(August 19, 2007)
Introduction:
I have written out some of the choice verses on the subject of the believers Salvation being a free-gift from God; under each reference I have added a short comment or two explaining the context of the passage. As you read these passages you will be encouraged by the fact that salvation is free, and is based on faith alone in Christ alone. You may also notice that this free-salvation is forever, and there is not a chance that one could ever lose it after appropriating it; that is, once you believe in Christ you are saved forever. I have written this short paper for my children and grandchildren, and some of my co-workers. I pray that God will bless you as you concentrate on His precious Word.
JOHN 1:12
"But as many as received Him [Christ], to them gave He power to become the sons [children] of God, even to them that believe on His name."
In this verse we read that to receive Christ is to believe on His name, that is, to believe that He is the Son of God. The next thing that we read is that by believing on the name of Christ, we become the sons [children] of God. The very moment we believe on the name of Christ we are adopted into God's Holy Family.
JOHN 1:29
"The next day John [the Baptist] sees Jesus coming unto him, and says, Behold, the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world."
John the Baptist was out preaching repentance from sin, and Baptizing believers when he saw Christ coming down the road, he made this wonderful statement. Before Christ died on the cross for all our sins, the Old Testament believers would bring a lamb to the priests in the temple to offer as a sacrifice on the altar to cover their sins. Now that Christ was born, and grew to be a man, He went out preaching Salvation to the people; this was before He would go to the Cross and offer Himself as a permanent payment for the sin of the world. In this verse John the Baptist called Christ "The Lamb of God" which signified that God the Father would offer His only Son on the cross for every member of the human race.
JOHN 3:1-7
"There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same [man] came to Jesus by night, and said unto Him, Rabbi [meaning teacher], we know that you are a Teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that you are doing, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him [Nicodemus], Truly, truly, I say unto you, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. Nicodemus says to Him [Christ], How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say unto you, Except a man be born of water [in the womb of his mother] and of the Spirit [by believing on the name of Christ], he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh [natural child birth the first time] is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit [by believing on the name of Christ and becoming children of God the second time] is Spirit. Marvel not that I said unto you, You must be born again."
In these verses we have a brief story of the Pharisee, Nicodemus, coming to Christ by night and asking Christ some very important questions. Christ explains to Nicodemus that he must be "Born again" in order to get to heaven. Jesus explains to Nicodemus that he was born the first time by water, which symbolized physical birth, by which all men enter this world; but Jesus tells Nicodemus that in order to enter heaven, he must be born the second time by the Spirit, which is Spiritual birth, by believing on His name, that is, simply believing on Christ. Every member of the human race from Adam and Eve until the last member of the human race is born, must be born again "That whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish [go to hell] but have everlasting life" (John 3:15).
JOHN 3:16
"For God so loved the world [all people in the world], that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever [thank God this includes me] believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
If there were no other verses in the Bible, this one verse would be enough for anyone to be able to believe on the name of Christ, and be forever saved from hell. When Christ says in this verse "whosoever believeth in Him" all we have to do is enter our name there; any member of this human race who believes that Christ died for them, and they put their trust in Christ to be their Savior, that person is saved for all eternity, that is, forever and forever.
JOHN 3:17
"For God sent not His Son [Christ] into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved."
In this verse Christ gives the reason He came into this sin-sick world, that the entire world might be saved, simply by accepting Christ as Savior, no more, no less. There is no excuse why everyone isn't saved; the only reason a person will go to hell is because they refuse to believe on the name of Christ.
JOHN 3:18
"He that believes on Him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the Son of God."
In this verse Christ leaves no one out; a person either believes in the name of Christ or he or she does not believe in the name of Christ. To believe on Christ is to be forever happy in heaven; to not believe in Christ is to be forever separated in hell away from Christ and His glory, that is, to be miserable in the Lake of Fire. And by the way, you do not read in these verses anything other than believing alone in Christ alone. Salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone.
