Can do no thing

[Jackero]

HAVE YOU BEEN SAVED?

(I am writing this post for beginners).

Have you been saved? I'm talking about being saved from sin. Have you wondered how to move from A MERE INTELLECTUAL BELIEF in Jesus to a saving relationship with Him in which you experience forgiveness for the mis­takes of your past and you receive the gift of eternal life? I'd like to share with you some steps you can take that will bring salvation within your life.

1.   RECOGNIZE YOUR NEED OF HELP.

The Bible describes the human condition like this: " 'There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worth­less; there is no one who does good, not even one.' . . . For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." - Romans 3:10-12, 23.

The sin problem is universal. No one is exempt. Every man, woman, boy, and girl is infected with the sin virus - a virus that is 100 percent lethal. "For the wages of sin is death." Rom. 6:23 (Notice here that this death is the opposite of eternal life! That is why theologians say that the "death" in this verse must also be considered "eternal").

The first step toward salvation from this desperate situation is to recognize that you are a sinner and that it is impossible for you, in your own strength, to resist the power of evil or to save yourself from its fatal results. Why? Because we are all slaves to sin. We are born with sinful tendencies. Rom. 7:14-24; Ps. 58:3; Ps. 51:5; Eph. 2:1-5, etc.

2. UNDERSTAND THAT GOD LOVES YOU AND WANTS TO SAVE YOU.

Many people have grown up with the idea that God is some sort of cosmic cop waiting to catch them in sin so He can condemn them to the horrors of hell. But this is not true. God is " 'compassionate and gracious…. slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wicked­ness, rebellion and sin.' "  Exodus 34:6.7; Ezek. 33:11

God does not want to punish us. Instead, " 'God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.' " John 3:16.17 (Notice that “perish” is the opposite of eternal life!).

It's true that God hates sin. Why wouldn't He? Sin is a killer. It separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2), cutting us off from the source of life. He hates sin but loves sinners - you and me. But because He is also a God of justice, He must punish sin. It is here that the glory of the salvation plan becomes clear.

3. LOOK TO JESUS.

It is true that we humans needed Someone to come and save us from a sinful life. That Sav­ior came in the person of the God-Man Jesus Christ. Jesus came to reveal the love of the Father and to be our sin-bearer. He bore the pun­ishment for our sins upon the cross. "Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows…. He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." Isaiah 53:4.5. In other words, Christ was treated as we deserve, that we might be treated as He deserves. He was condemned for our sins, in which He had no share, that we might be justified by His righteousness, in which we had no share. He suffered the death that was ours, that we might receive the life that was His.

If you want to be saved from the bondage of sin, look with faith to Jesus in the Bible. All Scripture speaks of Him. Luke 24:25-27; John 5:39. Look, for example, at the gospel in the wilderness. Numb. 21:4-9

The Israelites rebelled and thus sinned against God. As a result, God withdrew His protection from God’s people and the serpents of the wilderness killed many Israelites. They confessed their sin and asked Moses to pray for their forgiveness. Moses interceded for them, and God gave them only one way to be saved - to look in faith at the bronze serpent that was made by Moses.

Notice that in this desperate situation, the Israelites (1) confessed their sin, (2) they asked Moses to intercede for them, and (3) they looked with faith at the bronze serpent made by Moses. That bronze serpent that was lifted up on a pole was a fitting symbol of Jesus' sufferings on the cross. In conclusion, they were forgiven and healed simply by looking in faith at the symbol of our Savior. Jesus clearly applied this symbol to himself when he said: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, EVEN SO MUST the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:14-15).

Regarding Moses' intercession for God's people, I must point out that he is a type of Jesus - our Intercessor at the throne of God. In this regard, the apostle Paul declared that we are saved not only by our faith in Jesus' sacrifice for us, but also by His intercession on our behalf at the throne of God: “Therefore He is also able TO SAVE TO THE UTTERMOST those who come to God THROUGH HIM, since He always lives TO MAKE INTERCESSION FOR THEM.” – Heb. 7:25.

