriction, not to eat the fruit from one particular tree, they brought a curse upon humanity and this world that continues to this very day. "For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now." (Romans 8:22) Sin was introduced into the world and it's consequences continue to bring hatred, violence, defilement, pollution and separation. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) The Scriptures go on to point out that "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23) Death, both physical and spiritual death, is a result of the curse of sin.
THE SOLUTION & GIFT - However, the curse of sin has been conquered by Christ Jesus. By accepting Christ as our Savior and Lord, we no longer have to be afraid of the affects of sin and death and the fear they bring. Because He loves us so much, God in His mercy and grace, has made a way of redemption through Jesus Christ. "But God commanded His Love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) God gave Himself as the sacrifice.
He loves us so much that He wanted that broken gap bridged. He wants us to experience His love and peace in life and in relationship with Him but because God is holy, pure and just, we cannot come into His Presence in our sinful condition, we must be cleansed, renewed. He has provided a way through the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ, His Son but He has also given us free will and will not force His will upon anyone. The choice is ours alone whether or not to follow Him. No one can make that choice for us. Each of us must individually make it for ourselves. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) He has a plan for each of us, but we make the ultimate choice on whether or not to accept God's will for our lives. "I am at the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." (John 10:9, 10)
The cross of Jesus Christ is the bridge, the remedy, the only way that closes the gap between God and man caused by sin. He paid the penalty for our sins by his shed blood. "He personally carried the load of our sins in his own body when he died on the cross..." (1 Peter 2:24) Scripture tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:21 that "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." What this means is that when we receive Jesus into our lives by faith, we become totally righteous before God who forgives us our sins, failures and shortcomings because of Jesus's sacrifice of His shed blood. We should never again feel guilty, condemned or unworthy and therefore unable to come before God. His judgement is no longer upon us. This truth sets us free. What will you do with God? Reject or accept Him? Each of us will one day stand in judgement before Almighty God. Each of us makes the final determination of our own eternal destination by the choice we make to accept or reject Jesus. Jesus saves us from the judgement that is coming. Are you saved?
Salvation is a free gift for all who would receive it. You don't earn it by saying a certan amount of prayers or work for it by attending certain services or even belonging to a particular church. Salvation is not attainted by keeping laws, traditions, rituals, doing lots of good deeds or being a moral person. "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..." John 1:12 and "For grace you have been saved through faith, and not of yourselves it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." (Ephesians 2:8,9) Though salvation is a free gift to us, it was costly for God.
Confessing means to agree with God that we are not right with him...we think, say and do things that are hurtful to others and then there are the things we think, say and don't do that we fail to do. The Bible says that "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9) Confession puts us back onto God's road of peace and joy because we are cleansed and restored.
THE REWARD & ASSURANCE - We can be assured of eternal life by the choice we make. "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:23) "Yet to all who received him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." (John 1:12) Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live." (John 11:25) "For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." (2 Corinthians 5:1) "For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord." (2 Corinthians 5:7-8) Because God has said it in His Word, the Bible, we can believe it in our hearts and know that it is settled in our mind and in heaven.
