THE FREE GIFT OF SALVATION

WHAT IS SALVATION?

Seven Quick Points to understand God’s plan of Salvation:

1. GOD IS HOLY

2. WE ALL HAVE SINNED

3. GOD MADE ATONEMENT FOR OUR SINS

4. IT’S ALL ABOUT MESSIAH

5. YOU CAN KNOW THE LOVE OF GOD

6. YOU CAN RECEIVE GOD’S GIFT OF SALVATION

7. BEGIN NEW LIFE, NEXT STEPS

GOD IS HOLY

There is One God. This is the God of the Bible. This is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He is Creator of all the universe.

“Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? (Exodus 15:11)

God is Holy. Only God is perfect in all His ways. Only God is pure, righteous, and without fault. There is no darkness and no sin in Him. Only He is good and totally pure and perfectly Holy in every way.

WE ALL HAVE SINNED

Where do we stand in the light of a good and Holy God? Are we flawless and perfect in our ways? No, none of us are perfectly pure. Every one of us falls short, very far short, of perfection. All our righteousness, as the prophet Isaiah declares, is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).

We are unclean compared to a Holy and perfect God. Even the best of all our own works, the most generous of all acts of charity, even with our most diligent observance of all decrees, we still fall very far short of God’s perfect perfection. We all sin. If it weren’t for God’s plan of salvation, we would face the wages of sin which is death and an eternity in hell, eternally separated from God. God, the Righteous Judge, requires payment for sin.

We can never do enough or be enough on our own, to meet the standards and perfection of our most Holy, Just and Righteous God.

So, how can we, imperfect since the fall of Adam, have a deep intimate relationship with God Who is totally perfect and pure? Here is where the mystery of God’s love is revealed, His grace, His mercy, His atoning work, God’s great and perfect love – for you!

The perfect God, the Creator of all the earth, through His grace and mercy, makes a way for us to draw close to Him. There’s a huge gap between our unholiness and God’s holiness. But God bridges the gap. God has made the way.

God Himself, because of His deep love, has bridged the gap. He has made a way, so that even with our faults, spots, blemishes, weaknesses and imperfections, we can draw close to Him Who is perfect and without sin.

We can never do this on our own. It is not by anything we can accomplish in our own strength. It is not through our own ingenuity or our own power. Relationship with the Almighty God comes only through God’s very special provision and plan, through His grace and His mercy.

GOD MADE ATONEMENT FOR OUR SINS

The priestly duties and the offerings of sacrifice continued for generations. The Jewish high priests would bring the sacrifice to the altar as atonement for the sins of the people. The sacrifice became the substitute, to die in the place of the man whose sins convicted him in the presence of the perfect, just and holy Judge.

The sacrificial system was set up by God as the way to meet His requirement for sinless perfection. For who can stand before a Holy God! Unrighteousness cannot abide with a Righteous God.

How can we have the relationship that God desires us to have with Him, if we ourselves are not perfectly righteous? In Leviticus 17:11, God gives the answer to Moses: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.”

God, because of His great love for us, made a way for unrighteousness and sin to be dealt with, through atonement. A sacrifice and atonement had to be made in order for man, in his fallen state, to have peace and presence with his righteous Creator.

The way God made for us to enjoy the fullness of God’s blessing, and to have a relationship with Him is through sacrifice and atonement. The only perfect, totally pure and blameless one who could ever offer the perfect and final atonement once and for all, to adequately atone for the sins of all mankind, would be from the very throne of God. He would come to show His great love for us, by giving Himself for us.

There could be no other way. Any other way falls short of the requirement for purity and perfection. God’s way satisfies the perfect requirements of the perfect and Holy God.

God alone is perfect. God made a way for us to be forgiven of all our sins by sending His only Son, the Savior, the Messiah. to pay the penalty for our sins. God Himself made the perfect atonement for us.

The sacrifices made by man throughout the generations throughout the Bible, were all pointing to, and leading up to the one great and final atoning work of God Himself.

The sacrifice of God, Who gave HIS Passover Lamb in atonement, was able to accomplish what man, in man’s imperfection, could never do. God paid the price for us. HE paid the penalty for our sins. The prophets of the Bible spoke of this.

IT’S ALL ABOUT MESSIAH

What do the Scriptures and Jewish prophets specifically say about Messiah?

