What does the Bible say about salvation? That is a question that is on the minds of millions of people around the world even as you read this. After all, if there is an afterlife and heaven actually exists, who wouldn't want to go there? In fact, if eternal life is real, there is not a single issue of greater importance to every man, woman and child on earth. Who would not give up everything that they own to live forever in paradise? All over the world people perform all kinds of religious acts in hope that they will gain favor with God. Some religious extremists even blow themselves up during suicide attacks, hoping that their "sacrifice" will enable them to get to paradise. But are those really ways to get to heaven? What does the Bible have to say?
The truth is that the plan of salvation described in the Bible is very simple.
It starts with God.
The Bible tells us that God created mankind and that He loves us very much.
In fact, God loves you more than you could ever imagine. The Scriptures go on and on about how great the love of God is and about how deeply He cares for each one of us individually.
But there is a huge problem.
The problem is that humanity is in deep rebellion against God.
The truth is that humanity has rejected God and His laws.
Most people like to think of themselves as "good" people, but the truth is that we are not good. Each one of us has broken God's laws over and over. We are lawbreakers and criminals before God. The Scriptures call us sinners.
Perhaps you think that you are a "good person" and that God should let you into heaven based on how good you are.
If that is what you believe, ask yourself this question:
Have you ever broken God's laws?
Posted below is a summary of the 10 Commandments. Have you ever violated any of these?.....
#1) You shall have no other gods before Me. (Have you always loved God above everything else?)
#2) You shall not make yourself an idol. (Have you ever made a god in your mind that you are more comfortable with or ever worshipped anyone other than the God of the Bible?)
#3) You shall not take God's name in vain. (Have you ever used God's holy name as a cuss word?)
#4) Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy. (Is there anyone alive who has kept this commandment perfectly?)
#5) Honor your father and mother. (Have you ever disrespected your father or your mother even one time? If so, you have broken this commandment.)
#6) You shall not murder. (God considers hatred to be similar to murder).
#7) You shall not commit adultery. (Have you ever looked at a man or woman with lust in your heart? That makes you guilty of breaking this commandment because in Matthew 5:27-28 Jesus said "Whoever looks upon a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart").
#8) You shall not steal. (Have you ever stolen anything? If so, that makes you a thief. The value of whatever you stole is irrelevant).
#9) You shall not lie. (Have you ever lied even once? If so, that makes you a liar).
#10) You shall not covet. (Have you ever jealously desired what belongs to someone else?)
The truth is that we are all guilty of violating the Ten Commandments.
We have all broken God's rules.
In fact, if we took an honest look at how guilty we truly are we would be horrified.
Take a moment and imagine this - one of the biggest television networks wants to do a huge 2 hour prime time special starring you.
Doesn't that sound great?
But instead of a two hour documentary about how wonderful you are, the network has discovered all of the most evil and horrible things that you have ever thought, said or did and they are going to broadcast them to millions of people all over the world for two hours during prime time.
What would you do if that happened?
The reality is that whoever that happened to would want to run away and never show their face to anyone ever again.
Why?
Because we have all done, said and thought things that are unspeakably evil.
We are sinners in the eyes of God, just as the Scriptures tell us.....
"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).
We were created to have fellowship with God, but we chose to reject God and we all have repeatedly broken His laws. When we broke God's commandments, our fellowship with God was broken. By breaking God's commandments we decided that our will would be done instead of God's will. This self-will, characterized by an attitude of active rebellion or passive indifference, is evidence of what the Bible calls sin.
The Scriptures tell us that as a result of that sin we are separated from God.....
"The wages of sin is death" [spiritual separation from God] (Romans 6:23).
So what can be done about this separation from God?
Why doesn't God just forget about it?
Well, the truth is that God cannot just sweep our evil under the rug. If God did that, He would cease to be just.
There is a penalty for evil, and because God is just, that penalty must be paid.
Fortunately, Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our sins by dying for us on the cross as the Scriptures say.....
"God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).
Jesus Christ died in our place.
Being fully man, Jesus could die for the sins of mankind.
Being fully God, Jesus could die for an infinite amount of sins.
Jesus paid the penalty for your sins and my sins so that fellowship with God could be restored.
Not only that, but Jesus proved that He is the Son of God by rising from the dead.....
"Christ died for our sins...He was buried...He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures...He appeared to Peter, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred..." (1 Corinthians 15:3-6).
