Noise

The Gospel of Salvation

What is the importance of understanding the full gospel?

The gospel is the message of salvation (the work of Jesus Christ) and our understanding of it affects our salvation. If we accept a false gospel, we are NOT SAVED, no matter how much we believe in it.

This year, God has been placing this burden on me: Do you know how many people believe they are saved and yet are not? They live any way they like and think that just because they said the sinner's prayer that they will be guaranteed a spot in heaven. This is not how it works. The sinner's prayer is not a password into heaven.

What is saving faith?

There are 3 elements to faith. Intellectual - We need to understand the message of the gospel intellectually and be convicted of it, that is, to believe it in. Emotional - We need to have a personal heart surrender to God. Lifestyle - A real understanding and belief in the precious salvation of Jesus Christ will cause a change in the way we live our lives. We fully repent of our old lives and with the Holy Spirit's help, we start to live our new lives in Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:5-9
Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.

Is it possible to be a true Christian and behave like the world?

No. Read the above verse, Romans 8:5-9. What determines if we belong to Christ is whether or not we have the Holy Spirit in us. (God will not send someone with Holy Spirit in him to Hell) If we have the Holy Spirit in us, we will slowly be transformed by the work of the Holy Spirit and be made into Christ's likeness. If anyone claims to be a Christian yet does not learn to submit himself to God's law, he should really think twice about whether or not he has really received the Holy Spirit.

Examine yourselves!

2 Corinthians 13:5
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?

The Bible tells us to examine ourselves to see if we are truly Christians. Ask yourself this: Do you see the Holy Spirit's work in transforming you more and more like Christ? Are you always focused on the sinful things of this world or is your mind set on spiritual things like pleasing God. Do you see the fruit of the spirit in you? Are you any different from the world?!

These are questions I certainly cannot answer for you. Yet these are life-defining questions that pertain to salvation. Dear members, I certainly pray for you. I pray hard. I'm afraid many of us are not living lives of repentance yet. Before we receive Christ in our lives, we truly need to repent of ALL our sinful acts and commit to stop doing them. Every time we fall into them again, we need to confess and repent. This is why repentance is not something that happens once at the point of conversion but it's something we should be doing everyday.

How many sins did it take to condemn the world? One sin. Yet we commit so many sins a day and think nothing of it. Let's stop living by our sinful natures and start living by the Spirit. Repent and ask God to change you today. If any of you feel unsure of your salvation and would like to commit to Jesus Christ again and be assured of your salvation, please come to me. I would really like to help.

In His love,
Germs