If you’ve never trusted in Jesus Christ for your salvation, or even really understood what that means, let me explain.
First, we need to understand why we even need salvation.
THE PROBLEM
Sin is the problem.
Sin is the heart attitude that says, “God’s not the boss of me. I do as I please.”
Sin sets itself against God basically saying, “I don’t need you. I decide for myself what is good, what is evil, and how I will live my life. I will be my own god.”
Sin is opposed to God and separates us from Him.
It started in the beginning of time with Adam and Eve (the first man and woman) and God’s enemy Satan.
Satan—The Father of Lies
Satan was once one of God’s most majestic heavenly beings, but he let pride rise in his heart.
He set his mind on taking over God’s position as Ruler and raised an army of like-minded angelic beings to form a coupe. But his plan failed, and God threw him out of heaven. (Isaiah 14:13-14, Luke 10:18)
With his heart and mind opposed to God, Satan, “the father of lies” (John 8:44), birthed the original lie among men, which continues to fill the earth today: God is a liar.
Mixed in with that lie is its twin lie: God is not good enough. I would be a better god than He is.
Genesis 3 records Satan uttering the first lie when he subtly accused God of lying to Adam and Eve.
Satan tempted Adam and Eve to believe that when God commanded them not to eat the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, He was withholding good from them.
God told Adam if they eat from the tree, they’d die. (Genesis 2:16-17)
Satan told Eve, “You certainly will not die!” (Genesis 3:4-5) In other words, “Don’t believe God’s words. He’s lying to you. He’s a liar. Trust me instead.”
Adam and Eve chose to trust Satan’s lie over God’s Truth.
They rebelled against God, and said in their hearts, “God’s not the boss of me. I do as I please.”
Then they ate the fruit. (Genesis 3:6)
Sin and Death Entered the World
Their rebellion ushered sin and death into the world. (Romans 5:12)
Sin is any thought, word, or deed that rebels against God’s law of love and holiness. It rises out of the heart and mind that’s opposed to God ruling them. It set itself up as God. (James 1:13-15)
Death is separation from God, the One who is Life and the giver of Life. (2 Thessalonians 1:9)
NOTE: To be clear, the fruit didn’t cause sin and death. It was good. Adam and Eve’s rebellion against God by doing what He’d said not to do brought in sin and death.
We can get mad at God and cry out, “Adam and Eve sinned! Not me.” But we would’ve done the same thing.
Sin’s Consequence
As a result of the original sin, man’s innocent nature transformed into a sinful nature and passed down through mankind’s DNA into the hearts of all mankind from birth.
We’re all born with a sin nature. And we’re quick to choose it, too.
Toddler loves to say, “No!” They don’t have to be taught. It’s born in us through our sin nature to rebel against being ruled.
The worst part of all this is that because sin leads to death—separation from God—we’re all condemned to die and spend eternity apart from God in hell.
Hell is a physical place God created for Satan and his demons. (Matthew 25:41) But all who reject Christ as their Lord and Savior will spend eternity out of God’s presence and in hell.
Hell won’t be a kingdom ruled by Satan where anything goes. It won’t be a massive party where Satan’s followers celebrate freedom from God. It’s certainly not a place where God allows people the “dignity” to reject Him.
Satan won’t rule anything, for Satan will be just like them. Dying but never dead, suffering and never saved, forever separated from the Light and the Life. (Revelation 20:10)
This is a problem. A grave problem.
THE SOLUTION—JESUS CHRIST
Long before God created us, He knew we’d rebel. And He’d already planned the salvation of His children through His Son, Jesus. (Ephesians 1:4)
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
At the appointed time, Jesus came down to earth, taking on the form of man, and lived a perfect life free of all sin. Since He didn’t have any sins He needed to pay for by His death (the penalty of sin is death—Romans 6:23), His sinlessness qualified Him to take all our sin upon Himself on the cross.
Fulfilling the prophecies about His death and resurrection, Jesus was nailed to the cross, suffered and died as our substitution for sin. He gave His life as the full penalty for all sin for all time.
Romans 1:3-4, Romans 3:23-26, Romans 5:6-21, Romans 6:23, Romans 8:1-3, Romans 8:34, Romans 10:4-13, 1 Corinthians 1:30, 1 Corinthians 2:2, 1 Corinthians 8:6, 1 Corinthians 15:1-8, 1 Corinthians 15:24-28, 2 Corinthians 5:19-21, 2 Corinthians 8:9, Galatians 1:4, Galatians 4:4-5, Ephesians 1:20, Ephesians 2:8-9, Ephesians 3:11, Ephesians 4:7-10, Philippians 2:5-11, Colossians 1:13-22, Colossians 2:9, 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18, 1 Timothy 2:5-6, 1 Timothy 3:16, Titus 2:13-14
Through Christ, the payment for our salvation from sin is finished. (John 19:30)
It is Finished
By God’s grace alone, through faith in Jesus Christ alone, everyone who repents of their sin and trusts solely in His work on the cross for their salvation receives forgiveness of their sin and eternal life with Him in heaven all for God’s glory. It is finished (John 19:30). There’s nothing more to do. (Ephesians 2:8-9, John 3:16)
From Dead in Our Sins to Alive in Christ
We all come into this world with the problem of sin. Our bodies may be alive, but we are all born dead in our sin. And dead men can do nothing. They certainly can’t save themselves. Or seek after God.