My dears, read with me this encouragement written by Paul: “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. LET US THEREFORE COME BOLDLY TO THE THRONE OF GRACE, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” – Heb. 4:14-16

4. BELIEVE.

As you look at the Savior dying on the cross and realize that He suffered that agony so you could be saved, you begin to understand the ugliness of sin and want to be forgiven, cleansed, and set free. You con­fess your wretchedness to God, and you repent - in other words, you turn away from those things that separate you from Him. As you do this, you accept God's promise to "forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." – 1 John 1:9

You cannot atone for your past sins; you cannot change your heart and make yourself holy. But God promises to do all this for you through Christ. You believe that promise. You confess your sins and give your­self to God. You will to serve Him. Just as surely as you do this, God will fulfill His word to you. If you believe the promise - believe that you are forgiven and cleansed - God supplies the fact; you are made whole, just as Christ gave the paralytic power to walk when the man believed that he was healed. It is so if you believe it. John 5:8.9.

The criterion for salvation hasn't changed. "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you. will be saved." Acts 16:31.

5. RECEIVE THE GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE.

Each of us must accept Christ as our Savior or His gracious act on the cross will not benefit us. Potentially life-saving medicine does no good while it's in the bottle. The sick per­son must receive the pills into his or her body in order to be cured.

Trust Christ alone to save you. Neither good works nor being reli­gious can save you. "It is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God." (Eph. 2:8).  Christ, and Christ alone, can atone for your sins, and make you clean before God. Go to Him in prayer right now and tell Him that you are ready to receive His perfect life in the place of your sinful one. Confess your sins and claim the promise that "to all who received him, to those who believed in His name, he gave the right to become children of God." "And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life." (John 1:12; 1 John 5:11.12).

And now let us return to the Gospel in the wilderness. Immediately after Moses lifted up the bronze serpent on that pole, the good news spread like lightning… It went from mouth to mouth and reached every tent: “LOOK AND YOU WILL LIVE!!...

Do you see? Not “fulfill and you will live!” Not “keep and you will live!” But “LOOK, and you will live!” Yes, my friend, do not try in vain to fulfill the God’s part. Notice carefully which is His work, when you permit Him to work in your life:

Ezekiel 36 (NIV):

25 I WILL SPRINKLE clean water on you, AND YOU WILL BE CLEAN; I WILL CLEANSE you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I WILL GIVE YOU a new heart and PUT A NEW SPIRIT in you; I WILL REMOVE from you your heart of stone AND GIVE YOU a heart of flesh. 27 I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT IN YOU AND MOVE YOU TO FOLLOW MY DECREES AND BE CAREFUL TO KEEP MY LAWS.”

Keeping the Law? My brother, that is God's responsibility, not yours. Stop fighting with your fists in the air. Trust in God's promises and surrender to Him. Then, the Holy Spirit will write God’s Law in your heart. And then, continue to look at Jesus every morning, on the pages of the Scripture, with meditation and prayer. Decide right now to experience the true salvation from sin!

 

[Alive]

On 5/3/2025 at 6:02 AM, Jackero said:

HAVE YOU BEEN SAVED?

(I am writing this post for beginners).

Have you been saved? I'm talking about being saved from sin. Have you wondered how to move from A MERE INTELLECTUAL BELIEF in Jesus to a saving relationship with Him in which you experience forgiveness for the mis­takes of your past and you receive the gift of eternal life? I'd like to share with you some steps you can take that will bring salvation within your life.

1.   RECOGNIZE YOUR NEED OF HELP.

The Bible describes the human condition like this: " 'There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worth­less; there is no one who does good, not even one.' . . . For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." - Romans 3:10-12, 23.

The sin problem is universal. No one is exempt. Every man, woman, boy, and girl is infected with the sin virus - a virus that is 100 percent lethal. "For the wages of sin is death." Rom. 6:23 (Notice here that this death is the opposite of eternal life! That is why theologians say that the "death" in this verse must also be considered "eternal").

The first step toward salvation from this desperate situation is to recognize that you are a sinner and that it is impossible for you, in your own strength, to resist the power of evil or to save yourself from its fatal results. Why? Because we are all slaves to sin. We are born with sinful tendencies. Rom. 7:14-24; Ps. 58:3; Ps. 51:5; Eph. 2:1-5, etc.

