Video Transcript: Lesson 5 Salvation

Hi, I'm David Feddes and welcome to Lesson five of Christian basics what the Bible teaches  about salvation. The writer of the material that you'll see on the screen is Dr. Ed Roels. And  I'm David Feddes, The provost of Christian leaders Institute presenting this material by Dr.  Roels, and then adding some additional thoughts as we go through it. Introduction. in lesson  four, we learned about the wonderful things that Jesus Christ said and did while He was on  earth. However, you may wonder what all this has to do with you. You may be asking, did  Jesus die in my place? Can I find forgiveness for all my sins? can I really be sure that I will  live forever with Jesus in glory? In this lesson, you will read the Bible's answer to those  questions. Question one, what does it mean to be saved? 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 has saved sincerely trust 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. So we're saved from our sins, we are made children of God, and God  gives us a tremendous gift, the life of eternity of enjoying him now, and forever. We're saved  from something that is sin, and it's terrible penalties, and were saved for something to be  God's children, treasured by him, and enjoying him forever. Scripture references to all who did receive Him that is who received Jesus who believed in his name, he gave the right to  become children of God. And many times the Bible speaks of being born of God, or born  again. I John 1:7, the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin, that blood that Jesus  poured out his life that he gave on the cross wipes out the sin of all who trust Him. I John  5:11, says God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Question two, how can God  forgive us without punishing us? God forgives us because Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of  God, took on himself the punishment which we deserved. 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 us not guilty. And when God does that, he also not only lays  our sins on Jesus, but he takes Jesus goodness and puts Jesus goodness and all that Jesus  deserves on 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, John 3:16, a verse you hear again and again throughout this  study, For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him  should not perish, but have eternal life. I Peter 2:24, Jesus Himself bore our sins in his body,  on the tree that is the cross where He was crucified, that we might die to sin and live to  righteousness by his wounds, you have been healed. Romans 3:23-25 says, 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. A propitiation is a sacrifice, or a substitutionary death that absorbs God's  punishment and wrath against sin, and instead brings God's favor upon us. Question three, is  God actually willing to forgive all our sins? Yes, everyone. There is no sin too great or serious  to be beyond God's forgiving grace. However, we should remember that God's gracious  forgiveness does not always repair the harm that has been done in this life because of our  sins and The guilt of our sin is gone. But the consequences of our sin may continue in many  different ways. Think of a man who was nailed to a cross next to Jesus, a person who  deserved to be there, because he had been a nasty criminal. And now he was dying for his  crimes. But this man said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when you come in your kingdom, and he admitted that he deserved what he was suffering. And Jesus said to him, today, you'll be  with me in paradise. He was forgiven all of his sins, and that entire life of crime, he did nothing to make up for it. He couldn't earn his salvation, but it was given to him by Jesus as a free gift 

