Basic Bible Doctrine
Lesson Six
"Salvation"

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…”

If you believe there is a God, then you probably have a desire to go to Heaven when you die. But can you know for sure if that is where you are going?  Yes, you absolutely can. Just as we want our own children to be 100% sure of our love and care, God too wants you to have the same confidence and assurance. 

First the Bad News: We Have All Sinned

Romans 3:23 – “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

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It does not matter how good you are, or how religious you are.  The truth is, every single person has sinned. You have sinned, I have sinned and every person who has ever lived or will ever live has sinned. Because of this, we have fallen short of God's Glory, and God can not let sin into heaven.

And, it is not an issue of who is better than someone else. If you attempted to jump over a 20 foot ravine and succeeded in jumping 15 feet, you wouldn’t brag about how much better off you are than the guy who only jumped 10 feet. You are both at the bottom of the ravine. In this case, it is not an issue of who is better or who gets closer. If you do not get all the way across, you didn’t make it. One sin makes us short of Heaven. We cannot get there on our own.

This is why we need Jesus. Jesus makes up the difference so we can go to Heaven. If you could get to Heaven on your own, there would be no reason for a Saviour. There would be no reason for Jesus to die on the cross. But He did die. He died so we might have a way to Heaven.

More Bad News: There is a Price on Sin

Romans 6:23a – “For the wages of sin is death…”

Because you have sinned, you have earned "death".  This is not only physical death, but spiritual death as well... total and eternal separation from God. This is the price that God put on sin. The payment of sin is death.

This death is Hell. No one made you sin except you. So if anyone is sending you to Hell, it is you, not God. Hell was not created for us. Initially, God created Hell for Satan. However, it is the only place that exists that can punish sin. Knowing this price on sin, God sent Jesus to die on a cross, to pay for our sins. And this teaches us something important: if you do not think that you are in need of saving, you will not seek to be saved.

If a drowning man does not believe he is drowning, he will still drown. He has to believe he is drowning before he will shout for help. Until you believe you are on your way to Hell, you will not do the one thing necessary to be saved from Hell. You will not call upon Jesus for salvation. Jesus came to be our Saviour. That means He wishes to save us from something. He wants to save us from the consequences of our sin–Hell.

Now for the Good News: Jesus is Our Hope of Salvation

Romans 5:8, 6:23b – “But God commendeth his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” and “…the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Salvation is a gift. It is not something that you work for; it is not something that you pay money for; it is simply something that you receive and accept by faith.

You see, God loves us so much and wants us to spend eternity with Him. He came to earth and paid the price that He required for sin....death. This means you sin is now paid for. There is nothing you can do to earn salvation. All you and I can do is turn from our sins and accept God's salvation through Jesus Christ...trusting in what He did on the cross as payment for our sins.

You may already believe that Jesus died on the cross. You may already understand that God loves you, but until you personally accept the gift of eternal life, you do not have it. Even the devils believe there is a God. But the understanding that God exists, or understanding that Jesus died for you, is not acceptance. To believe, Biblically, you must accept it.

Even more good news… You can be saved right now.

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.”

When a drowning man realizes that he is about to drown, he starts calling to the lifeguard to be saved. The same is true for our spiritual state. We must call upon Jesus to be saved from Hell. Jesus came to this earth to be our Saviour. He is seeking to save us from the consequences of our sin–Hell. Just as the lifeguard’s job is to save people, so Jesus means to save us from Hell.
The lifeguard does not judge the drowning man on his swimming skills, or determine if the man had kept all the rules, or if he had disregarded the lifeguard’s warnings. His job is to save people from drowning, not to determine if they are worthy of being saved. Jesus is not going to look at your life and determine if you are worthy of being saved either. No, He will simply save you if you ask and trust Him.

At this point, there is still something that the drowning man must do to get saved. He must trust the lifeguard. We’ve all heard stories of drowning people who panic and actually fight off their rescuers. Why? Because they are still trying to save themselves. They are not willing to relax and trust the lifeguard. The drowning person must stop trying to save himself.  He must turn to the lifeguard and reach out for him. And finally he must put his life in the lifeguards hands and let him save him. The same is true in regards to spiritual salvation. The lost person must realize he is lost.    He must stop trying to save himself, turn to the Saviour, and let Him do the saving.

Today is the day that you can be saved. If you understand that you are a sinner and that you need a saviour, then today you can turn to God and trust His salvation through Jesus Christ.    From your heart, trust Him and His death on the cross as payment for your sins, and purpose in your heart that from this day forward, Jesus is your Saviour and you are going to live for Him.

If this is you, and you want to get saved, to accept the gift of God and put your faith for salvation in Jesus alone, then pray this prayer to Jesus, mean it with all your heart, and believe it:

“Dear Jesus, I know I’m a sinner and that I don’t deserve to go to Heaven, but Jesus, you died on the cross for me and then rose from the dead to save me from hell. I trust you, and only you, to be my Saviour and take me to Heaven. Please save me. Amen.”

If you prayed and trusted Jesus as your Saviour today, please email us and let us know. We would love to help you on your walk with God.