WHEN
IS A PERSON SAVED?
Part 4
Salvation is something a
person experiences in this life. It is something that is known, felt, and
experienced in the heart. SALVATION IS A
LIVING UNION WITH THE SON OF GOD BY FAITH. If a person ever experiences
salvation by the grace of God, if you and I are saved three things must be
found in our hearts.
1.
No
man, woman, or child is truly saved until his heart is made to experience HOLY SPIRIT CONVICTION. Our Lord told
us that the Holy Spirit would come to "reprove
(convince, or convict) the world of Sin, and of righteousness, and of
judgment". It is the work of God the Holy Spirit to convict men, to
persuade and convince men, of their sin, the evil of their hearts, of the
righteousness of God in Christ, and of the satisfaction of divine justice by
the death of Christ. No one is saved who does not have such conviction in his
heart.
2.
No
one is saved until he is given a true HEART
FAITH IN CHRIST. "With the heart
man believeth unto righteousness." I am not talking about a decision
you made for Jesus. I am talking about true faith, a true and continual heart
confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ, a reliance of the heart upon the
sufficiency of Christ's righteousness, the efficacy of his blood, the merits of
his intercession, and the power and ability he has to save. No one is saved
without Holy Spirit conviction and faith in Christ.
3.
And
no one is saved who does not experience in his heart REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD. our Lord said, "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish!” Repentance
is a change. it is a change of mind, a change of motives, and a change of
Masters. A man has not truly repented, until he repents of his sin - the evil
of his nature, his sins - the evil of his deeds, and his righteousness the evil
of his supposed goodness. Do you know anything about the conviction of the Holy
Spirit, faith in Christ, and repentance toward God? Have you experienced these
things in your heart? Do you now experience them? Without conviction, faith,
and repentance wrought in your heart by the Holy Spirit, there is no salvation.
A PERSON IS TRULY SAVED WHEN, BY THE REVELATION OF GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT,
HE SEES THE GLORY OF GOD IN THE CRUCIFIED CHRIST. "For
God, who commanded the light to Shine out of darkness, hath shined in our
hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of
Jesus Christ." "How can a man be just with God? How can he be clean
that is born of woman?" How can God be just and yet justify the ungodly?
Where can righteousness and peace meet together? Where can mercy and truth kiss
each other? How can justice be satisfied and grace be extended? Find the answer
to those questions and you will learn the gospel. There is but one answer. It
is found in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the death of Christ we see
both the wisdom and the power of God. THE
REDEMPTIVE GLORY OF GOD IS REVEALED IN THE CROSS OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.
No man is saved until he sees, by Divine revelation, the glory and justice of
God, as well as the grace of God, in saving sinners through the substitutionary
sacrifice of his Son at Calvary.
God sacrificed his Son in
the place of his people, because in order for a holy God to save sinful man SIN MUST BE PUNISHED, RIGHTEOUSNESS MUST BE
MAINTAINED, and JUSTICE MUST BE
SATISFIED (Rom. 3:19-26). How can God forgive sinners and save them by his
grace? Only by SUBSTITUTION! Through
the sacrifice of his Son as our propitiation to make an atonement for our sins,
God is as just as if he never showed mercy, and as merciful as if he had no
justice.
AMEN.
Grace Baptist Church of Danville - Grace For
Today Radio Message #639
2734 Old Stanford Road -
Danville, Kentucky 40422-9438
Donald S.
Fortner, Pastor -Telephone 606-236-8235 - Email grace@mis.net