sal·va·tionsalˈvāSH(ə)n/
noun
Theology
noun: salvation
- deliverance from sin and its consequences, believed by Christians to be brought about by faith in Christ.
The matter of salvation was given birth through the love God has for His creation, you and I.
This is the desire of God:
1 Timothy 2:4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
According to the scriptures, all of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), and God wants all of us to get saved (John 3:16-18).
We cannot receive salvation or His truth by way of human logic. Instead, we reason within the framework of the God's Self-revelation (the Scriptures), which alone should be our guide.
ROMANS 3:23
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
JOHN 3:16-18
16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
Steps toward salvation:
- Hear the Word of Truth, the Good News/ True Gospel of God' Salvation (John 5:24, Ephesians 1:13)
- Believe this Good News of God's Salvation that Jesus Christ of Nazareth (whose Hebrew Name is Yahushua, and who is known to others as Yeshua) is the only way, the truth, and the life (Romans 10:4; John 14:6). Believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:18;19,21; 1 Peter 2:24).
- Count the Cost of becoming Jesus' disciple and then make a serious decision that you want to have Jesus as the Lord of your life (Luke 14:25-34)
- Repent of sins/living life your way and Turn Back to God's Ways (Acts 17:30; Acts 2:38; Acts 3:19; Ephesians 4:17-32; Acts 26:20)
- Receive Him (Jesus) as the Savior and Lord of our life (John 1:12)
- Call upon the Name of the Lord Jesus who is the Christ: Ask Him to become your Lord and Savior (Acts 2:21; Romans 10:13).
- Confess your faith/salvation: openly declare before others that Jesus Christ is the now Lord of your Life (Romans 10:8-10).
- Get Water Baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ: Ask some true disciples of Jesus to baptize you in water (Act 2:8; 1 Peter 3:21; Acts 10: 43-48)
- Live a life consistent with the gospel of Jesus Christ and worthy of your repentance (Acts 26:20; 1 Peter 2:21-25).
IMPORTANT POINTS TO UNDERSTAND:
POINT #1: You must count the cost of becoming Jesus' disciple. You would need to examine how you have been living your life, and then turn away from living in sin: make every effort to no longer do anything that contradicts (goes against) God's Word and His will for your life. In Acts 20:20-21 (NLT), Paul said this: "I never shrank back from telling you what you needed to hear, either publicly or in your homes. I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike - the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and having faith in our Lord Jesus." (Also see: Luke 14:25-35; Acts 3:19).
POINT #2: You must believe/accept/admit the fact that Jesus Christ came to the earth as a man, was beaten, crucified and died on a cross so that your sins might be forgiven. And you must receive Him as your savior, who took your punishment for your sins upon himself and paid the price in full for your sins, so that you can be purified/cleansed from sin (Romans 5:9;1 John 2:2;Titus 2:14). For everyone who "did receive and welcome Him, He gave the authority (power, privilege, right) to become the children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His Name-" [John 1:12, Amplified Bible (AMP].
POINT #3: You must ask Jesus to be the Lord of your life and you must openly confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is the Lord and Savior of your Life (Romans 10:9). You need to start sharing this good confession with others so that they too will be saved. This is a special right and calling that true disciples of Jesus Christ have to tell others of all the wonderful things He has done and is still doing.
POINT #4: You should get water baptized. Ask some true disciples of Jesus Christ to baptize you (fully submerge you in water).
Acts 2:38 (KJV): "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."
Colossians 2:12-14 (NLT): "For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with Him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead. You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for He forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross."
IN A NUTSHELL
Once you believe the gospel of Jesus Christ of Nazareth with all your heart, you open your heart to receive him when you acknowledge Him as your Savior and welcome Him into your heart. And when you ask Him to become your Lord, and you confess in the presence of others that Jesus Christ of Nazareth is your Lord, you will be saved. (Romans 10). In a nutshell, becoming saved is the most important decision that anyone can make for their life, and God has made this reconciliation back to Him something relatively easy for you to do. After counting the cost of following Jesus and deciding to repent before God, you can become saved by saying a simple prayer for salvation between you and the Lord. After that prayer is done, you should get baptized in water to fulfill all righteousness (Matthew 3:25)
Below is a sample prayer that you can pray to God so that you can to be saved. You can also create a different more personal prayer- as long as you follow all the steps shown above. Becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ of Nazareth is more about the honest sincere cry out from your heart to God with heart felt repentance. It is more about the condition of your heart when you are making this cry to God; it is not so much about the perfection of the prayer. Your prayer just need to be sincere and true before the Lord.
SAMPLE PRAYER IN TIME OF REPENTANCE
Dear Heavenly Father,
The Most High God, I know and admit that I have sinned before you and before others, and that I have lived a life of rebellion against Your Word and Your will for me and for my life. Father I am sorry and I repent now before you. Please forgive me of my sins against you and my sins against others. I now forgive everyone who has sinned against me. Father, I believe and admit that you sent your Son Jesus Christ of Nazareth/Yahushua to the earth to die for my sins and that He came, was crucified on a cross, and died a very shameful death in my place.
