A blog series on finding Salvation in Christ Alone
"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” Matthew 7:13-14
The Road to Salvation
I feel it necessary to have a moment of confession to my readers. It’s a big one –it impacts my daily life, and it most often affects my efficiency in several ways. Luckily with modern technology, the consequences of this problem have been minimalized. Guesses anyone?
Here it is….
I have a terrible sense of direction. I remember one of my friends, who surely missed her call as a comedian, rode with me to town own day. For those of you who do not have the pleasure of living in my quaint little, but rapidly growing town, you would know that getting lost should be a rarity. In addition to that, I have lived here for most of my life. Regardless of these points, I typically turn on my GPS even in town. On this particular day, my friend asked the obvious question. “Why do you always turn your GPS on?” I thought –um well as obvious as this should be it’s because I do not want to get lost.” The other reason is quite possibly due to my type A personality and that I want to know exactly how long it will take me to arrive at my destination. And as we women tend to do; this question took us down a series of rabbit holes. We discussed roads, paths, directions, detours, dead ends, and all the such. And though we started on a GPS and directions we ended on the topic of a more important road –actually the most important path you will ever find.
As necessary and important as the paved road we drive on every day is, the road that God has laid out for us to follow is the greatest path you will ever walk down. The Road to Salvation offers direction, clarity, correction, and freedom. Through the duration of the blog series, “The Narrow Gate”, my hope and prayers are to use the Roman Road to Salvation to show you a clear picture of God's plan for your life. We will discuss the Biblical meaning of Salvation, the consequences of not accepting it, the benefits of receiving it, what the life of a Christian should look like, and the importance of sharing that love with those around you.
“And God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good.” Genesis 1:31
So, what is Salvation? What does it mean for you and your life? And how do you obtain it? I believe it to be necessary to begin at the beginning. The roads we travel are all derivative of this point. I certainly do not ever want to assume that everyone reading this holds the same belief or level of accurate Biblical knowledge. So, with that being said, let us start at the beginning together. Genesis 1 tells us that God created the world and everything in it in six days and on the seventh He rested. How did He create it you ask? He spoke every single bit of it into existence and formed it with His hands. Pretty amazing right? I can’t even finish all the laundry in my house in one day. It was on the sixth day that God created the first two humans, Adam and Eve, to walk with Him in the cool of the Garden. His creation, plan, and design were perfect. His desire was to walk with His children in perfection with no fear, struggles, sin, or death. God had one rule for His children. And that rule was to simply not eat from one tree in the Garden. The road that they were walking up until this point was one of peace, perfection, security, and serenity.
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden? Genesis 3:1
Unfortunately, even in this perfect Garden in Eden, there still existed an enemy. An enemy in the form of a serpent that would deceive, trick, and lie in an effort to corrupt God’s perfect creation. The Bible tells us that Eve caved to the schemes of the Devil and ate the fruit. It was in the moment that sin entered, God's perfect creation would become stained, and we would now and forever be in need of a Savior. One mistake, one error in judgment, one missed turn, and the world as we know it is lost; utterly and completely lost. This perfect road of ease that Adam and Eve were previously on was now split into two paths –the path towards God and the path towards evil. Regardless of the evil that existed, God had a good and perfect plan from the beginning. And even though sin had stained the perfect world that He created Adam and Eve to live in, God was and still is in complete control.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
Because the singular path that God created for us to follow had been altered due to sin, the world would need a Savior. The sin that is in our lives, separates us from a Holy, loving, and just God. Therefore, God sent His one and only Son to walk this earth enduring the troubles that the world promises, but all the while He remained sinless. Yet the path that He would have to walk would be towards an unimaginable death on a cross. And while he was being crucified on the cross, He willingly became the ultimate sacrifice for our sins when He took all the sins upon Him.
“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” John 3:17
God sent His son to bridge the gap and bring His people back into a right relationship with Him. Through this sacrifice, Jesus has offered forgiveness for our sins and the promise of a new life. This new life put us on a road that is steady, clear, concise, and safe. So here is where the rubber meets the road, my friends. Without asking Jesus to be the Lord of your life, repenting, and turning away from your sins –this road isn’t available to you. But once you find the joy that comes from walking the road towards Christ, your life will be forever changed. The Bible tells us clearly that
“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). (The two elements in this verse will be discussed in a later blog post)
Dear friends, what you have just read is not just some story to be told, it's not my opinion, it's not some modified version that the world has given us. It hasn't been minimized to meet our understanding --it is the GOSPEL and it is absolute TRUTH. This decision affects every aspect of your life and every decision to follow. It's not a "let's wait until another day", or "maybe when I'm an adult" decision. We are not promised tomorrow and today is a gift from God.
If you have never found your hope and salvation in the ONE TRUE GOD, my prayer is that you would seek him today and find your hope in Him. If you are ready to surrender your life to God here is a sample prayer that you can pray.
Dear God, Today I recognize my need for you in my life and proclaim the truth that “apart from you, I can do nothing”. I humble myself before you and confess to you that I am a sinner and in need of your grace. I believe that you are the One True God and that you sent your one and only son to die on the cross to save me from my sins. I believe that because of this I can have eternal life within you. I ask you now that you would cleanse me from these sins and create in me a clean heart. From this day forward I want to live my life solely for you as my Lord. Thank you for hearing my prayers and making me a new creation.
AMEN
If you would like to talk more about Salvation, if you have questions or if you would like me to pray with you, please click the link below to email me.
Our Bible Reading plan this week will give us a look at the results of put other things before God.
Questions?
If you have questions or things that you don't understand, please email them to me and I will add them to the Q&A section. I can't promise you that I will have all of the answers, but I can promise I will do my best to find them if I don't have them.
Growing in God
Would you like a tool to encourage your growth in God? Check out my newly released 12-month spiritual disciplines book/journal. This journal will give you a brief understanding of 8 tangible spiritual disciplines as well as give you a space to implement these disciplines into your daily walk with God.
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