You see, if there was any other way for us to be reconciled to God, Jesus would not have had to die on the cross. He could have just told us to follow one of the other ways to get to heaven. But there was no other way. The death of Jesus on the cross is the only payment for our sins and He is the only way that we are going to get to heaven. In the Scriptures, Jesus put it this way.....
"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me'" (John 14:6).
But it is not enough just for you to know these things.
The Scriptures tell us that we must individually RECEIVE Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord - then we can have our sins forgiven and experience eternal life.....
"As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name" (John 1:12).
So just how does a person receive Christ?
It is actually very simple.
A person receives Christ through faith just as the Scriptures tell us.....
"By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast" (Ephesians 2:8,9).
The Scriptures also tell us that if we invite Jesus into our lives by faith He will most certainly come in.....
[Christ speaking] "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him" (Revelation 3:20).
Receiving Christ involves turning to God from our sin (repentance) and trusting Christ to come into our lives to forgive our sins and to make us what He wants us to be. Just to agree intellectually that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for your sins is not enough. Nor is it enough to have an emotional experience. You receive Jesus Christ by faith, as an act of the will.
If you are ready to invite Jesus Christ into your life, you can receive Christ right now by faith through prayer.
The reality is that God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your exact words as He is with the attitude of your heart.
If you are ready to invite Jesus Christ into your life you can do it right now.
The following is a suggested prayer:
"Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be."
Does this prayer express the desire of your heart?
If it does, we invite you to pray this prayer right now and Jesus will come into your life, as He promised.
If you do invite Jesus Christ to come into your life, you can have 100 percent certainty that you have become a Christian and that you will go to heaven when you die. In 1 John 5:11-13, the Scriptures tell us the following.....
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; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
Do you understand what that means?
You can know that you have eternal life.
The Bible says that if you have invited Jesus Christ into your life, your sins are forgiven and you now have eternal life.
What could be better than that?
But your journey is not done.
In fact, it is just beginning.
The Christian life is not easy - especially if you try to go it alone.
There are four keys to growth for any Christian.....
#1) The Bible - If you do not have a Bible you will need to get one and read it every day. It is God's instruction book for your life.
#2) Prayer - Prayer is just talking with God. God wants to hear from you and He will change your life as you pray to Him with humility and sincerity.
#3) Fellowship - The Scriptures tell us that we all need each other. Find a fellowship of local Christians that believe the Bible and love one another. They will help you grow.
#4) Witnessing - Tell others about the new life that you have found in Jesus Christ. Helping even one person find eternal life is of more value than anything else you could accomplish in this world.
If you have any questions about what the Bible says about salvation, please post them below. We welcome your comments and questions.....
I’m not clear what you mean by salvation.
Is salvation forgiveness of sin?
Is salvation the same as resurrection?
Is salvation eternal life?
You seem to suggest each of these in your post. I just want to clarify. Is salvation, in your view, each of these or are they all the same thing?
Willis:
Salvation includes all of those things.
When a person is saved, their sins are forgiven, they do receive eternal life and they will be bodily resurrected one day.
Sin is the fundamental problem of mankind.
The death of Yahshua (Jesus) the Messiah on the cross paid the penalty for our sins.
If we are willing to receive that free gift, God will forgive our sins and will give us everything that goes along with being a child of God.
Thanks for your response.
Are you saying that only the saved will be resurrected?
1 Corinthians 15:22 indicates that all will be resurrected through Jesus Christ. That’s were I’m not sure of your meaning. It seems that all will be resurrected but not all will receive eternal life.
Willis:
The Scriptures tell us that all will be resurrected but that not everyone will share the same destiny.
Jesus said this in John 5:28-29….
“Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.”
can you lose your salvation by doing wrong in the eyes of God.Is there like a three strike rule?Once we are saved do we still do battle against the devil or just our flesh?I heard in church that once saved always saved and oncew saved the battle is won and the devil has no effect on you just your flesh
Read John 3. You HAVE to be born again(saved) in order to go to heaven. And no, that statement of “Once saved, always saved” is a lie from the devil. I would know, because I was a backslider once, but luckily I found my way back to Christ – Being and staying saved is not easy. It’s a narrow road that you have to STAY on until the day you die. Otherwise you will not make it to heaven. Pray on it & read your bible
God bless xx
you mention having to be born again and you are correct. you also say you were a backslider that found the way back to Jesus, AND I CONGRATULATE YOU, SISTER.
