Gospel

STEPS TO SALVATION HEAVEN

by Guy Humphries
06/11/24
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STEPS TO SALVATION - HEAVEN

Are You being “Drawn” toward God’s Salvation?  

Do you feel a gnawing sense of doubt about where your eternal spirit will go when it leaves your body.  That is God’s Holy Spirit trying to drawyou to His salvation.   In John 6 Jesus said,    “No one can come to Me unless the Father Who sent Me DRAWS Him, and I will raise Him up at the last day." (v. 44)   When He “draws” and convicts, you can only get relief by taking the following steps to an eternity in heaven:  

If you already know Him, let’s celebrate by sharing Him with others.   

If you don’t know Him, it is not too late to pray like the man in Luke 18:13b, “God be merciful to me a Sinner.”  As Jesus proclaimed about that man, He will qualify you to be raptured to heaven. 

Prior to taking these steps  it was necessary that I hear the Good News, the “Gospel” which is defined in God’s Word in 1 Cor. 15:3  “ For I delivered unto you first of all that which I received also, that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures; And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures;”  That is the Gospel.  

In Luke 24, Jesus “40b showed them his hands and feet. 41 while yet they believed not…”    (40b-41a) that he was really resurrected “Then he opened he their understanding… the Scriptures.”  Like those Apostles that had accompanied Jesus for three years, I heard the Gospel thousands of times. When I finally understood what I was hearing by God’s Holy spirit speaking to my inner man, my eternal spirit, Hedrew me toward salvation as He convinced me that I was a going-to-hell-Jesus-rejecting-son-of-satan as clearly defined by Jesus in John 3:18b “…he that believeth NOT (chooses not to trust Jesus) IS condemned already, (why?) because he hath NOT believed (trusted/exercised faith)in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” 

He was not convicting me that I, like every other humans that are spontaneously “doing what comes naturally”,  transgressing God’s rules.  He was trying to convince me that my future was thelake-of-fire since I was committing that one (1) fatal Sin of choosing to reject Jesus’ love gift of salvation that He clearly defined in John 3:18a “He (every human) that believeth/trusts/exercised faith on Him is not condemned, but he that believeth not IS condemned already…” 

After persistent drawing by God’s Holy Spirit, I finally understoodenough to progress toward salvation: 

Step 1: I had to understand that I was a  going-to-hell-Jesus-rejecting-son-of-satan, a SINNER.  I finally understood that I was lost when God‘s-Word told me, "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:" Romans 3:10  "... for there is no difference. For ALL have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" Romans 3:23

Second step:  I had to understand that I was not  “good” enough to earn salvation after studying, "But we are ALL as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; ..." Isaiah 64:6  "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, ..."  Titus 3:5  “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the GIFT of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.”   Eph 2:8-9

Third, I had to understand that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for my one (1) fatal Sin of choosing to reject His love gift of salvation. "…he that believeth not IS condemned already….” From John 3:18  “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree..." 1 Peter 2:24  "... Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood…" Revelation 1:5

Fourth step: Simply by faith, taking God at His word,  I believed (trusted)  and accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. "But as many as received (trusted/believed/exercised faith in) Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that BELIEVE on His [salvation authority] name:" John 1:12

Restrained from suicide, the Philippian jailor asked, " ...Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, BELIEVE on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved"   From  Acts 16:30,31  

Jesus clearly defined it in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever (trusted)believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." 

Final Step: I repented, I had a change of mind.  I chose to act upon Jesus’ invitation to salvation when I Prayed the simple prayer of the sinner in Luke 18, “God be merciful to me a sinner…” Jesus confirmed that he “went down to his house justified (saved)  rather than the other.”  That “other” was a super-religious morally upright leader of the Jews who “prayed thus with himself,  ‘thank God I am (so good and) not  as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this (man who got saved) publican.” Study Luke 18:11-14

Through hearing His Word preached, God’s Holy Spirit instructed me:  “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead (the Gospel), thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”  Romans 10:9-10  

From the moment that I chose to believe in my heart that God really raised Jesus from the dead and received Jesus’ love GIFT of salvation, I began telling others, “Jesus Christ IS my Savior.  He rescued me from that “lake-of-fire” that He clearly described in Rev 20.  I am on my way into the presence of Jesus, heaven.”   

A change of mind, repentance, occurs when a person acknowledges that he IS a lost-sinner and then chooses to believe in/trust in/exercise faith in Jesus, that converts a lost-going-to-hell-rejecter-of-Jesus’-offered-GIFT-of-salvation (study John 3:18) into a going-to-heaven-truly-born-again-child-of-God like Jesus clearly described in John 3. 

Through baptism,  I announced to everyone that Jesus had saved me.  

Please join me and all other truly-born-again-children-of-God as we eagerly await the Rapture, the day when we will be “caught up” by Jesus.1 Thess 4 advises us: 13 “Dear saved brothers and sisters, here is what happens to those who have died. Don't be sad, like lost people who have no hope. 14 Since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, the Gospel, when He returns, multitudes who trusted in Him will have already experienced physical death. God will send their souls with Jesus. 15 That agrees with what the God’s Word confirms. When the Lord comes back, many of us will still be alive. We will certainly not go up to Him ahead of those who have died. 16 The Lord Jesus Christ Himself will come down from heaven and ALL, dead or alive (truly-born-again-children-of-God) will hear a loud command. We will hear the voice of the leader of the angels. We will hear a blast from God's trumpet. Many who believe in Christ will have died already. Their bodies will rise first. 17 Instantaneously, we who are still alive will be caught up (raptured) together with them. We will be taken up into the clouds. We will meet the Jesus in the air. And we will be with Him forever. 18 So encourage each other by talking about these words of comfort. That is a paraphrase of the Kjv which says,  13But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up (raptured) together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”  Only because I am a truly-born-again-child-of-God, can I eagerly look forward to being “caught-up,” Raptured, to Jesus.  Every morning, I pray the last prayer in the Bible, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”  Rev 22:20

If you know Him, let’s celebrate by sharing Him with others.  

If you don’t know Him, it is not to late to pray like the man in Luke 18:13b, “God be merciful to me a Sinner.”  He understood then confessed that he was a “Sinner.”  He recognized that only a “merciful God” has the power to save his eternal soul/spirit.  Then he chose to repent, he changed his mind, as he asked for salvation.   As He said about that man, Jesus will qualify you to be raptured to heaven. 

I love you in the Lord.   God loves you in His grace.  Accept salvation.  It is yours for the asking.

Salvation-from-hell, choose it or lose an eternity in the lake-of-fire (study Rev 20).  

STEPS TO SALVATION SUMMARIZED 

Hear and understand the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection.

Be drawn, convicted, by God’s Holy Spirit of your lost condition.

Understand  and admit that you are a lost-going-to-hell Sinner.

Understand that Jesus offers you His love Gift of salvation.  

Change your mind, repent of that fatal Sin by choosing to Believe/trust/have faith in Jesus. 

Pray, asking Him to save your eternal spirit.

Celebrate that you immediately become an eternally savedtruly-born-again-child-of-God like Jesus clearly defined in John 3.

Following your salvation, by Baptism, immersion in water by a New Testament church, will give best evidence to the world that you ARE a child-of-God that is now qualified to become a member of and serve Him in one of His local churches.