THE UNBELIEVABLE NATURE OF TRUE SALVATION

November 18, 2021

Many people have their ideas of what salvation is and what it does. That's fine but often deadly. If you believed that faith in a tree would give you eternal salvation, you would be eternally wrong. If you are wrong about anything, you don’t want to be wrong about where you spend eternity.

If we want to hold the right thoughts about God and his work among men and gain an eternity in heaven, we must go to Him in His Word. Let HIM determine your thinking . . . and then measure your experience against what He says.

GOD’S REVELATION TO PAUL

The Apostle Paul was falsely accused before a Roman governor. In giving his defense, he recounts what God told him on the road to Damascus when Christ saved him for a meaningless life. Christ told him his life’s work was to bring the message of true salvation to both Jews and Gentiles.

“I am sending you to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.” (Acts 26:18).

If you have a red-letter edition of the Bible, you will notice that these words are in red--an exact quotation from none other than the Author of our salvation Himself. So, what is true salvation?

• Our eyes are opened by God’s gracious intervention
• We turn (repentance)
  • from darkness to light
  • from the dominion of Satan to God
• We receive …
  • forgiveness of sins
  • an inheritance with all those who have been sanctified
• We are sanctified (set apart)
• All this is activated by faith in Christ, and Christ alone!

Make no mistake: if true salvation has occurred, as it had in Paul, all of this transformation happens in a moment—the moment the Lord reveals Himself, reaches to save us and we cross the line of faith. It is all of God.

C.S. Lewis began as a serious-minded atheist and Oxford professor. He came to believe there was a God, but he was still not a Christian. Lewis said the moment of salvation happened for him on the top of a double-decker bus in London. When he began the trip to the zoo, he was not a Christian, but by the time the bus stopped at the zoo, he had become a true believer . . . and his life showed the glorious evidence.

Evaluate every testimony in light of God's glorious description of true salvation. And, if you know Christ, never underestimate the glorious gift you have been given.

Father, thank You that You love us enough to save us. Holy Spirit, thank You for your work in bringing us to repentance and faith. And Jesus, God’s precious Son, thank You for the glorious, sacrificial work You did to purchase our salvation.

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