2. UNDERSTAND THAT GOD LOVES YOU AND WANTS TO SAVE YOU.

Many people have grown up with the idea that God is some sort of cosmic cop waiting to catch them in sin so He can condemn them to the horrors of hell. But this is not true. God is " 'compassionate and gracious…. slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wicked­ness, rebellion and sin.' "  Exodus 34:6.7; Ezek. 33:11

God does not want to punish us. Instead, " 'God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.' " John 3:16.17 (Notice that “perish” is the opposite of eternal life!).

It's true that God hates sin. Why wouldn't He? Sin is a killer. It separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2), cutting us off from the source of life. He hates sin but loves sinners - you and me. But because He is also a God of justice, He must punish sin. It is here that the glory of the salvation plan becomes clear.

3. LOOK TO JESUS.

It is true that we humans needed Someone to come and save us from a sinful life. That Sav­ior came in the person of the God-Man Jesus Christ. Jesus came to reveal the love of the Father and to be our sin-bearer. He bore the pun­ishment for our sins upon the cross. "Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows…. He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." Isaiah 53:4.5. In other words, Christ was treated as we deserve, that we might be treated as He deserves. He was condemned for our sins, in which He had no share, that we might be justified by His righteousness, in which we had no share. He suffered the death that was ours, that we might receive the life that was His.

If you want to be saved from the bondage of sin, look with faith to Jesus in the Bible. All Scripture speaks of Him. Luke 24:25-27; John 5:39. Look, for example, at the gospel in the wilderness. Numb. 21:4-9

The Israelites rebelled and thus sinned against God. As a result, God withdrew His protection from God’s people and the serpents of the wilderness killed many Israelites. They confessed their sin and asked Moses to pray for their forgiveness. Moses interceded for them, and God gave them only one way to be saved - to look in faith at the bronze serpent that was made by Moses.

Notice that in this desperate situation, the Israelites (1) confessed their sin, (2) they asked Moses to intercede for them, and (3) they looked with faith at the bronze serpent made by Moses. That bronze serpent that was lifted up on a pole was a fitting symbol of Jesus' sufferings on the cross. In conclusion, they were forgiven and healed simply by looking in faith at the symbol of our Savior. Jesus clearly applied this symbol to himself when he said: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, EVEN SO MUST the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:14-15).

Regarding Moses' intercession for God's people, I must point out that he is a type of Jesus - our Intercessor at the throne of God. In this regard, the apostle Paul declared that we are saved not only by our faith in Jesus' sacrifice for us, but also by His intercession on our behalf at the throne of God: “Therefore He is also able TO SAVE TO THE UTTERMOST those who come to God THROUGH HIM, since He always lives TO MAKE INTERCESSION FOR THEM.” – Heb. 7:25.

My dears, read with me this encouragement written by Paul: “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. LET US THEREFORE COME BOLDLY TO THE THRONE OF GRACE, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” – Heb. 4:14-16

4. BELIEVE.

As you look at the Savior dying on the cross and realize that He suffered that agony so you could be saved, you begin to understand the ugliness of sin and want to be forgiven, cleansed, and set free. You con­fess your wretchedness to God, and you repent - in other words, you turn away from those things that separate you from Him. As you do this, you accept God's promise to "forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." – 1 John 1:9

You cannot atone for your past sins; you cannot change your heart and make yourself holy. But God promises to do all this for you through Christ. You believe that promise. You confess your sins and give your­self to God. You will to serve Him. Just as surely as you do this, God will fulfill His word to you. If you believe the promise - believe that you are forgiven and cleansed - God supplies the fact; you are made whole, just as Christ gave the paralytic power to walk when the man believed that he was healed. It is so if you believe it. John 5:8.9.

The criterion for salvation hasn't changed. "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you. will be saved." Acts 16:31.

5. RECEIVE THE GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE.

Each of us must accept Christ as our Savior or His gracious act on the cross will not benefit us. Potentially life-saving medicine does no good while it's in the bottle. The sick per­son must receive the pills into his or her body in order to be cured.

Trust Christ alone to save you. Neither good works nor being reli­gious can save you. "It is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God." (Eph. 2:8).  Christ, and Christ alone, can atone for your sins, and make you clean before God. Go to Him in prayer right now and tell Him that you are ready to receive His perfect life in the place of your sinful one. Confess your sins and claim the promise that "to all who received him, to those who believed in His name, he gave the right to become children of God." "And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life." (John 1:12; 1 John 5:11.12).