The Jewish prophet Isaiah said that this Savior of all the world would be a rod out of the stem of Jesse. (Isaiah 11:1,2)
In Genesis, it is written that Messiah would be of the seed of Jacob. (Genesis 28:13,14; Numbers 24:17,19)
The prophet Isaiah spoke of a great miraculous sign that God would give for us: “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (literally “God with us”) (Isaiah 7:14)
Messiah would be born a king in the line of David. (Isaiah 9:7, 2Samuel 7:12,13, Jeremiah 23:5, 30:9)
Salvation would come through one, of the tribe of Judah. (Genesis 49:8-10, Micah 5:2)
Messiah would be born of the seed of Isaac. (Genesis 17:19, 21:12, 26:2-4)
Messiah would be born of the seed of Abraham. (Genesis 17:7,8; 26:3-4)
The Hebrew prophet Micah, gave the place of Messiah’s birth. Messiah would be born specifically in Bethlehem. (Micah 5:2)
The Hebrew prophet, Zechariah, told the Daughter of Zion to rejoice. Zechariah knew that her king would come to her, righteous, and just, having salvation, coming lowly, humbly and riding on a donkey. (See Zechariah 9:9)

Only one person fulfills each and every prophecy given by the Hebrew prophets. THERE’S ONLY ONE MESSIAH WHO FULFILLED ALL THESE PROPHECIES WITH 100% ACCURACY…

ONLY ONE MESSIAH was born of the seed of Abraham, born of the seed of Isaac, AND born of a virgin, of the tribe of Judah, in the line of David, of the seed of Jacob, a rod out of the stem of Jesse, was Jewish, AND would come through the line of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, AND coming at a set time be born in a set place (Micah 5:2), be preceded by a messenger sent of God, AND would come riding humbly on a donkey, would be anointed to teach, be blameless and without guile, would work great miracles, AND would be rejected by his own people, would bear the reproach of many, AND would be betrayed, would be sold for thirty pieces of silver, would be smitten, would be spit upon and scourged,would suffer greatly, AND would be cut off (killed), and the temple destroyed, but would rise after three days..

There is only One who fulfills it all. His very name means salvation. “Yeshua” in Hebrew means “salvation”. It is the Hebrew name given to the Redeemer. The name “Jesus” is the English version of the name Yeshua. Yeshua/Jesus is Israel’s Hope and our Salvation.

Only Yeshua/Jesus fulfills each of the hundreds of prophecies found in the Bible, to perfection. He is the Atonement needed, the One spoken of by the prophets. He is the King of kings, and the glory of Israel.

YOU CAN KNOW THE LOVE OF GOD

In the Song of Solomon (6:3), it says “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine”. In Hebrew, it’s “Ani L’dodi V‘Dodi Li”. It’s used a lot at Hebrew weddings, and symbolizes a deep love and committed relationship.

The relationship that God offers with you, His chosen and His beloved, is meant to be more beautiful, deeper and richer than any relationship you have ever had.

Human love, though one may strive to work at loving perfectly, could never be perfect. Man’s love due to man’s sin nature will disappoint and fall short, sometimes far short, and sometimes brutally short.

However, the love of God Who is perfect, is a perfect love. The love of God is the highest and purest and deepest love there is.

God offers this love for you now. Not only does He offer you His love, and His gift of salvation, but He allows you to call Him yours. The God of the Bible is a personal God, and you can know His love.

YOU CAN RECEIVE GOD’S GIFT OF SALVATION

Only God can carry away your heavy burdens. You can trust that through His atoning work that He can carry away all your sins. You can trust His great love for you.

You can trust in God’s ability to do all He said He will do in the Scriptures, and all that He’s spoken through the Hebrew prophets.

You can trust in God’s great care for you. He loves you so much that He made the Atonement, the provision of the Sacrificial Lamb - the perfect Messiah, Jesus.

We can take all of our heavy burdens and sins and bring them to God. We can take all the ways we fall short of God’s perfection, and give it all to God. He wants us to come to Him and to trust that He’s already made the way. He has made the way for us to enter into the holiness of His presence.

God is able to forgive you. He is your salvation.

Dear one, you can have an abundant life in God. You can know for certain that when you die, you will go to Heaven and live for all eternity in His Holy presence because of the atoning work of the Messiah. Do you believe this?

“The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news.” (Mark 1:15)

Repentance simply means turning away from your sin. Do you recognize your need for a Savior? Then confess your sin to God, pray to God, from your heart, and believe. Acknowledge that you need forgiveness - you need a Savior.

Realize salvation is a free gift of God, for you. It doesn’t come by your good works. We are saved by His grace. Believe and trust that Jesus has paid the price for your sin, by dying on the cross for your sins. He paid the penalty for you because of His great love for you, and He rose from the dead in victory, so that you can truly live, with Him for all eternity.

Receive God's free gift today.

SOME KEY SCRIPTURES FROM GOD’S WORD ABOUT SALVATION:

“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:5-6)

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

^“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

“In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:9-10)

“That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. “ (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)

“For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13)

“The time has come, he said. "The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news .” (Mark 1:15)

My friend, this is the most important call you could ever answer. Remember, it’s His work, and not ours. Salvation is God’s gift of love, for us to receive freely. If you turn from your own way, receive and believe God’s plan of salvation, you will be saved from the penalty of sin. You can begin your new life, victoriously in His grace and love.

BEGIN NEW LIFE, NEXT STEPS

Next steps? Take time to read the Bible daily (the Book of John or Matthew is a great place to start), get connected with a good church that teaches from the Bible, keep God first in all things, and live in His victory. God is with you, every step of the way!

If you know the love of the Messiah, pray for others to respond today to God’s call of salvation, while there is still time. And spread the Word, from generation to generation!