The Bible says no one seeks after God. (Romans 3:11)
Even Adam and Eve didn’t. When they sinned, they didn’t seek after God. They hid. (Genesis 3:8)
God initiated with them. He came and found them. (Genesis 3:9) And He’s still doing the same with His children today. (John 15:16)
Unless the Holy Spirit draws us to God, we will never come on our own. (John 6:44; John 6:65)
We don’t like to admit we’re sinners. We don’t want to appear weak or in need. But repentance—confessing and turning away from our sins—is required for salvation.
It’s not enough to just believe in who Jesus is. Satan and the demons know and believe by experience that Jesus is exactly who He says He is, but they won’t bow. They won’t repent—they won’t confess or turn away from their sin.
Satan is God’s enemy, and before salvation, we’re enemies of God. (Romans 5:10)
We’re so blind to our need for God that unless He draws us and opens our eyes to the light of Truth, we’ll never believe. (Jeremiah 17:9, Ephesians 1:18, John 16:8)
When the Holy Spirit gives us new life in Christ, we are born again. (John 3:1-21) It is all a work of God. And He is faithful.
If You Want to Receive Salvation:
- Pray and ask Jesus for the faith to believe and to receive His free gift.
- Confess your sins to God and turn away from sin,
- Turn to Jesus Christ through faith that His finished work on the cross,
- Believe in your heart that Jesus’ death and resurrection were sufficient to pay the penalty for your sin, and
- Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord over your life. He has the right to rule you.
- Then you will be saved—made alive in Christ, free from all punishment for sin, and sealed for eternity by the indwelling of His Holy Spirit.
(Romans 10:9-11; Ephesians 2:8-9)
There’s no more guilt, shame, or condemnation for anyone in Christ. (Romans 8:1)
Jesus showers mercy and grace upon everyone who trusts in Him. (Hebrews 4:16)
There’s No Neutral Option
No one is truly neutral about Christ.
If we haven’t accepted Christ’s salvation, we’ve rejected Him and will be separated from Him eternally.
There are only two types of people:
- Those in Christ and have eternal life
- Those how are outside of Christ and are condemned to hell
Jesus is the only way to heaven. The only way to God. The only way to life. (John 14:6)
Some have said it’s arrogant for Christians to say Christ is the only way to the Father, to heaven. This type of thinking is a prime example of the arrogance of the human heart, which sets itself up as God against the True God.
It’s man’s stubborn pride that says, “No one will tell me how to get to heaven. I’ll determine how I get there myself. I’ll come to God any way I want.”
There is only one God and only one way to be restored to Him: by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
-Romans 10:9-10 NASB
Saved By Grace Through Faith Alone, Not a Prayer
“Praying the Prayer” isn’t what saves. Anyone can say the words. They’re not magic.
It’s God’s grace through the faith He gives that saves—faith that what you’re praying is Truth, and Jesus really is everything He says He is, and He’s able to save you from your hopeless and helpless state of being a sinner condemned to hell. Belief in the gospel is what saves you. Not repeating words.
If the belief is not in our heart, the words that come out of our mouth—even if they’re in the form of a prayer to God—will not save us. Neither will our actions.
We can’t earn our salvation. We’d have to be perfect, and we missed that before we were even born.
It’s not Christ plus baptism (although baptism is an important next step in confessing your faith).
It’s not Christ plus anything. Salvation comes by faith in Christ alone.
At the moment of salvation, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in your heart and adopts you into the Kingdom of God. You’re a child of God and co-heir with Christ. (Romans 8:15, 2 Corinthians 1:22, Romans 8:17)
And when your time on earth is through, you’ll walk right into heaven. (Luke 23:43) AMEN!
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, so that no one may boast.
-Ephesians 2:8-9 NASB
Abundant Life Now
While we live on this earth, God has promised us abundant life in Christ. (John 10:10)
Having abundant life now doesn’t mean we won’t have problems. We’ll have plenty of trials (John 16:33). But at the moment of salvation, God gives us His Holy Spirit to empower and comfort us even in the worst of times. (Ephesians 1:13)
From Sin Nature to Divine Nature
God not only gives us eternal life, He also gives us a new nature—a divine nature. (2 Corinthians 5:17, 2 Peter 1:3-4)
Unfortunately, our sin remains, and it relentlessly pokes its ugly head up into our lives like an annoying—and dangerous—serpent. It’s forever opposed to God.
But our new nature in Christ loves God. In Christ, we have everything we need to defeat sin by the power of the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:3-4).
Christ crucified our old nature on the cross with Him. By faith we’ve been made alive in Him. His life now flows through us by faith as we obey Him (Romans 6:6, 14, Romans 8:10, Galatians 2:20, Galatians 5:24, 1 John 4:4, 1 John 5:4)
For Further Study
Mark 1:15; John 1:12-13; 6:40; 17:6-8; Romans 5:8-10; 8:16-17;10:9-13; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 2 Peter 3:9
If you’ve accepted God’s gift of salvation, I’d love to hear from you. Or if you have any questions, I’d love to answer them the best I can. Leave me a comment or send me an email.
And check out other posts to help get you started in your life with Christ or answer more questions.
Wow. Once again … beautiful. Everyone should read this. It’s written beautifully and in His Truth. As you have said many times, through the years, “Know the Word, Know the Word, Know the Word, so the Word gets in you.” Thank you that you write for His Glory. 1 Corinthians 10:31. I’ll be reading your articles, again and again, and sharing them on to others as I customarily do. Thank you.
Thanks, Melissa! And thanks so much for sharing my articles. I pray they bless others and draw them to Christ! Love you!