Surely, you have asked yourself in the past, “Am I really saved?” Or “How can I know for sure that I’m saved?” The Bible has the answers to these questions. Maybe you are reading this and don’t know what it means to be saved. Well the Bible has the answer for you as well. You see my friend, the Bible, God’s Holy Word sets forth the condition of man, as a lost, totally depraved, totally ruined in sin, hell deserving sinner, walking in darkness, a child of wrath, and under the wrath of Almighty God. What that means is that we fell so far down in Adam- the first man, that we could not lift ourselves back up. In fact contrary to todays self-help and positive thinking messages, apart from the grace of God there is nothing good in us. Mankind at his best is not able to lift his own bootstraps out of the sin that keeps him running in rebellion from God. At his best state man is altogether vanity. In fact, the natural man’s heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, his mouth is full of cursing and bitterness, his feet are swift to shed blood, and they make haste to shed innocent blood. The Bible says that man’s throat is an open grave or sepulchre, with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps or snakes is under their lips. Man’s mouth is full of cursing and bitterness, destruction and misery are in their ways, the way of peace have they not known. The Bible says “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” These are just a few things that God says in His Word about sinful mankind. 

       So to answer the questions mentioned above, dear friend the Word of God, gives us the condition of man, but it also shows us the character of God. The Bible lets us see who and what we are in light of the Law of God. By the law is the knowledge of sin. Also without the law there is no transgression. That is the law of God- particularly anything that God says either written or spoken is law. We are fortunate enough in this generation to have a copy of God’s written Word. You see God’s character is Holy and Righteous. We have been flooded in this generation with the thought that God is only love. And God is love, but God can’t spare His Holiness at the expense of His love. His Holy nature demands that sin be punished and that a blood sacrifice must be made to cover the soul and the sins of the transgressing sinner. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. In fact the Bible says, “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.” What that means dear sinner is there is hope for you and for me. Because in the eternal covenant of mercy or as the Bible says the “everlasting covenant” the God of peace determined within Himself to offer His only begotten Son, The Lamb of God, as the propitiation or the only Divine satisfaction. This shed blood is first to appease the wrath of God because of the just demands of the law against sin, next to save the penitent believing sinner.

     Some might think that they have joined the church or been raised in Christianity all their lives or even been water baptized and that merits their salvation. Some may even think that the way they live can maintain their salvation after their initial profession. Or better yet that their own works can keep them saved, and they must maintain a minimum standard of righteous acts. Some folks believe that repeating a sinners prayer or believing a few verses of Scripture can warrant salvation. Believing a few historical facts about Jesus Christ and a few salvation verses is not a genuine Bible salvation. But my friend the Bible declares, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” And the Bible is right in its declaration that man is a sinner, also that a man is justified not by works of righteousness which we have done, but that man can only be justified through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. That means The Holy Ghost must initiate salvation in the heart of the broken and contrite sinner. Repentance and faith must be ignited in a persons heart by the Spirit of God. The Bible tells us that we must hear the word of God, for faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. That must be more than just the audible voice of the preacher. How that works is The Holy Ghost takes the written word of God, preached or proclaimed and illuminates the sinner with it. That is, He turns the light on in their darkened heart and works repentance and faith in their heart. God will always cross or invade a persons will with the word of God. Once a person’s will becomes totally broken by the hammer of the Word of God, and their wicked heart is submissive to the drawing or wooing power of the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God convicts and reproves man of his sins that have separated him from God. The first ministry of the Holy Ghost in this age is not to tell men that God loves them. The first ministry of the Spirit of God is to reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgement. The sins we have commited when we willfully and willingly broke the law of God have put us under the judgement and wrath of Almighty God. The anger and frown of God remaineth upon those eternally whom are transgressors of His Holy law. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. Breaking the law in one point in the sight of God ultimately will lead to physical death, spiritual death, then eternal or second death which means hell fire and finally the lake of fire and brimstone which burneth forever and ever. 

     Once the word of God is preached, and The Holy Ghost initiates faith and repentance the two inseparable graces in the heart of man, then conviction sets in. God uses the preached Word of God (specifically the Gospel) and the Holy Ghost to convict us of our sins, that is we are proven guilty before God. It is at this point of conviction that man can excercise genuine God given repentance. Understanding whole heartedly what we truly are in respect to God’s Word. It is after this conviction that we are able to take sides with God against ourselves and our rebellious sinful deeds. That means we exercise the repentance that has been so graciously given to us by God The Father, submitting our will to the will of God and laying down the weapons of our rebellion and turning fully and completely away from our sins. Submitting ourselves savingly to God- us that have been running so long in the bondage of pleasure and sin our nature has been taken captive our own sinful faculties. Now God has moved upon our hearts and intellect and will and emotion through conviction. No man is interested in Biblical salvation, and the free pardon of sin that has not first been first proven guilty. And furthermore no man can submit to the authority and Lordship of the LORD Jesus Christ without truly repenting of his sins. Bible repentance has the idea of turning away from sin and turning towards God and to flee for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us. True repentance is not just a turning away from unbelief although that should be a part of it. Nor is it just a change of mind about sin although that also should be involved. It’s a complete forsaking of the sins and the old way of walking in sin and darkness to God ward. And then fleeing for refuge in The LORD Jesus Christ. Repentance is toward God and faith is toward The LORD Jesus Christ in the work of redemption.

     Finally once a person is brought to the place of repentance, godly sorrow for sin, for godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation; then it is the solemn duty and responsibility of the sinner to exercise faith in the substitutionary and vicarious death of The LORD Jesus Christ on the cross, trusting in sin atoning Blood of Jesus Christ, His burial in the borrowed tomb of Joseph of Arimathaea, and the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave on the 3rd day.

     Salvation does involve the will, intellect, emotion, conviction, repentance and faith. God uses the Gospel or His good news about His dear Son to show us what He had planned in eternity past and how we can be saved. Salvation has been proclaimed for those who will repent and believe the Gospel and come to God by faith in the Blood of the Lamb. If you will repent and believe in The LORD Jesus Christ you should be saved. However if you will not then God will not save you. Those that come to God must first believe that He IS. God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. And so if you are willing to come unto the knowledge of the truth today harden not your heart and be converted and be saved.