The Plan of Salvation

If somebody were to ask you “are you 100% sure that if you died today you would go Heaven”, what would you say? And if you answered YES, what is your answer based on? Is it because you are a good person, or you’re a member of a church, or you have been baptized, or some other reason? You CAN know for sure where you would spend eternity based not on what man says or on the popular opinions of the day, but on what the Bible says. The Bible gives us bad news and good news. First the bad news: “ For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). Before you can be saved you must first realize you are a sinner. Sin is anything in word, thought , or deed that is against God and His commandments. No matter how good a person you may think you are, the Bible declares in Romans 3:10 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no not one…”. We have all sinned.

Next, the more serious news: sin has a price to be paid because God is a holy, perfect, sinless God and will not and cannot tolerate sin. Sin cannot enter in Heaven where God dwells. Because we have sinned, the Bible says in Rom. 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death…”. No matter the sin, it must be dealt with and a penalty must be paid. The “pay day” for all sin is death. Because of sin, physical death entered into the world (Rom. 5:12). If we live long enough, we will someday die physically. But what about after we die? Hebrews 9:27 tells us “… it is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgement”. Because we are not only physical but spiritual beings, our soul will die as well. This is called the second death and a person who dies lost will end up in a place called Hell to suffer punishment for all their sins forever (Rev. 21:11-15). Because God is holy and must judge sin, there is no way to escape this, unless Somebody pays for the sins you have committed.

Now the Good News! The rest of Rom. 6: 23 tells us “but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to this earth to pay for the sins of all mankind by dying on the cross and shedding His precious blood for our sins. Rom. 5:8 tells us “But God commendeth His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” God loves you even though you have sinned and wants to save you and give you eternal life in Heaven when you die. He commended or showed His love for you and the whole world by dying in our place. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says “ For He (God) hath made Him (Christ) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” The Bible tells us that without the shedding of blood there is no remission or pardon for sin (Lev. 17:11). But once the Lord Jesus Christ came as your and my substitute and died in our place, God’s judgement against sin was satisfied. The penalty for sin was paid in full! Because Christ shed His sinless blood, He can offer you the GIFT of salvation! Salvation is a gift meaning you cannot earn it. “ Not by works of righteousness that we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us…” Titus 3:5. Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” We do not deserve God’s grace, which is simply His unmerited, unearned favor. Jesus came and died not because He had to but because He loves us and wants to save us. But like with any gift, it must be received . God will not force anyone to be saved that does not want to. You can keep trusting in your own good works to save you and get into Heaven but my friend, none of these will save you. If they did, Jesus would not have had to come to die for our sins( Jon 3:16; John 14:6). You can trust that the Lord Jesus Christ has the power to save you by the fact that after He died, He was buried and then three days later rose again from the dead. Because He lives, Christ took away the power of sin and death, and will give eternal life to all who will believe and trust in Him, turning from their sin and turning to Christ by faith for salvation. This is called repentance. God loves you just as you are but too much to leave you as you are. A person must repent or agree with God that they have sinned, that Jesus came to die for sin and rose again, and be willing to leave their live of sin and turn to faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

So what must I do now you may ask? The Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas in Acts 16:30-31, “Sirs what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved…”. The Bible makes this promise in Romans 10:9, 13 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. …For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Whosoever includes YOU! When you simply believe on Christ as the One who paid your sin debt through the shedding of His blood, died in your place, was buried and whom God raised from the dead, you can have assurance that God will give you forgiveness of sins and eternal life. “But as many as received Him, to them gave He the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name” (John 1:12). When you receive Christ as your personal Savior, He will forgive you of ALL your sins, keep you saved, and grant you eternal life with Him in Heaven when you die.

What you must do now is simply bow in prayer to God, in your own words, admitting that you are a sinner and that you are sorry for your sin and that you want to turn from sin and be forgiven. Believe with all your heart that Jesus died, was buried and rose again and that you want to receive Christ as your personal Savior. When you do this, you can know that you are then saved from sin and are now a born again child of God! Don’t trust your feelings as they change. You have the assurance from the Word of God and it does not change. God cannot lie (Titus 1:2).

Once you are saved, you now have God’s power to live the Christian life. Begin to pray, read the Bible, and share your new faith in Christ with others. You should seek to attend a Bible believing church, one that preaches and teaches the Bible plainly, and be baptized to let other know of your salvation. None of these things can add to your salvation, but they will help you grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ and to live a victorious Christian life. If you have trusted Christ as your Savior, or would like more information, please contact us at the link given on this website.