"NEW TESTAMENT SALVATION"

I saw this picture, and it cried out to me; "this is what I went through for you why do you find it so easy to reject me, to be indifferent? Why is it so hard to do such little things as I ask to be saved from your sins forever and live with Me in My Kingdom? Don't you know that sin cannot enter into Heaven? Please take my death and resurrection seriously, for I want you to join me in My Kingdom, cleanse by the blood of the Lamb and washed white as snow."

Good Evening to All!

In the context of Scripture, salvation means deliverance from all the power and effects of sin, and it has past, present and future aspects.

There are many parts to the Essential Doctrine of the Bible. I can't go into all of them because I would be typing for a VERY LONG time. There is Salvation by grace through faith. Which in basic principle says that a person can do nothing to save himself. No amount of good deeds or good works , or adherence to law can save him This is stipulated by Ephesians 2:8-9.

Saving Faith. I think to me in my personal relationship with God This one is the one that truly spoke to me and made me hungry for the rest. It says To believe on Jesus includes believing His Word, and truly believing His Word includes obedience. Faith is more than mental assent. intellectual acceptance, or verbal profession; it includes trust, reliance, commitment, appropriation, and application. We cannot separate saving faith from obedience. (Acts 6:7; Romans 1:5; 2:6-10; 10:16; 16:26; Hebrews 11:6-8). Obedience to God's Word is absolutely necessary to salvation (Matthew 7:21-27; John 14:15, 23; Romans 6:17; 15:18; 2 Thess. 2:3-5; 5:1-3).

Faith is alive only through response and action (James 2:14-26). It is possible to have an initial degree of faith in Christ and still not be saved if there is not complete acceptance, commitment, and obedience (Matthew 7:21-23; John 2:23-25; 12:42-43; Acts 8:12-23; James 2:19).

Faith is the means of appropriating God's grace.It is the means by which people yield to God, obey His Word, and allow Him to perform His saving work in them. Saving faith , then, is
(1) acceptance of the gospel of Jesus Christ as the sole means of salvation and (2) obedience to that gospel (application or appropriation of that gospel).

There is much more to this topic of New Testament Salvation, but for the time being, I think I would like to just "hover" on this specific principle for a time.

I used to be a holder of the idea that all I had to do was go up to the altar, stand before God and the preacher and say I accept Jesus as my Savior, and that was it. I was to be saved forever more, no matter what I did. Of course I have always considered myself a Christian even when I didn't go to church, drank like a fish, and partied ALL THE TIME. After I "accepted Jesus as my Savior, I never gave Him a second thought.

First let me say I love Him and I'm so thankful that He saw the beginning from the end. That way He knew I would eventually come to Him and get serious about our relationship. I so appreciate Him not giving up on me.

That being said, I guess that is why I take this so seriously. If I knew 20 and 30 years ago what I found out 13 years ago, I would have had a much easier life. Not that everything would have gone my way or even been a bed of roses. I know I would still have gone through my trials and tribulations, it just that having faith that He would help me get through things would have released a lot of stress from me. Not to mention I would have been delivered from drinking and smoking A LOT sooner.

I know I kind of drifted off course, but I wanted you to know why I feel so strongly
about this aspect of Salvation. We have to have a relationship with God. It has to be personal. He wants us to realize and acknowledge that when He gave up His earthly body on that Cross that it wasn't to be taken lightly. Our freedom from sin and death was bought with His blood.

We owe it to Him to abide by His Word, because we belong to Him. Look at it this way. He is our Creator, He sustains us by keeping us alive, giving us His breath, and He has saved us from spiritual death by allowing His earthly body to be sacrificed for our sakes. It is only logical to come to the conclusion that for us to abide with Him in His eternal Kingdom, that we would be expected to do Him honor by living the way He wants us to live, and get to know Him and what He expects from us in His Word? Salvation is a gift, because it is given to us, but it is not a "free ride". He doesn't expect us to do anything extraordinary or unattainable. Just abide by His Word.

Staying "saved" is a life time journey. It is not a one time event. According to Paul, we are to repent, be baptized everyone of you (us) in the Name of the Jesus for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Speaking of the above verse, I am really embarrassed. In one of my earlier posts (I can't seem to find it now), I misquoted. I said Peter was talking to the Pharisees and he wasn't. He was talking to the Jews who had crucified Jesus. I am so sorry. I didn't mean to lead you astray. I hope you will forgive me.

Paul also said, He died daily.This is in 1 Corinthians 15:31. I keep thinking there is another verse that tells us This means He repents and gets rid of the old habits and whatever is in his heart that is not of God. In other words, we will be doing this until Jesus comes for us if we want to meet Him up in the air.

I hope that this gives you some "food for thought" about true Salvation. There are a total of One Hundred and Fifty Eight verses having to do with Salvation in the Bible. In the Old Testament they mostly are talking about "waiting for the Salvation of the Lord, or as In Isaiah and Joel speaking of prophecies.

In the New Testament, there are 42 verses on Salvation, and from Acts on, it is teaching us how to obtain that salvation which if asked I can look them up and give them to you.

I know I post a lot about this subject, but it is because I care, and I promised God when I started this blog that I would get His Word out and Salvation is the Most important Word from Him that I know. Actually there are two . Salvation and Repentance. Just know when I'm posting I am speaking to myself as much or more than anyone. I say these things not only to help those who may not know or understand, but also to remind myself of what I need to pay attention to and do.

Good Night to All and May God Bless!