But where you are wrong, friend, is in your “once saved, always saved” statements, saying that one can “lose their salvation”. The “one has to stay saved” heresy is right out of the lordship salvationist, charismatic, assembly of god, church of christ heresy handbook. You dont have to “stay saved”, any more than you have to “stay a son or a daughter” to parents. Tell me something: is it possible for you to lose your sonship or daughtership, or have to “stay your parent’s son or daughter”? NO! ONCE BORN ALWAYS BORN! Likewise with the spiritual birth! Yes, we sin, because of the sin nature (which will ALWAYS be there ON OUR BUTT DOGGING US as long as we live in this corrupt world and have a devil running around!), and we are going to go up, down, left, right, forward, backward, EVERYWHERE. But if we are truly HIS and born again, he CHASTENS US when we do go the wrong way THE WAY A LOVING FATHER WOULD (Hebrews 12:5-6) because he loves us and ALLOWS U-TURNS. It is the HOLY SPIRIT that does the chastising, as well as the guiding, comforting, leading us, but WE ARE HIS WHEN WE ACCEPT THE GIFT AND HE WILL NOT LEAVE US NOR FORSAKE US (Hebrews 13:5, KJV). God doesn’t expect us to know how to walk immediately after we are saved, just as you don’t expect a baby to know how to walk when it is born. To say that you have to “stay saved” IS LIKE TELLING JESUS THAT HIS FINISHED WORK ON THE CROSS WASN’T ENOUGH to pay for your sins and you would have to keep adding more works to it to make it valid. THAT WOULD BE AN INSULT to him! It was more than enough, friend, to pay for your sins, sins of the past, present, and future. We GROW IN GRACE and we ADD NO WORKS. It is true that man looks on the outward appearance, and that is one good reason to GLORIFY JESUS OUR LORD, but NOT in order TO STAY SAVED.
if you truly believe in the Death, Burial and Resurrection of Jesus Christ you can’t loose your salvation.
read John 6:38-40; 1 Corinthians 3 10-15
John 6:38-39
38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
39 And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
1 Corinthians 3:10-15 (King James Version)
10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
Hebrews 10:9-12 (King James Version)
9Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
10By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:
12But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
WELL SAID!
Why no answer to keith long almost four months ago? I, too would ask the same question. Many evangelicals seem to believe just believing and saying this one pray and you are in. I believe that is a bit arrogant. To believe you are in no matter what you do with the rest of your life. Especially if you commit serious sin and do not repent of it. I believe you can lose your salvation if this occurs.
Hey! I agree with you j edwards. To believe in God is the same as having faith and the faith is what makes us a child of God. Many can get touched with his spirit but to become his we have to step out in faith and that is what receiving him as our lord and savior is. Many of God’s people do however go astray and do works of the flesh and not the spirit of God in them from their faith but those people I cannot answer for what will happen. God did say if we are truly sorry for our sins in our heart then he will forgive us and that is one thing to remember but to be truly sorry is to have a act of repentance of that sin. Their are many scriptures backing up different stuff but I know for certain that to receive the gift of salvation is from our faith in him.
Last time I checked that prayer up their to receiving god back into your life means nothing if you didn’t do it from your heart and if you did if from your heart then you would repent from your sins and ask for forgiveness after it. Receiving Christ is about faith and it isn’t just by feeling him once or saying the prayer but it’s about moving forward with it. After feeling God we would have faith by repenting of sins and coming to him.
Always strikes me as odd. When they asked Peter, “What must we do to be saved,” he said, “Repent & be baptized every one of you…” (Acts 2:38); 8 other times in Acts when people receive salvation, they are baptized. Not once is anyone told to pray a prayer. No “salvation prayer” is ever recorded in Scripture. Yet, when you describe receiving salvation, you give a prayer that’s not in the Bible, and you neglect the action that the apostles directed and Jesus commanded (Matthew 28:18-20). Why do you ignore what’s in the Bible and add what’s not?
I’m gay. Am I going to hell?
I’ve accepted Jesus into my life.
That depends, is your conversion genuine? Have you repented of every known sin? Have you asked God to forgive you of your sins? Do you want to obey God? Have you tried to correct as far as possible all known wrongs? Are you abiding in Him every day through prayer and Bible study so you can learn His will for your life? Do you feel motivated to share your new faith with others?
If you answered yes to all those questions, then the answer is probably YES! Congratulations and welcome to the family of God!
