Salvation

There are many people in our world today that think they can do good deeds and make it to Heaven someday.  I recently heard a Billionaire tell a news reporter that he was going to Heaven because he gave a away a lot of money and helped people.  There are some people that think that if they perform some kind of ritual that they will be allowed into Heaven.

The Bible is pretty clear that we are all sinners and there are no amount of good works or rituals we can perform in order for us to be allowed entrance into Heaven.  There is not one of us that is good enough on our own to get into Heaven.

We were all born with a sin nature.  That is we were born bent away from God.  We have all sinned and we have all fallen short of God's high standards.  We were born spiritually dead and we are all deserving of being eternally separated from God and placed in a literal hell.

Thankfully, God made a way for us when there seemed to be no way at all.  God demonstrated His great love to all human kind by sending His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to this earth to live a perfect and sinless life.  Jesus went obediently to the Cross where He shed His blood for our sins and not just ours, but for the whole world.  Jesus took the punishment that you and I deserve.

God didn't stop there, but on the third day Jesus rose from the dead and He ascended into Heaven where He is now seated at the right hand of God the Father.  One Day Jesus will return and bring the Kingdom of God to the earth in full completion.

So then, how are we saved?  We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  We must receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  We can't earn salvation.  We can't perform some ritual, such as baptism, communion, or church attendance, in order to have a place in Heaven.  There is only one way into Heaven and that is by placing our faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ and what He accomplished on our behalf on the Cross.

Ephesians 2:1-10

1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,

2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.

3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh^a and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.

4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,

5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. 

We must come to the conclusion that we are not good enough on our own on order to get into Heaven.  We must realize that we need a Savior and there is only One who saves.  There is only One name under Heaven in which people must be saved by and that is the name that is above all names, Jesus Christ.

We live in very dark times and trouble seems to be rising up all over the world.  We don't know what tomorrow will bring.  It is important to know where we will spend eternity.  We have a choice.  We can accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and know that we are Heaven bound because He paid the price for us by shedding His blood or we can reject His offer of forgiveness and forfeit Heaven and spend all eternity in a literal hell separated from the Living God.

There is no other way into Heaven.  Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  No one comes the Father except by Him.  Do you know where you will spend eternity?  Place your faith and trust in Jesus Christ and His finished work that He accomplished on the Cross for each one of us.

(Here is a link to my Pastor's (Dennis Ashley)  audio only sermon from Sunday morning at the First Baptist Church in Houlton, Maine:  https://soundcloud.com/dcashley/this-i-believe-part-5?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=facebook  )        

(Here  is a link to the First Baptist Church of Houlton's Facebook page where you can find the video to yesterday's service as well as well as other information.: 

https://www.facebook.com/FirstBaptistChurchHoulton/?hc_ref=ARSLnYGoyOYTMPyedrrofPC2RRP1u_H9lhkX0prX_73NqncFzcREm_as3zkbTP8io9U )

Lord,

We praise Your Name.

Thank You Lord Jesus for saving us by Your shed blood.

Thank You for Your mercy and grace.

Lead us and guide us by Your Spirit.

In Jesus Name we pray,

Amen.