There is no more important question than this: “Are you saved?” If you are not saved, God loves you and wants to save you. The Lord Jesus said in John 3:16, “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.” The Bible records in Acts 16:30-31 “Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”

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Are you saved? Some would answer this question by saying, “What do you mean—saved?” Others would say, “I’m not sure—I think so.” Some would say, “Yes”; others, “No.”

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• What does it mean to be saved?  The word saved means “to be rescued or delivered,” from something dangerous or destructive, like when someone falls overboard in the ocean or is trapped in a burning building. That person needs rescued or delivered by someone with the ability to save; otherwise it is certain death.

• What is it that we need rescued or delivered from—spiritually? What is causing our destruction, causing our separation from God, both now and for eternity? It is sin!

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To be saved is to be saved from sin, to be rescued or delivered from sin. When the angel Gabriel came to Joseph and told him that Mary was with child of the Holy Ghost, he told Joseph, “And thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins” (Mt. 1:21). Jesus came to save us from our sins. When Jesus saves you from sin, He saves you in three ways: from the penalty of sin, from the power of sin, and from the presence of sin.

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• The penalty of sin is what we deserve because of our sin. The Bible says in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death.” In Ezekiel 18:4 the Bible says, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” When God saves you, He saves you from everlasting destruction in hell. You will never spend one moment in hell, because with salvation Jesus delivers from the penalty of sin.

• Salvation also delivers you from the power of sin. Jesus said that sin is a master: a tyrannical, destroying master, and the person under its control is enslaved by it. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin” (Jn. 8:34). That word committeth is in the present tense, which indicates ongoing action. The one who commits sin as a way of life, as the pattern of his life, is in bondage to sin. You know how it is: you know something is wrong (wrong thoughts, bad language, ungodly actions) but you do it anyway, and you can’t stop it, and you enjoy it. Continuous sinning indicates bondage to sin. When you are saved, the Lord Jesus sets you free from the bondage of sin. John 8:32 “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Many people claim to be saved, but they have never been set free from the bondage of sin. They are still lost in their sin.

• The third way that we are saved from sin is, in heaven, from the presence of sin. Right now, sin indwells our bodies. But when a person is saved, he will someday receive a glorified body that is free from sin. The Apostle Paul said, speaking of Christ, “Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body” (Phil. 3:21).

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The Lord wants to save you from sin. He wants to forgive you of your sin and give you eternal life. He wants you to have fellowship with Him, to live for Him, to love Him, and someday to dwell with Him in heaven. You can know for sure that you are saved, that you have eternal life. The Bible says in 1 John 5:13 “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life.” That word know means “to know for sure," beyond the shadow of a doubt. You can know with absolute certainty from the Bible that you are saved.

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In fact, this is why Jesus came into the world. The Apostle Paul wrote, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (I Tim. 1:15). Jesus Himself said in Luke 19:10, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Without Christ we are lost, that is, poor, wandering, helpless sheep, easily led astray, unable to find our way. Christ came to seek us. We are lost, that is, ruined sinners, headed for a Christless eternity. Christ came to save us. Salvation is available—“Who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (I Tim. 2:4). But how does salvation come to you personally? How can you be saved?

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First, you must believe that we are all sinners.

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The Bible tell us plainly: Romans 3:10 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.” No one is righteous—this is universal. To be righteous means to be perfectly aligned with the law of God. Nobody is like that. “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Rom. 3:11-12). We are ruined by sin in our nature, and nature determines conduct. Our conduct is sinful because our nature is sinful.

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Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” All of us have sinned. All of us have violated the Law of God, and we all “come short of the glory of God.” The glory of God is the perfections of His attributes. God is perfectly everything that defines His nature. He is perfectly holy, perfectly righteous, perfectly loving, perfectly forgiving, perfectly faithful…. Are you perfectly holy, and righteous, and loving? We all fail His perfect standard. None of us match up to God. We don’t fulfill the way that God intends. We are not righteous, and we are not good!

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A rich, young ruler came to Jesus in Matthew 19 and asked Him what good thing he might do to have eternal life. Jesus said, “Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God” (Mt. 19:17). Now, Jesus is God and therefore is good. But this man thought of Jesus as only a teacher. Jesus’ statement is clear: that no man is good; only God is good. Only God fulfills the divine standard of His glory. We are all sinners—by nature and by conduct.

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Second, you must believe that we deserve a penalty.

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God is a righteous God, and as such, He must punish sin. The Bible teaches in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The payment that we deserve for the sins we have committed is death. We deserve a penalty for our sins. Ezekiel 18:4 “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” Which one of us hasn’t sinned? We all have sinned. So, we all deserve death.

