Monday, January 23, 2023
For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And the wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23
Three Things You Need to be Free Forever
It is both the most comforting and the most terrifying thing that we cannot do anything to earn our salvation. There is absolutely nothing we can do to save ourselves. We will fail at every attempt because it cannot be done. For some, they will strive their whole lives to “qualify” and “earn” salvation, only to realize that there is nothing they could do in their own power to help themselves. God gives us salvation as a gift, and we only need to accept it.
How very comforting to know that God has already done for us what we will only ever fail at. He has earned our salvation for us and given it to us as a gift. Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man and begins and ends with God and His purpose of grace.
There are Three Elements of Salvation:
Conviction - Salvation is brought about by the convicting work of the Holy Spirit and by the Word of God (proclaimed or read). The lost person is convicted of his sin and is convinced of his need of Jesus Christ, the Savior, to save him from sin.
Conviction is not just shame or guilty conscience over sin. It is not a fear of divine punishment, or just knowledge of right and wrong. Understanding sin and its consequences is far from being convicted of our sins.
When we are convicted we feel such contempt for our own sin and how it dishonors God that we cannot stay the same. It usually comes after we have become aware of the true glory and holiness of God. When we see this, we feel our sin to such a greater extent compared to His presence. It is a realization of our condition and how much we truly need Him.
Repentance - The natural man is called by God to a single act of repentance and believing. Repentance is a change of mind, turning to Christ from sin, trusting and believing in Him as personal Savior in regard to the Gospel message. Both faith and repentance are a gift from God.
Once we are convicted, if we do nothing to change our condition then we just stagnate in our sin. We know that we are sinful and He is holy and without change we cannot have a relationship with Him. In order to make this change repentance is necessary and that means literally turning away from our sin and going in the opposite direction. Away from our sin and towards Christ. It requires action – not action that earns you salvation, but a necessary action for salvation. It involves both a physical turning from sin and a mindset of turning from rejecting Christ in sin to faith in Christ in repentance.
Faith - Salvation is by grace alone through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Believers are saved and fully justified before their faith ever produces a righteous work. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9 Salvation is all God's work. Those who believe are saved utterly apart from any effort on their own. Eternal life is a gift of God (Romans 6:23).
Faith is trust and confidence in Jesus to do what He said He will do – forgive and reconcile us to God to enable our growth in Him.
The salvation God offers us is freely ours if we’ll dare to believe He is that good. – Danielle Bernock In faith we believe He is that good!
Through conviction, repentance, and faith, God draws us, opening our eyes, and changing our hearts. All of these begin at salvation, but they are not a one and done. Every time we sin we should feel convicted and repent, renewing our faith in God and relationship with Him. We are saved once, but because of our human condition we will find ourselves asking for forgiveness and changing our ways forever – and that is growth. God knew this about us and that is why He gave His son to pay for all our sins – past, present, and future, and to secure our eternal home with Him in heaven.
But now that you’ve found you don’t have to listen to sin tell you what to do and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way! Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God’s gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master. Romans 6:22-23 MSG
