In Mathew 28:16 Jesus gave His disciples the great commission. To go make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. As disciples of Christ in this generation we too have been called to preach the goods news of salvation through Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. The message of salvation is not difficult. We tend to complicate it. This keeps many of us from sharing the gospel and missing out on the blessing of leading people from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to the power of God and welcoming them into the family of God.
If the bible is God's revealed and infallible word to mankind and we at Growing In The Word, believe it to be so with every ounce of our being, then the bible can be trusted and dependent upon to speak truth about salvation. The following is the simple message of salvation taken from God's living Word, plain, simple, biblical.
God's Simple Plan of
Salvation
By Ford Porter
My friend: I am asking you the most important question of
your life. Your joy or your sorrow for all eternity depends upon your answer.
The question is: Are you saved? It is not a question of how good you are, nor
if you are a church member, but are you saved?
Are you sure you will go to Heaven when you die?
God says in order to go to Heaven, you must be born again.
In John 3:7, Jesus said to Nicodemus, "You must be born again."
In the Bible, God gives us the plan of how to be born again
which means to be saved. His plan is simple! You can be saved today. How?
First, my friend, you must realize you are a sinner.
"For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans
3:23).
Because you are a sinner, you are condemned to die.
"For the wages [payment] of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). This
includes eternal separation from God in Hell.
"... it is appointed unto men once to die, but after
this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27).
But God loved you so much he gave his only begotten Son,
Jesus, to bear your sin and die in your place. "For he has made him
[Jesus, who knew no sin] to be sin for us ... that we might be made the
righteousness of God in him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Jesus had to shed his blood and die. "For the life of
the flesh is in the blood" (Leviticus 17:11) "... without shedding of
blood is no remission [pardon] of sin." (Hebrews 9:22).
"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8).
Although we cannot understand how, God said my sins and your
sins were laid upon Jesus and he died in our place. He became our substitute.
It is true. God cannot lie.
My friend, "God commands all men everywhere
to repent" (Acts 17:30).
This repentance is a change of mind that agrees with God
that one is a sinner, and also agrees with what Jesus did for us on the cross.
In Acts 16:30-31, the Philippians jailer asked Paul and
Silas: "... Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved... ."
Simply believe on Him as the one who bore your sin, died in
your place, was buried, and whom God resurrected.
His resurrection powerfully assures that the believer can
claim everlasting life when Jesus is received as Savior.
"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name ."(John
1:12)
"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved" (Romans 10:13).
Whosoever includes you. Shall be saved means not maybe, nor
can, but shall be saved.
Surely, you realize you are a sinner. Right now, wherever
you are, repenting, lift your heart to God in prayer.
In Luke 18:13, a sinner prayed: "God be merciful to me
a sinner."
Just pray:
"Oh, God, I know I am a sinner. I believe Jesus was my
substitute when he died on the cross. I believe his shed blood, death, burial,
and resurrection were for me. I now receive him as my Savior. I thank you for
the forgiveness of my sins, the gift of salvation and everlasting life, because
of your merciful grace. Amen."
Just take God at his word and claim his salvation by faith.
Believe, and you will be saved. No church, no lodge, no good works can save
you. Remember, God does the saving. All of it!
God's simple plan of salvation is: You are a sinner.
Therefore, unless you believe on Jesus who died in your place, you will spend
eternity in Hell. If you believe on him as your crucified, buried, and risen Savior, you receive forgiveness for all of your sins and his gift of eternal
salvation by faith.
You say, "Surely, it cannot be that simple." Yes,
that simple! It is scriptural. It is God's plan. My friend, believe on Jesus
and receive him as Savior today.
If his plan is not perfectly clear, read this tract over and
over, without laying it down until you understand it. Your soul is worth more
than all the world.
"For what will it profit a man, if he gains the
whole world but loses his own soul?" (Mark 8:36).
Be sure you are saved. If you lose your soul, you miss
Heaven and lose all. Please! Let God save you this very moment.
God's power will save you, keep you saved and enable you to
live a victorious Christian life. "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is
faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are
able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you
may be able to bear it.." (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Do not trust your feelings. They change. Stand on God's
promises. They never change. After you are saved, there are three things to
practice daily for spiritual growth: Pray: you talk to God. Read your Bible: God
talks to you. Witness: you talk for God.
You should be baptized in obedience to the Lord Jesus
Christ, as a public testimony of your salvation, and then unite with a
Bible-believing church without delay. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes." Romans 1:16
" “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven."
(Matthew 10:32).