And now let us return to the Gospel in the wilderness. Immediately after Moses lifted up the bronze serpent on that pole, the good news spread like lightning… It went from mouth to mouth and reached every tent: “LOOK AND YOU WILL LIVE!!...

Do you see? Not “fulfill and you will live!” Not “keep and you will live!” But “LOOK, and you will live!” Yes, my friend, do not try in vain to fulfill the God’s part. Notice carefully which is His work, when you permit Him to work in your life:

Ezekiel 36 (NIV):

25 I WILL SPRINKLE clean water on you, AND YOU WILL BE CLEAN; I WILL CLEANSE you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I WILL GIVE YOU a new heart and PUT A NEW SPIRIT in you; I WILL REMOVE from you your heart of stone AND GIVE YOU a heart of flesh. 27 I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT IN YOU AND MOVE YOU TO FOLLOW MY DECREES AND BE CAREFUL TO KEEP MY LAWS.”

Keeping the Law? My brother, that is God's responsibility, not yours. Stop fighting with your fists in the air. Trust in God's promises and surrender to Him. Then, the Holy Spirit will write God’s Law in your heart. And then, continue to look at Jesus every morning, on the pages of the Scripture, with meditation and prayer. Decide right now to experience the true salvation from sin!

 

Thank you for this thoughtful and very good post. There is no other Name given among men whereby we are saved.

Acts 4:12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

[Alive]

In my own life and walk, I have found it a very real blessing to have come to a place where I realize that I can do nothing without Him. Its makes for a daily reliance on and looking to Him in near constant prayer/conversing with Him. This mindset, if you will, drives me closer to Him. We understand, that the battle is in the mind and in this ever confused and sinful world, we need our minds set on Him.

Colossians 3:2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

““I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

(John 15:5 NKJV)

 

[BibleStudent100]

On 5/1/2025 at 7:33 PM, LaMonte said:

If we live 76 years, we get 4000 weeks in this life or 28,000 days or 86,400 seconds. We are all not granted the same amount of time on this earth unfortunately

Your math is straight on, but a little off on the number of seconds, but point well taken.  Psalm 90:10 says we all have about 70 to 80 years of existence (pre-Flood humans were blessed with longer lives), so congratulations on your 81 years!  How fantastic that you can use your strength and energies for the Lord!

[Jackero]

Jakero #02

Thank you, ALIVE. Your words have determined me to start completing what I have already written.

Salvation from sin is a very large and a very important topic, which the Bible develops in the form of many jigsaw puzzles. I began to present God's part in His plan of salvation, and we must understand what is our part in this divine plan. So, we also have something to do, but without any merit, because we act it at the prompting of the Holy Spirit and with power from Him.

Often our opinions that we present on the forum are very different, and one of the reasons is the fact that we do not know the definition of some terms well enough. That is why today I am trying to state the biblical definition of the word "salvation" – salvation from the bondage of sin.

There is nothing in our life more essential and valu­able than salvation. Therefore, we need above all else to understand from the Bible what salvation is, and then en­ter into it.

Unfortunately, most professed followers of Christ LIMIT SALVATION TO FORGIVE­NESS of sin. Christ wants to do much more for us than that. He wants to reclaim you from sinning.

You will see from the Bible that salva­tion provides the COMPLETE answer for our sin problem. It has three parts, because the sin problem has three parts:

PAST. We need to be saved from the guilt of past sins. We read, "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law" and "the wages of sin is death." 1 John 3:4 (KJV); Romans 6:23. Christ provides complete forgiveness for the sins of the past.

PRESENT. We need to be saved day by day from the con­tinuing control exerted by our inner disposition to do evil. Paul called this power the "sin that dwelleth in me" and "the law of sin which is in my members." Romans 7:17, 23. It is the inbuilt disposition we all have to use our tongue, eyes, ears, hands, and feet to commit acts of sin. Christ provides ongoing power so that we may be victori­ous every day.

