Salvation Study: The Means of Salvation

BLJ: We will spend a few days talking about salvation. Let me blunt. I am convinced that many people attending church are not saved. They go to church because of the social benefits and friendships they make. Yet, they lack the deep commitment to Jesus Christ. As we study a work by Rev. Kenneth Fay, search your soul. Are you saved?

THE MEANS OF SALVATION

2 Sam 14:14 For we must needs die, and are as water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.

"What must I do to be saved?" inquired the trembling jailor. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved," answered the apostles (Acts 16:30-31). That same night the jailor did believe and was converted. Faith and obedience comprise man's responsibility in seeking God. Faith and obedience are both included in the word "believe," for faith without works is dead (James 2:17).

A serious problem confronts us today because of the prevailing misunderstanding of the word "believe." Many have come to confuse saving faith with mere intellectual "believism" bolstered by the good works of merely raising the hand for prayer, praying at the church altar, signing a decision card, shaking the minister's hand, water baptism, and such like. These practices alone have no power to convert the soul or make one "a new creature in Christ Jesus." The seeker may have made an effort to reform, may have shed a few tears, felt relief, and imagined these things would save him. Hence, a false hope is born. But only genuine faith in the Blood of Christ, which is anchored in obedience and established on the firm foundation of repentance and confession, has saving power. The three conditions necessary to saving faith are as follows:

First, REPENT! That is, let your heart melt before Jesus. Be ashamed of your sins which nailed Him to the cross and broke His heart--those sins which have caused so much condemnation and which would consign the finally impenitent to a lost world forever. There is no forgiveness until one is sorry for his sins, confesses them fully to God, vows to make all wrongs right with his fellow men in so far as he is able, confesses old grudges and asks forgiveness of injured persons, performing whatever God requires, humbly begging Christ for mercy. "Repent and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:15).

Second, RENOUNCE! This means that one must turn away from every sinful thing in his life. In Isaiah 55:7 the prophet said, "Let the wicked FORSAKE his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts..." The seeker must forsake all that he has been viewing, listening to, reading or practicing that has brought condemnation to his heart. One who hopes to break through must never turn back. Reader, if you want Christ to receive you, then you must rise up from the devil's table and walk out forever. "Come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you" (2 Corinthians 6:17).

Third, RELY! That is, commit your soul to Jesus now and count on Him to accept you just as you are. You must rely on His atoning blood. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). Your tears, confessions, restitutions, promises, separation and determination, as necessary as they are, are but prerequisites to the NEW BIRTH experience. Once they are accomplished, the seeker must rely on Christ as His atonement. He must look up and say, "Jesus, I have done my part, I have confessed and forsaken my sins, I now gladly surrender to Thy complete control. Save me, Lord, and save me now." Then comes the witness of the Spirit and the work is done. Venture all on Christ --it is a safe venture! (St. John 6:37)

In 1957 Air Force Major Simmons set a world record for manned balloons reaching some 102,000 feet of altitude. Shortly before the flight his polyethylene balloon lay flat. Then, charges of helium were forced into it. Soon it was "swelled" and tugging at its ground cable. Simmons now entered the 8 foot metal capsule beneath. One duty yet remained. The Major must release the ground cable. He did so and was instantly airborne. It worked!

Is your faith flat? Then force the "helium" of repentance and separation into it and soon your faith will be "swelling" within you! Now--rely on Christ--"let go and let God!" These three conditions when met will guarantee a SAVING FAITH--THE ONE MEANS OF SALVATION!