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4. Receive Salvation

Get  your name in the Book of Life (recap & prelude)

You saw at the beginning of this site that anyone not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire in Revelation 20:15.

 

You discovered there is a different outcome for those who are victorious. You saw in What You Do Matters that the victorious are given several promises including that their names will never be erased from the Book of Life and they will be citizens in the city of God, the new Jerusalem, that comes down from heaven. You saw for yourself that scripture teaches the victorious are those who obey God to the very end. 

You saw the warning from the book of Jude about false teaching that had infiltrated churches in opposition to God's true message in scripture:

“Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people.  I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have denied our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” Jude 3-4

And you've learned we can't live immoral lives. "For if we deliberately keep on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins is left for us, but only a certain fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume God’s enemies. Someone who rejected the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much greater punishment do you think that person deserves who has contempt for the Son of God, and profanes the blood of the covenant that made him holy, and insults the Spirit of grace? For we know the one who said, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

Hebrews 10:26-31

But first count the cost (Luke 14:25-35)

"A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple.  And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.

“But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you.  They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’

“Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away.  So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.

“Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again?  Flavorless salt is good neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown away. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!” 

How do you believe? You hear the message which you have now heard

"So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." Romans 10:17

There is also more to learn in the whole of the scriptures.

You will be given the right to become children of God

"But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God." John 1:12-13

Confess Jesus as Lord and believe

"..if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." Romans 10:9-10

Repent

“Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away—all who have been called by the Lord our God” Acts 2:38-39.  

 

“…I tell you again that unless you repent, you will perish, too” Luke 13:5

 

"‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent" Luke 24:47b 

 

"Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away." Acts 3:19

"But God’s truth stands firm like a foundation stone with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and “All who belong to the Lord must turn away from evil.” 2 Timothy 2:19

Prove by the way you live

"Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God." Matthew 3:8

Be baptized and receive the Holy Spirit

"Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”” Acts 2:38-39

Follow the Spirit

"And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit." Romans 8:3c-4

Now you are free, do those things that result in eternal life

"But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life." Romans 6:22

Be slaves to righteous living, become holy, work at living in peace with everyone

"Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy." Romans 6:19c

"Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord." Hebrews 12:14

Love/obey him and love others

“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you."  John 15:9-12

Protected through your faith and wonderful joy ahead

"Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.

So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while."

1 Peter 1:3c-6

He's given us both freedom from the power of sin so we are not restrained by it, and the empowering help of the Holy Spirit so we can obey him and live righteously. Therefore, adding together the scriptures we've read, if we remain in him and the faith by which he protects us, he will complete his work in us:

"And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns." Philippians 1:6

 "So he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them." Hebrew 7:25

Be among the few who ever find it

“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it." Matthew 7:13-14

Encouragement & One More Message to the Victorious

Jesus had sent out 72 disciples. He gave them power over the enemy and they were so excited about experiencing this authority that when they returned, they were telling him about it. What he told them to actually rejoice over can now be true for you:

"But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven.” Luke 10:20

"All who are victorious will be clothed in white.

I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine."

Revelation 3:5

Your New Name

There is one more message to the victorious from the book of Revelation that I haven't shared with you yet.

“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.

To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven.

And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it." Revelation 2:17

Your new name contains a message so personal that you are the only one who will even understand it.

This demonstrates the intimacy of God's love for those who belong to him.

In fact, he shed his blood for your glory.

 

1 Corinthians 2:7-9 says, "Instead we speak the wisdom of God, hidden in a mystery, that God determined before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood it. If they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But just as it is written, “Things that no eye has seen, or ear heard, or mind imagined, are the things God has prepared for those who love him.”

 

You can learn more about this in the video, If God Is Good, How Do We Explain Evil, which follows the next page.  You now know how to be free from the power of sin and get your name in the Book of Life. 

"We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set

free from the power of sin.

And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him." Romans 6:6-8

For more about what waits for you in God's kingdom, and what the Bible describes happening before he reigns on earth, click next for The Coming Kingdom.

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