Are You Saved? 12 Truths You Must Know (from Reformation Gospel Ministries)
1) God created mankind good, very good, and in His own image. “...God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:26–27, 31)
2) But mankind fell from His righteous and good state through the disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve. “...through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because all sinned” [Romans 5:12, 18–19; Genesis 3 (The whole chapter)]
3) Because of Adam & Eve’s rebellion, all of us are now in a state of sin and rebellion. As a result, we are all conceived and born in sin, and our fellowship with our Creator is broken. “The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, they have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, no, not one.” (Psalm 14:2–3; Genesis 6:5; Job 14:4; Psalm 51:5; Isaiah 53:6; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 3:9–18, 23)
4) This means each of us stands before a holy and righteous Judge, the Lord God Almighty, as guilty sinners. “...Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God...” (Romans 3:19; 5:16; 3:8–9; 8:7; John 3:18; Psalm 7:11; 9:8; Deuteronomy 32:4)
5) The punishment for sin is death, eternal separation from God’s goodness and grace in the torment of hell, where there is utter darkness, and endless weeping and gnashing of teeth. “...the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23; Matthew 25: 41; Galatians 3:10; Romans 1:18; Hebrews 9:27; Revelation 20:15)
6) The punishment is severe, and not one of us can fully satisfy the penalty for our sins, either with our wealth or with any works of righteousness we do—they will always smell of the stench of sin. “by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” (Romans 3:20; Psalm 49:6–8; Proverbs 11:4; 20:10; Isaiah 64:6)
7) But God, in His mercy, freely gave the Lord Jesus Christ for complete redemption and righteousness on behalf of sinners, like you and me. “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 2:2; 4:10; John 6:57; 7:28–29; Mark 10:45; 1 Corinthians 1:30–31; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 10:12–18; 1 Peter 1:18–19)
8) Jesus did what not one of us could do; being true God He took on the very nature of man and made satisfaction for our sins and redeemed all His chosen people, both Jew and non-Jew, from the bondage of sin. “...Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God ...And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:5–6, 8; John 1:1–3, 14; Isaiah 53:3–6; Romans 6:1–23; Hebrews 2:9)
9) By the power of His Godhead He bore in His manhood the burden of God’s wrath in His one atoning sacrifice on the cross once and for all time; and so obtained for and restored to all for whom He died righteousness and by His resurrection from the dead He secured for us life everlasting. “And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:11–12; Romans 5:8–11; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 2:21–25)
10) Only by the grace of God through the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the sinner will a person be washed clean from his sins, his heart made anew in Christ and given the gift of true faith to believe on the name of Jesus Christ. “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:4–7; 1 Peter 1:3; John 3:3; 1 Corinthians 6:11; Psalm 51:10)
11) With that gift of faith, the renewed person knows that though he has grievously sinned against all the commandments of God, and has not kept any of them, and is still prone always to all evil; he, in all humility, accepts and embraces with a believing heart all that Christ accomplished for him and credited to him by God’s grace alone, without any merit of his; that is, the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ. It will be as if he had never committed any sins, and had himself accomplished all the obedience Christ fulfilled for him. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2: 8–9, 1–5; 2 Corinthians 5:19, 21; Romans 4:4–10)
12) Therefore, only by calling on the name of Jesus Christ will you be saved. “...if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:9–10; Acts 16:30–31; Matthew 10:32; 1 John 1:9)
Won’t you this day call on the name of Jesus Christ with your whole heart in repentance of your sins, trusting Him alone for the forgiveness of your sins, righteousness, salvation and everlasting life? If you will, you will evidence that you have been saved by the grace of God alone, through faith alone in Christ alone, according to scripture.
Further, the image of God in you, marred by sin, will begin to be renewed to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, “being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord,” according to God’s word, the Bible. (2 Corinthians 3:18; Colossians 3:10; Ephesians 4:24) Soli Deo Gloria—To God alone belongs the Glory!
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