God's Simple Plan of Salvation
By Ford Porter
My Friend: I am asking
you the most important question of life. Your joy or your sorrow for
all eternity depends upon your answer. The question is: Are
you saved? It is not a question of how good you are, nor if you are a
church member, but are you saved? Are you sure you will go to Heaven
when you die?
God says in
order to go to Heaven, you must be born again. In John 3:7, Jesus said to
Nicodemus, “Ye must be born again.”
In the Bible
God gives us the plan of how to be born again which
means to be saved. His plan is simple! You can be saved today.
How?
FIRST, my friend, you must realize you are a sinner. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
Because you
are a sinner, you are condemned to death. “For the wages [payment] of
sin is death” (Romans 6:23). This includes eternal separation from
God in Hell.
“ . . . it
is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews
9:27).
But God
loved you so much He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus, to bear your
sin and die in your place. “ . . . He hath made Him [Jesus,
Who knew no sin] to be sin for us . . . that we might be
made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Jesus had
to shed His blood and die. “For the life of the flesh is in
the blood” (Lev. 17:11). “ . . . without shedding of blood is no
remission [pardon]” (Hebrews 9:22).
“ . . . God
commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us” (Romans 5:8).
Although we cannot understand how, God said my sins and your sins were laid upon Jesus and He died in our place. He became our substitute. It is true. God cannot lie.
My
friend, “God . . . commandeth all men everywhere to repent” (Acts
17:30). This repentance is a change of mind that agrees with
God that one is a sinner, and also agrees with what Jesus did for us on the
Cross.
In Acts
16:30-31, the Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas: “ . . . ‘Sirs, what
must I do to be saved?’ And they said, ‘Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved . . . .’ ”
Simply
believe on Him as the one who bore your sin, died in your place, was
buried, and whom God resurrected. His resurrection powerfully assures that
the believer can claim everlasting life when Jesus is received as Savior.
“But as many
as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on His name” (John 1:12).
“For whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans
10:13).
Whosoever includes you. Shall
be saved means not maybe, nor can, but shall be
saved.
Surely, you realize you are a sinner. Right now, wherever you are, repenting, lift your heart to God in prayer.
In Luke 18:13, the
sinner prayed: “God be merciful to me a sinner.” Just pray: “Oh
God, I know I am a sinner. I believe Jesus was my substitute when He died on
the Cross. I believe His shed blood, death, burial, and resurrection were for
me. I now receive Him as my Savior. I thank You for the forgiveness of my sins,
the gift of salvation and everlasting life, because of Your merciful grace.
Amen.”
Just take God
at His word and claim
His salvation by faith. Believe, and you will be saved. No
church, no lodge, no good works can save you. Remember, God does the
saving. All of it!
God’s simple
plan of salvation is: You are a sinner. Therefore, unless you believe on Jesus Who died in your
place, you will spend eternity in Hell. If you believe on Him as your
crucified, buried, and risen Savior, you receive forgiveness for all of your
sins and His gift of eternal salvation by faith.
You say, “Surely,
it cannot be that simple.” Yes, that simple! It is scriptural. It is God’s
plan. My friend, believe on Jesus and receive Him as Savior today.
If His plan is not
perfectly clear, reach out to us through our contact page. Your soul is worth more than all the world.
“For what shall it
profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own
soul?” (Mark 8:36).
Be sure you are
saved. If you lose your soul, you miss Heaven and lose all. Please! Let
God save you this very moment.
God’s power will save you, keep you saved, and enable you to live a victorious Christian life. “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, Who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Do not
trust your feelings. They change. Stand on God’s promises. They never change. After you are saved,
there are three things to practice daily for spiritual growth:
- Pray — you talk to
God.
- Read your Bible — God talks to
you.
- Witness — you talk for
God.
AFTER you
are saved, you should be baptized in obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ as
a public testimony of your salvation, and then unite with a
Bible-believing church without delay. “Be not thou therefore ashamed of
the testimony of our Lord . . . .” (2 Timothy 1:8).
Please
note that you DON'T have to be baptized to go to Heaven.
It is a step of obedience for the believer.
“Whosoever
therefore shall confess [testify of] Me before men, him will I
confess also before My Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32).