That is the summary of salvation that God has provided for us all.
Nobody is excluded from the plan of God. However, it is matter of choice - the above scripture says 'whoever believes in him should not perish'. Those who prefer destruction may choose not to believe. What a choice!
Why Sin? Why punishment?
The plan of God for us is that we should love him and obey His
commandments and also love our fellow human being (Matthew 22:37-39). That is
all God is demanding from us so that we can live a peaceful life in this world
and beyond. But we have an enemy who does not like the plan of God for us: what
he wants is violence not peace, disorderliness not orderliness, wickedness not love, disobedient to God not obedient, lies not truth, death for us
not life (John 10:10, John 8:44). His name is Satan, A.K.A, the devil. He is
the arch enemy of God and everything that God has created. His job is to
inspire us to do everything that is contrary to the will of God in other to
destroy us. Unknown to us, we obey him and so he brings wickedness to our
heart. We become lovers of ourselves not lovers of others or God. We seek
pleasures at the expense of others and God – fornication, adultery, killing, greed,
jealousy, rivalry, envy, idolatry and all other wicked acts becomes our regular
lifestyle and we justify them. We do not want to know or even hear anything
that concerns God who created us and loves us.
Now, think about this, if you were God who created man and love peace,
what will you do? Well, this is what God did when it happened in the days of Noah:
God became angry with man and He destroyed both man and everything he
gave him to enjoy (Genesis 6:5-7) with heavy rain but saved Noah and his
family because he was righteous in his sight.
The same wickedness that pervaded the earth in the days of Noah has
dominated the earth today, but God has promised He will not destroy the earth
again with rain (Genesis 9:11). So what is He going to do? He has a different
plan: His is bringing judgement upon the earth with a more devastating
destruction through fire (Malachi 4:5, 3:2, 2Thessalonian 1:8, 2Peter 3:7,
Zeph. 1:18). Everyone will account for his good and bad.
Who is the Salvation of God
meant for? Who will be saved?
The salvation of God is meant for all men who are ready to form
relationship with Him in this evil and disobedient world.
“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world” (Titus 2:11-12)
God does not want anybody to perish, except if we deliberately choose that.
However, God is not the God of injustice: He loves those who love Him (Proverb
8:17). He knows those that have a relationship with Him: those that listen to him
and obey Him while they live on earth (2Timothy 2:19); those that accept the
offer of his salvation. He will not cast them away and neither will He destroy
them with the wicked. The scripture expressly states that the Lord knows how to
deliver the godly (2 Peter 2:9). For that same reason He sent Hs Son, Jesus,
into this world to deliver them that will listen to Him. This is what Jesus
said about those who will be delivered:
“Verily, verily, I
say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath
everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from
death unto life” (John 5:24)
The salvation of God is for his saints: those who will believe and accept
Jesus as the Son of God (John 3:16).It is for those who will hear and believe
what God is saying through Jesus. The salvation of God is not for those that
denied him. If we choose to deny Him, he has no option than to deny us (2Timothy
2:12). If a man does not have any relationship with Jesus on earth, how can he
dwell with Jesus in heaven when he dies? If you don’t want to be with him here
on earth, be sure He will not want to be with you in heaven.
Is it only Jesus that can
save? Why?
Jesus is the only one that can save. The reason is not far-fetched. We have
sinned and the consequence of our sin is death. It cannot be changed; as a
result somebody has to die in other to take away the curse of death from us.
This is exactly what Jesus did. He did not sin himself, but died our death – He
took the consequences of our sins upon himself and died the death that is meant
for every sinner. He received the wages for our sin on our behalf.
“the wage of sin death, but
gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23)
It does not just happen, it has been designed long ago that he is the
only one that can bring salvation to his people. There are other gods and lords that
people worship, but they cannot save. The reason why they can’t save is that
they don’t have power to conquer death but Jesus did. He that will deliver others
from death must have power over death. In other words, he that will deliver
others from death and give them eternal life must have eternal life in
himself. Jesus conquered death through resurrection from the grave.
“For God has not destined us
for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for
us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him”. (1Thessalonians
5:9-10 ESV)
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there
is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts
4:12)
Salvation
belongs to the Lord and not to any man (Psalm 3:8, 37:39). It is only the power
of God that can deliver us from his wrath. All other gods cannot do it.
How Do I receive Salvation?
The first step
towards the salvation of your soul is repentance. You need to realise that you
are unrighteous (Isaiah 64:6) and as a result, you are not worthy of having any
relationship with God unless you repent by asking God to forgive you of all
your sins (Acts 3:19).
The next step is
to confess the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and saviour and believe that he
died because of your sins and that God has raised him from the dead.
“That if thou shalt
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that
God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation” (Romans 10:9-10 KJV)
Your confession is very important. It is as important as your faith
because that is where the enemy may stand to contend with you if you don’t do
it prayerfully. Now if you will like to receive salvation immediately, then bow
down your head in prayer and make this confession loudly enough to be heard.
I realize today that I am a sinner and
that my sin will keep me away from Heaven. Now I believe in your Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ. I believe he died for my sins by dying on the cross and that He can
forgive me of all my sins. I now accept and trust Him alone as my Lord and
Saviour. Please, forgive me of all my sins and accept me today. Thank you for your
gift of love and of eternal life (In Jesus name I pray).
Congratulations
if you have done that from the depth of your heart. Continue to trust in Lord
Jesus Christ. Prayerfully seek His help daily and you will be surprised what
will happen in your life. You may need to find a bible believing church and
start attending if you have not been doing so before.
May the grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ be with you forever (amen).
Salvation
is the deliverance of humanity from sin, destruction and judgment (Matthew
1:21, Romans 10:9-10). In order to fully understand what salvation is all about, we must first understand
the concept of sin. 
