Why Should I get Saved?
There is a misunderstanding that I believe many Christians make about salvation. Many act as if all you need to do is say a prayer and ask Jesus into your heart and you will be saved. That’s not truly how it really works though. I am unsure if I believe it is truly a decision we ever make. Let me explain…
Ephesians 1:13 (NASB)
13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,
There is one true God, who presents Himself in three distinct persons. There is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. In the beginning the Trinity would be known as the Father, The Word and the Holy Spirit. The Word literally set aside His godly powers and became man. He took on flesh and was born into the world and named Jesus. He became the Son of God. He was still God. He was still the Word, but He had set his powers aside and became man.
As Jesus walked among us, He taught us how God wants us to live. He was the living example of how God wanted us to be. He did not have special powers to deny sin. He denied it as a man like anyone else. He did not have powers to deny the temptations of the devil. He denied him as a man, like any other should. All of the miracles Jesus performed? They were performed by the Father and the Holy Spirit and done through faith, just like His apostles after Him.
The one thing Jesus could do is communicate with the Father. The Father showed Him things and told Him things. Because of this, Jesus knew fully well, exactly what was going to happen to Him when they killed Him. He knew they would beat Him and scourge Him. He knew they would humiliate Him and then nail Him to a cross. He knew exactly what he was going to go through and He chose to go through with it. Why would he do that? Because it was the only way mankind could ever be saved.
The Word, chose to take on flesh and become man and teach us how to live and show us by example. He chose to become the only sacrifice that could ever possibly be pure and holy enough, that the world could be forgiven for its sin. God chose to become man and suffer an excruciating death, so that man can be saved. Then God made that salvation a gift to mankind. Free to anyone who will accept it!
The thing is, Salvation is a spiritual gift. The only way you can accept this gift is if you believe in your heart it is real. Only someone who truly believes in their heart that Jesus is Lord can accept that gift of salvation. Anyone who does not believe it, is condemned because they rejected Him as their Lord.
Salvation is not something you choose to take. You either believe or you do not. If you believe, then you are saved already. If you do not believe, then you are condemned. Saying a sinner’s prayer will not change anything. Saying a thousand Hail Mary’s will not change a thing. You only need to look inside your own heart and ask yourself. Do you believe or not?
I Believe! What Now?
Now is when you make real choices. How happy in this life do you wish to be? How much do you want to enjoy the afterlife? Both of those are up to you and how you live this life is what controls those things.
Contrary to what most Christians teach, sin does not send you to hell. That belief came from misinterpreting a few verses, but nowhere does the Bible actually say that. Sin does two things. 1) It separates us from God in our personal relationship with Him. 2) It eats away at your rewards in the afterlife.
1) Separation from God – Let me be very clear here. The Apostle Paul tells us that we are not even good enough to be able to choose God until God first changes our spirit. Once God changes our spirit to desire Him, that is when we can truly believe. However, once God changes out spirit, our spirit can no longer be happy in sin. The closer were grow to God in our personal relationship with Him the happier our spirit is. The further we fall from God, the more miserable our spirit becomes. No true believer can be happy unless they are growing close to God in their walk with God. Sin cannot send you to hell, but sin can make you miserable. So if you want to be happy in this life, you need to focus on building your relationship with God.
2) Rewards in the Afterlife – Jesus often speaks about our rewards. A lot of Christians see heaven as a place where we all receive the same rewards and live the same life and we are all just as happy as the others. Their mistake is they confuse happiness in spirit with joy in life. The Book of Revelation says God will destroy this Earth and He will give to us a New Earth. That is where we spend eternity. Not in heaven but on the new earth. We will all live regular lives again. We will have jobs we perform and there will be positions of authority. Some will have servants waiting on them and some will be those servants. We will all be happy in spirit for we will be in the presence of God at all times, but not all of us will enjoy the new lives as much as each other.
If we live in sin in this life, and we are true believers, we will still be saved, but those sins will eat away our rewards. If when we enter the afterlife, our sin has eaten away our rewards, we will receive fewer rewards and be given lower positions. We may become servants to those who served God in righteousness. They however, will receive great rewards and enjoy the new lives far more. They will have jobs they enjoy more. They will have more time to enjoy other things they love more. They will not be happier inside than the servants, but they will have more enjoyment.
In the end, sin will make us miserable in this life and steals joy away from us in the afterlife. Or we can focus on getting right with God in this life and be happier in this life and enjoy the afterlife even more. That choice is completely in your hands.
NOTE* - I wish to make it extra clear. I fully believe Jesus is God. When I say He set His godly powers aside, I do not claim He stopped being God. He was still God in the flesh, but he only could not use his Godly powers so long as He was in the flesh.