Remember, Jesus said “if you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). The Bible has nothing good to say about homosexuality:
* Gen. 13:13
* Lev. 18:22, 20:13
* Rom. 1:24-32
* I Cor. 6:9-10
God expects you to abandon this practice. If you refuse, then God have mercy on you:
“For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.” Hebrews 10:26-27
No doubt you have heard we are saved by grace and grace alone. This is true! But this does not mean the law of God can be laid aside. The death of God’s dear Son on the cross of Calvary is proof of that. Our obedience does not earn us salvation, only the righteousness of Christ can do that. But we still need to obey Him.
Know this also- Jesus died on the cross as an atonement for our sins. He gives us His Holy Spirit to save us “from” our sins, not to save us “in” our sins. He told the woman caught in adultery to “go and sin no more” (John 8:11). This command applies to all of us. I hope and pray you will choose wisely my friend!
Thank you Luis! You give great, biblically-accurate, compassionate responses. God bless you!
Heres a question…. Have you ever told a lie? Have you ever stolen something? Have you ever looked upon another person with lust in your heart? If so, then you have broken God’s law. Your homosexuality is also an abomination in the eyes of the Lord. You say you have recieved Christ. Have you ever repented? This is the first step in recieving Christ, it is more than just saying a prayer. When true repentance happens, then you will be born again, and your homosexuality will be “removed”.
Repent (turn from your sins), and turn to the Savior and get the “mind of Christ” and you will be set free from homosexuality. Not to sound harsh, but if you continue to practice the homosexual lifestyle, then you have not truly repented. The scriptures say that no homosexual will enter the kingdom of God.
Peace to you
Hello, can someone help me? My 18 year old son died in a car wreck a couple of weeks ago. He was brought up learning about The Trinity but I think I failed in my teaching or did not talk about it enough. My mother died from lung cancer when he was 12 and he later said that someone told him that if he prayed hard enough, that she wouldn’t die. He said that he was agnostic and believed there was “something” but that it wasn’t the God that he had always been taught about. The day after his funeral, some missionaries stopped by and asked for him. They said that one week earlier (on the day that he died), that he had sat outside with them and told them the story of how he had lost his faith. He said he wanted to get his faith back but didn’t know how. They invite him to church and he said he would try to come. My question is this: is the desire to have faith enough for salvation? Is there an age of accountability? The God that I know would not let something happen to someone who was trying to get back to him. Can someone help me? Thank you.
I am so sorry to hear about your son. I cannot imagine the struggle you are going through. I do not have the authority to answer your questions directly; only the Lord has this authority.
However, what I can tell you is that God is both omniscient (all-knowing) and eternal (He has always existed). Therefore, you may still pray retrospectively for your son’s salvation. God will have “heard” your prayers while your son was still alive. This is because He knows everything, and will have known that you were going to pray – so He can answer your future prayers while your son was still living. I hope I am explaining this adequately. I am praying for you and your son and I wish you the best – please keep your faith in God despite this tragedy, and continue to pray for your son’s spirit. God bless you.
-Chris
Dear M, before your son died:
- He said he wanted to get his faith back
- Missionaries show up
- He expressed a willingness to go to church
The Lord was definitely working on your son before he died! You know about his conversation with the missionaries, but what you don’t know about is his conversation with the Lord on that fateful day. Jesus paid the ultimate price for your son- He shed his blood on the cross for him. With that in mind, can you believe the Holy Spirit did not strive in a mighty way with him right before he died? It’s unthinkable. Remember, your son was moving towards the Lord on that day… be at peace!
there is no guarantee of salvation.Once saved always saved is a false doctrine and a doctrine of demons.There is a lady named victoria nehale that wrote a book called a friendly reminder time is running out that says she thought she was born again and saved because she accepted jesus,then jesus told her she is going to hell because she didn`t repent of two sins.One she had unforgiveness and resentment to one of her female cousins who did something wrong to her and the other sin forging a false teaching certificate to get a teaching job.She had to repent for both sins to avoid going to hell.Then she told of a very godly woman who loved the LORD and was a faithfull servant in most ways,but she went to hell because she was getting someone to steal medicine for her from the hospital.After hearing testimonies like this I don`t think it is easy getting to heaven.Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.A book called baptized by blazing fire volume 2, God says people who receive Jesus without sincerity go to hell.This is not fair.I am afraid to die.A caller on a radio show said he tells you to love your enemies,but he don`t love his enemies.Lake of fire, everlasting torture and torment and pain it is not fair.I know somebody will say he is GOD he can do anything he wants.Maybe people are a threat to him like the fallen angels in the spirit world and he has to condemn them.
