Jesus Who?
The Introduction
Jesus. That name is synonymous with history, debate, movies, music, and legend. In the pages to come we hope to shed a little light on a few things. Who exactly was Jesus of Nazareth, what were the circumstances surrounding HIS life and the real reason that HE came to earth. It was not for fame or glory, riches or power. He could have had all of that and more, yet HE came for something much more valuable. HE came to earth for something more valuable than all the gold on earth, that is, you and I and our eternal salvation. It means so much to Jesus to have us with HIM in eternity; HIS resolve, to bring us home, is backed by something more powerful than the fear of the crucifixion that HE knew HE would endure. That determination that drove HIM then, still drives HIM today and it is very real. Join us, Mission Lighthouse Ministry, and see why someone you may not know would give up everything for you and I.
Sincerely
Alex Aleman & David Brown
Mission Lighthouse Ministry
Salvation
Psalm 27:1: The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
There have been many books, many articles written on the subject of salvation, but the one and only book that can truly teach it is the Bible. Unfortunately, knowing the Bible alone does not bring Salvation.
As Bible scripture says:
John 3: 1Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2the same came unto him by night, and said to him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that thou doest, except God be with him. 3Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except one be born anew; he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4Nicodemus saith unto him, how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? 5Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God 6That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born anew. 8The wind bloweth where it will, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. 9Nicodemus answered and said unto him, how can these things be? 10Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou the teacher of Israel, and understandest not these things?
You need more than knowledge of the Bible to be saved. You need faith in Jesus. You need to believe that HE came to die for your sins and that the only way to heaven is thru HIM.
The best way to begin the subject of salvation is with a definition of the word. The New Webster’s Dictionary and Thesaurus of the English Language defines salvation “as the act of saving from destruction or catastrophe, esp. the saving of the soul from sin or its consequences (the condition of being saved) something that saves.” (p. 882).
The scripture below looks in-depth at how salvation comes, what it is according to scripture and what happens when we receive it.
Salvation is for everyone:
Luke 24:46-47: 46and he said unto them, Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer, and rise again from the dead the third day; 47and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name unto all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
Jesus is the Only Way:
John 14:6: 6Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Mat 7:13,14: 13.Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.
14Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
John 6:67, 68: Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”
But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
Acts 4:12 “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Submission Leads to Salvation:
Luke 1:30, 31: “Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS.”
How to Reserve It:
John 3:15,18: 15that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.18“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Luke 13:24,25: “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from.
John 17:3 “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
Responding to God’s Invitation of Salvation:
Luke 14:15-24: Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, He said to him, “Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God” Then He said to him, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’ 20Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’ And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’ Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.”
Jesus even forgave those who crucified him:
Luke 23:34: Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”
A Gift from God:
John 3 :16:16For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
Heb 5:9: And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,
Security of Salvation:
John 6:39: “This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.”
1Jn 2:3-6: Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
Holy Spirit will draw you to salvation:
Jn 6:44: “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
God Saves Us By Faith Alone:
Gal 2:19-21: For I through the law died unto the law, that I might live unto God. 20I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me: and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me. 21I do not make void the grace of God: for if righteousness is through the law (the Jewish laws and religious rules of that time), then Christ died for naught.
Rom. 3:28: “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.”
So Simple to Receive Salvation:
John 3 :16: 16For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Why do I need salvation?
Matthew 13:49-50: So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
“I’m a Good Person, Isn’t that Enough?”
No One Is Good Enough For Salvation:
Romans 3:10-18: As it is written:
“There is none righteous, no, not one;
There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one
“Their throat is an open tomb;
With their tongues they have practiced deceit”
“The poison of asps is under their lips”;
“Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
Destruction and misery are in their ways;
And the way of peace they have not known.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes
“I’ve Done a lot of wrong, Can I Ever Be Forgiven?”
John 1:29: The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world
Concluding Remarks
With all this scripture I am sure you may still be asking: “what do I do to be saved?” The answer is YOU cannot DO anything to be saved except believe in Jesus Christ and the sacrifice HE made.
The only way to be right with God is to accept the free gift of salvation that Jesus provided by dying on the Cross. He was sinless and blameless and that is why only HE could die for our sin. He was the perfect sacrifice.
Before Jesus came, a person would have to bring the perfect animal, one without blemish, and sacrifice it to God for the forgiveness of sin. Even though they did this, there was still a distance between them and God. They could not just come before the Lord's presence in prayer. It was done through a priest. And it had to be done over and over again. When Jesus died for the full forgiveness of sin, HE bridged that gap between man and God so that we could accept the gift of salvation and be covered by the blood of Jesus. By that spiritual covering, we are saved and are able now to come into the presence of the Lord. It’s not to say that we will never sin again, but we can go directly to God and ask for forgiveness for our sin, and our sin no longer separates us from God’s love in this life, and in the life to come when we ourselves die and step into heaven to spend eternity with Jesus.
All of this is possible because when you believe in Jesus and the sacrifice that HE made, and you ask HIM to save you from your sin though that sacrifice, you’re saying to HIM that you know that you can’t save yourself, and that you believe in HIS death, HIS burial and HIS resurrection for the forgiveness of your sin.
HE died for you. If you were the only one on earth, HE still would have died for you. Understand this. When we die there is one of two places that we will go: heaven of hell. You may say to yourself, “I don’t believe that.” Well that is fine, but it’s just like the people who just a few hundred years ago believed that the world wasn’t round but it was nonetheless. I hope and pray that if you’re reading this and you don’t know the Lord and your Savior that you will search your heart and I think you’ll find that answer that your searching for: Jesus is the way the truth and the life. (John 14:6a)
A Word on Tithing
In choosing a church; watch out for false teachers and doctrine.
The Bible says this:
Matthew 24: 23, 24: “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ’ or ‘There’ do not believe it. For false Christ’s and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
There are many in the world today and they are out there to deceive you and lead you in the wrong direction. You want to stay away from teachings that you would definitely find not being consistent with the Bible or seam to always asking for your money for this and that. God is not a beggar. Many a home has been wrecked financially due to the malicious money hungry preaching of a false teacher, so please keep and eye out for that.
Now, to be clear, I am NOT saying not to give your “tithe” to the church. The pastor and the staff, as well as insurance, lights, water, heat, air, mortgage, etc all cost money and it is up to the congregation to support there church with there financial giving.
It says it like this in the Old Testament:
Leviticus 27:30: A tithe (tenth) of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD.
The Christian church has taken that ten percent as a basis on which to give. It is an old testament law that God put into place where the Israelites gave ten percent of what ever they grew or raise to the Levites and priest of the temple and tabernacle and it would provided for them there needs since they were serving God on a full time basis.
In the New Testament it is not an exact amount that the Lord asks for but it is put like this in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 16:2: On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.
And also in the following scripture:
2 Corinthians 9:7: Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
Basically saying that you should pray and ask God how much he wants you to give. It may be 10 percent, it may be more, it may be less but I would recommend giving. I have never been able to “out give God”. He has always returned me money when I really needed it and least expected it.
This scripture sums it up:
Malachi 3:10: Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
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