Salvation Is Of The Lord
What the Bible
Says to You About Personal Salvation
[What follows is the complete text of the Gospel tract
“Salvation Is Of The Lord,” written by Pastor Watson. Please use this for God’s
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The word salvation implies different things to different
people. The typical dictionary, for example, defines salvation as,
“Preservation or deliverance from destruction, difficulty, or evil.” The Bible,
however, gives new meaning to this word and reveals that true salvation from
sin, and the destruction that results from sin, come wholly and solely from
God.
My friend, there is a
very pointed verse in God’s Word, the Bible, which reads:
So then
every one of us shall give account of himself to God (Romans 14:12).
Someday, whether it be today or years from now, you will
personally give an account of your life to God. May I ask you, what kind of an
account will you be able to give?
I would like to take
just a few moments of your time to outline what God’s Word says to you about
salvation and how you can receive it. Please take the next few moments to
consider four things. These few moments will be the most important in your
life.
Realize That You Are A Sinner
Sin, which literally means “to miss the mark,” and is simply the
breaking of God’s law (or commandments), came into the world because of the
disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. That one sin brought death
to every man and woman without exception.
Wherefore,
as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed
upon all men, for that all have sinned (Romans 5:12).
For
the wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:23a).
Sin,
when it is finished, bringeth forth death (James 1:15b).
The type of death
these verses are speaking of is not only physical
death, since man slowly began to die when he sinned, but spiritual death as well. This death is described in Revelation
20:14 and 21:8:
And
death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the Second Death.
But the
fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers,
and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake
which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the Second Death.
This spiritural death is the result of God’s wrath upon man’s
sin. Because God is holy and just by His very nature, He must punish sin (“The soul that sinneth, it shall die,” Ezekial
18:4). In one of the most pointed statements of Scripture, we read:
For the
wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who hold [or suppress] the truth in unrighteousness.
Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed
it unto them (Romans 1:18-19).
Is this not a sobering and frightening thought? Many people
today, even religious people, speak of God’s love, but few speak of His wrath.
But God’s wrath is just as real as His love. Why is God’s wrath upon man?
Because man in his sin suppresses the truth about God that God Himself put in
man. By nature man hates God:
Because
that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful;
but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature [man] more than the Creator [God], Who is blessed for ever. (Romans 1:21, 25).
The Bible reveals
that man is so sinful that he is actually “dead in trespasses and sins,” and
that he conducts his entire life according to “the desires of the flesh and of
the mind” (Ephesians 2:1-3). Just as a physical corpse is incapable of
resuscitating itself, neither can the spiritually dead man do anything to
resuscitate himself spiritually. He can do nothing righteous, nothing good,
nothing to please God. Yes, he can do
“good things” as far as earthly good is concerned, such as
humanitarian acts, but in the sight of God he, like all of us, is:
. . .an
unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do
fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away (Isaiah
64:6).
Nothing that we do here on earth can satisfy the righteousness
of God. All of our good deeds and good intentions are as offensive to God as a
“menstrual cloth,” which is the literal meaning of “filthy rags.”
Most people do not
think that sin is a serious problem at all. Most think it simply means “an
honest mistake” or other such thing. But sin and its results are terrible and
ugly.
Romans 1:18-32 paints
a truly hideous picture of man’s sinfulness. We read there that man suppresses
God’s truth, is unthankful for what God has done, is foolish, worships other
gods, even himself, is unclean, and indulges in vile, obscene, and repulsive
behavior. It goes on to say that man is “filled with all unrighteousness,
sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, [and] maliciousness, [that] he is
full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, [and] evil-mindedness, [and that men] are
whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of
evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving,
unforgiving, [and] unmerciful.” The last verse then says that “those who
practice such things are deserving of death.” Yes, sin is, indeed, a terrible
thing!
In case we be tempted
to think that we might be an exception, consider these words:
As it
is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that
understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the
way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no,
not one. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God (Romans
3:10-13, 23).
Again, in ourselves, we cannot please God. Spiritually
speaking, any so-called “good thing” we do means nothing. There are countless
religious people who go to church, observe a sacrament, get involved in a
cause, or even get active in “ministry,” but it means absolutely nothing
spiritually speaking.
But, thank God,
“Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).
Recognize Who Jesus Is And That He Is The Only Way Of Salvation
Of all the questions in life, the most important one is found in
Matthew 22:42: “What think ye of Christ?” Some say that Jesus was just a good
man, or a good teacher, but if this is true, then He was the most brazen liar
Who ever lived, for He claimed to be
God (Matthew 4:10; John 10:30-33; etc.).
Dear friend, what do you think about Jesus Christ? The answer
Peter gave to a similar question in Matthew 16:13 (“Whom do men say that I
am?”) was, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (v. 16).
Jesus was, indeed,
God in the flesh (John 1:14) and came into this world to die for sinners like
you and me, and it is only through Him that we can have eternal life.
But God
commendeth [proves] his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
The
gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23b).