I believe and acknowledge that He died on the cross for my sins, taking upon himself the full punishment my sins deserves. I believe He has paid the full price for my salvation, and I believe that you raised Him from the dead three days later. Father, I accept your free gift of salvation and I am grateful that you sent your son Jesus Christ of Nazareth to die for me so that I can live. Dear Jesus Christ of Nazareth/Yahushua I receive you as my savoir and I ask you now to come into my heart and to be the Lord of my life.
Please fill me with your Holy Spirit and please give me all the blessing you want to give me that are promised in your Holy Word. Father, please accept me as your child and help me to live for you from today on-wards. I thank you, Lord Jesus, for being my savior and for becoming my Lord. I pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth/Yahushua. Amen.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT NOW THAT I AM SAVED? HOW SHOULD I LIVE NOW THAT JESUS IS NOW THE LORD OF MY LIFE?
Now that Jesus is the Lord of your life, His will for you must become your will. In order to know what His will for you is each day, you will need to get to know Him for WHO HE IS so that you can follow Him. In Matthew 16: 24-26, Jesus told His disciples how their life must be. That scriptures simply states this:
MATTHEW 16:24-26 (KJV)
24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Since Jesus Christ of Nazareth is now your Lord, you have to live a life of total obedience to Him. You will need to turn away from your way of living (lose your way of life) and start living the way He expects you to live (so that you can find the life He created you to live). You are His disciple now, not just for one day, but rather, for the rest of you life. To live a life that pleases Him, you need to Get to know Him daily by:
This is a total change in your way of living. You have to make every effort to walk in His path which is the narrow path that leads to life (Matthew 7:13-14). Your life is now hidden in His. You cannot live to please this world nor anyone or anything in it - your number one priority now is living to please Him. He wants you to love Him with all of your heart, mind, soul, spirit, and strength. He is alive and well today and He wants to have an intimate close relationship with you, His child.
Being a disciple of The Lord is a very rewarding life. You are never alone. He is always with you. He loves you. He watches over you, He directs you, and He leads you. And, He is speaking to you daily and He wants you to come to know Him better and hear and listen for and to His Voice. Welcome to the family of God!!!
Final Quick Reminder: Salvation Is for Everyone
ROMANS 10:5-15 (NLT)
5 "For Moses writes that the law’s way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands. 6 But faith’s way of getting right with God says, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven?’ (to bring Christ down to earth). 7 And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead?’ (to bring Christ back to life again).” 8 In fact, it says,
“The message is very close at hand;
it is on your lips and in your heart.”
And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: 9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. 11 As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” 12 Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. 13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”
Since Jesus Christ of Nazareth is now your Lord, you have to live a life of total obedience to Him. You will need to turn away from your way of living (lose your way of life) and start living the way He expects you to live (so that you can find the life He created you to live). You are His disciple now, not just for one day, but rather, for the rest of you life. To live a life that pleases Him, you need to Get to know Him daily by:
Reading and meditating upon His Holy Word (the Bible) each day.
Putting into practice what He is teaching you in His Word and by His example when He was a man living and walking upon the earth.
Praying to Him daily without ceasing
Seeking His presence and His face daily
Listening out for His voice daily in your spirit
Listening and looking out for His instructions and directions each day in every thing you are doing, planning, saying
Living a life of total obedience to Him, His Word, and His Voice
Building close relationship with other true disciples of Christ and encouraging each other daily
Living a life of continuous daily repentance- in complete holiness, righteousness, humility, unity, patience, trust, faithfulness, reverence, purity, etc.
Find a group of true Christians that are practicing the truth of God to fellowship.
Keep in mind that your salvation did not come by your own efforts but by God, all you did was presented yourself to him by faith. He is the one who will keep you blameless to the end if you submit yourself in everyway to Him and He will walk you through to the end. Stay repented by going to him seeking strength to repent and for forgiveness of your sin.
New Living Translation
He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns.
He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns.
This is a total change in your way of living. You have to make every effort to walk in His path which is the narrow path that leads to life (Matthew 7:13-14). Your life is now hidden in His. You cannot live to please this world nor anyone or anything in it - your number one priority now is living to please Him. He wants you to love Him with all of your heart, mind, soul, spirit, and strength. He is alive and well today and He wants to have an intimate close relationship with you, His child.
Being a disciple of The Lord is a very rewarding life. You are never alone. He is always with you. He loves you. He watches over you, He directs you, and He leads you. And, He is speaking to you daily and He wants you to come to know Him better and hear and listen for and to His Voice. Welcome to the family of God!!!
Final Quick Reminder: Salvation Is for Everyone
ROMANS 10:5-15 (NLT)
5 "For Moses writes that the law’s way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands. 6 But faith’s way of getting right with God says, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven?’ (to bring Christ down to earth). 7 And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead?’ (to bring Christ back to life again).” 8 In fact, it says,
“The message is very close at hand;
it is on your lips and in your heart.”
And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: 9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. 11 As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” 12 Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. 13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”
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