“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life” 1 John 5:13
” He that has the Son has life, he who has not the Son, has NOT life” 1 John 5:12
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.” John 3:36
I could go on and on. This is a gaurantee of salvation. Jesus either saved us or he did not. If you say he made a way for us to be saved, but we can do more “good” works to get to Heaven, then you are mistaken.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast” Ephesians 2:8-9
Yes we need to repent from our sins, but scripture is very clear that we are being made into the image of Christ ( santification) here on earth, and we will not truly be free of sinning. The important part is how God views us. If you have repented, turned to Christ and asked him to change your heart and be your Lord AND Savior, then you will be born again and have eternal life. God looks at us through Christ, and we obtain the righteousness of Christ based on what he dod for us. Christians works will determine our rewards, but if we are truly born again, we WILL have eternal life in Heaven and be saved from Hell.
I hope this helps.
You said that the Bible is very clear that Christians will not be truly free of sinning. Where does it say that? Please help.
Always judge your life by the Bible. The Bible states that homosexuality is a sin. We must remember that God is coming back for a church with no spot or blemish. There is no degrees. All lead to the wages of death. No sin is entering into Heaven. If you are save make sure you have God’s spirit because the Holy Spirit gives you power to fight any temptation and it will change you desires and heart. Being a good person is not enough to make it into heaven. When God returns he is only coming back for those who has his spirit and is living Holy. Once again, judge all deeds by the Word. Everything in the world is going to perish but the word of God. Seek God for repentance and ask him to come into your heart. Accept him as your lord and saviour. Most all He Loves You very much!!! He wants to see us make it in Heaven more than we know. He is concern about our souls when we wasn’t concern.
I have a question I have recinty recommited my Life to Jesus what does The Bible say about that
Brian:
The Bible says that your sins have been forgiven and you have been given eternal life!
Isn’t that great news?
Now tell others how they can find eternal life through Jesus Christ.
Michae
Hey guys, my opinion is to read and study the bible. The bible never contridicts its self that one, the bible doesn’t lie, the bible is a book written by God’s servants who were inspired by God, which means God basicly wrote the book. So having this in mind. For example: and im not saying this is in the bible, but if the bible says the sky is green, why would you say the sky is blue?. So please follow the bible. Now that we have that settle let’s think about how to study the bible, first of all you have to not take verses from chapters and have that explain your question. READ THE ENTIRE CHAPTER AND THEN MAKE YOUR CONCLUSION. there is times when people just take one verse and call it a day, when that verse signifys something else.
Secondly write thoughts down and verses down (AFTER READING THE CHAPTER PLEASE) and write them in your own words using a bible dictionary/thesaurus, to know the meaning of certain words. Try going verse by verse, for example: lets use “Romans” because its one of the most important books in the bible. You simply Write on the top “Book of Romans” and write on the first line romans 1(one)verse 1 (one,)then read Roman 1:1, then write the verse “IN YOUR OWN WORDS” and write what you think it means underneath it “IN YOUR OWN WORDS”. Write in your own words because by doing this you can understand what the bible means in your own words.
I should of probably told you this first,Try to use a version of the bible that does have much old language, for example: New Century Version (NCV) this version is what i used because i have compared bible to bible (in case you says that some bible have different usage of words which can completely change the meaning of a verse.)Well NO, i have compared and see not much difference between King James Version KJV, or the reina valeria version those who know spanish and etc. I think if you go verse by verse and if people do this more often there shouldnt be no confusion on what the bible says.
I have a friend or had a friend that killed himself two years ago due to very bad depression. It had rattleld my own faith and I question what God is all about everyday. Before he died I was closer to God because I felt like I was given a second chance at living after my depression and other things. I go back and forth constantly about what I believe. I worry that God will not forgive me. When I pray I do not know if it is because it was the way I was brought up and am doing it like a machine hoping that I won’t go to hell/ Or am I sincere and truly believe. How do you know when you are sincere when talking with God. it sounds stupid but I do fear going to hell. I just do not want to say the words but truly believe. It bothers me not knowing what God says about this. Any ideas?
do you think Jesus when he come to this world he will stay christian and not just Jesus he will come to this world theres another Messenger his name Mahdi and jesus he will be muslim … if you not believe that go to read the Quran
I don’t have a bible. Where can i get one, how much might it cost, and which bible exactly are you talking about in which I should get? I really want to get the right one. Please help me, thank you so much.
