JESUS CHRIST IS OUR ONLY HOPE FOR SALVATION
Guest message by Randall Counts
“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12 NIV)
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10 NIV)
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6 NIV)
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. (John 3:3 NIV)
GOD DOES NOT WANT TO DAMN YOU!
GOD DOES NOT WANT YOU TO GO TO HELL!
YOU COUNT, YOU MATTER, YOU MEAN SOMETHING, AND YOUR LIFE MEANS SOMETHING.
Your skin color doesn’t matter
Your gender doesn’t matter
Your age doesn’t matter
Your looks don’t matter
How much money you have doesn’t matter
Your mental abilities don’t matter
Your physical abilities don’t matter
Your good works don’t matter
You count, you matter, you mean something and your life means something because of only one thing: Because of who created you!
So, who created you? Who created the human race? The one true and living God, the God of Judeo/Christian history.
The Holy Trinity: God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Lord our God is One.
As it says in Genesis 1:27 (NIV): So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Almighty God created humans in his image so that we could have a loving relationship with him. So that we would live for him, love him, serve, him, honor, glorify, and worship him, as he deserves.
Every human being has a need to worship. Until we are in right relationship with God we spend our lives worshipping and serving the wrong things. When we are right with God, we find joy and happiness loving and worshipping him.
And keep this in mind. God created the human race. Contrary to what we have been conditioned to believe, there is only one race on this planet: that is the human race. There is no yellow race, no black race, o red race, no white race, no brown race. There are many different ethnicities, different colors, and vastly different creates, but we are all human beings. God created us equal and on the cross, Jesus paid the same price for everyone’s sins, regardless of the color of their skin.
YES, GOD WANTS TO HAVE A LOVING RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU.
However, if you are not right with God when you die, you will go to hell.
The fact is, we all deserve to go to hell. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23 NIV).
God lives in unapproachable light. He is holy, righteous, and pure, Nothing and no one unholy or impure may enter his kingdom. People are unholy, impure, and separated from God because they are born with a sin nature.
We are born with a sin nature because the first human being, the first parents, Adam and Eve, sinned by rebelling against God. That sin of rebellion caused the spiritual fall of mankind.
The fall caused us all to be born under a curse. If we want to be saved, we have to overcome that attitude of rebellion.
The fact is, we all suffer from the price of life. You know that part inside that says
THIS IS MY LIFE AND I’LL LIVE IT ANY WAY I WANT!
Some people deny that they have a sin nature. They claim to be good people.
However, this is how God sees our hearts: The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve. (Jeremiah 17:9-10 NIV)
Yes, we are all sinners. We are all guilty of at least one of these things: People are “… lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God…” (2 Timothy 3:2-4 NIV)
KNOW THIS!
A price has to be paid for every sin ever committed, yours, mine, and everyone’s. That price is death. Not the death we usually think of. It’s more than physically dying and being buried. It’s eternal death and destruction. As it says in Revelation 21:8 (NIV): But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
In Matthew 25:41 (NIV) it says, “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”
“This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 13:49-50 NIV)
WHAT IS HELL LIKE?
Hell is a place of never-ending torment, mental, psychological, and emotional torment and anguish. A place of never-ending, unrelenting, unbearable physical pain that you can never escape from. A place of total and complete loneliness, in a kingdom of darkness. No one or thing there will ever care about you in any way. Not even God. Because the opportunity for his mercy, grace and forgiveness is over for you. Once you are there it’s too late.
I’d like to paraphrase something Pastor John MacArthur said “because of the screams of billions of people who are continually burning, it must be a place of utter and complete madness.”
Jesus talked about and warned us about hell more than anyone else in the Bible. Here are two of the things he said.
“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28 NIV)
Jesus also referred to hell as a place “where ‘the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched.” (Mark 9:48 NIV)
YES, THE PRICE HAS TO BE PAID FOR OUR SINS
But there is good news for those of us who are willing to admit we are sinners. Jesus came for us, he came for the wicked.
As it says in the gospel of Mark, 1”When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:16-17 NIV)
Luke 19:10 (NIV) says, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
None of us deserve the grace and mercy of God, however he’s willing to give it to us.
As Romans 5:8 (NIV) says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
1 John 4:10 (NIV) says “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”
PLUS JOHN 3:16-17 (NIV)
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
Whoever believes in him.
This is more than believing in the historical fact that Jesus lived. It’s believing in your head and heart that Jesus is the son of God and if you put your faith in him you will be saved. This believing is also not a one-time thing. In the original language this verb “believing” is ongoing or continual. Point being, that you are always believing in him and trusting him to see you through life as your Lord.
YES, YOU CAN GET RIGHT WITH GOD, DON’T PUT IT OFF!
