THE ANSWER: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” Acts 16.31
That answer to the question is the response required and the guaranteed outcome to that response.
The word “saved” (or “salvation”) is used with the understanding that one is not right with God and in eternal peril and needs deliverance. The word "saved" simply speaks of “deliverance.”
So the question is seeking the solution to one's present dire situation of not being right with God with a destiny of eternal peril or destruction (in a place called “Hell”).
The answer tells one how to be saved, that is, how to have deliverance from not being right with God and a certain destiny of eternal peril.
The answer is that one is saved by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.
This is the word of God and the promise of God. This word and promise connects the salvation that is sought by believing in Jesus Christ for that salvation.
Faith is the assurance of what is said and promised. Faith is taking God at His word.
Whatever one may believe up to this point can not deliver from eternal peril until he or she comes to know and believe this answer to the question of “how can I be saved?”
This is vital information: God saves those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.
“Sin” is of course the big problem as to why one is not right with God and faces eternal peril. The issue with sin is that it is a violation of God’s nature and moral law. Sin is subject to penalty or consequence—the consequence has already been stated as not being right with God and a certain destiny of eternal peril.
Salvation can also be understood as the "remission of sins."
"To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins." Acts 10:43
“Remission of sins” speaks of being released from the consequence of sin: this is “salvation” from sin. This remission of sins is the result of believing in him, that is, Jesus Christ. This is attested to by “all the prophets.” It is according to God’s word; it is God’s promise.
The reason that remission of sins is connected with Jesus Christ is because He died for those sins in the place of--as the substitute for--all people, who have sinned.
“All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3.23
The death that Christ died on the cross was to bear the “wages” of sin, that is, the consequence of sin.
“The wages of sin is death.” Romans 6.23
"who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree [the cross]." 1 Peter 2.24
This death of Christ was how God loved the world and gave His son.
It is because of the death of Christ for our sins that we can have everlasting life.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
Because of what Christ did, God can give everlasting life to those who believe in Jesus for that everlasting Life. Everlasting life is salvation, because the alternative is to “perish.”
The word “perish” means “destruction”: this is that condition of not being right with God and being assigned to eternal peril in that place called “hell.” (The New Testament was originally written in Greek, and the Greek word for "perish" is the same as "destroy." Jesus said, "do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Matthew 10.28
Why must it be this way? It is because God created man with a certain measure of free will. The outcome of free will was disobedience to God and the result was separation from God.
Yet God made provision for this at His own great sacrifice through the death of Christ for our sins. One can’t completely fathom the depths of this sacrifice, for it was not just a physical death that Christ suffered, but something more...for while on the cross, Jesus cried out: "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" Matthew 27.46
Yes, we did not choose to come into this world, a world of this arrangement. Consider that we did not choose our parents, and yet our parents usually love us and want a relationship with us, and us with them. The situation is similar with God, but God is without moral failure, unlike our parents. Most people want to live, enjoy life, and have meaningful relationships. These things are fulfilled by God through that salvation which is through faith in Jesus Christ for it.
Jesus said: “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” John 10:10
This life and salvation is the possession of those who believe in Jesus Christ for it. This answer is the final piece of information to be understood and believed for salvation to take place.
"That whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” The words of Jesus, the Gospel of John 3:15
12-26-2017
