Right Response
Faith: Man’s Response To Christ
Jesus did all the work necessary to save man from his sins. However, before we can experience the benefits that God has provided through Christ’s death on the cross, God requires that we believe (trust) in Jesus, and what He has accomplished through His death.
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. — Galatians 2:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. — John 3:16 (In fact, there are over 160 verses in the New Testament which declare that the only condition for receiving eternal life is faith in Jesus Christ. Among them are John 1:7, 1:12, 3:18, 5:24, 6:29, etc.)
For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. — 1 Corinthians 1:21
Four Key Truths One Must See And Believe In Order To Be Saved
It is our desire that you might read the following four key truths, understand them, and enjoy the absolute assurance that you will go to Heaven when you die. Once you understand these truths you will be able to sing along with the author of that famous hymn of old:
Amazing grace! how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
Was blind, but now I see.
I once was lost, but now am found;
‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved.
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!
1. I must accept a Holy God’s evaluation of me.
When Isaiah saw God, he cried out…“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts.” (Isaiah 6:3) And though our tendency is to view ourselves or others from a relative standard, God’s evaluation of us stems from His holy character and will so that He declares …
For there is not a just man on earth who does good And does not sin. — Ecclesiastes 7:20
For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God. — Romans 3:23
They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one. — Romans 3:12 Furthermore, it appeals to the pride of man to think that there is some good in him that could make himself acceptable to God. But again the Bible says…
But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away. — Isaiah 64:6
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one. — Romans 3:10 This of course, is the bad news.
2. I must see what God has provided for me through Christ’s death and resurrection.
The good news of the Gospel of grace centers in what Jesus Christ accomplished for us on the cross of Calvary.
Though God’s justice demanded the punishment of death or separation, Jesus Christ died in our place, taking the penalty or punishment we justly deserved.
For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. — Romans 5:6
All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. — Isaiah 53:6
But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. — Hebrews 2:9 His sacrifice for our sins paid the penalty in full, satisfying God’s holy demands completely.
But this man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. — Hebrews 10:12
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit. — 1 Peter 3:18
For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. — 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 And why did He do all this for us? Because He truly loves us and wants to save us from eternal hell.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. — Romans 5:8
In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this 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
3. I must believe eternal salvation and life is a gift to me apart from religious works.
Since Christ fully paid for our sins when He died, what sins remain to be atoned for by our good works? None! Salvation is not a reward for good people, it is the gift of God for sinners who trust in Jesus Christ alone.
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 only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. — John 3:16
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. — Ephesians 2:8-9 Think for a moment, if you could go to heaven by living a moral life, trying to keep the Ten Commandments, being baptized, going to church, etc., why would Jesus Christ have had to die for you and your sins? It would have been for nothing!
I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain. — Galatians 2:21
Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. — Romans 3:28
But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness. — Romans 4:5 Good works are to be the result of salvation, they are never the means to be saved.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. — Ephesians 2:8-10
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. — Titus 3:5
This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men. — Titus 3:8
4. I must rest by faith in God’s promise and assurance to me.
God’s free salvation is personally received through an act of childlike faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior.
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name. — John 1:12 You need not wonder any longer regarding your eternal destiny. Read God’s promise to the one who transfers their faith from their works to Christ’s finished work for them.
And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. — 1 John 5:11-13 Do you know for sure where you will spend eternity? If you don’t know, you don’t go.
Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. — John 5:24 God is offering to you the free gift of eternal life on the basis of His amazing grace. Jesus Christ, God the Son, has paid for this wonderful gift by the supreme sacrifice – He gave His life by shedding His blood to save you.
However, God’s available salvation is of no personal value to you until you receive it through trusting in Christ alone. While you may have seen before that faith in Christ was necessary for salvation, do you see how that FAITH ALONE IN CHRIST ALONE is enough? Jesus Christ’s last words on the cross were… “IT IS FINISHED” [PAID IN FULL] (John 19:30).
So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” — Acts 16:31
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. — John 3:17-18
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” — John 11:25-26