Many clerics speak about the issue of salvation from the stand point of probability. They say you may be saved and be in heaven if … (then a list of things come afterwards). Some say you are saved but if Jesus returns and catches you in the act of a sin then you lose your salvation. Another version says God will test all your work and weigh it out, if the good outweighs the bad then you will be saved. All these have an appearance of probability of less than one(certain) but the truth about salvation is presented with certainty from the scriptures.
Jesus spoke convincingly and with certainty about salvation. He spoke about it with precision and with the probability of 1 for anyone who will be saved. Jesus’ prescription of salvation does not leave occasion for doubt, It was clear. Do this and you will be saved or you will have eternal life.
Some examples are;
John 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
John 6:54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 10:27 – 30 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
I and my Father are one.
Once He has saved you nobody can snatch YOU from him, ever again.
Jesus was clear about how people should receive eternal life. It is through him – Jesus Christ. The condition to being saved as we read is to believe in him.
When Paul was asked a direct question that borders around salvation, his answer was simple and clear..
Act 16: 30 – 31 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
Paul spoke about it with certainty and without any iota of doubt or probability. Simple, clear and certain. “Believe and you shall be saved.” It is not “you may be saved”.
Salvation should be received with certainty. You can be definite about where you are going after your time here on earth. From scriptures, you can say with assurance if you are going to heaven or not.
Can you? If we cannot be definite about our salvation then it can be amounted to a waste of time.
Salvation is not to be worked for. It is a gift. Nobody ever works for a gift because you get it for free. When you get a reward for what you do then it is not a gift. If you are hoping to be saved by the works you do, have done or will do, that is works and not grace.
Ephesians 2: 8-9 says “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.”
Any inclination that you have of being saved by your efforts is a response of the human nature that desires to be independent and work to achieve a feat without help. It is an innate desire that offers the opportunity to boast. We all at one time or the other want to boast about things we have done or acquired. In fact it is a good thing to work hard and get the things you desire as God blesses the works of your hands but not with salvation. God is not just committed to save you but He wants to save you by Himself. He wants no (zero) effort of yours in the mix. He will have all the glory. Think about it for a moment, to say that you will be saved and be in heaven because you did not sin is giving yourself some credit. The reverse is to say that if you will not be saved because you had a last minute sin and didn’t have the chance to repent before you died is also giving yourself some credit for failing. Let it be clear, YOU have no part in the work of salvation. The blood of Jesus did all the work.
Salvation has come to you for free but it came at a cost. The cost of your salvation is what you should appreciate and embrace so that it spurs you on to godly living. Jesus death on the cross was the sacrifice for your sins; the justification of your soul and invariably your salvation. It came at a cost to God to save you. The cost was sufficient and requires nothing more from you. That means keep your boasting and surrender it all. It’s like the blood of the lamb that was put on door post in Egypt, it was sufficient to save them from the angel of death that killed all first son of the Egyptians (Exodus 12: 21-30).
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Romans 3: 24-28 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
Keep your boasting to yourself.
Salvation is presented in scriptures with certainty. Your destination to heaven can be known from here on earth. In fact you can determine it right now. Salvation is now.
It is not to be left to probability that depends on your inconsistency as a man. If there is any probability, it is dependent on God who is constant and what He has done about it. Yes, it is done. Your salvation has a probability of one (1), that is certain.
The only requirement needed to be saved is faith in Jesus Christ. Believe in Him and you will not perish but have eternal life. Jesus saves completely.
Hebrews 7: 25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
Salvation is in Christ Jesus. Believe and be saved 100%.
Pastor Ayo Adeoye