Kristna:
You can read the Bible for free on the Internet right here…..
http://www.biblegateway.com/
Michael
the word of God is clear…we are saved by grace through faith…grace is available to us through the faith of Christ that has been given to us…and we must by faith accept this gift and live by the faith of the son of God Jesus Christ…just as faith brings us into salvation it is unbelief that cuts us off…this was the case with Israel in the wilderness as well…and the new testament teaches us that we must continue in the faith in order to receive the end of our faith which is the salvation of our souls…this is where the enemy attacks us at…our faith…if he can get us to abandon the faith then he has us…Satan knows the power of faith and what faith can do…Jesus tells us that we must endure unto the end…the new testament is very clear on this subject…and just as Israel was cut off so can a Christian be cut off according to Romans chapter 11…but also just as a believer is cut off by unbelief so can he or she be grafted in again by faith…just as Israel will one day be grafted in again as a nation…this is why it is so important to continue in the faith and not be moved away from it as Colossians 1 teaches…as well as many other new testament passages teach as well…keep the faith in Jesus name!
I want to be a good person, a good christian but i feel like im not good enough to be loved by god or jesus. The fact is i know there is a god and that jesus died for my sins and i really honestly think ive let jesus into my life im scared i dont know if im doing enough, if im going to be saved. I suffer from several mental disorders and many people have givin up onme in my 21 years of life and im afraid that since i can never be perfect god wont forgive me or wont accept me into heaven idk I feel stupid saying this but im just so unsure and worried im afraid that god will hate me because so many people do idk i pray almost everynight and i try to be good but i just cant stop sinning and it bothers me i hate that i cant be perfect for god.
Matthew:
None of us are perfect and God will forgive all of us.
It is good that you are aware of your sin. Jesus paid for your sins on the cross, and if you will invite Him into your life your sins will be forgiven and you will be given eternal life.
1 John 5:11-13
Matthew-
Nobody deserves to go to heaven. Not one of us! I see the fact that you feel that way as a good thing. If you felt like you were good enough or did deserve God’s gifts, that would be a problem.
James 4:6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
Matthew 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven
There are SO MANY verses that talk about how we need to feel exactly how you are feeling.
Now, your only job is to cry out to God admitting to Him that you are not worthy, asking Him to reveal Himself to you and heal you from your pain and sinful nature. Seek Him above all else (which takes endurance, patience, faith, and which none of us have enough of in our own strength). All of which we need A LOT of and can only receive through His power and Grace
We don’t need anyone to tell us the way we should walk. It is all there for you and the power to keep on is given to us by the Holy Spirit. The narrow way is a journey to Him, which He will reveal to you as you cry out to Him for His mercy. He will take you through everything needed if you just trust Him and allow Him to work in your life.
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths
Dear Matthew,
Don’t ever give up. This is a feeling that you have and feelings cannot always be trusted. I have felt the same way many times and still struggle with it today, which is how I found this discussion board and this post. Maybe the source of feeling like we can truly be forgiven every single day is by really building faith in how great and powerful Jesus really is. If we can understand the depth of his importance and really believe in him then we can trust that what he says is true. That we can go to the father through him and through his sacrifice of his own life for us. Simple human beings in turn for Jesus’ life. That’s love right there. Feel the love and follow his love and don’t ever give up on him. He has not given up on us.
Matthew:
I won’t give up on you. I don’t hate you. I am honored to call you “brother”.
P.S. I, too, sometimes feel the same way. I think it may be because we are human. But then I remember: God made us; He understands us. We are “adorable” to Him-truly.
Hi,
Is there a scripture in the Bible, that states that we all can have salvation?
Thank You!!!
Krystal:
There are scriptures that say that God wants everyone to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth….
1 Timothy 2:3-4 and 2 Peter 3:9
But each one of us has the choice whether we are going to follow God or not.
Michael
There are many good People which are not christian.
Why there sin of not knowing or believing in Jesus
as God is forgiven? Christians post your certificate of going into heaven ? if you are truthfull
What does the bible mean in hebrews 10:26 when it says there is no sacrafice left for sins committed willingly after knowing the truth?
I hope this isnt as cut and dry as it sounds.
I claim to be a Christian saved by grace and washed in the blood of Christ, but I know for a fact that I have and continue to sin willingly,
probably on a daily basis. Temptation is everywhere.Who among you reading this can honestly say, that you yourselves dont sometimes knowingly commit sin? This sounds about the same as when Christ told the adulterous woman to “go and sin no more”. Does anyone out there know anyone who has accepted Chris and then gone on to live a perfect sin free life? These verses are very confusing, even for someone that studies the bible regularly, much less a young Christian.
