Do you truly know the gift of salvation from God?
Deuteronomy 30:11-14 (NIV)
The Offer of Life or Death
11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.
In today’s scriptures it says that the commands are not far away but rather close/near you. However, Paul teaches us something different.
Romans 3:20 (NIV)
20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.
Romans 4:15 (NIV)
15 because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.
Does this mean that one or the other is incorrect? No it isn’t. We must treat both words in a harmonious way. The words of the Old and New Testaments correspond to each other, and the Law and the Gospel are complementary.
God’s commands can be broadly broken down into “do” and “do not”. At the time, the Israelites had a hard time keeping the commands because they viewed the commands to restrict and burden their lives. However, today’s scriptures tell us that the commands’ purpose is to allow us to attain it rather than keep it from reach.
The scriptures not only speak about the laws but also about the Gospel.
John 5:46 (NIV)
46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.
THE PURPOSE OF THE LAW
The purpose of the law/commandments is to prepare the way for the Christ. Therefore, the scriptures speak about salvation through Jesus Christ.
THE WAY WHICH IS BECOMING RIGHTEOUS FAITH
Apostle Paul speaks about becoming righteous through faith and through righteousness meeting God. When this meeting occurs, God becomes our Father and we become His children. This relationship affirms our receipt of salvation.
We will now review in more detail about the Gospel which is the way to salvation.
WHAT IS NT AND OT SHOWED US?
Does this mean that one or the other is incorrect? No it isn’t. We must treat both words in a harmonious way. The words of the Old and New Testaments correspond to each other, and the Law and the Gospel are complementary.
God’s commands can be broadly broken down into “do” and “do not”. At the time, the Israelites had a hard time keeping the commands because they viewed the commands to restrict and burden their lives. However, today’s scriptures tell us that the commands’ purpose is to allow us to attain it rather than keep it from reach.
The scriptures not only speak about the laws but also about the Gospel.
46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.
We will now review in more detail about the Gospel which is the way to salvation.
1.The Gospel is specific and simple.
1) If you know the Gospel, you will attain salvation.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 1:4,5 4In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5
And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
Romans 1:5 (NIV)
Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentilesto the obedience that comes from[a] faith for his name’s sake.
Revelation 3:21 (NIV)
To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne.
1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (NIV)
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance[a]: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried,that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
2) We just need to simply receive the Gospel and speak it with our mouths.
2.The Gospel is always near.
1) The Gospel is in the Bible.
“But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.(Deuteronomy 30:14)
Only the words of salvation lead us to eternal heaven.
2) If you want to enter Kingdom of Heaven, read Bible.
Many people read the Word for knowledge and find the door of salvation. It is to experience that the gate of eternal salvation to heaven is in Scripture.
Therefore salvation should not be sought in philosophy, religion, goodness, inquiry, science, but only in the Word of God.
3. The Gospel is easy to obtain.
We can easily get the Gospel. There is no condition for salvation.
Jesus invited anyone to come. No matter how badly we have sinned, we do not care. The Lord has not come to call the righteous, but to call sinners to repent "(Matthew 9:13).
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
(Matthew 11:28)
Thus anyone who comes to the Lord will be saved.
1) We believe in the Word of God
How I lived, Compare it to my life.
“Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.(Romans 10:17)
2) Repent(Acts 2:38)
“If you have acknowledged that the way you lived up to now has been wrong, REPENT.(Acts 2:38)
3) Confess (Romans 10:9)
“That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.(Romans 10:9)
a) Jesus is the Son of the living God(Matt 16:16)
“Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.“
(Matthew 16:16)
b) Jesus is the resurrection and the life(John 11:25,26)
“Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
c) Believe in Jesus will never die(John 11:25m26)
d) Be baptized(Romans 6:4,5)
“We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.(Romans 6:4,5)
e) Receive Jesus as Your Savior so that you may become a child of
God(John1:12)
“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—“
f) When we become children of God, We received the Spirit of adoption
by whom we cry our, “Abba, Father.”(Romans 8:15)
Application
1.The procedure for salvation is simple and specific.
2.The Road to salvation is by the words of God.
3.When you receive the Lord Jesus as your Lord, God becomes your Father and you become God’s child. This is salvation.
4.They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” This is a promise. (Acts 16:31)