Some take the risk of putting off the decision to follow Jesus. It is a very dangerous thing to take the grace of God for granted. It is after all his grace that opens your eyes and ears to his truth. His grace also touches and softens your heart so that you may choose to put your faith in Jesus.
It’s also dangerous to put it off because every time you say no to God, your heart hardens. Eventually your heart will become so hard you won’t be able to repent, you won’t be able to turn from living in rebellion.
COUNT THE COST! CONSIDER THE BLESSING AND THE CURSE
Know this: if you put your faith in Jesus to be your Lord and Savior and are born again; the precious blood of Jesus that saves you from being a slave to sin, that saves you from the wrath of Almighty God, and saves you from an eternity in hell, also purchase you. According to 1 Corinthians 6:20 (NIV) “you were bought at a price…” You have the responsibility to follow Jesus as your Lord.
WHAT IS HEAVEN LIKE?
Heaven is a place where Almighty God lives, there is no evil and no sin. A place of incredible beauty and peace.
1 Corinthians 2:9 (NIV) says, “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him—” Point being: heaven is so wonderful, it’s beyond our imagination.
OR: THE CURSE
Knowing Jesus left heaven and suffered so much here on hearth so that you could have a saving relationship with him. If you stay as you are, if you remain in rebellion by insisting on being in control of your life. If you reject all that Jesus and the Holy Spirit have done for you, then you have blasphemed the Holy Spirit and that is an unforgiveable sin. You will spend eternity in hell. (Matthew 12:31-32 NIV)
SO, KNOWING ALL OF THAT
Let’s take a real close look at what Jesus has done for us.
“…Christ Jesus …
Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
(Philippians 2:5-8 NLT)
You see, Jesus loves you so much he left heaven, was born to a virgin, was disrespected, span on, humiliated, beat by Roman soldiers, tortured by experts, suffered the immeasurable righteous wrath of Almighty God for every sin ever committed, and experienced the agonizing death of crucifixion on a cross to pay the price for everyone’s sins – including yours!
He paid that high a price so that you may have a saving personal relationship with him, starting here on earth and for all eternity! If you want that relationship, then turn from being in control of your life.
Put your faith in his blood sacrifice and death as the total payment for your sins. You don’t have to work for your salvation, in fact you can’t earn it! You are saved by God’s grace through faith in what Jesus has done for you.
The same almighty power that raised Jesus from the dead will touch you and your spirit will be born again. The Holy Spirit will help you grow in your relationship with God. He will be your counselor and guide you through the trials and tribulations of life. So, don’t harden your heart, come to the Lord while his saving grace may be found. Don’t take his grace for granted.
He will accept you as you are. As Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 NIV)
Has the Holy Spirit been working in your life? Has the weight of your sins been weighing you down? Are you weary of being a slave to sin? Are you sick of being afraid of death? Do you want to be right with God? Do you want to have a loving relationship with God?
Then I urge you to pray to God as soon as possible.
WHEN YOU PRAY KEEP THESE THINGS IN MIND
There is no special prayer
There are no magical words
There is no special person to pray for you
Salvation requires an act of faith, true heart to heart communication between you and God. He knows your heart and knows what you mean when you pray.
The Lord will accept you as you are. You don’t have to clean up your life. But you do have to come in faith and repentance.
FAITH
Come in faith believing Jesus is the Son of God and his blood sacrifice and death on the cross paid the full price for all of your sins. No matter how many, no matter how horrible, no matter how evil your sins have been, the blood of Jesus can cover them.
COME IN REPENTANCE
Repentance is not a work, Repentance is the proper attitude of a person whose heart and mind have been convicted by the Holy Spirit of the sin in their life.
Acts 17:30 (NIV) says, “…God…commands all people everywhere to repent.”
The apostle Paul said, “I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.” (Acts 20:21 NIV)
Repentance is more than feelings of regret or remorse or sorrow for the various sins you commit. Repentance is confessing to God, agreeing with God, that you have lived a life of rebellion against his will, but you have changed your mind and now you will obey him and follow Jesus as Lord.
NOW WHAT?
You have put your faith in Jesus and are born again! That’s great! Now what? The enemy will come and say nothing happened, it’s all a lie. The enemy is the liar. Don’t believe him!
Believe what Jesus said, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30 NIV)
Remember, you are saved to have a good loving relationship with God. So, grow in that relationship by spending time alone with him. Thank him for all he has done for you.
Get to know and understand his will for your life by reading his word – the Bible. Start in the New Testament with the gospel of John.
Also, remember the Holy Spirit is your counselor. Spend time with him, ask him to give you wisdom and discernment about his will for your life and for grace to overcome sin.
And of course, go to a Bible believing Christian church every Sunday. However, other than Sunday, don’t get so involved in church activities that you neglect spending time alone with God and reading the Bible. Building your personal relationship with God is the most important thing you can and need to do.