God saved my soul for free and can rescue you also.
Salvation from God Comes Through His Son
I recently produced a short video on whether there was some form of work one must do to achieve salvation.
Salvation is the experience of transitioning from certain death in the spirit, to eternal life with God through the same.
I pointed out that the chief ingredient to achieve free salvation, which is a gift of God, is believing that Jesus is God’s Son who died for our evil. This was a challenging thing to teach because it is hard to believe anything is free.
We have all heard: “nothing in this world is free.” While that may be true in this world, “eternal life” is free through salvation in Jesus Christ. Salvation did cost something horrible, just not for us.
God sent His Son to die a horrible death, on a Roman Cross, and He was raised by God three (3) days later. This was the ransom for our souls with God. Yet, when speaking to people, most believe some form of barrier exist to simple faith. It does not!
I will go further to add, those barriers don’t simply appear out of nowhere: we erected them.
As the Gospel of John Chapter 3:15-17:
I understand there are other methods that people believe will achieve salvation. However, the Holy Bible further teaches: “there is no other name under Heaven that can save us. Other than Jesus Christ.”
Good Works Mean Little to God
When we examine the basics of any works-based faith, it stands in stark contrast to God’s Word on the matter.
Ephesians 2:8 says:
If our works could grant eternal life, then rich people could literally buy their way into Heaven. More money donated to worthy causes, and churches of course, would mean they were worthy of Heaven.
It is no coincidence that, while on Earth, 99% of the people Jesus hung out with were poor. He had a few rich religious friends, but even then, He explained the free gift of salvation.
In the previously mentioned “for God so loved the world..” text, Jesus was speaking to a religious temple leader named Nicodemus. Nicodemus must have been a man of means as such.
Further, animal sacrifice was necessary, in the Old Testament of the Bible, to delay God’s punishment for evil.
However, by the time Jesus came to Earth, these sacrifices were no longer enough. If it were, why would God establish a new covenant through Jesus Christ?
The answer is simple — because of the “work” Jesus did through His life, death, and resurrection. Think about it like this: Jesus went to work, while we stayed at home, asleep, in the bed.
By the time we woke up, the work was finished, and a meal was cooked and on the table! Jesus got up early, went to work, and we simply need to sit at the table and enjoy the fruits of it.
No work we could have completed was ever going to be good enough. We spend our lives working for “things” we like but could work for an eternity and never receive what we truly “need.”
I understand this is hard to believe. I was once in the same place as you. When I began to learn about Jesus, I was what is known as a “legalist.”
That is someone who refuses to believe eternity with Jesus was free and required nothing beyond simple belief in Him.
Like a group of people called Judaizers, in the Bible, I thought “I couldn’t be this easy. Something else must be required.”
However, I became exhausted by this disbelief, and always thought I was saying the wrong things, and doing the wrong things. If, after having received salvation through Jesus, I still wasn’t able to stop sinning, what good work could I do to make things right again?
The truth is, I couldn’t imagine if my works “couldn’t save me,” how could they “keep me saved?” I am evil, and evil cannot overcome evil! Only righteousness could overcome evil.
If I am not righteous, I must somehow inherit righteousness to overcome evil.
God stepped beyond animal sacrifice, demanded through the Law of Moses, to offer the entire world a simple formula back into His presence. We believe things we know not to be true all the time.
For instance, if someone says something, about us, enough times, we begin to believe what we know to be untrue. It makes sense therefore, that if we can believe things that are not true so easily, some should be able to believe that which IS true just as easily.
God’s Offer to Save Me Seems too Good to be True
The human belief system is what has shaped society at large. These beliefs have resulted in changes throughout history. One of the greatest examples of humanity shifting occurred in the 1960s.
The 35th President of the United States, John F Kennedy, believed humans could make it to the moon.
Keep in mind that when President Kennedy made this announcement, the United States had only put the crudest of satellites into orbit.
The technology required to get there did not exist when Kennedy cast the vision.
In the year 1850, people living on the high plains of Kansas knew nothing except a horse and buggy for transportation.
Imagine one day someone told them: “in less than ten (10) years, you are going to look up, and human beings will fly through the air in machines.” What do you think the response of Kansans would be in 1850?
Although there were hot air balloons in Europe at that time, propeller driven flight was only a pipe dream. That is the magnitude of belief President Kennedy pitched.
When he said this, in 1962, jet engine airplanes had only been commonplace for a mere twelve (12) years! Do you understand the vision, and technological leap required to achieve this by 1969’s moon landing?
That was an example of human beings believing something, and then accomplishing it. I realize, historically, this was more about demonstrating the United States’ superior missile program to the Soviets.
It does not, however, remove this incredible leap to the moon in seven (7) years’ time.
The biproducts of this leap was many forms of technology we still enjoy today.
A low point of human accomplishments were the actions of Adolf Hitler, and Joseph Stalin during World War II.
Hitler believed that non-Aryans were unworthy of life and tried to breed superior whites:
This led to a demonic policy of murdering millions of people. Although not as well known, it is estimated that Joseph Stalin, from 1932 through the end of World War II, was responsible for 30 million Soviet deaths.
Collectively, these demons were responsible for the murder of 50 million human beings. We can believe in the greatest accomplishments, and the most demonic evil simultaneously.
It is this innate ability to believe, in something, that God uses to bring us back to Him.
Do You Need to go to Church to be Saved?
Another point I brought up in the previously mentioned video, was a person could accept Jesus Christ, as their Savior, right where they are!
You do not need to go to a church to hear the Gospel message of Jesus. I AM NOT SAYING YOU NEVER need to go! Let’s not get this confused. Often, ‘christians’ put themselves between Jesus and those He saves.
One of these misused roadblocks is the so-called Romans road. In theological circles, there are many who believe that there is a group of scriptures, in Romans, that a person should read to achieve salvation.
While all of God‘s word is true, even walking down a metaphorical Romans road could be seen as work. We are back to this: scripture teaches “whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
It never said walk down some road to find Jesus at the end. Although an extreme example, what if someone doesn’t have time to walk down the road?
What if they are taking their last breaths in a hospital?
Let’s remember they only have a few moments to live in this scenario. Was it God’s intention to open the Book of Romans, read scriptures, and then ask them to receive salvation?
What if they die before finishing their little walk? No Beloved! The message of eternal life is based on simply believing in Jesus. It cannot be easier than this.
It is difficult because religious people, yearning for power, inject things God didn’t intend. For instance, there is no better example of a “works based salvation” than that offered by the Catholic Church.
If there was ever, throughout Christian history, a false belief system predicated on roadblocks to Jesus, it is Catholicism.
Without presenting an entire dissertation on their falsity, one example is their belief in the pope’s “infallibility.”
This means throughout the history of the world, there are only two people who did not sin: Jesus Christ and the Roman pope. Of course, this is true with respect to Jesus — not so much with popery.
The Bible says: “All have sinned/erred and fallen short of the Glory of God.” It pushed further to offer: “if anyone says they have no sin/error they are a LIAR, and the truth is not in them.”
God saved my soul, and it was free! That is my personal testimony and that of billions of others throughout time. What is better, the Bible also says: “if the Son (Jesus) shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” All you must do is believe Jesus died to pay the price for your evil, and you will be forever free.
What can be better than eternal freedom?
Header Image Courtesy of Ismael Paramo @ Unsplash