I am a young believer too and have not been studying the bible for very long but have been studying it with a very good bible teacher. When I have read the bible on my own I have really wondered the same thing about many verses that I was pretty frightened of when I did not understand them. Then when I started to read with my bible instructor and he would break every verse down and illustrate the context and the weight of each verse I was able to see that many things are not cut and dry. For example, I don’t remember which verse, but the bible says something about hating your own family and hating yourself if you want to love God. Sorry if I did not get that perfect. Anyway, !f I had read that on my own, with a cut and dry understanding, I would have been very alarmed! Afterall, aren’t we not supposed to hate? Aren’t we supposed to honor our parents and love our neighbor? But when my bible instructor explained it to me he said it was more about contrast. It was not saying to hate your family. It was simply saying extremely love God so much and love him first so that in contrast it could appear to hate your family and yourself. So I think not loving your family any less at the level it already is, just make sure you increase your love for God even more. God wants us to love our family. Hope this made some sense and I’m sorry if I confused anyone but I am trying to reach out as a fairly new Christian!
Oh another thing to add to that passage about things not being cut and dry.. Alternatively, it maybe not so much about creating a vast difference between the love for family and the love for God because what if you love both immensely? Maybe this passage was more of the fact of mainly putting God first. Just the act of putting God first before family and yourself may appear as rejecting to the world we live in. So this is a possible reason to explain the meaning of the words involving hate in this passage that I can’t imagine to be cut and dry.
Hi. I am 17. I am struggling with a few things. My church family has been going through major problems. & my family has too. While all this has gone on, & before, I have drifted away from God. I went to a friends church tonight & the passage made me cry. He was talking about salvation & if we were going to heaven or hell. I believe in the Lord with all my heart but sometimes I drift away & it’s to hard to find my way back. My question is, once you’ve been saved once & except God in your heart & drift away from him, can you ask him to come again? Or is it wrong? People are telling me you can only except God into your heart once & not again. But I keep drifting away & I want to change that by asking him to come back. Please help me.
Thank you.
Ray:
The Bible says that you can know if you have eternal life or not. The following comes from 1 John 5:11-13….
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
If you have asked Jesus into your life, He is there. You are born again and you have been given eternal life.
Many young Christians have doubts like this. But you can trust what the Word of God says. God never goes back on His Word.
Michael
I have religious OCD with intrusive thoughts which is a mental illness.Any advise?i feel so bad as if God will not forgive me because it causes me to have bad thoughts about God since its something I fear of doing because OCD is a anxiety disorder.Will God forgive me I don’t want to think these things and don’t believe them but it’s hard to believe He loves and forgives me
I was told that even once we accept god into our lives and ask for forgiveness of our sins when we die we will still have to answer for these sins. Now I know when we die God will judge us for our sins on earth but my understanding of the scripture was that if we have accepted God and asked for forgiveness then Jesus will answer for us and stand will us in our judgement. This other person (who was raised in the church…I was not I have committed my life to god but still am learning daily) that once judged god will make you pay for your sins before allowing you to enter heaven. Also they said something about this will be how God decided what job you will have in heaven. Please help me understand this…is it true?
Jamie:
Jesus paid the penalty for all of our sins on the cross. No additional payment needs to be made.
If we asked Jesus to come into our lives, all of our sins have been wiped clean.
Yes, it is hard to understand that salvation is a free gift, but it cost Jesus everything.
However, God will judge our works once we get to heaven. There will be no punishment, but those that have done many good works will receive a great reward and those believers that have done very few good works will receive a very small reward.
Does that make sense?
you said that if we ask for forgiveness of our sins and we are sincere about it they will be forgiven if i read it correctly. well since we are human and are going to continue to sin until we die, if you keep committing the same sins but are trying genuinely to not commit them again are we still forgiven? an example being a sin i have more awareness of repeating is i have reoccuring lustful thoughts. when i realize i am having them i try and repress them. since i keep committing this sin or any other sin that i may be repeating, since i try to keep from committing them over and over but perform them anyway are they still forgiven?
Edward:
All of our sins are forgiven by God – past, present and future.
But when we sin after we have become a Christian we are hurting ourselves and we are disrupting our fellowship with God.
