(22 minute read)
Read each sentence, paragraph and gospel graphic one at a time and ponder on each of truths presented. Scroll for more. Share it boldly.
Carefully examine what you read and test it against the Word of God.
Read the truths as many times as it takes and trust the Holy Spirit to accomplish the work that only He can do in your heart and in the hearts of others who read and hear.
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We are living in a grace period— “the last days” (2 Timothy 3:1), between the first coming of Christ and His return to bring history to its proper conclusion. It lies in the intersection of two ages: “this present age” and “the age to come.” The kingdom of God is both “now” and “not yet.”
For you, the grace period is from the time you were born until the time you die or until Christ returns. Only God knows the day, the hour and the circumstances of your death and only He knows the day and the hour of the second coming of Jesus.
It is the reason you exist on the earth— to be reconciled to God, by His grace and through the righteousness of His Son— to restore your relationship with Him that was broken by sin. It is what your life on this earth is all about. It is the ultimate “success”— the only “real” lasting success in this world.
Tragically, most people miss it, even though they may live long, successful lives by the world’s standards. They gain much in this life but die without receiving the one thing that really matters forever.
You don’t have to believe any of this if you don’t want to, but if you have heard the Good News and reject the saving grace of Jesus Christ, you are literally choosing to forfeit your soul for eternity and you are without excuse.
Your soul is what makes you a living being. In Genesis 2:7, God breathes life into Adam, “making him a “living soul.” It is the essence of who you are — your true, unique, one-of-a-kind self, the eternal, immaterial part of a person—the “real you” temporarily packaged in an aging, decaying, dying, physical and material body.
The soul is the part of you that lives on after the physical body dies— which it will, by the way. We will all die physically one day; everybody does (except the prophets Enoch and the Elijah). Your soul is who you are in this life and who you will be in the next. It is unique to all other souls; one of a kind— created in the image of God.
- The body is temporary, but the soul endures forever. “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; but rather be afraid of Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28)
- The soul is the seat of your mind, your will, your emotions, and your spiritual life — the “you” that makes choices and relates to God.
- Because it is eternal, your soul will experience everlasting life with God or eternal separation from Him, depending on what you do with Christ.
— from the Matthew Henry Commentary
“If all worldly things are worthless when compared with the life of the body, how forcible the same argument with respect to the soul and its state of never-ending happiness or misery!“
In other words, if you would gladly give up everything you own to save your physical life, how much more valuable is your eternal soul?
“Thousands lose their souls for the most trifling gain, or the most worthless indulgence, nay, often from mere sloth and negligence.
Whatever is the object for which men forsake Christ, that is the price at which Satan buys their souls. Yet one soul is worth more than all the world.
This is Christ’s judgment upon the matter; He knew the price of souls, for He redeemed them; nor would He underrate the world, for He made it. The dying transgressor cannot purchase one hour’s respite to seek mercy for his perishing soul. Let us then learn rightly to value our souls, and Christ as the only Savior of them.”
“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26)
What are the objects in your life for which you forsake Christ?
No object, no sin, no temporary pleasure is worth the eternal price that must be paid for them… your eternal soul.
“It is well with my soul” as the great hymn says, means you are at peace with the one true God, secure in Christ, forgiven of your sins, and certain of your eternal hope, regardless of your present circumstances.
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…” (Romans 5:1)
Read: Common “Objects” for Which People Forsake Christ
Redemption is the act of being rescued or set free through the payment of a price. Jesus Christ redeemed sinners from the guilt, penalty, and bondage of sin by the price of shedding His blood and giving His life for them.
There is one true holy God, in three distinct persons— God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit.
Salvation was purposed by God, the Father, by His grace through His divine and perfect plan of redemption before the foundation of the world.
“(God) Who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.” (2 Timothy 1:9)
Salvation was accomplished by God, the Son, Jesus Christ, through His sinless life, substitutionary death and victorious resurrection.
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to Father, but through me.” (John 14:6)
Salvation is applied by God, the Holy Spirit, through conviction, regeneration and sanctification.
“And when He (the Holy Spirit) has come, He will convict the world of sin (revealing our guilt before God, especially the sin of rejecting and refusing to believe in Jesus Christ), and of righteousness (showing that Jesus is perfectly righteous and that true righteousness is found only in Him, confirmed by His return to the Father), and of judgment (warning that Satan has already been judged and defeated, and that all who remain in rebellion against God will also face judgment).” (John 16:8–11)
Regeneration is God giving spiritual life through the Holy Spirit where you are born again.