JOHN 3:36
"He that believes on the Son has everlasting life: and he that believes not the Son will not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him."
This verse makes it so very plain that all a person must do is believe on Christ's name; no works can possibly save a person, for Christ did all the work for us on the Cross. Isn't God's grace wonderful? All of us who believe on the name of Christ have everlasting life right now, we don't have to wait until we die to find out if we are saved; this verse tells us that we are saved right now, simply by believing on Christ. Sure, we will die physically, and not many people look forward to dying, but knowing that we are going to heaven when we die, certainly takes away our fear of dying.
JOHN 5:24
"Truly, truly, I [Christ] say unto you, He that hears My [Christ] Word, and believes on Him [God] that sent Me, has everlasting life, and will not come into condemnation [go to hell]; but is passed from death [eternal death] unto life [eternal life]."
Again we have a verse that says that all we must do to inherit eternal life is to believe that God the Father sent God the Son to this earth to die for us; in other words, Christ died on the cross in order that we will have eternal life, and that because of Christ we have passed by any chance whatsoever that we will be condemned; again I ask, Isn't God's grace wonderful?
JOHN 6:28, 29
"Then said they unto Him [Christ], What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that you believe on Him [Christ] whom He [God] has sent."
For those who want to work their way to heaven, Christ gives this answer: The only work worthy of getting a person to heaven is faith alone in Christ alone, that is, as this verse points out, believe on Christ whom God sent into this world.
JOHN 6:37
"All that the Father gives to Me shall come to Me [Christ]: and him [anyone] that comes to Me I [Christ] will in no way cast out."
Christ has never turned away someone who puts his or her trust in Him.
JOHN 10:28-30
"And I [Christ] give unto them [anyone who will believe] eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My Father's hand. My Father, which gave them to Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are One."
In these verses we have Christ assuring any believer that when he or she accepts Christ as their Savior, they are immediately placed securely in the hand of God the Father. This is a positional truth, which simply means that we who believe in Christ need never worry about losing our Eternal Salvation, for we are spiritually placed by God the Holy Spirit into the hand of God. Christ assures us here that no man, not even Satan has the power to snatch us away from God, for God is more powerful than any force on earth or in Satan's realm, and Christ and God are of the same essence, fundamental nature.
JOHN 14:1-3
"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me [Christ Jesus]. In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I [Christ] go to prepare a place for you [who will believe]. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."
Christ is ready to go to the cross and now He gives His disciples assurance that even though He may leave them, He will prepare a place for all who receive Him, for in His house there are many mansions; and He not only gives them this wonderful promise, but He also assures them that He will return and receive those who will be on earth at the last day. I am so glad that I personally am in the number of believers who will someday enjoy my eternal mansion He is preparing just for me. Being an old man, I will be enjoying my mansion before some of you young people; another pleasure I will enjoy is that I will be reunited with my family that has gone on to glory before me.
JOHN 14:16, 17
"And I [Christ] will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide [dwell] with you forever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees Him not, neither knows him: but you know Him; for He dwells with you, and shall be in you."
Here again Christ is assuring all believers that even though He has left this earth, by way of the cross, everyone who believes that He died for them, will receive the Holy Spirit, and He dwells in each one of us; the only way we know that we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, is by the Word of God. There are no supernatural signs that tell us we are His, for we have the Word of God to assure us of these truths.
JOHN 17:20
"Neither pray I [Christ] for these alone [His disciples], but for them also which shall believe on Me [Christ] through their [His disciples] Word."
Here Christ is praying to the Father for His disciples just before He went to the cross; and in this prayer Christ includes everyone who will believe in Him through the Bible, the Word of God, passed on through His disciples.
JOHN 20:31
"But these are written [in the Bible], that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye will have life through His [Christ's] name."
Here Christ gives assurance that everyone who believes on His name will inherit eternal life; Christ says here that this is the reason the Bible was written, that all believers will know that they have eternal life.