of forgiveness. But that didn't end his suffering right then and there. He was suffering for his  crimes, he remained on that cross, until soldiers came along and smashed his leg bones. And shortly after that he couldn't hold himself up anymore, and he died. And so even though his  guilt was removed when Jesus told him so he still suffered for his crime and in our lives too  even when God forgives us, there may be things that continue to trouble us or trouble people, we've hurt by our wrong action. So it is great that God is willing to forgive us no matter how  serious the sins. It's also sobering, that our sin does have consequences that can hurt  ourselves and others even after we've been forgiven. Scripture references though your sins  are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they shall  become like wool. Isaiah 1:18. Psalm 103:12, says as far as the east is from the west, so far  has he removed our transgressions from us, Micah 7:19, says, He will again have  compassion on us, he will tread our sins under foot, you will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. What a beautiful picture in the Bible of God taking your sin as far away from you, as  you can get east from West or as the bottom of the ocean is from the land, or the filthiest  bloodstained garment God makes us pure as snow. And so God's forgiveness is true and  amazing. Question four what must I do in order to receive this wonderful salvation? You must  humbly repent of your sins and sincerely believe that Jesus died in your place. Faith is not  simply a mental belief that Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world. It's a sincere  belief that Jesus died specifically for you. It also includes treasuring Jesus as supremely  precious, desiring to have Jesus take control of your life, and sincerely committing yourself to  please and honor Jesus in all that you do. Scripture references, the apostle Paul said,  testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and have faith in our Lord  Jesus Christ. You see it repentance and faith. Acts 3:19, Repent therefore, turn again, that  your sins may be blotted out. Acts 16:31, Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved you and your household. Question five, what does it mean to repent? To repent, involves honestly  admitting that we have not lived the way God wants us to live. Sincerely grieving over the  ways we dishonor God and hurt others, through our failures and sins, truly desiring to stay  away from those sins in the future, and 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. In the original languages of the Bible, the word repent just means turn. Turn away from sin, be disgusted  with it, turn around and turn towards a life lived for God. Scripture references have mercy on  me, oh God, according to your steadfast love, according to Your abundant mercy blot out my  transgressions. This is King David speaking after some terrible sins he committed and he's  praying in Psalm 51. 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 is a  great prayer, of repentance of sorrow for sin of longing for God's forgiveness, and longing for  New Life. Acts 20:26, says that the Apostle Paul said I declared that they should repent and  turn to God performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. So Repentance means you're  Forsaking sin, feeling sorry for it, but then also seeking to do deeds that are different that  really show your repentance is real. Question six, can we earn salvation by simply doing our  best to live a good life? No. If we do not truly love Jesus and put our trust in Him, even our  best works will merit nothing. Salvation is a gift of God's mercy and grace, it is impossible to  merit it, or earn it or deserve it. Besides, even if we committed only one sin, we all commit far  more than that, we would have to pay the penalty for that sin, and the wages of sin is death.  We cannot make up for our sins by anything that we do. Scripture references, There is none  who does good, not even one, Psalm 53:3, Galatians 2:16, we know that a person is not  justified or made right with God, by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ, so that 

we also have believed in Christ Jesus in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by the  works of the law, because by the works of the law, no one will be justified. Again and again,  he repeats your works, cannot make you right with God. Ephesians 2 says, 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's the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one  may boast. Jesus wants compared God's forgiveness in a parable, He told to a debt so huge,  nobody could ever begin to pay it, he spoke of a debt of 10,000 talents. And at that time, the  income of an entire kingdom for a whole year was 900 talents. So this was 11 times a national budget. That was one person owed and was released from that debt. Now, if you're going to  try to pay off the entire national budget by yourself 11 times over, that is not going to happen.  And that's what it's like, says Jesus to try to make up for your own sinfulness before God by  your own deeds and your own works. You can't do it, the debt percent is too big for anybody  ever to pay for you to try to earn your way back to God is like somebody who's out in the  middle of the ocean, trying to swim to shore, it doesn't matter whether you're a good  swimmer, the distance is too great. If you're a lousy swimmer, you'll just go right down and  drown. If you're a pretty decent swimmer, you'll swim for a while. But if you're in the middle of  the ocean, far from shore, eventually you'll tire out and drown. Even if you were an Olympic  caliber swimmer, one of the great swimmers of the world. If you're out in the middle of the  ocean, you would drown eventually, when you're out in the middle of the ocean far, far from  land, you don't need swimming lessons. First of all, you need a boat. And that's what the Bible teaches we have in our Lord Jesus Christ, we don't try to earn God's favor with our own  efforts at swimming towards God. It is Jesus who comes and rescues us and snatches us  from drowning and carries us to safety. It's faith in Jesus, not our own efforts that can get rid  of our sins. Question seven, is there another way to be saved if we do not believe in Jesus?  Know, many people have tried to find another way through punishing themselves or showing  kindness to others, or giving gifts to the poor, or making some significant personal sacrifices  serving other gods are simply doing the best they can. But none of these things will erase our  sins, or give us peace with God. There is no way no other religion, no other things that we can do that can make us right with God and bring us to him. This may sound at one level, kind of  narrow minded to some people, they think there should be many roads to God, many cures  for sin. But what if there were one cure for cancer that worked every time? You would not be  saying, Oh, what do you mean there's only one cure? You'd say Wow, there is this cure for  cancer that works every time. Let me have it. And so it is with this cure for sin. There's only  one His name is Jesus, that you can have him whoever you are. There's no other way to be  saved. But this way to be saved, works for anyone who trusts 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. You cannot have God the Father, without coming to Him through His Son, Jesus  Christ. Acts 10:43, says, All the prophets bear witness to everyone who believes in Jesus  receives forgiveness of sins through his name. I Timothy 2:5-6 says, For there is one God and there is one mediator between God and man, one go between, between God and men, the  man Jesus Christ, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, there's just one God, and one way to be right with that one God, and it's the one person who is both God and man who can put one hand on God, the other hand on you or me, and bring us together with God. And this Jesus  gave Himself as a ransom for all. The apostle Peter said in Acts 4:12, there is salvation in no  one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men, by which we must be  saved no name, but Jesus, no salvation, except through Him. I John 5:10-12, says, 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. So if you're wondering, is there any way to be saved besides Jesus,  that word of God makes it absolutely clear, whoever does not have the Son of God does not  have life. Question Eight. What does the Bible teach about being born again, no one can be  saved unless he is born again. This involves a radical change in our lives, which no one can  accomplish by himself, any more than a person can arrange for his own natural birth.  

