Eternal salvation is a free gift from God. It is given to those who
ask God for it and have the faith to believe Him about this.
This faith itself is a gift from God. The Bible
says, "by grace through faith are you saved, not of works, lest any man
should boast..."
Salvation is not awarded to "good people" or to those belonging to any special religious denomination or group--and observing its practices. Salvation is given by God, even though we do not deserve it, and we cannot earn it.
Salvation starts the instant God gives it to us--right after we ask in faith. It continues while on earth and lasts for all eternity. It does not depend upon our works, nor does it come and go if we disobey God, then seek forgiveness.
We do not earn salvation, lose it, then regain it--over and over again. The Bible teaches we are eternally secure, once saved. Our good deeds on earth add to the rewards God will give us in heaven.
This transaction is called justification. We are justified by the application of the righteousness of Christ to us. This is also called redemption. This word means to buy something back. Jesus us buys us back from the lost, sinful lifestyle. The purchase price is His shed blood and His life itself.
As part of salvation, a person is "born again." A human being has a body, soul (mind and emotions) and spirit. While a sinner, his/her spirit follows the leadership of Satan, seeking more and more sin. After being saved, the Christian's spirit is linked to the Holy Spirit, now seeking personal holiness and God's ways.
This change is so radical that the person is spiritually "born again." The person "repents." This does not mean being sorry for sin. Repenting means rejecting and turning away from sin. The New Testament does not demand that we feel sorry for our sins. One's sins are sent into remission (meaning sent away) by God, and God decides to remember his/her sins no more, the Bible says.
While a born again believer may sin from time to time, God is faithful to forgive these new sins and cleanse us from unrighteousness. Just ask.
The Bible teaches that hell is a real and permanent place. It is horrible, hot, and miserable. But it is, after all, a place you selected by rejecting God. Now to escape and reject hell, all you have to do is "called on the name of the Lord" and be saved, says the Bible, which is God's Word.
You can't earn your way into heaven with good works. You cannot come in
because you were a Catholic or Methodist--or kept
all of the rules of a
particular denomination or
because your mother was a holy and religious woman.
You can't come into
heaven because you want to enter. Only salvation through Jesus gets you in.
Purgatory was a uniquely pagan idea. It is totally contrary to the idea that you are saved by Jesus alone. Yet, church people back then started to pressure the church leadership to include purgatory. It became a later doctrine of the church, and many years later in the Reformation, it was a hot topic of debate.
There is no reference to purgatory in the Bible. It's an erroneous and borrowed pagan concept. It's haughty and prideful, leading us to think that there may be something we can do to earn our salvation, even partially. And the idea of purgatory insults Jesus and the perfect work He did atoning once and for all for our sins.
A second false belief is that the rituals, practices, sacrifices, and sacraments of a religious group are the ticket to heaven. Again, false--the Bible never says these things get you to heaven, even though many of them are very nice and very religious indeed.
Third, some people are pantheists, not believing that God is a person. Rather, they believe everything existing collectively is God. The Bible teaches that God is a person, and that He has specified the way we must be saved. To think that everything which exists collectively is God--that's not correct.
There is no means of salvation in this belief, although many believe that we can be "reincarnated" over and over again. The Bible rejects reincarnation. "It is appointed for man once to die, then the judgment," God wrote in the Book of Hebrews.
Fourth, some people practice polytheism, believing that there are several gods--perhaps hundreds or thousands. The Bible does not tolerate such false belief. None of these "gods" can save you, or do anything else for that matter.
Why take this chance? "Today is the day of salvation," the Bible says. So if you are not saved, get saved today. Get saved, but never get religious. Remember, Jesus was harsh on earth to the religious phonies.
If you sincerely pray a prayer like this, the Lord Jesus will save you completely, immediately, and permanently. After you pray this prayer and get saved, then e-mail us at First Internet Christian Church. Since they will be partying in heaven to celebrate your salvation, I want to rejoice with you as well. So, please tell me.
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