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Death, essentially, is separation. The Bible speaks of three kinds of death: physical death, spiritual death, and eternal death.

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• Physical death is separation of the soul and spirit from the body—when we take our last breath. “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27). 

• Spiritual death is separation from God because of our sins (Eph. 2:1). Sin separates us from God. Isaiah 59:1-2 “Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: 2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.” We can’t love God, please God, worship God, pray to God, understand His Word. Sin is a barrier between us and God. Sin causes us to be at enmity with God (Rom. 8:7).

• Eternal death is separation from God in hell and in the lake of fire forever. "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire" (Rev. 20:14-15). This is what we deserve for our sins. This is bad news. But there is good news. Jesus paid that penalty for you.

 

Third, you must believe that Jesus died for us.

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Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." This is the good news—that Christ died for us. Christ died in our place. He died as our substitute. “While we were yet sinners.” We weren’t good. We didn’t deserve His sacrifice on our behalf. We deserved the penalty of death, but when Jesus died on the cross, He took that punishment for us. The Bible says in Isaiah 53, “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”

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That Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again on the third day is the gospel. Good news! Good news that we can be saved. Jesus shed His blood and died on the cross for your sins and mine. Full forgiveness of sins is available because Jesus did everything you need to be saved. “And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more” (Heb. 10:17). And then, He rose from the dead on the third day, proving His deity.

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Jesus is God, the Second Person of the Trinity. He is the Great I AM! He sits at the right hand of the throne of God, and someday He’s coming back to receive us unto Himself. He is the King of kings, and Lord of lords.

 

Fourth, you must repent of your sin and believe in Jesus Christ.

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There is only one Jesus—the Jesus of the Bible, and salvation is only in Jesus Christ. Acts 4:12 “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Church doesn’t save, baptism doesn’t save, communion doesn’t save, works don’t save—Jesus saves!

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• It is quite common for people to think that their religious ceremonies or daily-life deeds, coupled with believing certain facts about Jesus, get them (hopefully) to heaven. But the Bible says that we are saved by grace through faith, not by our works. Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Works for salvation nullifies God's grace.

• You can’t earn salvation. God graciously and mercifully gives it to you—freely when you place your complete trust in Christ, not at all in your deeds of righteousness.

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You must turn from your sin and place your faith in Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus said in Mark 1:15, “Repent ye, and believe the gospel.” Later, in Luke 13:3, 5 Jesus said, “I tell you nay, but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”

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• To repent is to have a change of mind about your sin: that it violates the Law of God and that you deserve God’s eternal wrath in hell for your sin (Lk. 13:3, 5). Repentance also includes a change of mind of false doctrine about the way of salvation (II Jn. 9).

• To repent is to be broken about your rebellion toward God. In Luke 18 a Pharisee and a publican went into the temple to pray. The Pharisee was caught up with how good he thought he was. “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.” The publican, on the other hand, knew how bad he was. He wouldn’t even lift his eyes to heaven, “but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.”

• To repent is to turn “to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (I Thess. 1:9). Jesus said, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Mt. 16:24).

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You must turn from your way and your sin, and give control of your life to Jesus Christ to serve Him according to the Word of God. You must also place your complete trust in Jesus Christ. You must believe who He is (God, Savior, Lord, and Christ) and believe that He did everything needed to eternally save you from your sins and to give you eternal life. John 3:16 “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.”

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Everlasting life is eternal life, life that does not end. That means you cannot lose your salvation. Jesus promised in John 10:28-30, “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. 30 I and my Father are one.”

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Salvation is available for you today, but how does it become yours? Paul said it this way in Romans 10:9-10: “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. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Are you ready to say that Jesus is Lord, the Master of your life? Are you willing to give your life to Him? Are you ready to depend completely on Him for your eternal righteousness and forgiveness of sins, believing that your works won't save you, and that Jesus paid all of your sin debt? He satisfies God’s wrath for your sins and gives you peace with God. He will give you eternal life.

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The Bible says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom. 10:13). The Lord will save you, if you in humility and desperation, willingly and completely depend on Him as your Savior and give your life to Him as your Lord. Will you call upon Him to save you? Jesus assures us in John 6:37, “And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”

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Will you receive Christ? He died on the cross for your sins. Will you trust in Him alone to save you? He rose from the dead to give you everlasting righteousness. Will you give your life to Him to serve Him? He is a good Master. Do you know for sure that you are saved? You can be saved today.

 

If you would like to talk about being saved, you may visit us at our church services. You may also email us at jacksoncountybaptist@gmail.com or call us at 510-846-6925.