FUTURE. We need salvation for our sin-damaged bodies. Regardless how completely we may be saved from the guilt of past sins and from the continuing control of our evil disposition, we are still subject to sickness, acci­dents, old age, and death. Paul wrote: "The whole cre­ation groaneth and travaileth in pain together" and "that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away." Romans 8:22; Hebrews 8:13. How well we know it! Christ has promised to give us new bodies at His coming. Therefore, His salvation is complete!

We are right in speaking of three aspects of salvation because the Bible applies the words “saved”  and “salvation”  in these three different ways.

Saved from past sins.

No one need live a single hour under the condemnation of his guilt. The reason for this is simple: By faith and repentance he may receive the Lord Jesus as his personal Saviour. When he takes this step Christ forgives all the sins he has ever committed. See Acts 10:43; Isaiah 1:18; 43:25.

Paul wrote, "By grace you HAVE BEEN SAVED through faith." Ephesians 2:8, RSV. Paul did not mean that the Ephesian Christians had been saved eternally, as when Jesus comes again. Like all sinners, these church members had been “dead in sin” (see verse 1), but when they received Christ, they were born again or "resurrected", made alive in Christ and saved from the guilt of their past sins.

The Bible mentions this past aspect of salvation in sev­eral other places. In 2 Timothy 1:9 we read that God "HATH SAVED us." In Romans 8:24, NEB, the Bible states that, "We HAVE BEEN SAVED."

Christ told the sinful woman who shed tears of penitence, "Thy sins are forgiven." He added, "Thy faith HATH SAVED thee." Luke 7:37-50. He did not say, "Thy faith WILL save thee" but "Thy faith HATH saved thee." She had been saved from the guilt of her past sins.

In keeping with this past aspect of salvation, Jesus de­clared that the person who believes on Him "hath ever­lasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but IS PASSED [literally, "HAS PASSED"] from death unto life." John 5:24. John makes this truth very plain when he declares; "We know that we HAVE PASSED from death unto life, because we love the brethren." 1 John 3:14. Notice he does not say that the born-again believer MAY pass or WILL pass from death to life, but HAS PASSED from death unto life.

If you have never accepted Christ as your Saviour, know this, that the moment you receive Him you will pass from condemnation to justification; from alienation to reconciliation; from being dead in sin to being alive in Christ; from being a slave of sin to living a life acceptable to God; from worrying under the death sentence of sin to rejoicing at the beginning of eternal life in Christ.

Saved day by day.

When we are born again, Christ by the Holy Spirit lives in us. He saves us from repeating our former sins and strengthens us to obey God's commandments. "Whatso­ever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." 1 John 5:4.

Here are several other scripture texts that refer to be­lievers' BEING SAVED.

"To us who ARE BEING SAVED." 1 Corinthians 1:18, RSV. "By means of ... [Christ's death and resurrection] you ARE BEING SAVED." 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Twentieth Cen­tury New Testament. "The Lord added to their number day by day those who WERE BEING SAVED" (Acts 2:47, RSV) or "those whom he WAS SAVING" (NEB).

The word SAVED in these texts does not mean that these believers were saved eternally as they will be when they are glorified at Jesus' coming. It means that they were in the process of being saved from their sins by Christ living in them.

Certainly forgiveness is one of God's greatest bless­ings. As the Bible declares, "Blessed is he whose trans­gression is forgiven, whose sin is covered." Psalm 32:1. But salvation is also a continuing victory over sinning. The angel told Mary to call her son “Jesus”, because He "shall save his people from their sins." Matthew 1:21. Notice, His people are saved FROM their sins, not IN their sins.

The salvation we need includes both forgiveness and victory. Those who go no further than accepting forgive­ness, do not have salvation as Christ of­fers it to them.

Saved forever.

There are texts in which SALVATION refers to what will happen at the second coming. Isaiah wrote that when Christ appears, the righteous will exclaim, "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he WILL save us." Isaiah 25:9. Because these are “righ­teous people”, we know they were forgiven for their past sins. Day by day they were being saved from the domin­ion of sin. Now at Christ's appearing they say, "He WILL SAVE us." There must be a final phase of salvation that is to be accomplished at Christ's coming.

Paul wrote, "Now is our salvation NEARER than when we believed." Romans 13:11. He immediately warned that "the day is AT HAND." Verse 12. Apparently, the salvation he spoke of is associated with the dawn of earth's new day — Christ's coming. Peter wrote about "SALVATION READY TO BE REVEALED IN THE LAST TIME." 1 Peter 1:5. A few verses later he defined this phase of salvation as "the glory that should follow." Verse 11.