Church membership, baptism, confirmation, or any other “good
work” will not save you. Only the blood of Jesus Christ will save you.
For by
grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of
God: Not of works, lest any man should boast (Ephesians 2:8-
9).
Jesus
saith unto him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh unto the
Father, but by Me (John 14:6).
Neither
is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven
given among men, whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12).
In Whom
[Christ] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins,
according to the riches of His grace (Ephesians 1:7).
The word grace is perhaps the most beautiful word
in the Bible. It’s basic meaning is “unmerited favor,” that is, a kindness
shown to us who are guilty of sin, worthy of death, and totally undeserving of
salvation. The work of salvation, from beginning to end, is wholly by God’s
grace, and true, eternal salvation from the horrors of Hell is found only in
Jesus Christ. “Salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah 2:9).
Repent Of Your Sin
Repentance means “to change your mind” and clearly implies
turning from one thing to another. To become a Christian means you change your
mind about sin; that is, you no longer want sin to be the rule in your life;
you no longer want to cling to the very thing that condemned you to Hell.
Our Lord Jesus made
the need for repentance quite clear in Luke 13:3:
I tell
you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Other verses are equally clear:
Repent
therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out. . .(Acts 3:19).
. .
.God. . .now commands all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30).
. .
.repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance (Acts 26:20).
God’s Word also
clearly reveals the reason we need to repent of our sin and believe in Jesus
Christ, namely, to have righteousness.
But now
the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the
law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus
Christ unto all and
upon all them that believe (Romans 3:21-22).
For
with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation (Romans 10:10).
Believing in Christ and His shed blood immediately implies our
desire for His righteousness. When we come to Jesus Christ, our entire life
changes; sin is no longer the rule:
Therefore
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away;
behold, all things are become new (II Corinthians 5:17).
Receive Christ As Your Savior And Lord
The final principle
of salvation, which we have already mentioned, is believing in (or receiving)
Christ, which, wholly by God’s grace, gives us eternal life.
For God
so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).
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 (Romans
10:9).
For
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:13).
Believing in Christ,
however, means more than a simple mental assent to a few facts about Jesus. For
example, it is just as easy to say, “Oh, yes, of course I believe in Jesus, ”
as it is to say, “Oh, yes, of course I believe in Abraham Lincoln.” Even Satan
and his demons “believe in” God and even tremble at the thought (James 2:19),
but they do not love or obey Him, and hence are not saved.
The word believe means “to trust, to be firmly
persuaded as to something” and also carries the idea of obedience. In short, believing
is obeying. Believing
immediately and fundamentally demands lordship, because it has the underlying
foundation of obedience, commitment, and submission.
To illustrate, when
someone believes something, regardless of what it is, that belief in some way
changes them and results in some action or behavior that is characteristic of
the belief. For example, we all believe in the law of gravity and our behavior
proves our belief (that is, we don’t jump off tall buildings).
Applying this to
salvation, to “believe in Jesus” means three things. First, it means to believe
in Who He is, that He is God
incarnate, Savior, and Sovereign Lord. Second, it means to believe in what He did, that He died for your sins and rose
again from the grave. Third, it means to believe in what He says, to trust Him and His Word
implicitly and desire to obey Him in all things. To obey Him means we
acknowledge His lordship and submit to His authority.
It is Biblically
impossible and totally contradictory to say you will receive Christ as Savior
but not as Lord. Jesus Christ is
Lord, and for you to be saved, you must accept Him as such. The Lord Jesus
clearly emphasizes that before someone believes they must “count the cost” and
then follow Him unconditionally (Luke
14:26-33; see also Matthew 7, in which the whole context is a progression
concerning salvation; Matthew 10:34-39; Luke 6:46-49; etc.).
As we noted earlier,
salvation fundamentally implies a changed life.
As ye
have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord [unconditionally], so walk ye in
Him [unconditionally and in holiness] (Colossians 2:6).
The life of the Christian is different than that of the
non-Christian. His “walk” (that is, his life) is characterized by holy living
and obedience to the things of Christ. In the words our Lord:
If ye
continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed (John 8:31).
If ye
love Me, keep My commandments (John 14:15).
Will You Believe?
What do you think of Christ? What is your need? Will you believe in Jesus
Christ as your Savior and Lord right now? May I urge you to believe without
delay. God’s Word appeals to those who would put off receiving Christ:
Behold,
now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation (II Corinthians
6:2b)
Boast
not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth
(Proverbs 27:1).
Without the saving grace of God and the redemption of Christ’s
blood, you will remain in your sin and spiritual death and will one day face
the Lord Jesus in judgment.
God. . .now
commandeth all men everywhere to repent: Because He hath appointed a day, in
the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man [Christ] whom He
hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath
raised Him [Christ] from the dead (Acts 17:30-31).
May I urge you once
again to believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord right now. He came so
that you “might have life, and that [you] might have it more abundantly” (John
10:10). Truly, “Salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah 2:9).