For example, if you cuss out your father he is still your father, right? But your fellowship with him may be hurt.
So just like you would need to confess you were wrong to your earthly father, you will also need to confess your sins to your heavenly Father in order to restore your fellowship with Him.
Edward: I have my struggles with sin as well I do what I very well cant help and I hate it im 19 so of course the big one is lust I was worrying as well heck I still do I wont lie but god knows we need help he sees our motives he leaves no one who desires him behind faith is the ultimate weapon against sin as well as prayer god will help you overcome its not by our own effort we are saved remember that just live to love and always keep god number 1 and never stop praying! God Bless!
And we cannot forget this one thing: People in general want to look at only the ten commandments, but there are more than ten. And if we broke one, we are guilty of breaking them all. Moses was a clear example of that when he came off the mountain and threw the tables of stone down, he broke them all symbolically speaking at one time, thus showing none of us could keep the law, but there is one law we can keep. Christ fulfilled the law of righteousness. Our faith in Him and what he did for us at the cross is what brings us to salvation. First, we must hear the word preached. Then it must convict our heart, we realize we’re a sinner. then we come to an altar of repentance, and this can be on a railroad track, a cornfield, at church, or anywhere we bow our heart to God and repent. We can only do this when we are under conviction and the spirit says to come. Then when we do, Christ comes into our soul, washes away our sins and makes it as though we never sinned. So then when we do in the future after we’ve been saved, God sees the blood Christ applied to our soul, and he sees it being pure. We will continue to sin in the flesh till the day we die, but praise God, Satan doesnt’ know where our soul is and it will never sin, because the seed in us, spoken of by John is hid away in Christ and cannot sin because it is born of God. When put this way, it’s so simple a child can understand. The problem is this: Man injects their ideas into the equation and makes a mess of it. Then with all the people telling their theories etc complicates it more. Remember this: Any one wanting to be right with God, he will make a way. He put the jam on the bottom shelf for the kids.
is it possible to lose salvation? What if a person becomes christian but then keeps sinning and sinning and backslides?
I have a question about this verse:
“For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.” Hebrews 10:26-27
So this says if we do a sin after we learn that what we are doing is a sin then we won’t be forgiven? But being the unholy sinners we all are everyone would sin after learning of certain sins. So are we forgiven much thanks.
I have never coveted my neighbors man servant so I have not broke that one.
Michael-please direct all the people who simply want to quote bible verses to each other to this site. They can quote away to their hearts content. They have no place on an economic collapse type blog.
Gary I am so glad to see you popped up on this site.
Hopefully you will visit this site often.
Michael
I just want to express my beliefs on salvation. When I was nine years old, I spent the night with a friend at her house. Her mother was sitting up reading the Bible. My friend and I started talking to her about the Bible and God’s love for us. Later that night, I was on my knees with my friends mother at my side, praying to God and accepting Jesus into my heart. I believe I was saved that night. Throughout my life however, I have sinned and unfortunately continue to sin. I have had times of despair when I have been on my knees begging for God to take away these feelings of pain and sadness. I have had times of joy where I am rejoicing to God and thanking him for my many blessings. Then throughout the years (for I am now 47) there have been times, when I have not turned to God. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe in God or the fact that Jesus died on the cross to save me from my sins, I have always believed that. These were just times, when I kind of “forgot about God.” Now if I had died during these times in my life that I wasn’t praying, wasn’t walking in his word, would I have still gone to heaven? I like to think so, but I do not know for sure. I can say, that when I am talking to God daily, and trying to walk in his word, I feel “safer” that if I die, I will go to heaven. Even though I was saved all of those years ago, I believe you have to daily make a choice to choose God. I believe, that even though you can be “saved” you have to daily pick up the cross and choose to have a close relationship with him. That is the struggle I now try to work on daily to have a close, active, on fire kind of daily relationship with Jesus. It takes work just like anything worthwhile takes work. So no, the Bible may not say that I have to say a prayer to ask Jesus into my heart, but by doing so, and by trying to make him an active daily part of my life, I believe I am truly saved.
response after response and not one person mentions John 3:5. Stating a man must be born of the Water and Spirit to enter the Kingdom of God. Water is baptism.Spirit is the Holy Spirit(Holy Ghost).In the book of Acts it states the evidence of the Holy Ghost is speaking in tongues. Peter said in Acts 2:38, Repent and be baptized everyone of you, in the remission of your sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. That said…why is everyone so afraid of the Ghost.