Salvation, God's Way

Nancy Paulson

(Romans 3:10 KJV) As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

(Romans 3:23 KJV) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

No one is righteous. ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Paul writes that all, both Jew and Gentile alike, have sinned. There is now no distinction. In the previous verses Paul wrote before that the Gentiles had turned away from God and went their own way. Then he writes that the Jews, even with the law did not meet God's standard of perfection. No one can come to God's standard of perfection in their own strength because we are all sinners. God tells us how we became sinners:

(Romans 5:12 KJV) Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

That one man is Adam, the first man of the human race. Adam became a sinner when he disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden and all of Adam's descendants are born with a sin nature, a nature that will always lack conformity to God's Glory. We are descendents of Adam and are under the penalty of sin, which is death. It does not matter how "good" we try to be, the fact is, we are sinners. It is important to note that we are sinners because of who we are (a descendent of Adam) not because of things we do or not do.

(Romans 6:23 KJV) For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Eternal life cannot be earned by living a "good life" or "trying to do our best". Everyone is a sinner and everyone deserves eternal death, but God has a gift of eternal life. We have a choice, God is offering us a gift of eternal life and it is up to us whether or not we accept it. How can we receive God's gift of eternal life?

(Romans 1:16 KJV) For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

To be saved from the penalty of sin, which is death, we must believe the gospel. The word "gospel" means "good news". What is this "good news"?

(1 Corinthians 15:1-4 KJV) Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; {2} By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.{3} For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; {4} And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

This is the gospel or good news, which we must believe in order to be saved: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and that He was buried and that He rose again. How does believing this gospel save us?

(Romans 5:8-9 KJV) But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. {9}Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

We see that while we were sinners, Christ died for us and justified us by His blood. When Christ died on the cross He died in our place. It is because of our sins that Christ hung on the cross. Christ died our death so that we might be able to receive God's gift of eternal life. How do we receive this gift of eternal life?

(Romans 3:22-26 KJV) Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: {23} For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; {24}Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: {25}Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; {26}To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

We receive the gift of eternal life by believing that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins and that He rose from the dead. There is nothing that we can do other than believe that what Christ did on the cross was sufficient to bring us into right standing with God. He suffered the penalty of our sin, which is death. He took our place on the cross. The judgement of our sins was placed on Christ at the cross, He paid the price of our sin in full and because of that we are justified in God's eyes through our faith in the blood of Jesus Christ. We are justified only because of what Jesus accomplished. We cannot add anything to the finished work of the cross.

(Romans 5:17 KJV) For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.

(Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: {9} Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Where will you spend eternity? All those in hell will be there because they did not believe that Jesus Christ died their death on the cross and are getting what they deserve.In heaven all will be there only because of what Christ did for them, no one will be boasting about the deeds they did to gain favor with God. We cannot be saved by our own righteousness: by "trying to be good" and "doing our best".

We are saved only by God's grace through faith in the blood of Christ. Our salvation is all because of what Christ has accomplished.

Righteousness (right standing with God)is a gift of God. We only have to believe what God has said in His Word (the Bible):

(2 Corinthians 5:21 KJV) For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

(Romans 4:5 KJV) But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

We are made righteous before God when we believe what Christ did for us: He died for our sins and rose again. We are righteous in God's eyes by simply believing what Christ did for us. It is that simple.

(Ephesians 1:13-14 KJV) In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, {14}Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Once we believe the Gospel, Christ died for our sins and rose again, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit. This seal is God's earnest money. Earnest money is something that people put as a downpayment when they want to purchase a house. It means that they are serious and will indeed purchase the house. God has given us a downpayment when we believe the Gospel, that means He is serious and will indeed redeem us; we will be conformed to His glory when we believe the gospel.

How to receive God's salvation:

Admit that you are a sinner and that you cannot save yourself through your own efforts. (Read Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9)
Believe that Jesus Christ paid the penalty for your sins by dying on the cross and rose from the dead. (Read Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4)
Put your trust in the finished work of the cross. (Ephesians1:13-14)