ACTS 4:12
"Nether is there Salvation in any other: for there is none other name [Jesus Christ the Lord] under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."
Christ's name is the only name whereby any one of us is saved; we must believe on the name of the only begotten Son of God.
ACTS 16:25-32
"And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. And the keeper of the prison waking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shall be saved, and thy house. And they spoke unto him the Word of the Lord, and all that were in his house."
Paul and Silas were in prison in Philippi singing praises unto the Lord, when an earthquake happened and all the doors were opened. The jailer was about to kill himself, because in Roman times, if a prisoner escaped, the jailer in charge would be put to death. Now Paul and Silas saw that the jailer was about to kill himself they stopped him, and assured him that they were all there. The jailer asked Paul and Silas what he could do to be saved. Paul and Silas said that it was nothing that he could do, but he only had to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The same requirement goes for us today; we cannot do any work for Salvation, we must do the same as the jailer, simply believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
ROMANS 1:16,17
"For I [Paul] am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto Salvation to every one that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith."
Paul begins his Epistle to the Romans with this assurance that all a person needs is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved; when Paul says to the Jew first and also to the Greek, he is including all mankind.
ROMANS 3:10-12
"As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understands, there is none that seeks after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one."
Here we have Paul teaching that all men are evil, and that there are none that seek God. Remember in John's Gospel where John the Baptist said that Jesus came to seek and to save that which is lost. Jesus Christ is still seeking the lost. Paul teaches that all mankind died with Adam in the Garden of Eden, and just as Adam and Eve had to be saved, so every man born on this earth needs the same Savior, Jesus Christ the Righteous One.
ROMANS 5:1,2
"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom we also have access by faith into this Grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God."
Paul teaches that the only way we may obtain peace with God is through faith, that is, by putting our full trust and confidence in our Lord Jesus Christ and no other.
ROMANS 5:5
"For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."
Paul teaches us that Christ died for all of us who needed him; unless a man knows that He needs a Savior, he will not accept our Christ.
ROMANS 5:8, 9
"But God commended His love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by His [Christ's] blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him [Christ]."
God loved us while we were yet sinners, and now that we believe in Him, He has delivered us from the wrath to come on all unbelief, that is, from eternal hell.
ROMANS 5:12
"Wherefore, as by one man [Adam] sin entered the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned."
Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, and became sinners; it followed that when they had children their children were born with a sin nature. All members of the human race are sinners by birth, and therefore must be redeemed by the blood of Christ. We all die physically because of our sin natures; but we all can live eternally by our new birth in Christ.
ROMANS 5:15
"But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one [Adam] many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, has abounded unto many."
All men die because of the sin of Adam, but God made a way of escape for man, not to spend eternity in hell, that is the Gift of His Grace, Jesus Christ, who went to the cross and died for all; everyone who puts their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ will live forever in heaven.
ROMANS 8:1
"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."
Now that we are saved by Grace, we now walk after the Spirit, and not after the flesh; even though we sin, we are not condemned, because Christ has purchased us with His own blood.
ROMANS 8:31
"What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?"
Here Paul gives the assurance that now we are children of God, and no foe can harm us.
ROMANS 8:35, 38, 39
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril or sword. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
In these verses Paul teaches us that there is nothing in this entire universe that can ever separate us from God's love; and this amounts to the fact that once we accept Christ as our personal Savior, we are saved for all eternity, and nothing in this created universe can separate us from this salvation. How wonderful is our Lord.
ROMANS 10:4
"For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believes."
This verse teaches us that when Christ died He delivered us from the curse of the law, the Ten Commandments. We are no longer under the Law of Moses, but the Law of love, which is in Christ Jesus. Christ gave us two commands before He died, 1) to love God with all our hearts and minds, 2) to love other believers.
ROMANS 10:9,10
"That if you shall confess [to God] with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart [mind] man believes unto righteousness; and with your mouth confession is made [to God] unto Salvation."
