Dan Dougherty
“Salvation: A Forthright Explanation”
Copyright 2010, Dan Dougherty
All Rights Reserved
While this work has copyright protection, I hereby give permission to anyone who reads it to print and/or make as many copies as they desire. Freely dispense them to your family members, friends, neighbors and co-workers.
The doctrine of salvation is the core and central theme of Christianity. It supersedes all other Christian doctrines, and all other doctrines point us toward it. Salvation allows a holy and righteous God the opportunity to forgive and justify us, without compromising His standards of perfection and justice. Without this wonderful provision of redemption, NO ONE would ever be allowed to spend eternity in Heaven.
How one obtains salvation is the question of all the ages of mankind. We all either consciously or subconsciously yearn to know the answer to this curiosity at some point in our lives. The Bible, the written word of God clearly spells out four (4) conditions that must be met if one expects to be welcomed into Heaven by the Lord. These conditions have been passed down from one Christian to another for the past 2,000 years. My hope and prayer is that you take them to heart and act upon them after reading this article.
CONDITION #1:_Realization and admission of guilt. Each and everyone of us must personally, individually come to the full and complete comprehension that we are condemned as sinners right where we stand, here and now. It is because of our naturally disobedient nature that we refuse to face up to the fact that we ALL possess a sinister heart, which is: "...deceitful and desperately wicked..." (Jeremiah 17:9). It is our inherent nature to sin and thereby offend God each and every day of our lives -- by the words we speak, the thoughts we have, the deeds we do or the works we fail to complete. This constant pattern of wrongdoing has severed our relationship with the God who created us, causing the forfeiture of our right to citizenship in Heaven. We also fail to grasp the purity, holiness and perfect justice of the Lord, which will not tolerate one single sin to be in His presence!
With this tarnished view of ourselves and the world around us, we bring God down to our level of judgement. We understand and can acknowledge that a person who has been convicted of heinous crimes such as rape or murder is deserving of the anger and wrath of the Lord God. We also believe that this sort of person, if they show no remorse for these types of acts, is worthy of being banished to Hell after they die. But when it comes to our sinful life, we rationalize that we are not that bad because we do not willfully and consistently attempt to offend God by such actions. After all, we try to live by the "Golden Rule," attend church, give money to charitable causes, volunteer our time for worthy projects, raise our children to be productive citizens, and so forth. We do all these things with the hope God will overlook our many faults. We pray within ourselves that somehow, these good deeds will erase our debt of sin and placate His glaring judgement.
"How thou art fallen from heaven, O lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend upon the heights of the clouds I will be like the most High. Yet, thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit" (Isaiah 14:12-15).
God ejected his prize angel, Lucifer, out of Heaven along with one-third of the other angels, who followed his lead in a failed attempt to take over Heaven. For this one act of rebellion, they have been condemned to an eventual eternity in the "Lake of Fire" (Revelations 20:10). They have no hope of redemption, no chance of an appeal to a higher authority, so their conviction may be overturned. Their judgement has been sealed forever!
So, how is it we think we can escape this very same condemnation, when we sin thousands upon thousands of times during our brief life span? In our fallen state, we relish focusing upon the mercy of God, keeping His wrath and hatred of sin in the background. But to have a proper perspective of God's nature, we must initially focus on and address His terrible wrath. Then, we can discuss and look toward His love, mercy and forgiveness.
Moses, King David and the majority of the Old Testament writers warned of the fury and anger of the Lord. Jesus preached numerous times about the fearsome wrath of His Father and Hell. John the Baptist asked some of those coming to him seeking salvation: "...who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" (Luke 3:7). Throughout his letters, St. Paul warns of mankind being the subject of God's great anger, stating: "...knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men..." (I Corinthians 5:11).
Despite the many warnings throughout the entire Bible about the wrath of God and a placed called Hell, most people still believe they can justify themselves before God by doing their best to keep the Ten Commandments. But the Bible clearly teaches: "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." (James 2:10). You must realize that the very first time you willfully and knowingly took something that did not belong to you or told a lie, you became as guilty before God as someone who committed adultery or murder! At that point, you became the enemy of God for all time, just as Lucifer did when he chose to rebel against the Lord. Do not be fooled by false ministers of the Gospel who tell you: "Do this good work do that good deed and God will love and accept you." The word of God clearly tells us: "Therefore by the deeds of the law (Ten Commandments), there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20).
God knew we could not keep His laws without faltering and He never intended us to be able to do so. He gave us His laws to make us aware of and define sin. The law CONDEMNS, it does not SAVE. Yet, we persist in trying to gain the mercy and forgiveness of God by our own sacrifices and good works.
In summary, the first condition which leads to salvation is realizing and admitting to yourself and to God that you are wicked due to your chronic, willful disobedience. At the same time, you must realize and admit to yourself and to God you can do NOTHING to quench His anger and save yourself by your own hand. You must conclude you are absolutely powerless to erase your debt of sin, no matter how hard you strive to live a holy life. You have to come to the end of yourself and see that you are doomed. You must comprehend that you have no hope of appeasing the unlimited wrath and fury of the Lord, who "...is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:29).
