Salvation...?


Salvation is something that doesn't just happen. It's not a formula or a seven step program one follows and *poof* there you are. Salvation is a miracle where God takes an unholy person out of an unholy world, makes him holy and put him back into that same unholy world and keeps him holy.

2Cor.5.17. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
When we experience new birth or salvation, we become new creatures through and in Christ Jesus. Old things are indeed passed away, and this is the best evidence that you are indeed saved, is those sins and old habits don't have the same draw they used. You don't want to do those things anymore, you feel uncomfortable hanging around your old friends and their ways. You are different now, your thoughts, words and deeds seem very strange to your friends. All you want to talk about is what happened to you. All you want to talk about is Jesus. You are constantly crying, my oh my that's all you do lately and even for us veterans, we are in a constant state of appreciation and thankfulness for what Jesus did for us. You cry out of thanksgiving, for the knowledge that YOU were handpicked out of the entire world to be saved by God.
Eph.1
4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Rev.17
8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
What a thing of wonder! God chose who He was to save and who He was to damn. Is this fair? Yes, because if it wasn't for His mercy and grace we would all wind up in hell and deserve it too! We deserve hell, we deserve destruction. Why? Are we not good people? NO! A thousand times no!!! We are not good. The Bible calls us wicked from the day of our birth. We are full of troubles, and our hearts are desperately wicked. Don't believe me? When was the last time you did something completely and totally selfless? Better yet, say I took you into an auditorium and had all your friends, relatives and closest family members seated in front of you and I had the ability of taking all your thoughts for the last week and playing them on a big screen for everyone to watch. What would you do? I suggest to you that you would run out the door and hide because you would have a lot of enemies and people who hated you after that performance. Everyone of us is guilty of being disgustingly evil, perverse and damned to hell. The wrath of God hangs over our head, waiting for the word of God to fall and end our lives. It is only by the arbitrary will of an angry God, that the lost are still alive for one more day. God is in control of your life and everything in it. You are not. You can do whatever you want to attempt to extend your life and cheat death, but when God decides to end your life, He will have not an ounce of remorse in doing so and if you are of the mind that you can get on without Him, He will quite happily hurl you into hell to be forever tormented by His wrath. Is this what you want?
Probably not.
This page will not lead you in a prayer, or a confession of some sort. This page will present to you the facts, and you will have to take it from there. I cannot lead you to Jesus Christ and salvation, no one can. I can only show the door and it's up to you whether or not you will open it. Can you be saved? I don't know. I'm not God and I don't know your heart. I can't see how sincere you are, and I can't see if you are truly broken in your sin. If you say you are, if you are truly sorry and want to pour yourself out to God and beg for His forgiveness, then that's a start. I suggest to you that you boldly tell those around you what you are doing and get away by yourself for as long as it takes until you KNOW that you are saved. You must pursue God until you find Him. Chase Him down and throw yourself at His mercy. Beg for your life, beg for your very soul. Plead with Him until He stops and turns to you and says, "Son/daughter, you are forgiven." This is not a formula or some well-rehearsed prayer, this is you pouring yourself out to the Judge of all the earth, and begging for His mercy. This is you declaring to God that because of what Jesus did on the cross, you pledge to serve Him and give your all to Him and relinquish all of your rights, possessions and identity to Him because He's worth it. Not because you want salvation per say, but because you can see the sacrifice, you can see the price that was paid for your soul and you are willing to die for Him to prove that His sacrifice was worth it even if it means you going to hell at the end of your life because you refuse to do one thing to get something out of Him. You are bowing to God so that God can take you and break you, shape you and conform you to the image of Jesus for His glory.
This is Salvation
After you have found God, and after He has forgiven you then what? This is the moment of truth as it were. Are you a new creature? Are you different? If you answered yes then start by cleaning up your life. Separating yourself from that which offends Jesus. Separating yourself from those who just don't understand. Tell them what happened and be bold about it. If they laugh at you or scorn you then good. That's a good sign. If you are truly saved, then obviously you are going to talk about it, right? If someone gave you a medicine that brought you back from the grave, wouldn't you talk about it? Of course you would. You would spread the news near and far. It should be no different with your salvation. EVERYTHING should have changed in your life. Your old desires, needs and wants have all now become sickeningly transparent and one-dimensional. All those things you once lived for now seems so petty and frivolous. If you are truly a new creature, then your days are spent with your Saviour, in His Word, and telling others about Him. Only he who can see where he was going, will be sincerely appreciative for being saved. Clean your life out of that which you KNOW would be offensive to Christ. He is and always shall be your constant companion now, the invisible observer in every conversation and the unseen witness to your every thought, word and deed. Just thinking about His death and torture should spurn you on to being as "Christ-friendly" as possible.
One thing I want to make good and clear:
This is not a works-based salvation
I am not telling you that you have to do anything to earn your salvation, or earn God's favour. You couldn't even if you wanted to. The only way to earn His salvation and favour is through faith in Jesus Christ and what He did for you. Yes you prove your salvation through fruit. If the tree is producing fruit then the tree must be saved, but if the tree is not producing fruit then there's something wrong. However the fruit is not a product of your efforts, for your righteous acts are as filthy rags
Isa.64
6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Don't ever think that you will do anything to earn God's approval. Everything we do is self-centered and selfish. We might try to fool others and even ourselves that our good works are selfless and done for God's glory, but we know better...
The only way to live out each day of our new lives is through humility, submission and brokenness. This is achieved by thinking of others higher than yourself, and by allowing the Holy Spirit to be in control. I liken the Christian walk in a very unpopular way:
I call it the Trunk Principle.
God drives the car and doesn't want anyone getting in His way. Guess where that leaves you? In the trunk. For this is the only place you are safe from disturbing His plans. ironically, your only view is that through the key hole. You have no idea what's ahead, nor do you have any idea of what's around you. All you can see is what's past. You have to leave the rest up to God's providence and sovereignty.
This is where submission comes in for you have no concept of where your life is going, and you have no idea where God will take you. When you surrender all that you have and all that you are to Him, you will be in a position to be used in any capacity He deems necessary. This is scary yet very comforting. He knows where He's going, for He built the path. He knows how to get there, for he has written the book and drawn the map. Nothing has been left up to chance and nothing catches God off guard. He is always in control, whether you are saved or not. He is in control of you coming to Christ or going to hell. Make it easy on yourself and be conformable, useable and teachable, otherwise God will just have to break you and start over. He's got all the time in the world and is in no rush to do anything. He will take as much time as is needed to make you into what He wants you to be. This isn't a bad thing. He wants the best for you. He wants you to prosper, but on His terms. He wants you to succeed in what you do, but on His terms. If He prospers you either financially, or in some other form, understand it's only to advance His kingdom and to spread His Gospel. Your money, health, family, job, home, car, tools, food, clothing ALL now belong to Him and Him alone to do with as He pleases. This might very well mean that you will live in poverty for the rest of your life. If so, then the little bit that you have will bring God glory if you surrender it to Him for His purposes.
In closing, once God has brought to Jesus in salvation, once you have been made a new creature then the journey begins. The Bible says, "that the fear of the Lord, is the beginning of wisdom." The BEGINNING. In order to live for God, there better be a healthy fear and reverence for Him. You cannot serve God unless you fear Him. Once this has been established, then your life will become easier in many aspects. You will no longer be wondering if this or that is okay to eat, watch or do. You will know. Many questions will arise, but the answer will be plain, "Does it glorify God?" This is and should be the question that you filter everything in your life through. From your friends to your job should be strained through this filter, and if these things are not being allowed through, then get rid of them or go to God and ask Him how can this or that be glorifying to God...you might be surprised. Build up for yourself a network of others who will challenge you and sharpen you. Sites such as this and others who will speak to you the uncompromising Word of Truth, and keep you accountable. This is vitally important. Fill you mind, your mouth and your hands with God's word and allow Him to move you in any such way He desires.
Salvation is an ongoing process that will continue on until you are on the other side in glory. Salvation is a process of purification, you will not be perfect overnight and will never be, but God will work on you, sometimes rebreaking you, sometimes kneading you and sometimes comforting you, but all for His glory and your betterment. Embrace His work in your life and you will be counting it all joy!
Here is a link to a sermon done by a man name Paul Washer. This message is for you. Please listen and let God fill you with His truth.
When you get to the place where you have cried out to God, "Save me!", then watch this video. It will teach you some very comforting truths about your salvation and to not expect God to do a lifetime of work in your heart overnight. Please watch and please let me know if you have made this wonderful decision and I will help in any way I can!