Here Paul teaches us that we simply have to believe in Christ Jesus our Lord, and that we must tell God the Father that we believe and we will be saved. The word "confess" in the Greek New Testament means to acknowledge or to say the same thing about Christ that the Word says about Christ. So you see, it does not say we must be baptized, or that we must pray, or that we must be good little Christians; it simply says we must believe. We should live good lives, but not in order that we might be saved, but because we are saved, we should live to please God.
ROMANS 11:6
"And if by grace, then it [salvation] is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it [salvation] be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work is no more work."
Here Paul is substantiating the fact that we are saved by God's grace [unmerited favor] and not by our own works. Christ did all the work, and all we have to do is believe He did all the work, and put our trust in Him as our Savior.
1 CORINTHIANS 2:2
"For I determined not to know any thing among you, except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified."
In this first letter to the Church at Corinth, Paul says the only thing that concerns him is that these believers have faith in Christ alone, and Him crucified; all other matters, such as baptism, and all other programs they might be involved in was secondary, for without Christ and Him crucified, there is no Salvation.
1 CORINTHIANS 2:12
"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit [Holy Spirit] who is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given of God."
Paul assures us that we have the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, and that without Him; none of us could possibly understand His Word. We will at times grieve [upset] or quench the Holy Spirit, but there is no Scripture that teaches that we can cause Him to ever leave us.
1 CORINTHIANS 3:16
"Know ye not that the you are the temple of God, and that the Holy Spirit of God dwells in you?"
Here Paul again assures all believers that the moment they believe in Christ name, they are indwelt [baptized] with the Holy Spirit, and that He indwells every believer.
2 CORINTHIANS 5:21
"For He [God] has made Him [Christ] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him [Christ]."
Here in this second Epistle of Paul to the Church at Corinth Paul is teaching that all believers have Christ's righteousness accredited to our account, that is, that we have His righteousness placed on us. Now when we get to heaven, we will not have to plead our case before God, because Christ has already made us righteous. Adam sin was placed on us, and Christ died for all sin, now Christ has placed on us His perfect righteousness, so that in God sight, we are perfectly righteous.
GALATIANS 1:8, 9
"But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be damned. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other Gospel unto you that that ye have received, let him be damned."
These are very strong words from Paul, and he repeats them; whenever something is repeated in the Word, be very sure, it is important. Paul taught one way for Salvation, faith alone in Christ alone, and he says any one who preaches something else, that is, that you have to do something, that person must be damned.
GALATIANS 3:11
"But that no man is justified [acceptable] by the law [the Ten Commandments] in the sight of God, it is evident; for, The just shall live by faith."
Paul teaches here that works cannot save a man, only faith in Christ.
GALATIANS 3:22-27
"But the Scripture has concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith, which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the Law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For you are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus."
In the Old Testament the Jews were under the Law of Moses; Paul teaches us here that this Law was a schoolmaster to point them to the coming Christ, who would die on the cross for them. The Law was so strict that it showed the Jew how sinful they were and that they needed a Savior. In the New Testament, Christ has already died for us, and now we are saved by faith alone in Christ alone.
EPHESIANS 1:13
"In whom [Christ] you also trusted, after you heard the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your Salvation; in whom [Christ] also after you believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise."
The Holy Spirit is Himself the Seal of God on every one who believes in Christ; this verse proves that we are all baptized with the Holy Spirit, the moment we believe in Christ.
EPHESIANS 2:8, 9
"For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast."
What wonderful grace we have. Paul teaches that the Grace of God saves us through faith in Christ, and that none of our works count. Our works condemn us, His grace saves us. We are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are born sinners; God made this wonderful provision of Grace, so that we are saved from Hell simply by our faith in Christ.
EPHESIANS 2:10
"For we [all believers] are His [Christ's] workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained [designed] that we should walk in them."