“According to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” (Titus 3:5)
Sanctification is the lifelong process of being transformed into Christlikeness.
“God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.” (2 Thessalonians 2:13)
A Clear Presentation of the Gospel Message
Let’s Break Down the Truths of the Gospel!
God, the Creator of the universe and everything in it— the one true, sovereign, living God is— holy, perfectly righteous, pure and just.
And because of sin, you and I are not.
It is sin that separates us from God.
That’s our big problem!
Because one day we will all stand before the Lord Jesus Christ, the holy and just Judge, and apart from His saving grace we cannot expect anything but condemnation. Scripture distinguishes between the judgment of those who are saved and the judgment of those who are lost.
Read: The One True, Sovereign, Living, Creator God
So it is imperative for you to understand that all are born in the same condition— with a sin nature— lost, condemned, and without hope, and need to be reconciled to God through His Son.
We are all sinners, without exception, and we all fall short of the glory of God— His perfect standard of holiness and righteousness (Romans 3:23), and there is a penalty to be paid for that.
Sin originated for humanity when the first man—Adam (and yes, Eve)— chose to disobey God’s command in the Garden of Eden:
“And the Lord God (who makes the rules and sets the standards in the world He created) commanded the man (even before Eve was created) saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die‘” (from Genesis 2:16-17 NKJV; emphasis added).
It was a command from the holy God, not a suggestion. And they ate from the tree and immediately died a spiritual death, with physical death becoming inevitable, but not instantaneous— just like it will for be for all of us.
Adam and Eve both disobeyed God, they sinned, they fell short of His perfect standard. But it was Adam who bore complete responsibility for it and passed on the curse of his sin nature to all of mankind— to every one of us!
And because we have also sinned and miss the mark over and over, we too have experienced spiritual death and will ultimately die physically.
“Therefore, just as through one man (Adam) sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men (us), because all sinned—” (Romans 5:12; emphasis added)
We are all sinners and desperately need a Savior!
In Romans 1:18-21 God reveals His anger against the sin and unrighteousness of people who reject and suppress the truth about Him. He has made His existence, eternal power, and divine nature evident through His creation, so no one has an excuse for denying Him.
Yet, even though people have evidence of the one true God, they refuse to honor Him as God or give Him thanks. Instead, they turn away from His truth, their thinking becomes foolish, and their hearts become spiritually darkened.
And because of God’s wrath, the powerful and just anger of a holy God— the wages of sin, the price that sin pays, is death, separation from God and eternal punishment in the lake of fire (hell), “but the free gift (grace) of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord!” (from Romans 6:23)
Problem and solution— both in Romans 6:23; all part of God’s plan.
Yes— the same holy God who demands justice for the sins of mankind also provides redemption through the substitutionary sacrifice of His Son, who paid sin’s penalty once for all on the cross. Jesus Christ has always been God’s plan to save lost sinners, even before the foundation of the world.
Every person will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ on the last day. The saved will appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ for evaluation and reward; the lost will stand before the Great White Throne for final judgment and condemnation.
Just so you’ll know, the ‘lake of fire’—also known as the second death (for those who were not born again)— is where all who reject the name of Jesus will be consciously tormented day and night, without rest and without reprieve, forever and ever. And forever and ever is a long, long time to be wrong! (Revelation 20:14-15)
This is God’s rightful and just judgment!
Those who are born for a second time (born again) will die only once. Those who are not born again will die twice; the second death.
Warning: You do not want to experience the second death. It is death and punishment that never ends!
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
“For God so loved the world (us) that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
Romans 10:13 says: “For whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
By His grace, His unmerited favor toward us, God gives us what we need— a Savior, Jesus Christ.
We are justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. (from Romans 3:24)
Read: God’s Amazing Grace
And because of His great mercy, He does not give us what we deserve— death, separation from God, and eternal punishment.
The love of God for us is shone by His grace and His mercy. He gives us what we need and not what we deserve.
Grace is a demonstration of God’s mercy— which is fresh every single day (Lamentations 3:22–23) and endureth forever (from Psalm 136, KJV)— and by His goodness, and His unchanging character. It is a favor freely bestowed upon those like us who are totally unable to return the favor.