If you have come to the place where you have received mercy and grace from God, then you will definitely want and NEED a Bible. God bless you for your submission to God's will for your life! BTW, if you have made this wonderful decision, please contact me at follower4jesus@gmail.com and tell me your story. I will be starting a testimony page when I start gathering a few together. Thank you kindly.

Repent and Believe
We as Christians are normally afraid to confront a stranger about their soul, and in this day and age of tolerance and relativism, this task is all the more made difficult. How do we open a conversation? What do we say? It is hard sometimes, but evangelism needs to be done no matter the price...souls are at stake here.

Be Thus Minded...


This blog will give you free down-loadable tracts that focus on the truth of man's need for Jesus, nothing more. In fact, these tracts won't even give the whole message, that's your job. Tracts aren't a cop-out, they are a help or tool that starts a conversation off in the right direction. You're the evangelist, not the tract. You're the Christian, not the tract. No tract will ever bring someone to Christ, unless it is God's will. He uses us. Click on the link and copy it to your computer, print it off and fold it together making it appear like a greeting card. Print up as many as you wish, use them! More will be added daily. Go and be Jesus to the world, through Jesus, because of Jesus and give Him glory through your selfless actions.
...are you going to hell?
Jesus Sees Right Through You
The Clock is Ticking...
Are you a good person?
You Killed Him!
Let's Take a Test
More downloadable tracts from Institute for Christian Research. Click on each one for a downloadable PDF tract

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