“God’s ONLY Means of Salvation”
Most
people in religion today are confused when it comes to God’s appointed means of
salvation. According to them, their god
uses a variety of means to encourage those who hear to “accept Jesus as their
personal Lord and Savior”. Some claim they have seen visions that caused them
to “seek the Lord.” Some think they have heard voices that called them to
salvation. Some who have survived horrific events in their lives have been changed
from ungodly individuals into religious, seemingly moral, dedicated church
goers. Still others think God can save sinners with or without the use of any
means, i.e., they think if God has purposed to save somebody, he will save them
any way he pleases. My question to all
of us is, ”
What do the Scriptures declare to be God’s ONLY MEANS of salvation?” I’m not
asking what your denomination says, or what some old preacher said, or what Mom
and Dad taught you. I’m asking that we simply go to God’s Word without any
preconceived notions and see what the Scriptures declare on this vital issue.
We
must understand that the preaching and Spirit-given hearing of the Gospel is
ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL for one of God’s elect to have the salvation Christ
accomplished for them at Calvary revealed to their minds and understanding and
bring them to Christ in repentance. Paul wrote in I Cor.15:1,2-“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the
Gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye
stand; By which also ye are saved.” Notice what verses 3 and 4
declare-“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how
that Christ died for our sins ACCORDING
TO THE SCRIPTURES (He died as the substitute and surety for His people);
And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES (He died,
was buried, and rose again, not for Himself, but for all those He
represents).” So anything men declare
to be the gospel, if it doesn’t declare this truth, it isn’t the gospel at all,
but a product of man’s depraved understanding. One thing is certain: GOD NEVER CHANGES. The Old Testament saints were saved,
i.e., they had Christ’s righteousness
revealed in their minds and understanding
the exact same way that New Testament saints have it revealed to their
minds. It’s through the preaching of the Gospel that God is pleased to reveal
to His people what they actually possess by virtue of their oneness with their
Representative, the Lord Jesus Christ-“For
God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our
hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of
Jesus Christ.”(II Cor.4:6) How does
He give us this knowledge? “So then faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”(Rom.10:17) Even as there is only one means whereby God
has put away sin and justified His people in the death of His Son, so He has
determined that ONLY through the
means of preaching the Gospel He will bring each of His elect to see His Christ
and submit to and rest in His righteousness imputed in Christ alone as all of
their salvation, Romans 10:3,4.
Richard Warmack , Pastor of Grace Baptist
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