SWEET STORY OF SALVATION

By Dr. David Williams Wanyama

Introduction

Today I came to tell you a sweet story of salvation. Our God is not a respecter of persons, he has enough to attend to each one of us. Salvation opens the door into God’s household. But is this topic of salvation understood by everyone? Let us take time to explore this story in the next couple of minutes.

1. What does it mean to be “saved”?

Scripture References

To all who did receive him [Jesus], who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. (John 1:12)

The blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)

 God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. (1 John 5:11)

• Being saved is not the same as being baptized or joining a church or making a public profession of faith.
• Being saved involves an inward change in a person’s mind and heart which is brought about by the work of the Holy Spirit in his life.
• A person who is saved sincerely trusts in Jesus Christ as the one who paid the penalty for his sins and accepts Jesus as the Lord and Master of his life.
• A saved person is therefore a child of God whose sins have all been forgiven and who has received the gift of eternal life.

2. How can God forgive us without punishing us?

Scripture References

He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. (1 Peter 2:24)

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. (Romans 3:23-25)

From the above scriptures:

• God forgives us because Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, took on himself the punishment which we deserved.
• Therefore, when we put our trust in Jesus and accept him as our Savior, he becomes our substitute.
• God accepts Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross in our behalf and declares usnot guilty. There is therefore no condemnation to the one who is saved.

3. Is God actually willing to forgive all our sins

Scripture References

Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. (Isaiah 1:18)

As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103:12)

He [God] will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7:19)

• God is willing to forgive every one who comes to him.
• There is no sin too great or too serious to be beyond God’s forgiving grace.
• However, we should remember that God’s gracious forgiveness does not always repair the harm that is done in this life because of our sins.
• While the guilt of our sin is gone, the consequences of our sin may continue to manifest in many different ways.

4. What must one do in order to receive this wonderful salvation?

Scripture References

The apostle Paul said: Testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. (Acts 20:21)

Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out. (Acts 3:19)

Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household. (Acts 16:31)

To receive salvation:

1. You must humbly repent of your sins and sincerely believe that Jesus died in your place.
2. It is a sincere belief that Jesus died specifically for you. 
3. It includes treasuring Jesus as supremely precious, desiring to have Jesus take control of your life, and sincerely committing yourself to please and honor him in all that you do.

5. What does it mean to repent?

Scripture References

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions . . . wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow . . . Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me . . . Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. (Psalm 51:1,7, 9-10, 12)             

The apostle Paul said, “I declared that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.” (Acts 26:20)

To repent involves

1. honestly admitting that we have not lived the way God wants us to live,
2. sincerely grieving over the ways we dishonor God and hurt others through our failures and sins,
3. truly desiring to stay away from those sins in the future, and
4. genuinely intending to live the rest of our lives the way God wants us to live.

We may have to repent over and over again, but our sincere desire and intention is to increasingly do the will of God through the help of the Holy Spirit.

6. Can’t one earn salvation by simply doing his/her best to live a good life?

Scripture References

There is none who does good, not even one. (Psalm 53:3)

We know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. (Galatians 2:16)

God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ . . . For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:4-5, 8-9)

1. Good works cannot help us to earn salvation.
2. If we do not truly love Jesus and put our trust in him, even our best works will merit nothing.
3. Salvation is a gift of God’s mercy and grace. It is impossible to merit it or earn it.
4. Even if we committed only one sin, we would have to pay the penalty for that sin.
5. The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).

7. Is there another way to be saved if we do not believe in Jesus?

Scripture References

Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

All the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him [Jesus] receives forgiveness of sins through his name. (Acts 10:43)

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all. (1 Timothy 2:5-6)

There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)

Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. (1 John 5:10-12)

1. There is no other way to be saved.
2. Many people have tried to find another way but none of these things will erase our sins or give us peace with God.

8. What does the Bible teach about being born again?

Scripture Reference

Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)

You have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God. (1 Peter 1:23)

1. No one can be saved unless he is born again.
2. Being born again involves a radical change in our lives which no one can accomplish by himself.

Jesus said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’” (John 3:6-7)

To all who did receive him [Jesus], who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12-13)

No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. (1 John 3:9)

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. (1 John 5:1)

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

To be born again is to receive a new, inner spiritual life through the Holy Spirit. When that happens, the believer becomes a new creation in Christ and a child of God.

Do you want to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life? Do you want to rededicate your life to Jesus? Jesus is willing to accept you back in his flock. Call us now!

To contact the preacher for prayers:

Bishop Dr. David Williams

Cellphone: +254 791 616 514

victorycfnairobi@gmail.com