How Are We Saved?

All right. This is a question or topic that is often talked about in Christian and non Christian circles.  I should clarify: How are we saved from our sins/Hell?  Another way of putting it would be, "How does one enter into a relationship with God?"  One of the problems I have discovered over the years is that a lot of people are very dependent upon what a preacher, priest, pastor or friend communicates to them.  But here's the deal, why would you allow your eternal destiny rest in the hands of another person?  If you were going to solo sky dive what would you do to prepare?  Personally I would take every class  I could...I would take a lot of notes and ask a lot of questions.  I would also personally learn and pack my own chute, and if someone had packed it for me I would recheck for myself.  Are you with me?

I strongly believe that the same should hold true for our relationship with God.  Why would you allow another person to tell you how to enter into a personal relationship with Jesus when you can find out the truth for yourself.  So what I suggest every Christian should do is find out for themselves.  Now, I wish I could take credit for this little exercise but alas I have to give credit where credit is due.  One of my college professors, Chuck McCoy suggested this and I have personally done it twice.  So if you want to know how to be saved, here is a good exercise to engage in.

Find a good concordance and look up the following words: "saved", "save", "saves" and "salvation." If you're looking for a tool online check out Biblegateway.com and do a "Key Word" search for those same words.  Once you have done that, collect and group all the verses that are related specifically to being saved from sin and or Hell.  Then make note of what each grouping of verses teaches...then do what they say.  

Now, I highly recommend that you do this exercise for yourself.  But if you want a quick glance, here are all the verses in the New Testament that use the words, "save", "saved", "saves" and "salvation."  Do a read through and see what they say.  I would love to hear your thoughts.

New Testament Scriptures using the word, “Save”/ “Saved” / “Salvation” / “Saves”

“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,  because he will save his people from their sins.”  ~ Mt 1:21

²² All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. ~ Mt 10:22

²⁵ For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. ~ Mt 16:25

¹⁶ Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. ~ Mk 16:16

¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ~ Jn 3:17

⁹ I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.  He will come in and go out, and find pasture. ~ Jn 10:9

And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ ~ Acts 2:21

¹² Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” ~ Acts 4:12

¹¹ No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.” ~ Acts 15:11

³¹ They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” ³² Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. ³³ At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. ~ Acts 16:31

¹⁶ I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. ~ Romans 1:16

⁹ Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! ¹⁰ For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! ~ Romans 5:9

 

⁹ That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. ¹¹ As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” ¹² For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, ¹³ for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”  ~ Romans 10:9

² By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. ~ 1 Cor. 15:2

¹⁰ Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. ~ 2 Cor 7:10

⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ~ Eph 2:8

¹¹ For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. ~ Titus 2:11

⁴ But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, ⁵ he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, ⁶ whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷ so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. ~ Titus 3:3

²⁵ Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. ~ Heb 7:25

²¹ Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. ~ James 1:21

²¹ and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²² who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him. ~ 1 Peter 3:21

Catalyst 09 - Compassion Moment

I've had some inquiries about the video I showed on Sunday during my message. If you missed it or want to watch it again, here it is. Oh and you had better have some tissues handy...I'm just saying.

One Dollar More

I wanted to share with you something that we are going to try during the month of February. As most of you know we have been studying through the New Testament letters of 1,2 and 3 John. We will be wrapping up the series actually on Valentine’s Day, which is interesting since the driving force of John’s letters could be summarized in this statement: When you know the truth about Jesus you love. So as you can see, there is a love theme going on here. What we are going to do is enact the power of love on people in our community through a project called, One Dollar More.

Here is how One Dollar More is going to work. What we are going to ask is that everyone who attends our worship service put in one dollar more in the offering plate. So if you usually put in $50, put in $51—simple, right? Then what we are going to do is take the total attendance for the worship service and take out one dollar for each person attending. So, if there are 150 people attending on Sunday, we will take out $150—again, simple. We will then use that money to help someone in the community. It may be a single mom who can’t pay her heating bill. It may be an elderly woman who can’t pay rent in February. We want to show God’s love in a simple and practical way. In fact we already have a family that we are going to assist with our dollars from the offering this Sunday (February 7^th). You will learn more about them this weekend.

Okay, let’s go over this one more time. Each Sunday, during the month of February put one more dollar in the offering plate. If you don’t give anything, why not try giving four dollars during the month of February and see how God uses your money. Also, if you have kids, this is a great way to connect them with how God uses our gifts. If your kids have an allowance, encourage them give one dollar each week. If your child has never given, challenge them to do chores around the house to earn a dollar so they can put it in the offering plate each Sunday. Then each Sunday, they will see for themselves the power of giving in love.

One last thing, I need your eyes and ears in the community. If you come across a need where our, One Dollar More money can go, please contact me. You are the church and wherever you go you represent Christ and his church. If you come across a neighbor that is struggling or a co-worker that can’t make ends meet, let me know. We want to share God’s amazing love in a simple and practical way!

Recent E-Mail and My Response

The E-Mail:

Good morning, I was looking at your web site and I was wondering what your take is on instrumental music. And Why do you down grade the worship of our Lord with encouraging people to come dressed "comfortably"? What if comfortable to some are short shorts and tank tops??? Seems odd to me that people are getting away from the reason we are to be attending church.. The true christians of this world are going to be the ones that stand out because of what we do NOT do, not because we tag onto the shirt tails of the majority.. After all, when you read the scriptures, where is the majority of the population going to spend eternity? Now you know why!
Thanks...

My Response:

Thanks for checking out our website. Regarding your first question about instrumental music, we use instruments in our worship service. We have many skilled musicians and it is such a joy to hear and see them as they help lead our worship services.

Your second question, "Why do you downgrade the worship of our Lord with encouraging people to come "comfortably"? I guess I don't understand what you are asking. What does manner of dress have to do with worship? Jesus told the woman at the well (John 4) that true worshipers worship in spirit and in truth. That was in response to a question about whether true worship required a specific location. Need I also remind you that King David danced in his underwear...his wife was critical and God cursed her. Be careful about making judgments when you don't know a person's heart--only God knows that. The whole idea of "dressing up" for church is man made...Jesus never made that a mandate for his followers or those seeking him. Did the prostitutes/tax collectors have to clean up before they came to Jesus?

One last thing. You pointed out that only a few are going to spend eternity with the Lord. You speak truth. But that is not God's desire. He desires that everyone would come to Him. He is patient doing whatever it takes to get them to Jesus. The whole thought of people spending eternity in Hell breaks my heart, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to make that "few" as big as possible.

Remember, we are on the same team. We may do things a little bit differently but we love Jesus with all of our hearts and we strive to be obedient to the Scriptures.

Grace & Peace,
Tom Steele