But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. (Titus 3: 4-5) <\/em><\/p>\nThe word \u201csalvation\u201d is one those terms whose meaning eludes most of those we rub shoulder with today. If you mention the word \u201csalvation\u201d to someone, chances are that they will immediately think of the \u201cSalvation Army\u201d, this Christian organization that helps people in need. And that\u2019s about it. But what does it mean when, for example, you strike a conversation with someone about the salvation of their soul, and you ask them whether they are saved or not. In other words: what is salvation? What does it mean to be saved?<\/p>\n
Salvation is the rescue of somebody from a perilous situation, from a danger that could cost them their life. A child falls into a well, someone goes down into the well and climbs out of it carrying the child to safety, that person has saved the child. A boat is shipwrecked, and you don\u2019t know how to swim; someone helps you get onto a wreck until help comes, that person has saved you. So, the word salvation evokes automatically the idea of a danger that threatened the life of the one who has been saved. Therefore, the notion of salvation is inseparable from the idea of danger \u2013 even mortal danger.<\/p>\n
So, when in Titus 3: 5 the apostle Paul states that God saved us, the question that immediately gives rise to is: \u201cFrom what?\u201d The Bible is abundantly clear about this. John 3:16, one of the best known verses in the Bible, tells us what God saved us from: \u201cGod so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.\u201d \u201cShould not perish\u201d \u2013 that\u2019s the danger to be saved from and that decided God to send His Son into the world. It\u2019s the possibility of eternal perdition, which consists not only in being eternally separated from God (whereas we are made to live in fellowship with Him,) but also in the dreadful reality called hell \u2013 a reality the Bible describes with various expressions, such as \u201ceternal punishment\u201d (Mat. 25:46), \u201ceternal fire\u201d (Mat. 25:41), \u201cunquenchable fire\u201d (Mat. 3:12), \u201cwhere there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth\u201d (Mat. 8:12), \u201cwhere their worms never die\u201d (Mark 9:48), \u201cplace of torment\u201d (Luke 16:28), etc.<\/p>\n
In the Book of Revelation this reality takes on the name of \u201csecond death\u201d or \u201clake of fire.\u201d In his description of the last judgment \u2013 these great assizes where people from all generations from Adam to the last person to walk planet earth shall appear \u2013 the apostle John wrote this:<\/p>\n
11Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. 14Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Rev. 20:11-15)<\/em><\/p>\nA lake of fire is not a place where one will ever wish to stay even for a few seconds. However, according the book of Revelation 20:15, many will be cast there, and in 20:10, that place is described as a \u201cNo Exit\/No U-Turn\u201d highway, for \u201cthey will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ordinarily the greatness of a rescue operation is measured proportionally to the greatness of the danger a person is rescued from. In other words, the greater the danger the greater the rescue. Now, in the Epistle to the Hebrews (2:3), the author dubs the salvation God provides in Christ \u201csuch a great salvation.\u201d (\u201cHow shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?\u201d) This salvation is great because the danger from which God has rescued those of us who are saved, namely the lake of fire \u2013 is exceedingly great. Those who deny the reality of hell are in reality belittling the value of the salvation and the price it was purchased for by Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n
But the passage in Revelation does not only tell us what God saves us from, but also what salvation consists in. Salvation consists in having one\u2019s name written in the book of life. At the very moment when somebody repents from their sins and turns to God through Jesus Christ, their name is immediately written in the book of life. That person is eternally saved.<\/p>\n
But how to receive something so necessary? I want to limit myself to showing you only two conditions to meet to receive salvation.<\/p>\n
1. The first condition is to realize that you are really in danger. When a hurricane strikes, the only persons who seek shelter are those who know that they are in danger by the location of their homes, the solidity thereof, and the strength of the storm. In the same way, the only persons that seek refuge in Jesus Christ are those who acknowledge that they are incompetent to stand the trial at last judgment. So, they take refuge in the shadow of the cross.<\/p>\n
When a sinner is aware of being in danger of eternal perdition, he or she then becomes anxious to know what to do to be saved. Following Peter\u2019s vibrant speech on the day of Pentecost, the Jews asked him in anguish: \u201cBrothers, what shall we do?\u201d (Acts 2:37) That also was the case for the jailer in Philippi who threw himself, trembling, at the feet of Paul and Silas, saying, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”<\/p>\n
Then came the answer, clear, simple and precise: \u201cBelieve in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved \u2013 you and your household.\u201d (Acts 16:31)<\/p>\n
2. That provides us with the second condition to be saved: you must believe in the Lord Jesus. That implies at least three things:<\/p>\n
a) You must first acknowledge that you are a sinner and that you are lost, that is, separated from God in this life (that\u2019s what the Bible calls spiritual death) and destined to be eternally separated from Him, unless you are reconciled to Him through Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n
b) You must realize that Jesus Christ \u2013 He who was without sin \u2013 was made sin for us at Calvary, that is, He bore upon Himself the sins of all men, receiving in our place the punishment we deserved so that God can forgive us without breaking His own law, which stipulates : \u00ab The wages of sin is death. \u00bb Since Christ died for us (in our place), God can, in all justice, grant us His free \u201cgift [which] is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.\u201d (Romans 6:23)<\/p>\n
c) You must obey what God commands you to do, no matter how absurd that seems to be in your eyes. Some people today will go to hell because instead of embracing God\u2019s solution to the problem of sin, they waste their energy in all sorts of reasoning. \u201cThe message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.\u201d (1 Corinthians 1:18) God tells us to put our entire trust for our salvation in Jesus Christ. He tells us to make our eternal salvation rest solely on the expiatory sacrifice of His Son on the cross. When you do that, you are eternally saved; your name is written in the book of life. It is that simple!<\/p>\n
My friend who read these lines, the only thing left for me to do is tell you that the salvation of soul depends on a decision you must make in this very hour, while you still have breath in your nostrils. If death \u2013 I mean physical death \u2013 catches you in your state of spiritual death, you will be irremediably lost; you shall know the second death that\u2019s no other thing than the lake of fire and sulfur \u2013 this fire that never quenches. Take hold of God\u2019s salvation manifested in Christ, even today, for it written: \u201cNow is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.\u201d (2 Corinthians 6:2)<\/p>\n
Hubermann Larose
\nAssociate Pastor<\/p>\n
\nSi vous voulez lire ce texte en fran\u00e7ais cliquez ici<\/a>!<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\nFood For Your Soul
\nby Reverend Hubermann Larose<\/p>\n
Si vous voulez lire ce texte en fran\u00e7ais cliquez ici!<\/p>\n
The What and How of Salvation
\nBut when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":23209,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-27062","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myredemption.org\/redemption\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myredemption.org\/redemption\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myredemption.org\/redemption\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myredemption.org\/redemption\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myredemption.org\/redemption\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27062"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/myredemption.org\/redemption\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27062\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27074,"href":"https:\/\/myredemption.org\/redemption\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27062\/revisions\/27074"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myredemption.org\/redemption\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/23209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myredemption.org\/redemption\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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