|
Religious: What must I do to be saved?
Pastor Don Porter
for South Peace News
As Easter was just a few weeks ago many people’s attention was drawn to Christ’s life, death and resurrection but what does it mean?
Many people have asked what must I do to be saved over history. The first recorded person who asked this was the Rich Young Ruler who asked Jesus what he must do to have eternal life over 2,000 years ago. To answer that we first must look at who Jesus is.
First, Jesus is God the Son, a member of the Trinity. After Christ’s baptism, by John the Baptist, the heavens opened, the Holy Spirit descended like a dove, and the Father Himself announced, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
Next, Christ is the Saviour of mankind. When Adam and Eve chose to sin against God, there was a separation between God and man.
In Old Testament times, an animal sacrifice was necessary to cover the wrong in one’s life. But that was a temporary solution, until Jesus ‘the perfect sacrifice’ atoned once for all sin. He was the only One who could satisfy God’s requirement for a Saviour, because He had no sin. Did you know there has only been one person who has ever chosen to die? Only one!
“Oh,” but you say, “Suicide bombers choose to die. People who die by their own hand choose to die. People who sacrifice themselves for others choose to die.”
But really, no one has ever chosen to die except Jesus. Why? Because Jesus was the only One who didn’t have to die. Some people may choose to die a little sooner, but nobody has ever truly chosen to die except for one — Jesus!
Finally, Jesus, is our High Priest. In Old Testament times, a mediator, often a temple priest, interceded between God and man, offering an animal’s blood as atonement for sin. Jesus’ death and resurrection took away the need for such sacrifice. Christ now stands as our intercessor, the bridge between a Holy God and sinful man.
So what must we do to be saved?
Once we know who Jesus is then we must decide what to do with it. Some may desire to ignore the truth but that’s actually not an option. God calls us either to accept or reject Jesus as our Saviour; avoidance is actually a form of rejection. How, exactly, can we accept Jesus into our life?
First, we must believe in Him. This means we must place our confidence in the person of Christ, knowing that His death on the cross paid for all our sin. It was a total surrender to Jesus as the only One who can forgive our sins, thereby bridging the gap between us and the Father. Believers must also follow Christ’s ways. Allowing Jesus to live His Lordship through our lives means yielding our will and desires to His.
As mentioned earlier, one of the most amazing meetings in history took place almost 2,000 years ago. It is one of the best known stories in God’s Word – it’s referred to as the Rich Young Ruler. It’s about a young businessman who came to Jesus. He came willingly, he came publicly and he came directly.
And what was his request from the Saviour of the world? He asked for eternal life.
And what was his method? He came by all outward appearances genuinely. He was on his knees and looking up into the face of Jesus.
Wow! That is what all of us long to someday do! Kneel and look up at the One who loved us, and whom we have loved with all our heart. By any standard of measurement, this should have been the greatest day of his life. But it ended up being the worst!
This young man claimed to have lived an exemplary life by the Jewish standards having done everything the law commanded, so why did his request end in failure?
When Jesus told him what he must do to be saved the young man refused to obey. He became the only person who came willingly to the feet of Jesus who went away unchanged, unhelped, unforgiven, unhealed, and most of all unsaved.
This day was captured in scripture by God to communicate a disaster of eternal proportions. This man missed the opportunity — of an eternity. A moment to determine his ultimate destiny was lost. God left this story with a sad ending on purpose.
I believe God did this so we can learn that it is not by our works that we are saved but by our confession of who Jesus is and our repentance and living our lives in obedience to Jesus as our Lord.
< Previous
Home
|
