FYI GETTING SAVED, WHAT DOES IT MEAN AND HOW CAN I BE??? Pastor TR Cannon Youve surely heard some of these questions before: Are you saved ?, Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior?, Are you a Christian?, Do you have a personal relationship with God?, Are you born again?, Are you going to Heaven?. . . . But what do these things really mean and just what exactly are people saying when they ask you these things? Sometimes Christians can be a little overzealous when they share Gods truth with others (called witnessing). Many times they neglect to fully explain just exactly what it means to be saved or not saved. They are often quick to state: Youre going to Hell if you aint saved, but what good does it do to tell someone that, if they dont even know for sure what being saved means? This short Bible study (in two parts) will endeavor to put into words, belay some fears, and clear up some confusion about what Gods Word says about salvation, forgiveness, and the eternity in Heaven. For God loves all His children the same, even the ones that dont yet know or accept Him or His Son Jesus Christ. Yes God loves us all alike, He is more pleased with some that with others but even those that deny Him still have His love. God may not like what some of us are doing, but He still loves us all and it is His desire that each and every one of His children overcome, attain salvation, and not perish in the Lake of Fire (Hell): Matt 18:14 (Jesus speaking) 14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish. (KJV) We are all Gods children, he created our souls, and He is our Heavenly Father whether we acknowledge Him or not. God even created satan, the most evil entity in the universe. God created everything and everyone. Satan however has forfeited his place in the eternity with God, and as it is written satan will be cast into the Lake of Fire [Revelation 20:10]. Way back in the Old Testament days, the people were instructed to sacrifice animals to God as an atonement for their sins, were-by through the death of the sacrificial animal, the people would be spared the eternal death of their soul in Hell. But then in the New Testament (New Covenant) God changed that, He made a more perfect way. God sent His only begotten Son (virgin birth) , Jesus Christ, to come to this earth, whom was Himself born as a baby of woman just like we were, who lived 33 years as a flesh man without committing not even one sin; and then He died on the cross for every sin that every person on the entire planet could ever and would ever possibly commit, from the first days to the last days of this world for those whom believe upon Him and ASK for forgiveness. And after three days dead in the tomb, Jesus Christ rose on that third day from the dead and ascended to the right hand of God in Heaven where He remains to this day. When Jesus arose from the dead He had defeated death {Heb 2:14}, He defeated death for us whom believe. Because of what Jesus did, the eternal death of a soul in the Lake of Fire has no power at all over those who simply believe that God had Jesus to do it for us. Heb 2:9-18 9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. 10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12 Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee {Ps 22:22}. 13 And again, I will put my trust in him {2nd Sam 22:3}. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me {Isa 8:18}. 14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. 17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. 18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted. (KJV) You see, there are two deaths, there are two bodies with each of us, the flesh body that we can see and the spiritual body within - our very soul so to speak; the first death is the death of the body (flesh) , but the other death is far more important. The second death is the death of a soul, and it is eternal. We all die in the flesh, and they bury our flesh body, but our soul (spiritual body) goes immediately back to our Heavenly Father upon the instant of our death. There we await the Final Judgment Day, and those who have not overcome will then be cast into the Lake of Fire (Hell) to be nevermore, but those who do overcome will go on to spend the eternity in Heaven with God, Jesus, and all the others who overcame. 1 Cor 15:44 (the two bodies, flesh and spirit) 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. (KJV) So when they say we are saved, they are saying that we are saved from the second death, that meaning: saved from the death of our souls in the Lake of Fire (Hell). And when they say born again what they are really saying is: born from above. It means to have eternal life from God enter your spiritual body, it means that your soul can live for ever and not perish in the Lake of Fire. Jesus explains this to a Jewish priest in the below scripture. This Jewish priest was a good man who believed upon Jesus. This priest even risked excommunication by coming to speak with Jesus, that is why he came to Jesus by night, in those days no one traveled by night. The high Jewish priest at that time forbade any to come to Jesus; this man had faith to risk it all! Below, we see the man call Jesus Rabbi, this simply means teacher in Hebrew and it is an address of respect: John 3:1-7 1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God [Heaven]. 4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mothers womb, and be born? 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. (KJV) Born again, what does it mean? We are all born from a sac of water (Amniotic Fluid) in our mothers womb, this is the first birth, the birth through the water (and while Baptism is indeed important and Jesus did command us to so be, it is not the subject being spoken of in this particular Scripture). But we must also be born into the Kingdom of God through Jesus Christ to attain eternal life in Heaven. This is the second birth, the birth through the Holy Spirit in Jesus Christ. The second birth is spiritual and we have that choice unlike the choice of being born from our mothers womb. And once we are born spiritually through belief in Christ into the Kingdom of God (Heaven), then the second death (eternal death) has no power over us. For you remember that Jesus defeated that death on the cross for all who would believe upon Him. In other words, when you reach out to Jesus Christ and believe that He is the only Begotten Son of God who died and rose again and is in Heaven with God, then He spreads His cloak of protection over your very soul, and God honors that because He said He would. SORRY FOR BEING SO LONG BUT IS VERY NECESSARY INFORMATION.>>>PT
Posted on: Sun, 01 Jun 2014 13:02:46 +0000
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