The Way to Salvation

Because I was raised in a church, I always believed that I was going to go to heaven but was never certain. I was always trying to succeed in whatever I did. It was not all about doing good.

On September 27, 1967, during a Lutheran confirmation class, my teacher shared God’s plan for each of us to have eternal life. That night I accepted Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior.

After accepting God’s gift my life began to change for the better. I started building a relationship with Jesus. However, I still placed too much value on personal financial success. Shortly after graduating from college that financial success came to me for a short time. I was laid off from my job. My wife left me. I had to start over. God never left me.

A few years later I met a wonderful woman (Laura) who I married. I was in a moderately successful retail business. I was the mayor of the community. However, Laura and I were unable to have children. We stopped going to church and my relationship with Jesus went downhill because of me.

Success in my life professionally had grown. Things were right in that area of my life but my relationship with Jesus was nearly non-existent. It amounted to praying at meals and occasionally going to church. Then everything fell a part in Laura’s life and mine. About a year after my father died Laura fell into a deep depression, but God was there for me. We returned to the church and my faith began to grow again. Eight years later Laura lost her battle with depression and ended her life.

That whole time God kept on reaching out to me through the reading of His Word, through members of my church. I was continually being helped and comforted by them. I became more and more dependent on God. I found comfort in reading the Bible and fellowship with friends.

Even though my life has not been perfect I am absolutely convinced that God has always been with me. He was there in my good times, when I ignored Him and most importantly when I needed Him. He kept calling me back to Him. As the Bible says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” And “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

As you have been reading, my life has been far from perfect. I hope that at least you have seen how God remained faithful and shed His love on Laura and me all during our struggles and during the good times.

Perhaps you do not have the kind of relationship with God that I describe in this book, and you do not feel like you could cry out to God as we did.

God Created Humans to Be in a Relationship with Him

At the beginning of time, God make it plain that He desired a relationship with humans.

“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

So, God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:26-27) (ESV)

God designed a loving relationship with humans for Himself. “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) (NASB)

God intended that humans would glorify Him. “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31) (ESV) God wants us to enjoy Him forever.

God promised us eternal life, but more than that, an abundant life. “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10b) (ESV)

So. if God wants us to glorify Him and have eternal life, and He wants us to have an abundant life, what is it that keeps us from experiencing what God wants for us?

Our Personal Sin Has Separated Us from a Relationship with God.

Let me ask you a few questions, questions I have asked myself. Have you ever lied? Have you ever taken anything from work like a piece of paper, a paperclip, a pen or something small? Have you ever looked at another person and had lustful thoughts? Have you ever hated someone so much you wanted them to die? I know I have.

Jesus said that if you look at someone with a lustful eye, you have committed adultery with that person. He said that if you hated someone, you have committed murder.

You have heard that the ancients were told, “You shall not commit murder” and “Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.” But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, “You good-for-nothing,” shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, “You fool,” shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.

You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery”; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28) (NASB)

Did you answer “yes” to any or all the questions I asked above? I had to answer yes. Then according to Jesus, like me, you are a liar, adulterer, and murdering thief.

Because God is Holy and cannot tolerate the presence of sin, He drove Adam and Eve, as sinners, from His presence. They had tried to hide from Him, but God saw them, just as He sees us. We are all sinners. All of us have sinned and are separated from God. “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) (ESV)

“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,

or His ear dull, that it cannot hear;

but your iniquities have made a separation

between you and your God,

and your sins have hidden His face from you

so that He does not hear.” (Isaiah 59:1-2) (ESV)

He is a God of justice and as such, has determined a penalty for our sins. That penalty is death. “For the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23a) (ESV)

Sin Cannot be Removed by Our Good Works

Many people hope to earn a relationship with God through their own efforts and believe God will bless them for it. But sin cannot be removed by our good works. No matter how hard we try, or the number of good works we do, these cannot blot out our sins.

Since God is holy and man is sinful and separated from Him, the natural thing is to try to reach God through human efforts (good works, religion, philosophy, etc.).

What about you? How have you tried to reach God? God, through the prophet Isaiah, explained that our works fall short of God’s holiness and perfection. “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.” (Isaiah 64:6) (ESV)

If we cannot settle our sin accounts with God by doing good works, then what hope do we have? “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) (ESV)

Paying the Price of Our Sins Jesus Died on the Cross and Rose Again

There is only one way to bridge the gap between God and man – the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus paid the price for our sins when He died and rose again to give us eternal life with God.

God had a plan to reunite mankind with Him. He fulfilled His plan when He sent His Only Son, Jesus, to live a perfect life and then to take our sins upon Himself and die on a cross. Satan thought he had won – the Son of God had died. Then Jesus rose from the grave, defeating sin and death.

Who is Jesus? Jesus said He is God in human flesh. “I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30) (ESV)

Jesus died in our place. “…but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) (ESV)

Jesus rose from the dead. “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) (ESV)

Jesus proclaimed that He was the only way to God, the Father. “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” (John 14:6) (ESV)

Everyone Who Trusts in Jesus Alone has Eternal Life

Yet it is not enough to know, to have head-knowledge, of the facts about Jesus. God’s requirement is that everyone who trusts in Jesus alone has eternal life.

Through His death on the cross and resurrection, Jesus paid the price for the sins of everyone who had lived, was alive, and who would live in the future – this includes you and me. God, therefore, offered us eternal life as we trust the reality that Jesus paid the price for our sin.

How does one trust Jesus to receive this gift of eternal life? We receive Jesus by faith trusting in Him alone for salvation.

“…because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” (Romans 10:9-10) (ESV)

We each receive Jesus by personal invitation. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with Me.” (Revelation 3:20) “But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God…” (John 1:12) (ESV)

Many years ago, God spoke to Laura and me about His free gift of salvation. Both of us trusted Jesus’ gift and as a result, God has given us eternal life. You, too, can accept this free gift. “For all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13) (ESV)

So if you are ready to accept God’s free gift of eternal life, then I invite you to pray from your heart this simple prayer – or one like it in your own words. “Lord Jesus, I need You. I realize that I am a sinner and cannot save myself. I need Your forgiveness. I believe You are the Son of God and that You died on the cross for my sins and rose from the dead. I repent from my sins and trust in You as my personal Savior and Lord. Take control of my life and help me to follow You in obedience. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen!”

Life with Jesus Begins Now and Lasts Forever

Once you have prayed a prayer like the one above, your life with Jesus begins immediately and lasts forever. Trust God to keep His promise – because He will.

Put your faith in His Word and not in your feelings. “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” (John 5:24) (ESV)

“And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.

These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:11-13) (NASB)

I know that my new life with God started the moment I accepted Jesus’ gift of eternal life, and it will last forever. The reason that I can be confident of the claims I have made in this book rests on my faith in God and trust in Jesus Christ. This truth gives me hope that I can, in fact, live the abundant life that Jesus promised in John 10:10.

As I have grown older, I am learning that my relationship with God can be better tomorrow than it is today and was yesterday. The more I learn about Jesus Christ, the surer I am of His promises.

Each day of my journey with Laura, I knew that no matter what happened that day or the next, our salvation was certain in Jesus Christ. So, will yours be, if you have trusted Him as we did.

“The Lord bless you, and keep you;

The Lord make His face shine on you,

And be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up His countenance on you,

And give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26) (NASB)