What a glorious morning will dawn when Christ comes! "The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17.

The living righteous and the dead who have died in Christ will be "changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52. All who love the Lord will be saved from their poor, run-down, disease-ravaged bodies and changed to glorious, healthy immortality. Then all who have loved the Lord and accepted His sal­vation since the beginning of human history will ride with Him to heaven. See Matthew 24:30, 31; John 14:1-3; 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17.

Summary.

We have seen that the Bible teaches three main aspects of salvation:

1.  We are saved from the guilt of our transgressions of the law of God by receiving Christ as our personal Saviour.

2.  When we are born again, Christ lives in us and through us, saving us day by day from the control of our disposition to do evil.

3. We are saved eternally from the effects of sin in our bodies by being made immortal and taken to heaven at Christ's coming.

Are you saved?

Are you saved? Where do you stand in respect to the first two aspects of salvation? Those who do not enter into the first cannot enter into the second. Only those who enter into the first and the second will enter into the eternal joy of the third.

Some come to Christ and are converted. They make a good start. They receive enough of salvation to get their sinful past forgiven. But then they anchor in the peaceful harbor of this past salvation and never move out into the wide seas of salvation's daily victory over sin.

This is why so many church members will never reach heaven. They fail to have the right growing, strengthen­ing experiences; they do not let Christ save them each day from the power of sin.

Some conclude that after they receive Christ, the Ten Commandments are not binding on them. This is a mis­take. TRUE, WE CANNOT SAVE OURSELVES BY OBEYING THE LAW. BUT CHRIST SAVES PEOPLE BY HELPING THEM OBEY. WE MUST NOT REJECT THIS HELP.

Transgression of the Ten Commandments is sin. - 1 John 3:4 (KJV). No one will be saved forever if he knowingly, persistently transgresses. In this case, “I cannot keep the low” is not an excuse accepted by God. Paul wrote: "I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHICH STRENGTHENETH ME." Philippians 4:13.

In the story of Israel's exodus from Egypt there are lessons written for us, who live in the time of the end. (See 1 Cor. 10:6-11 – especially v.11). One of the lessons we need to learn from the story of Israel's exodus is mentioned in the book of Psalms (105:43-45):

“And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness: and gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labor of the people; THAT THEY MIGHT OBSERVE his statutes, and keep his laws. Praise ye the LORD.”

So, just as God saved His people from slavery and brought them out of Egypt with shouts of joy, “THAT THEY MIGHT KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS AND KEEP HIS LAWS,” so He brings us out of the slavery of sin today (saves us) with the same joy, SO THAT WE MAY “KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS and laws.”

In conclusion, we must first experience salvation from the bondage of sin (or lawbreaking) and only then can we experience true obedience to divine law. Yes, you are not without hope. You will soon be able to climb to the heights of victory in your life of faith. The Bible is full of assurances that it is possible to no longer live under the reign of sin.

Let us decide right now to climb together to the heights of victory won by Jesus for us!...

 

[BibleStudent100]

On 4/13/2025 at 2:59 PM, TheBlade said:

Every angel rejoices when just one comes to Christ. 

We said brother; we wonder amazed at the power of angels who can move through the vast space of the universe at will and then rejoice at the spiritual progress of us puny humans...

[Alive]

1 hour ago, Jackero said:

Jakero #02

Thank you, ALIVE. Your words have determined me to start completing what I have already written.

Salvation from sin is a very large and a very important topic, which the Bible develops in the form of many jigsaw puzzles. I began to present God's part in His plan of salvation, and we must understand what is our part in this divine plan. So, we also have something to do, but without any merit, because we act it at the prompting of the Holy Spirit and with power from Him.

Often our opinions that we present on the forum are very different, and one of the reasons is the fact that we do not know the definition of some terms well enough. That is why today I am trying to state the biblical definition of the word "salvation" – salvation from the bondage of sin.

There is nothing in our life more essential and valu­able than salvation. Therefore, we need above all else to understand from the Bible what salvation is, and then en­ter into it.

