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THE PROMISE THE PROMISE-YOU ARE JUSTIFIED "WHAT must I do to be saved?" That was the question a frightened Greek jailer asked the Apostle Paul many centuries ago. It is a question asked by many people today. "What must I do to be saved?" There is nothing you can do. God has done it all. He saved you through Jesus Christ. He gives you the promise--your sins are forgiven. You are justified! What does it mean to be justified. Justification is a judicial act of God whereby he declares you righteous for Christ's sake. By one man, Adam, sin entered the world and death by sin. Likewise, by one man, Jesus Christ, the whole world was declared righteous. When Jesus died on the cross, he carried with him the sins of all mankind. The Bible tells us, "The Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all." Having paid the punishment for our sins by his death on the cross, Jesus triumphantly rose from the dead. Again, the Bible states, "Jesus was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification." God justifies, that is, forgives our sins solely because of his grace. The Bible reminds us, "For it is by grace you have been saved." Grace is the undeserved love of God. In love God sent his Son into the world just as he had promised Adam and Eve when they sinned. It was by grace that God's Son, Jesus, was willing to live a perfect life on earth and to die an innocent death on the cross. He did all this as your substitute. He did it in your place. The Bible tells us that "grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." So, you see, it was not by what you did or do but what God already has done through
Jesus Christ that saves you. And how do you make this salvation your own? By faith in
Jesus Christ. "For it is by grace you are saved through faith," is what the
Bible says. By the grace of God and through faith, which is God's gift, we are justified, declared holy in God's sight. Our sins are covered by the righteousness of Jesus Christ. As a result, God no longer looks at our sins but on Jesus' righteousness. Thus God declares us righteous and just for Christ's sake. In other words, God has done everything. We can do nothing. And that is what God tells us in the Bible, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, - and this not from ourselves, it is the gift of God - not of works, so that no one can boast." Contrary to this clear word of God, many people reject this perfect righteousness by trying to earn it by their own good works. But in vain because God does not need or want our good works to save us. The answer to the question, "What must I do to be saved?" is--nothing. "Believe on Jesus Christ" is the real answer. Even that faith is a gift of God through the promise of the gospel. Now every believer can be certain of God's forgiveness because it does not depend on anything man does. If it did, we could never be sure we are saved because we could never be certain we had done enough good deeds to satisfy God. Now the believer can be sure of salvation because our forgiveness depends entirely on what Jesus Christ has already accomplished. Your wonderful purpose in life then is, first of all, to learn about the good news concerning Jesus from the Bible. Then, secondly, you will want to share that good news with your friends, relatives and neighbors. Tell them that God has done it all. Tell them we are justified, forgiven, by God's grace, through faith in Jesus, the Savior. __________
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