General References On Salvation
God's love
The Bible tells us that the God who created the whole universe loves each and every one of us (John 3:16).
God did not create us on a whim; He created us for a purpose. That was to be with Him and to have a relationship with Him. This is spiritual life (John 10:10).
Man's sin
Man has a sin nature. This sin nature is found in everyone and causes everyone to sin (Romans 3:23).
Sin is choosing not to follow God's way. Every one of us has sinned and as a result, has become separated from God, for God is perfect and cannot look on sin. This separation from God is spiritual death (Habakkuk 1:13, Romans 6:23, Genesis 2:16-17). Adam was expelled from the garden on the same day that he ate the fruit, but he physically died over 900 years later. This shows that 'death' refers more to separation from God, not physical death.
Everyone has sinned. No one is righteous in God's eyes (Job 4:17, Job 9:2, 14:4, 15:14, 25:4, Psalms 51:5, 53:2-3, 130:3, Ecclesiastes 7:20, Isaiah 53:6, 64:6, Romans 3:9,19-20,23, 7:18, Galatians 3:22, Ephesians 2:1, 1 John 1:8,10).
Unless a solution is found to man's sin problem, he will be lost and will spend eternity in hell.
God's solution
Man cannot reconcile himself to God because of his sin nature. Only God can do that.
Our sin nature has made us enemies to God. But God still loves us and does not want us to be lost (1 Timothy 2:3-4).
Because of His love for man, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to die in our place (Romans 5:8). This is the assurance of God's love toward us. Jesus died for us while we were still in sin.
After Jesus died, He rose from the dead, which verified the claims He made about Himself (1 Corinthians 15:3-6). When Paul wrote this, most of the people who saw Jesus after He was raised were still living, so the story could easily be verified.
Jesus is the only means of reconciliation with God (John 14:6).
What must we do?
Jesus is the only way to God; He is the mediator between God and us ( 1 Timothy 2:5-6).
God's solution is a gift. We must accept this gift and not try our own way (i.e. good works). Going our own way is what gave us our sin nature in the first place (Ephesians 2:8-9).
We accept this by believing that Jesus' death in our place is totally sufficient to reconcile us with God (Galatians 2:16,21, John 6:28-29).
If we refuse God's solution, there is no other (Hebrews 2:3, John 3:36). Anyone who trusts Jesus Christ for salvation has eternal life; not just in the future but now.
By accepting God's Son, God gives us eternal life with Him ( 1 John 5:11-13). Salvation is a knowable fact. There is no need to be in doubt as to your eternal security.
Is water baptism necessary for salvation?
Baptism was commanded by Christ in the "Great Commission" ( Matthew 28:19-20).
Although it is commanded, baptism is not necessary for salvation. The thief who died on a cross next to Jesus believed in Jesus and didn't need to be baptized (Luke 23:39-43). The thief who trusted in Jesus did not have any opportunity to be baptized.
Paul was sent by Jesus to bring the gospel message to the gentiles, but he wasn't sent to baptize. If baptism is necessary, didn't Jesus forget something? (1 Corinthians 1:14-17). Paul was not present when Jesus gave the 'great commission'.
Baptism follows salvation. It is only after believing that someone should be baptized (Acts 2:41, 18:8).
In this reference, the believers had received the Holy Spirit and were speaking in tongues before being baptized (Acts 10:44-48).
Other references
Jesus' open invitation (John 10:7-11).
The door is open, but it won't be forever (Luke 13:23-30).
We receive a new birth; from spiritual death to spiritual life ( John 3:1-8).
We become children of God by believing in the name of God's Son ( John 1:12).
If we sin, we don't lose our salvation. It is based on Jesus' faithfulness, not ours (2 Timothy 2:13).
We are saved to do good works. We don't do good works to become saved ( Ephesians 2:10). 'Created in Christ Jesus' refers to salvation.
All believers have the Holy Spirit who guarantees our salvation ( Romans 8:9, 2 Corinthians 1:22).
Our sins are blotted out by God, not us (Isaiah 43:25, 44:22, 45:22).
Eternally secure because we are sons (John 8:35-36).
Examples of salvation (in general) by faith in God (Genesis 15:6, Daniel 6:23).
All content written by Andrew Bernhardt unless otherwise noted. Site hosted on lunarpages.com.
Topic viewed 541 times since 2009-07-02 02:50:14.
Last updated by System on 2004-06-08 12:00:00.