Scripture references, John 3:3, Jesus said, Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again,  he cannot see the kingdom of God. A little later in that same passage, Jesus says, That which is born of flesh is flesh, that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. So you should not be surprised 

that I say, you must be born again. We need to be born of the Spirit of God or we will never  see the kingdom of God. I Peter 1:23, you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but  if imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God, when the word of the Gospel  comes to us, it creates a new life within us as we receive it by faith you've been born again.  Question Nine, what does it mean to be born again, 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. And we will see more in lesson six, about the work of the Holy  Spirit and who the Holy Spirit is. But to be born again, is to have spiritual life, from God's own  Holy Spirit. Scripture references, 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.  You see the work of the Holy Spirit that Jesus talks about. John 1:12-13 says, To all who did  receive Him, 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 born of God. I  John 3:9, 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. The life of God is in him like a  seed in soil, and he's been born of God. So his life changes. I John 5:1, everyone who  believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, if you believe on Jesus as your savior, it's not just an idea you had. The Holy Spirit was working in you and you were born to new life. II Corinthians 5:17. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away  Behold, the new has come harm. That's the tremendous transformation. It's like a whole new  creation of the world. And there's a whole new you as the old passes away. Question 10 Why  is it necessary for someone to be born again in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. Without the new birth, we are all spiritually dead born under the sentence of death and deserving of  God's punishment. Unless we are spiritually changed in our hearts and minds. Through the  work of the Holy Spirit, we remain under the sentence of death. Scripture references Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin, did my mother conceive me, Psalm 51:5, all of us are  born with a sin nature that goes back through our parents and grandparents all the way to  Adam and Eve were born in sin Ephesians 2:1-3 says you were dead in the trespasses and  sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, we all once live in the  passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind and we're by nature,  children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. Colossians 2:13, said something similar, and you  who were dead in your trespasses, God made alive together with him. So these texts speak  of being dead in sin, and people have different degrees of deadness. Someone who has just  been killed a few minutes ago or had a heart attack may look very good, and their body not  may not be very rotten, but that is dead. Someone else may have been killed in a terrible  crash and their body mutilated. But they're no more dead than the person who died of the  heart attack a few minutes ago with their body still in good shape. And some people seem to  be better than others. Some are nicer, some treat each other better. But apart from Christ, we  are all equally dead in sin even if we're not all equally decayed yet. Question 11 What great  blessings are given to everyone who is born again. Everyone who sincerely repented his sins,

and trust in Jesus as Savior becomes a child of God, he received the gift of eternal life and is  no longer under the sentence of death because of his sins. He also is given a genuine desire  to live for God in a way that pleases and honors him. To be born again, means you become a  child of God in two senses. One is just your status, as a child of God, he has the legal status  

of being your father, and he takes on all the responsibilities for you the responsibility to cover  all the cost of your sins, the responsibility to make you more and more like himself. He's your  father now. And in making you His child, you inherit everything that is his, and you receive the  gift of eternal life, that is his He is eternal. And he gives his eternity, his everlasting life to you.  And he also gives you something of himself, we sometimes speak of, of the Son of a father as 

