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Are You Saved?
Have you been
saved? Have you come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ? It is a question
that is almost exclusive to Christianity.
The word saved in the Bible had three tenses. We were saved
from the penalty of sin the very moment we put our trust in Christ Jesus as our
savior. We are now being saved from the power of sin by the process of
progressive sanctification. Moreover, we shall be saved from the presence of sin
at the coming of our Lord in His glory.
We were justified by faith in Christ, we are being
sanctified by the Holy Spirit and we shall be glorified when Christ returns for
us.
The word salvation is related to the good news of the atoning death of Jesus
Christ. The apostle Paul wrote, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is
the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and
also to the Greek" (Romans 1:16).
God has delivered us from the penalty and power of sin and has preserved us
with His gift of eternal life. It is the sum of all blessings bestowed by God
through Jesus Christ.
It is only by the name of Jesus Christ that we can ever be saved. Acts 4:12
says, "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under
heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” “For whoever
will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13).
In salvation God deals with the whole person: spirit, mind and body. The
gospel of salvation includes justification, sanctification and glorification.
In the context of this great verse, the apostle Paul reminds his readers,
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that
which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to
them" (Romans 1:18-19).
Therefore, we are all without excuse. "And we know that the judgment of God
rightly falls upon those who practice such things" (Romans 2:2). What
“things”? Paul tells us in vivid detail in 1:18-3:20.
The Jews were guilty of breaking God’s revealed law. "For it is not the
hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be
justified" (Romans 2:13). The only problem is no one, but Jesus Christ ever
lived up to the Law. All stand guilty before God. “There is none righteous,
not even one” (3:10). “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
(v. 23).
In vivid contrast Jesus Christ revealed the perfect righteousness of God.
However, not only have the Jewish people broken the written Law of God, but
“When Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law,
these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work
of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their
thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according
to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus" (Romans
2:14-16).
What was the problem? Again all stand guilty before God. “For there is no
partiality with God. For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish
without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the
Law; for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers
of the Law will be justified. For when Gentiles who do not have the Law
do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to
themselves” (Romans 2:11-14).
What is the solution since we are all depraved sinners? Jesus Christ is our
only hope. Salvation is a gift of God by His grace through the redemption that
is in Christ Jesus (Rom. 3:22-25; Eph. 2:8-9; Rom. 5:6-8, 10:9-10, 13:8-11).
"For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is
written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17, NASB 1995).
Selah!
Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006
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