A lot of Christians have a hard time accepting this truth, but this is what the Bible actually supports. "Did Jesus Have His Godly Powers as a Man?"
Ephesians 1:13 (NASB)
13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,
There is one true God, who presents Himself in three distinct persons. There is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. In the beginning the Trinity would be known as the Father, The Word and the Holy Spirit. The Word literally set aside His godly powers and became man. He took on flesh and was born into the world and named Jesus. He became the Son of God. He was still God. He was still the Word, but He had set his powers aside and became man.
As Jesus walked among us, He taught us how God wants us to live. He was the living example of how God wanted us to be. He did not have special powers to deny sin. He denied it as a man like anyone else. He did not have powers to deny the temptations of the devil. He denied him as a man, like any other should. All of the miracles Jesus performed? They were performed by the Father and the Holy Spirit and done through faith, just like His apostles after Him.
The one thing Jesus could do is communicate with the Father. The Father showed Him things and told Him things. Because of this, Jesus knew fully well, exactly what was going to happen to Him when they killed Him. He knew they would beat Him and scourge Him. He knew they would humiliate Him and then nail Him to a cross. He knew exactly what he was going to go through and He chose to go through with it. Why would he do that? Because it was the only way mankind could ever be saved.
The Word, chose to take on flesh and become man and teach us how to live and show us by example. He chose to become the only sacrifice that could ever possibly be pure and holy enough, that the world could be forgiven for its sin. God chose to become man and suffer an excruciating death, so that man can be saved. Then God made that salvation a gift to mankind. Free to anyone who will accept it!
The thing is, Salvation is a spiritual gift. The only way you can accept this gift is if you believe in your heart it is real. Only someone who truly believes in their heart that Jesus is Lord can accept that gift of salvation. Anyone who does not believe it, is condemned because they rejected Him as their Lord.
Salvation is not something you choose to take. You either believe or you do not. If you believe, then you are saved already. If you do not believe, then you are condemned. Saying a sinner’s prayer will not change anything. Saying a thousand Hail Mary’s will not change a thing. You only need to look inside your own heart and ask yourself. Do you believe or not?
I Believe! What Now?
Now is when you make real choices. How happy in this life do you wish to be? How much do you want to enjoy the afterlife? Both of those are up to you and how you live this life is what controls those things.
Contrary to what most Christians teach, sin does not send you to hell. That belief came from misinterpreting a few verses, but nowhere does the Bible actually say that. Sin does two things. 1) It separates us from God in our personal relationship with Him. 2) It eats away at your rewards in the afterlife.
1) Separation from God – Let me be very clear here. The Apostle Paul tells us that we are not even good enough to be able to choose God until God first changes our spirit. Once God changes our spirit to desire Him, that is when we can truly believe. However, once God changes out spirit, our spirit can no longer be happy in sin. The closer were grow to God in our personal relationship with Him the happier our spirit is. The further we fall from God, the more miserable our spirit becomes. No true believer can be happy unless they are growing close to God in their walk with God. Sin cannot send you to hell, but sin can make you miserable. So if you want to be happy in this life, you need to focus on building your relationship with God.
2) Rewards in the Afterlife – Jesus often speaks about our rewards. A lot of Christians see heaven as a place where we all receive the same rewards and live the same life and we are all just as happy as the others. Their mistake is they confuse happiness in spirit with joy in life. The Book of Revelation says God will destroy this Earth and He will give to us a New Earth. That is where we spend eternity. Not in heaven but on the new earth. We will all live regular lives again. We will have jobs we perform and there will be positions of authority. Some will have servants waiting on them and some will be those servants. We will all be happy in spirit for we will be in the presence of God at all times, but not all of us will enjoy the new lives as much as each other.
If we live in sin in this life, and we are true believers, we will still be saved, but those sins will eat away our rewards. If when we enter the afterlife, our sin has eaten away our rewards, we will receive fewer rewards and be given lower positions. We may become servants to those who served God in righteousness. They however, will receive great rewards and enjoy the new lives far more. They will have jobs they enjoy more. They will have more time to enjoy other things they love more. They will not be happier inside than the servants, but they will have more enjoyment.
In the end, sin will make us miserable in this life and steals joy away from us in the afterlife. Or we can focus on getting right with God in this life and be happier in this life and enjoy the afterlife even more. That choice is completely in your hands.
NOTE* - I wish to make it extra clear. I fully believe Jesus is God. When I say He set His godly powers aside, I do not claim He stopped being God. He was still God in the flesh, but he only could not use his Godly powers so long as He was in the flesh.
A lot of Christians have a hard time accepting this truth, but this is what the Bible actually supports. "Did Jesus Have His Godly Powers as a Man?"
Article by: Kenneth J. Ester
