So Great Our Salvation 2

To whom have you trusted your salvation?

Since the answer to this question will determine our eternal destination, either Heaven or Hell, it should be the most important thing in our lives. For the purposes of this study, we will look at this question from two perspectives: (1) We maintain our salvation by what we do; or (2) God maintains our salvation by the price already paid (by what He did).

1Pe 1:4 We have been born into a new life which has an inheritance that can't be destroyed or corrupted and can't fade away. That inheritance is kept in heaven for you,
1Pe 1:5 since you are guarded by God's power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed at the end of time. (GW)

Heb 12:2 We must focus on Jesus, the source and goal of our faith. He saw the joy ahead of him, so he endured death on the cross and ignored the disgrace it brought him. Then he received the highest position in heaven, the one next to the throne of God. (GW)

You may be wondering why I didn’t include more verses. Well, the bottom line is that I want to keep these posts at a length that will keep your attention.

My inheritance, (my salvation) is kept in heaven for me. How could I go to heaven to get it out, and by what power can I take it away from God?... Now, here was the kicker for me, that really changed my way of thinking: If it is not true that God guards my salvation, then the Word is not true, and God is a liar… I will not call God a liar!

Rom 3:3 What if some of them were unfaithful? Can their unfaithfulness cancel God's faithfulness?
Rom 3:4 That would be unthinkable! God is honest, and everyone else is a liar, as Scripture says, "So you hand down justice when you speak, and you win your case in court." (GW)

My salvation is guarded by God’s power through faith. Faith causes us to act on what we believe. Therefore, if I believe that Jesus holds my salvation in His hand, I should not be concerned about my eternal destination. Rather, I should seek to serve Jesus who already has me in His hand. If I am in Christ Jesus, then I live where He lives.

Now, let’s consider the other side of the coin: I somehow maintain my salvation by my deeds… After I am saved from the law of sin and death, I now somehow save myself by what I do or don’t do. If that is the case, then the Blood of Jesus isn’t enough to cover all of my sins! When have I done enough deeds? Am I doing the correct deeds? Does God accept these deeds? Maybe I’m not saved? Satan works over time to get us to believe this line of thinking because he knows that we will never measure up. When will I be “good enough” to serve Christ? Quite simply, never! That is why the full price has to be paid by Christ. We serve with a clear conscience knowing our sins are forgiven. We confess our faults, surrender to Jesus, and move forward toward the goal.

The answer to the initial question, “to whom have you trusted your salvation” should be easy to figure out. I fully trust Jesus to hold me securely in His hand. The work He has begun in me, He will see through to the end… Even when I fall short of the mark, He remains faithful.

Gal 2:19 When I tried to obey the law's standards, those laws killed me. As a result, I live in a relationship with God. I have been crucified with Christ.
Gal 2:20 I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live I live by believing in God's Son, who loved me and took the punishment for my sins.
Gal 2:21 I don't reject God's kindness. If we receive God's approval by obeying laws, then Christ's death was pointless.

Heb 12:2a We must focus on Jesus, the source and goal of our faith.

May God richly bless you all through Jesus Christ our LORD.

So Great Our Salvation

This is going to be a short introduction that I plan on adding to in the up coming weeks. How often have we spoken of, or have been spoken to concerning our salvation. A few questions are in order to gain some in sight into the subject before we start.

In what have we based our salvation?

In whom do we trust our salvation?

How on earth will we endure to the end?

To start us out I want to make it very clear that I do not intend this to be my opinion, but truly God’s opinion; since it will be to God, through Jesus Christ, that we will give our ultimate
answer.

Gal 1:8 Whoever tells you good news that is different from the Good News we gave you should be condemned to hell, even if he is one of us or an angel from heaven.
Gal 1:9 I'm now telling you again what we've told you in the past: If anyone tells you good news that is different from the Good News you received, that person should be condemned to hell.

This is very strong language from Paul warning us of not teaching a different Good News, only the Good News already delivered to God’s family.

Jud 1:3 Dear friends, I had intended to write to you about the salvation we share. But something has come up. It demands that I write to you and encourage you to continue your fight for the Christian faith that was entrusted to God's holy people once for all time.

Jude exhorts us to continue our fight for the Good News, we are God’s sacred people set aside to be a light in this world of darkness.

For this week we will deal with question number one. The answer is the Bible it is from the Bible we get our witness to the truth of Jesus Christ and His work on the cross.

1Co 15:1 Brothers and sisters, I'm making known to you the Good News which I already told you, which you received, and on which your faith is based.
1Co 15:2 In addition, you are saved by this Good News if you hold on to the doctrine I taught you, unless you believed it without thinking it over.
1Co 15:3 I passed on to you the most important points of doctrine that I had received: Christ died to take away our sins as the Scriptures predicted.
1Co 15:4 He was placed in a tomb. He was brought back to life on the third day as the Scriptures predicted.

Without the Bible we would not know the truth of Jesus Christ, His death to pay the price His resurrection to give us a new life. If Christ is not alive today how can we be alive in Christ?

1Co 15:14 If Christ hasn't come back to life, our message has no meaning and your faith also has no meaning.

So in closing believing the witness of the Bible and knowing the Bible is the authoritative Word of God we have our answer to question number one.

May God richly bless you all.