Watch Live
Pastor's Word

HOW I CAN RECEIVE GOD’S GIFT OF SALVATION

Posted on by Wayne Edwards

HOW I CAN RECEIVE GOD’S GIFT OF SALVATION

The fact that we live in a very sinful world is without question. Man’s inhumanity to man is manifested before our eyes in many ways every day, and the sad reality is, left to himself, man is helpless to change his sinful condition. Despite his best efforts to bring about peace and prosperity, the world remains in chaos, and human lives are still being torn apart by sin.

It all began in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve disobeyed God. As a result of their sin, they lost their intimate relationship with God and their lovingness with each other. God’s judgment was both temporal, in that, He imposed life-long hardships for them both, and eternal, in that, they were separated from Him for eternity.

However, because of His great love (John 3:16), God provided a solution to man’s need. While the word “salvation” means “Savior,” or the One who was sent to save, it also encompasses the total work of God by which He seeks to rescue man from the penalty and the power of sin and to bestow upon him the abundance of His grace, including everlasting life with Him.

God’s plan of salvation centers around the Person and work of Jesus Christ. Being spiritually dead because of our sin (Ephesians 2:1), we are not only cut off from the presence of God, but it is impossible for us to renew our relationship with God by our own efforts. It was for this reason that God sent Jesus into the world. When Jesus died on the cross, He paid the penalty for our sin. (1 Peter 3:18) Being human, Jesus could die as a man. Being God, His death could pay for the sins of all men.

The first step in receiving God’s gift of salvation is to admit our need for salvation. Second, we believe what the Bible says about Jesus of Nazareth; that He was sent by God to be our Savior, that He did die upon the cross, that He was resurrected from the grave, and we confess that verbally. (Romans 10:9-10) Third, we receive God’s gift of salvation by our faith alone in Christ alone. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

This makes Christianity different from all the other world religions.  We are saved by putting our trust in something God has done for us through Jesus Christ and not in something we can do. It is because of God’s great love that He made a way for us to be reconciled to Him. God had to bear the pain of seeing His Only Begotten Son suffer and die so that we will not perish in hell but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

While there is no set time-frame in which God works to reconcile us to himself, the scriptures declare a logical order of events in the process of our eternal salvation. I encourage you to read the suggested texts from your own Bible and mark them for further study.

ELECTION – The Bible teaches that God chooses people based on His own purposes and His desire to show grace to undeserving sinners. Those whom He has chosen are referred to as “the elect.”

    • 2 Thessalonians 2:13, Ephesians 1:4-6

THE CALL – God calls those He has elected through the proclamation of the gospel. The effectual call of God overwhelms the sinner and subdues his natural inclination to rebel against God so that he willingly expresses his faith in Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord.

    • Romans 10:9-10, 14-15, Philippians 2:13, John 6:44, 2 Peter 1:3

REGENERATION – Jesus told Nicodemus, “unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” To be born again is to be regenerated. This new birth enables the believer to see, hear, and seek the ways of God and to make radical changes in every area of his life.

    • John 3:3-8, Ephesians 2:6, 2 Corinthians 5:17

CONVERSION – The word “converted” means “to turn back or return.” To be converted is to return to what we were initially created by God to be. Conversion happens when we exchange our sinful life for the sinless life of Christ. The Holy Spirit enables us to turn from our sin and to embrace our Savior, so much so, it is as though we no longer live, but Christ lives in us.

    • Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19, Romans 6:6-7. 2 Corinthians 5:17, 21

JUSTIFICATION – To be justified is to be declared righteous; to be made right with God. Justification does not make us righteous it simply allows God to consider us to be righteous. Because of our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior, when God looks at us, He sees the righteousness of Christ.

    • Romans 3:21-28, Romans 5:1-10, 18-19

ADOPTION – Adoption is one of the metaphors the Bible uses to explain how Christians are brought into the family of God. In Galatians 4:5, Paul said, Jesus came that “we might receive adoption to sonship.” And in Romans 8:15, Paul said, “You received God’s Spirit when He adopted you as His own children.” (NLT)

    • Galatians 4:3-7, John 3:3, Romans 8:15

SANCTIFICATION – To sanctify something is to set it apart for special use. Once we are born again, God “sanctifies” us! He makes us holy, and then He sets us apart for His use. Just as justification did not make us righteous, sanctification does not make us holy. While we are declared “sanctified,” we also enter the life-long process of being sanctified.

    • John 17, 1 Corinthians 1:30, Acts 13:39, 1 Peter 1:15, Hebrews 10;14, 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

PERSEVERANCE – Perseverance of the saints summarizes what the Bible teaches about the eternal security of the believer. The Bible teaches that those who are born again will continue trusting in Jesus Christ forever. In Ephesians 1:13-14, Paul said the believer is “sealed with the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption.”

    • Ephesians 1:13-14, Philippians 1:6, Romans 8:28-39, John 10:27-30, 1 John 2:19

GLORIFICATION – This is the final step in God’s plan to restore our broken relationship with Him that was caused by sin. What began with God paying the penalty for our sin, through the death of Jesus on the cross, and what continued with the Holy Spirit delivering us from the power of sin, will end with Jesus Christ delivering us from the very presence of sin, and to forever live in the glory of the Lord.

    • 1 Corinthians 13:12, 15:12-14, 2 Corinthians 3:18, 4:17, Romans 8:18-30, Titus 2:13, 1 Timothy 6:14

Salvation is God coming in human flesh in the person of Jesus Christ, to live a perfect life of obedience and set an example for us to follow, to suffer and die on the cross for our sins and to rise again to conquer death and hell, in order set us free from the power of sin and death and to deliver us from the wrath of God that is to be poured out upon all flesh on the earth in a future event known as the Great Tribulation.

    • Have you trusted Jesus for your salvation? If not, trust Him today.
    • Admit (confess) to God that you are a sinner in need of a Savior.
    • Repent of your sins, and purpose in your heart to turn from them.
    • Believe Jesus is the Savior God sent and the Savior you need.
    • Receive Jesus as YOUR Savior and surrender unto Him as YOUR Lord.
    • Baptism by immersion is a public confession of a personal conversion, identifying with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
    • Unite with a fellowship of believers of like faith and continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord.

Join us next week as we focus on “HOW I CAN BE SURE OF MY SALVATION“?