Unfortunately, most professed followers of Christ LIMIT SALVATION TO FORGIVE­NESS of sin. Christ wants to do much more for us than that. He wants to reclaim you from sinning.

You will see from the Bible that salva­tion provides the COMPLETE answer for our sin problem. It has three parts, because the sin problem has three parts:

PAST. We need to be saved from the guilt of past sins. We read, "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law" and "the wages of sin is death." 1 John 3:4 (KJV); Romans 6:23. Christ provides complete forgiveness for the sins of the past.

PRESENT. We need to be saved day by day from the con­tinuing control exerted by our inner disposition to do evil. Paul called this power the "sin that dwelleth in me" and "the law of sin which is in my members." Romans 7:17, 23. It is the inbuilt disposition we all have to use our tongue, eyes, ears, hands, and feet to commit acts of sin. Christ provides ongoing power so that we may be victori­ous every day.

FUTURE. We need salvation for our sin-damaged bodies. Regardless how completely we may be saved from the guilt of past sins and from the continuing control of our evil disposition, we are still subject to sickness, acci­dents, old age, and death. Paul wrote: "The whole cre­ation groaneth and travaileth in pain together" and "that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away." Romans 8:22; Hebrews 8:13. How well we know it! Christ has promised to give us new bodies at His coming. Therefore, His salvation is complete!

We are right in speaking of three aspects of salvation because the Bible applies the words “saved”  and “salvation”  in these three different ways.

Saved from past sins.

No one need live a single hour under the condemnation of his guilt. The reason for this is simple: By faith and repentance he may receive the Lord Jesus as his personal Saviour. When he takes this step Christ forgives all the sins he has ever committed. See Acts 10:43; Isaiah 1:18; 43:25.

Paul wrote, "By grace you HAVE BEEN SAVED through faith." Ephesians 2:8, RSV. Paul did not mean that the Ephesian Christians had been saved eternally, as when Jesus comes again. Like all sinners, these church members had been “dead in sin” (see verse 1), but when they received Christ, they were born again or "resurrected", made alive in Christ and saved from the guilt of their past sins.

The Bible mentions this past aspect of salvation in sev­eral other places. In 2 Timothy 1:9 we read that God "HATH SAVED us." In Romans 8:24, NEB, the Bible states that, "We HAVE BEEN SAVED."

Christ told the sinful woman who shed tears of penitence, "Thy sins are forgiven." He added, "Thy faith HATH SAVED thee." Luke 7:37-50. He did not say, "Thy faith WILL save thee" but "Thy faith HATH saved thee." She had been saved from the guilt of her past sins.

In keeping with this past aspect of salvation, Jesus de­clared that the person who believes on Him "hath ever­lasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but IS PASSED [literally, "HAS PASSED"] from death unto life." John 5:24. John makes this truth very plain when he declares; "We know that we HAVE PASSED from death unto life, because we love the brethren." 1 John 3:14. Notice he does not say that the born-again believer MAY pass or WILL pass from death to life, but HAS PASSED from death unto life.

If you have never accepted Christ as your Saviour, know this, that the moment you receive Him you will pass from condemnation to justification; from alienation to reconciliation; from being dead in sin to being alive in Christ; from being a slave of sin to living a life acceptable to God; from worrying under the death sentence of sin to rejoicing at the beginning of eternal life in Christ.

Saved day by day.

When we are born again, Christ by the Holy Spirit lives in us. He saves us from repeating our former sins and strengthens us to obey God's commandments. "Whatso­ever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." 1 John 5:4.

Here are several other scripture texts that refer to be­lievers' BEING SAVED.

"To us who ARE BEING SAVED." 1 Corinthians 1:18, RSV. "By means of ... [Christ's death and resurrection] you ARE BEING SAVED." 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Twentieth Cen­tury New Testament. "The Lord added to their number day by day those who WERE BEING SAVED" (Acts 2:47, RSV) or "those whom he WAS SAVING" (NEB).

The word SAVED in these texts does not mean that these believers were saved eternally as they will be when they are glorified at Jesus' coming. It means that they were in the process of being saved from their sins by Christ living in them.

