Jesus explained the result of the faith in salvation. Faith is not mere thought, logic, or adherence to the belief. It is rather the knowledge of the life of God, the experience of the power of Christ, the heart trust in him, walking with him, commitment and continuance in him until he who believes in him becomes freed from worries in facing death, and preaches the sweetness of the divine life.
Faith is a growing relationship to Christ, which is strengthened with increasing love. Are you still alone, or are you committed forever to Christ? You are a believer if you managed without your own freedom and independence, and held fast to Christ, your Savior.
Are you still selfish, and willing to live for yourself? Do not be proud of yourself, for you are not free, but enslaved to your sin, lusts, and experiences. Christ came to save you. Open yourself completely to his salvation that he may touch your weakness with his right hand, overcome death, and give you growing trust in his love that your eyes may be opened and you may see your Redeemer in his beauty, righteousness, and compassion. Come to the Savior today, and stand fast in him forever. The external sign of our commitment to Jesus is the baptism in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. By this firm decision, he who is baptized sinks into the love of God, to die to his selfishness, and live in the wide expanses of the Holy One.
Are you living outside God, or are you firm in him? The true baptism carries you from straying to the unity of the Holy Trinity, and makes you partner in the life of the Lord. Of course, baptism, as a formal practice is useless. There must be faith with baptism. Yet, if you confess your faith, and hold fast willfully to your baptism, then you will not be your own any further, but God’s.
Did you become your heavenly Father’s own, committing yourself to Christ? He who believes in his continuance in the Son of God experiences the comfort of the Holy Spirit, and the flowing of the love of God in his life, and he ascertains the sweetness of everlasting life.
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved. This salvation began on Golgotha, when the Crucified cried out: “It is finished.” There he reconciled all men to God. Therefore, whoever accepts this privilege, will experience salvation in himself. There is truly objective, lawful, universal salvation for all men. Salvation has been completed, and it is not necessary for Christ to die once again. This salvation is realized in the believers through their faith. Without faith, there is no salvation. Your meeting with Christ, and your trust in him bring the salvation of God into yourself. Beside the complete, objective salvation, we find the realization of personal salvation in the individual through faith.
Baptism is the beginning of salvation in you. The Lord wants you to grow and become mature that you may bear much fruit, and that many may be saved through your example and testimony. Your salvation is not only your own, but it also the others’ at the same time.
He, who experiences salvation, saves the others. The Spirit of God does not rest until the most possible number of men is saved. He wills to use you in spreading the salvation of Christ in your surroundings. Ask your Lord to show you to whom you must speak today about Jesus and his salvation.
In his own life, Jesus experienced that not all men are prepared to believe. They become hardened, turn away from him, mock him, hate him, and oppose him. There is not only growth in faith, but also apparent contradiction in hardheartedness. Whoever does not accept complete salvation will destroy himself by himself.
Jesus does not refuse or destroy anyone, for he is Love. But he, who refuses his salvation willfully, will be obliged to bear his own sins by himself. The judgment of God begins today in him who mockingly neglects the judgment of God, for he who does not believe will be condemned.
Christ is the true way to salvation. No other religion, party, or philosophy can save you. There are no different ways leading to God. Whoever claims syncretism, as a way to God is not aware of the truth. He is rather a liar. Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through him. Judas condemned himself because he separated himself from Christ increasingly.
What about your heart? Are you prepared to wear the salvation of God, to stand fast in your Lord, and to love him over all, or will you neglect, deny, and refuse him?
Be careful! You have to decide either to live or to die, either salvation or destruction. He who does not believe in Christ will be condemned. This decisive statement prompts us once again to preaching, perseverance, and patience. God calls the world to turn and believe in his Son. He who believes will live, and he who does not accept his life will remain dead in sins. So, where are you dear reader?