CONDITION #2: Acceptable Sacrifice. The next condition to be met is determining what God will accept as the sacrifice for your sins. You must find the atoning sacrifice which covers sins, so the Lord no longer holds you accountable for them. And that one sacrifice is:
"...Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation (atoning sacrifice) through faith in his blood...that he might be just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus..." (Romans 3:24-26).
"But God commendeth (proved) his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him" (Romans 5:8-9).
"And you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross..." (Colossians 2:13-14).
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to live as one of us, and did so without sinning -- a feat no one else has ever accomplished. When He was murdered on the Cross of Calvary and His innocent blood spilled, He became "...the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). Jesus became the perfect fulfillment of the Old Testament ritual, whereby a lamb without blemish was sacrificed by a Levite priest for the sins of the people. Due to His selfless actions, Jesus Christ was given the legal right to take our debt of sin, nail it to the Cross, and mark it "Paid in Full!" In His majestic wisdom, God created a way to wipe our slate clean, allowing each and every one of us to be forever free from our bondage to sin. The Lord located a person who could legally commute our sentence of spiritual death. When we personally believe Jesus Christ successfully accomplished His mission and is the only way to Heaven, we have met the second condition for salvation.
CONDITION #3: Repentance. Repentance is not only feeling sorry for and ashamed of living contrary to God's laws. It also entails a willingness to completely turn away from and no longer live that life of disobedience. "The Lord...is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (II Peter 3:9). Without this sincere sorrow for having lived in defiance of all that God stands for, He will not look in your direction and save you. Once you are willing to turn your back on your life of rebellion against God, turn to Him to save and justify you, you will become His for all eternity. Just as no amount of good works can save you, no amount of bad deeds can cause you to lose your salvation. "For by grace are ye saved through faith: and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2: 8-9).
The song "Amazing Grace" was written by a former slave ship captain named John Newton. In the year 1734, at the age of 39, he had read a book while traveling on this ship titled "Imitation of Christ" by Thomas A. Kempis. Shortly after completing this work, a violent storm arose on the ocean, so fierce, he and all aboard were certain they were going to perish. Knowing he had led a sinful life, Mr. Newton prayed to the Lord for mercy. Right then and there, he experienced the saving peace and grace of Almighty God. John Newton gave up his wicked life in the slave trade, became a minister of the Gospel and preached the "Good News" until his death at age 82.
Ask yourself these questions: "Can I sing the words to "Amazing Grace" and fully relate to them?" "Can I point to a time in my life when I went directly to the Lord seeking His forgiveness, and then experienced a transformation similar to that of John Newton?" If the answer to both questions is "I'm not sure" or "no," I assure you, you can have this very same peace and forgiveness simply by asking for it, which leads to the fourth (4th) condition for salvation.
CONDITION #4: Call upon the Lord. After you realize and admit your wickedness, understand you are condemned and separated from God, comprehend that the blood of Jesus Christ is the only acceptable sacrifice for your sins, and have a heartfelt desire to turn away from your life of rebellion, all that is left to do is ask the Lord to save you. The Bible tells us: "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved...For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Romans 10:13, 9-10).
The tax collector in the "Gospel According to Luke" admitted and confessed to God that he was a sinner, and with a repentant heart asked the Lord to: "Be merciful to me, a sinner" (Luke 18:10-14). And Jesus said he went home "justified" in the eyes of God. Another example in the "Book of Luke" is a criminal on a cross beside Jesus. He had lived an ungodly and selfish life, void of being decent or moral. This man, who flaunted his wickedness in the face of God had a change of heart and believed Jesus Christ was the holy, blameless Lamb of God, who was dying for his sins. He trusted in the Lord and called upon him for mercy and salvation. And Jesus answered him: "Today thou shalt be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:39-43).
Please understand and take this to heart: No matter how you have lived your life up to this point, no matter how many sins you have committed, no matter how heinous they were, you can be forgiven of all of them instantaneously, right here and now. Admit to God you are lost and separated from Him because of the stain of sin upon your soul. Believe that Jesus Christ lived the perfect, sinless life you could not and then died for you, spilling His innocent blood to save you. Repent from your disobedient lifestyle. Call upon the Lord and ask Him to save you, trusting only in His grace to do so.
The Lord Jesus Christ assured us: "...him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. And I will give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish..." (John 6:37 & 10:28).
I sincerely pray the veil of spiritual darkness hanging over your soul is lifted and God opens your spiritual eyes, so you will be able to see that all I have written is true. I hope you make the decision to call upon the Lord and ask Him for His gift of salvation. See you in Heaven!
For those of you who took that leap of faith, accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior: Determine to live a life pleasing to Him. Read His word, the Bible, daily and pray to Him constantly. Join a Bible-centered church where you can grow in your knowledge of our Lord and receive the support and encouragement of other Christians. May God richly bless you!
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