Certainly forgiveness is one of God's greatest bless­ings. As the Bible declares, "Blessed is he whose trans­gression is forgiven, whose sin is covered." Psalm 32:1. But salvation is also a continuing victory over sinning. The angel told Mary to call her son “Jesus”, because He "shall save his people from their sins." Matthew 1:21. Notice, His people are saved FROM their sins, not IN their sins.

The salvation we need includes both forgiveness and victory. Those who go no further than accepting forgive­ness, do not have salvation as Christ of­fers it to them.

Saved forever.

There are texts in which SALVATION refers to what will happen at the second coming. Isaiah wrote that when Christ appears, the righteous will exclaim, "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he WILL save us." Isaiah 25:9. Because these are “righ­teous people”, we know they were forgiven for their past sins. Day by day they were being saved from the domin­ion of sin. Now at Christ's appearing they say, "He WILL SAVE us." There must be a final phase of salvation that is to be accomplished at Christ's coming.

Paul wrote, "Now is our salvation NEARER than when we believed." Romans 13:11. He immediately warned that "the day is AT HAND." Verse 12. Apparently, the salvation he spoke of is associated with the dawn of earth's new day — Christ's coming. Peter wrote about "SALVATION READY TO BE REVEALED IN THE LAST TIME." 1 Peter 1:5. A few verses later he defined this phase of salvation as "the glory that should follow." Verse 11.

What a glorious morning will dawn when Christ comes! "The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17.

The living righteous and the dead who have died in Christ will be "changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52. All who love the Lord will be saved from their poor, run-down, disease-ravaged bodies and changed to glorious, healthy immortality. Then all who have loved the Lord and accepted His sal­vation since the beginning of human history will ride with Him to heaven. See Matthew 24:30, 31; John 14:1-3; 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17.

Summary.

We have seen that the Bible teaches three main aspects of salvation:

1.  We are saved from the guilt of our transgressions of the law of God by receiving Christ as our personal Saviour.

2.  When we are born again, Christ lives in us and through us, saving us day by day from the control of our disposition to do evil.

3. We are saved eternally from the effects of sin in our bodies by being made immortal and taken to heaven at Christ's coming.

Are you saved?

Are you saved? Where do you stand in respect to the first two aspects of salvation? Those who do not enter into the first cannot enter into the second. Only those who enter into the first and the second will enter into the eternal joy of the third.

Some come to Christ and are converted. They make a good start. They receive enough of salvation to get their sinful past forgiven. But then they anchor in the peaceful harbor of this past salvation and never move out into the wide seas of salvation's daily victory over sin.

This is why so many church members will never reach heaven. They fail to have the right growing, strengthen­ing experiences; they do not let Christ save them each day from the power of sin.

Some conclude that after they receive Christ, the Ten Commandments are not binding on them. This is a mis­take. TRUE, WE CANNOT SAVE OURSELVES BY OBEYING THE LAW. BUT CHRIST SAVES PEOPLE BY HELPING THEM OBEY. WE MUST NOT REJECT THIS HELP.

Transgression of the Ten Commandments is sin. - 1 John 3:4 (KJV). No one will be saved forever if he knowingly, persistently transgresses. In this case, “I cannot keep the low” is not an excuse accepted by God. Paul wrote: "I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHICH STRENGTHENETH ME." Philippians 4:13.

In the story of Israel's exodus from Egypt there are lessons written for us, who live in the time of the end. (See 1 Cor. 10:6-11 – especially v.11). One of the lessons we need to learn from the story of Israel's exodus is mentioned in the book of Psalms (105:43-45):

“And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness: and gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labor of the people; THAT THEY MIGHT OBSERVE his statutes, and keep his laws. Praise ye the LORD.”

So, just as God saved His people from slavery and brought them out of Egypt with shouts of joy, “THAT THEY MIGHT KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS AND KEEP HIS LAWS,” so He brings us out of the slavery of sin today (saves us) with the same joy, SO THAT WE MAY “KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS and laws.”

In conclusion, we must first experience salvation from the bondage of sin (or lawbreaking) and only then can we experience true obedience to divine law. Yes, you are not without hope. You will soon be able to climb to the heights of victory in your life of faith. The Bible is full of assurances that it is possible to no longer live under the reign of sin.

Let us decide right now to climb together to the heights of victory won by Jesus for us!...

 

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