Read: Jesus Christ, Our Savior and Redeemer
Who Jesus Is:
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, with all authority in heaven and on earth. He is God incarnate, God in the flesh, truly God and truly man. He is the visible image of the invisible God. He is the way, the truth and the live and no one can be reconciled to God except through Him.
What He Has Done For Us:
Jesus Christ, the perfect Lamb of God, lived the sinless life we could never live and died the death we deserved, shedding His precious blood and taking upon Himself the penalty for our sins to redeem us and provide forgiveness for our sins.
On the third day, He rose from the dead and walked out of that tomb—conquering sin, death, Satan, and all the powers of darkness.
Through His finished work of redemption, sinners are reconciled to God. He gives eternal life to all who genuinely repent and put their faith and trust in Him.
He (God) made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Read: What Jesus Did For You
Read: It Has Always Been About Jesus
The salvation of your soul comes only by God’s grace which is applied by the Holy Spirit, through genuine repentance and saving faith in Jesus Christ.
It is God’s gracious work of rescuing sinners from the guilt, penalty, power, and ultimately the presence of sin through Jesus Christ. Salvation is received only by grace through faith in Christ and includes justification, regeneration, sanctification, and glorification.
(See the Glossary to define these truths)
Faith in Jesus Christ is the one way, the only way to salvation.
“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name (Jesus) under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
Your conversion comes through the conviction of the Holy Spirit who leads you to genuine repentance and saving faith which are the necessary responses you must make to God’s gracious offer of salvation. They are inseparable, two sides of the same coin and linked in scripture, yet distinct acts that work hand-in-hand, but neither is sufficient apart from the other. Both are gifts of God’s grace and neither is possible without the work of the Holy Spirit.
Repentance means rejecting, renouncing, and turning away from your life of sin without Christ and turning to God for the salvation of your soul and new (eternal) life in Christ.
Christ calls believers to a lifetime of repentance—continually turning from sin, denying self, and following Him—until He returns or calls you home.
Faith is the belief, trust, and complete confidence about who Jesus is and what He has done for you. It is turning to, trusting in and relying on Christ alone.
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)
A Christian doesn’t merely wish that God’s promises are true. Biblical faith rests confidently upon God and what He has promised; absolute, unchangeable and indisputable.
By repentance, you give glory to your Creator, God the Father, whom you have offended over and over. By faith, you give glory to your Redeemer, God the Son, Jesus Christ, who came to save you from your sins.
In Romans 10:9-10, the apostle Paul says if these are genuinely true of you — confession with the mouth, belief in the heart — then the Holy Spirit takes your genuine believe and applies it as saving faith.
Read: Applying Romans 10:9-10
“The greatest of all God’s miracles is the salvation of a soul.” C.H. Spurgeon
“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)
“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:3-4)
It is God’s will for you to be saved.
“Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17)
The “word of Christ” is the message about Jesus Christ—the gospel, the Good News: who Jesus is, what He accomplished through His death and resurrection, and the salvation God offers through faith in Him.
Saving faith comes as people hear and receive the truth of the gospel.
A clear presentation of the gospel message must precede genuine repentance and saving faith. True faith always has content— the revealed word concerning Christ.
The gospel is more than just words—it is the power of God speaking to you.
God commands us to hear and believe the gospel truth and to not ignore it, resist it, or suppress it and trust the Holy Spirit to accomplish the work that only He can do in the hearts of those who hear.
Salvation comes to those who hear and believe the facts of the gospel and are given new life, born again, by the Holy Spirit.
No one can be saved without the gracious work of the Holy Spirit.
Read: The Holy Spirit: God’s Agent of Salvation
He uses the Word, the gospel of Jesus Christ, to produce a supernatural work of grace to convince you that you are a sinner before the holy God—lost, condemned, unable to save yourself, and need a Savior—
Jesus Christ!
And when you finally understand the truth— all you can do is humble yourself and with a godly sorrow, cry out with all your heart:
“God, be merciful to me, a sinner, and save my soul.”
We are inwardly corrupted (iniquity), we violate God’s commands (transgression), and therefore we fall short of His holy standard (sin).
Psalm 32:5 brings all three concepts together: “I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,’ and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.”
Godly sorrow focuses on the impact that sin has on your relationship with God and is according to the will of God and produced by the Holy Spirit, not yourself.