All believers were designed by God to be the product of Christ's redemptive love, and that we should walk on this earth as His children, not bastards, that is, illegitimate children.
EPHESIANS 2:18
"For through Him we both [Jews and Gentiles] have access by one Holy Spirit unto the Father."
Christ has made it possible that all Christians have free access to His throne of Grace through prayer, and we no longer have to go through a high priest.
EPHESIANS 4:30
"And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you are sealed unto the day of redemption."
All believers are sealed with the Holy Spirit the moment he or she decides to trust Christ for their Salvation.
EPHESIANS 5:2
"And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us, and has given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God, for a sweet-smelling savor."
God sacrificed His only Son on the cross in order to save us; While Christ was hanging on the cross, paying the price for all our sins, that is, Christ became sin for us, that we would be acceptable to God; each and every believer is a sweet-smelling savor to God, that is, God is satisfied with Christ's death for us, and that now we are accepted by Him.
EPHESIANS 5:8
"For you were once in darkness, but now are you light in the Lord; walk as children of light."
Christ loved us when we were strangers to God, and He, by His death and resurrection, has made us His children of light. Paul says that since we are children of Light, we should walk as children. We do not walk as children to become saved, but we walk as children because we are saved.
EPHESIANS 5:20
"Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Paul gives us here the occupation of the believer; he says that we should give thanks always for all things, not once in a while, and not just for the good things, but always for all things, even the things we consider bad.
PHILIPPIANS 1:6
"Being confident of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ."
Here Paul is telling us that the moment we believed on Christ, He started to work in our lives, and assures us that Christ will continually perform this work until we meet Him in Glory. What a wonderful promise, for He will never leave us nor forsake us.
PHILIPPIANS 3:20
"For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ."
The Lord promised that He would return and take all believers to heaven, ever to be with Him; those of our babies and children who have been fortunate enough to have gone on ahead of us, they are at peace with God; and those of us who are left to remain on this earth, we all have that blessed hope that Christ is coming again, for our citizenship is in heaven with the rest of our family; I don't know about you, but this keeps me going day to day.
PHILIPPIANS 3:21
"Who shall change our lowly body, that it may be fashioned like His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able to subdue [tame] all things unto Himself."
This is the hope of every believer, that we will someday take on ourselves immortality, and be like Jesus Christ our Lord.
COLOSIANS 3:3
"For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God."
Paul is teaching us that since we believed in Christ, our heavenly position is, that we are dead to sin, that is, sin does not rule us, He rules us. Now that we have died to sin our lives are hid with Christ in God; now that is a position that no one is able to break into. We all need these assurances, in order to face this horrible world of ours.
1 JOHN 5:13
"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God: that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God."
This is the last verse on the subject of eternal Salvation, that I will include for this paper; I use this verse as an encouragement that John wrote this Epistle for the purpose of encouraging the believer, that they may know for certain that they have eternal life. If we have received Christ as our Savior because we believe on His name, we have the assurance that we will never perish, but have everlasting life with Him.
Conclusion:
In concluding this paper I find no other passage of Scripture that could possibly give us more hope for the future, and we all need hope for the future.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
"But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them who are asleep [dead], that ye sorrow not, even as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also who sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the Word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them who are asleep. For 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 who 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. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words."
Here in this wonderful passage of Scripture Paul gives us some wonderful doctrine that should encourage every believer. He tells us that our loved ones that have died and gone on to glory before us is a wonderful thing, and that we should not grieve as the unbeliever grieves, that has no hope, that is, that are not Christians; for they grieve because they have no hope of heaven, however, we believers grieve because we have lost a friend and loved one, but we are assured that we will see them someday in glory. One of these days Christ will return to this earth and set up His Millennial Kingdom and rule for one thousand years; but before He does, He will take we believers up to heaven to join the everlasting throng that have gone on before. I don't know about you, but this comforts my soul.
God bless you all.
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