being a chip off the old block. He's like his dad, he's got something of his dad in him. And  when you're born again and have a life of God in you, then your way of living becomes more  and more like the god life that's within you. Scripture references, Jesus said, Truly, truly, I say  to you, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life. He does not  come into judgment, but as passed from death to life. Romans 10:9 says, If you confess with  your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart, that God raised Him from the dead,  you will be saved. What a tremendous promise. John 1:12, to all who did receive Him who  believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. And there are many  passages in the Bible that speak of us being sons of God, and heirs with Christ. They want to  inherit all that our Father has. John 20:31, says, These are written so that you may believe  that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in his name,  when you believe you have his life. Question 12 What is eternal life and when does it begin?  Eternal life is not simply a life that does not end. Eternal life involves a new relationship  between a believer and God. It is a relationship of love, joy and peace that begins the  moment someone believes in Jesus and will never end. Through faith, the eternal life of God  enters into us as the Holy Spirit of God comes into our hearts. Scripture References John  6:47, Jesus said Truly, truly I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. Notice it doesn't  just say will have eternal life has eternal life. John 17:3, this is eternal life that they know you  the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sinned. So eternal life doesn't begin.  After we die, it begins now. And then it continues and becomes better and better. Galatians  2:20, it's no longer I who live but Christ, who lives in me, I'm not just me anymore. I have the  Christ life in me, because I've been born again. I John 3:24. By this we know that he abides in us by the Spirit, whom he has given us, God Himself by His Holy Spirit comes and lives right  inside us. And when the eternal Spirit of God lives in you, you have eternal life already  starting now. Question 13. If we believe in Christ, is it important for us to confess our faith  publicly and also to be baptized? Yes, public confession of our faith in Jesus and water  baptism are both very important. However, there may be times when a person chooses not to  make a public profession of faith and be baptized immediately. This might be true, for  example, when a public profession of faith would alienate family or friends whom the new  convert is trying to reach with the gospel, or a public baptism might result in significant  persecution which would remove a mother or father or a young person from their home. It's  important that we do not deny Christ. But we may have to be prudent in choosing a time and  place for our baptism. Some folks live in settings where there's no problem with confessing  your faith and being baptized right away. Others may have to plan and think very carefully  about the time of your public statement of faith, and your baptism, but we must never deny  Christ and we must eventually confess Christ and be baptized. Scripture references Matthew  10:32-33. Jesus said, Everyone who acknowledges me before man, I also will acknowledge  before My Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies Me before men, I also will deny  before my Father who is in heaven. Acts 2:38, says, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. When they believed in Jesus, 

when their sins were forgiven, it was expected that they would be baptized. Acts 8:12, says,  when the people of Samaria believed Philip as he preached good news about the Kingdom of  God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Romans 10:9- 10 says, If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart, that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified,  and with the mouth, one confesses and is saved. It is very important, therefore, to have the  Lord in your heart and have true faith in your heart, but not just only in your heart, it should  come out of your mouth, and the A part of your life and be witnessed by the public ceremony  of baptism, and by your naming Jesus as your Master and Lord. Question 14. Can we be  absolutely sure that we are saved for eternity? Yes, God's promises are sure. So we never  have to doubt them. Even when we fail at times to live the way God wants us to live, or fail to  live as we ourselves want to live. We may be sure that God will continue to love us and  forgive us when we truly put our trust in Jesus. So we can be confident that we are saved  forever when we come to Jesus Christ for salvation. Scripture references Jesus said, I give  them eternal life, and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My  Father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one can snatch them from my  father's hand. Those are the words of Jesus in John 10:28-29. I John 5:13, says, I write these  things to you believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have  eternal life. Our Lord wants us to know not to be fearful not to wonder not to be efe, but to  know that we have eternal life through believing in Jesus. I John 1:9 says If we confess our  sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness  Don't worry that your sins can't be forgiven. admit them. confess them. Trust God's  faithfulness and be confident that he has saved you. And these great words from Romans  8:38-39. For I am sure that neither death nor life nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present or  things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be  able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord, nothing can separate us  from His love. No sin is too great that God cannot forgive it. No power is too great that God  cannot overcome it. We are more than conquerors through him who loved us the verse before this says, We are more than conquerors, nothing can tear us away from Christ. That is the  wonder of salvation. No matter how far gone you are, no matter how terrible your sins and  your enemies, God can save you. And once he has saved you, nothing can take away your  salvation, because you have eternal life. And eternal means it's a God, the Eternal One, and  Eternal means it's everlasting. And that means nothing and take it away or stop it or snuff it  out. This is the great salvation that Jesus Christ provides to those who repent and trust him.