“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but “worldly” sorrow (the consequences of sin—such as feeling embarrassed, ashamed, or fearful of punishment and has no redemptive quality) is not genuine repentance and brings death.” (from 2 Corinthians 7:10 NIV)
“And it shall come to pass that whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Acts 2:21; Joel 2:32)
Jesus said, “The one who comes to Me I will never cast out.” (John 6:37)
“Believe in the Lord Jesus [as your personal Savior and entrust yourself to Him] and you will be saved, you and your household [if they also believe].” (Acts 16:31 AMP)
‘Believing’ in the Lord Jesus Christ means that you ‘truly believe‘ that He is the one way— the only way to be saved. This is the sum of the whole gospel!
And in God’s greatest miracle, the Holy Spirit leads you to repentance and takes your genuine belief of the gospel— who Jesus is and what He has done for you— and applies it as saving faith— producing new life, transforming you into a spiritual rebirth, where you are “born again” as a new creation in Christ and God justifies you and declares you righteous through the righteousness of Jesus.
Jesus said this to Nicodemus in John 3:3: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Born Again as a New Creation in Christ
The old you no longer exists and everything about you has been made new.
Read: All Things Made New
You no longer identify as who you are and what you have done. Instead, you find your identity in whose you are—in Christ—and in what He has done in you and for you.
Salvation produces fruit— a change in your life that others can hear and see— love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22–23); the characteristics of Jesus which are now yours.
You get them all by the work of the Holy Spirit in your heart.
“God’s divine power has granted us everything pertaining to life and godliness.” (2 Peter 1:3) God does not give us anything in portions. He has given you all you need and you lack nothing!
The visible proof of “real salvation” is in the fruit that it produces; a transformed life! There will now be things that you will say and do and things you simply will not say and do because you are a Christian.
And the inner testimony of the Holy Spirit gives assurance of your salvation and adoption into God’s family.
“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” (Romans 8:16), not by some inner mystical voice, but by the fruit He produces in us.
The character of born again believers is transformed from the inside-out into the characteristics of Jesus. For many unbelievers, this is a stumbling block or even foolishness. They won’t fully understand it until the Holy Spirit actually reveals it to them.
You cannot be truly saved and remain the same.
Our most important blessings are those which are “everlasting,” those which occur after our temporary “grace period” on Earth is over.
Because you have been saved, you have been sanctified by God, set apart for His purposes, and He works in a lifelong process to perfect you each day and ultimately makes you holy when you arrive in heaven.
Now, because you are a born again believer in Christ, let others hear and see Jesus in everything you say and do, and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about your new attitude and how you have changed and the hope you have, and speak with gentleness and respect, just as Jesus would do. (from 1 Peter 3:15)
Read: What Are You Going To Do About Sin
Read: Just To Be Clear
The Plea
Make your salvation a great sense of urgency above everything else you do in this world, because you really don’t have much time. Your earthly life is short, like a mist or vapor, and time passes quickly with no time-outs or do-overs.
You are not guaranteed another day of life, not another breath, not one more heartbeat and you will eventually die… we all will, and you don’t know the day, the hour or the circumstances of your death or the day and hour when Christ will return. Only God knows those things.
Life’s brevity must awaken us to our need for God, prompt that urgency in seeking Him and highlight the hope of eternal life through His blood.
You will find out everything about heaven when you arrive.
Make your arrival in heaven the top priority of your earthly life.
Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation.”— (2 Corinthians 6:2)
You may never have another moment like this.
Stay in the Gospel and trust the Holy Spirit to do what only He can do.
Be persistent! Keep asking! Keep seeking! Keep knocking! Keep pleading!
Please do not live here and leave here without receiving Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Too many people do!
Do not experience the second death. Too many people will!
And eternity is a long, long time to be wrong!
Don’t be wrong!
Praise God and Give Him All the Glory!
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1)
Read: The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
And just as Jesus physically and visibly ascended into heaven after His resurrection, one day He’s coming back in like manner for you and me!
“This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11)
Jesus is coming back for the final judgment of all mankind.
“Jesus, the Lord of history, will return… to bring history to its proper conclusion.” (adapted from Revelation 1:7; Holman New Testament Commentary – Revelation; Kendall H. Easley)
And every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!
Read: Judgment – Judgment Seat of Christ – Great White Throne Judgment
Here are some things to do next that will help you, whether you just got saved, are already a born again believer in Jesus Christ, or not yet saved—
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