When is a Person Saved?
When It Pleases
God!
When is a person saved? Religion gives us many
answers to that question. Some say that God's elect were saved in eternity.
They tell us that election is salvation; but that in not so. Election is unto
salvation. Election secures salvation and makes it certain. But election is not
salvation. "God hath from the beginning chosen us unto salvation,
through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth."
Some say that a child is
saved when it in brought, by its believing parents, to a priest or a preacher
as an baby, to be sprinkled with water. But that cannot be true. Such a
practice is nowhere taught in the Bible. The Word of God makes it abundantly
clear that salvation does not come by religious heritage or religious ceremony.
The children of God are born, "not of blood, nor of the will of the
flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God".
Some say that a child is
saved when he learns the church catechism, when he comes to what men call
"the age-of accountability" and is confirmed in the church. But such
foolishness is nowhere taught in the Word of God.
Some say that a person is
saved when he makes a decision for Jesus and professes faith in him. Judas
decided to follow Jesus, but he was not saved. Demas professed faith, but he
did not have faith. Simon Magus had a profession and a decision, but he was a
lost man. My friends, profession is not possession. A decision for Jesus is not
a saving knowledge of the Son of God.
Some say that a person is
saved when he reforms his life and starts living for God. You know that cannot
be true. The Pharisees were thoroughly reformed in their lives. They were very
moral and very religious. Annanias was a thoroughly reformed man. Diotrophes
served the church of God zealously. But all of them are in hell today.
Some say that a person is
saved if he can hold on, hold out, or hang in to the end. It is true that those
who are truly saved will continue in the faith; but our continuance in the
faith is not dependent upon us. We continue in the faith because God keeps us
in his hands.
Some say that a person is
saved when he is baptized, when he joins the church, when he receives the
Lord's Supper or when he has performed enough good works to merit heaven.
And some say that a person
is not saved until the day of judgment. When we get to heaven and hear the Lord
say, "Come ye blessed" we will find out who is saved but not
till then.
NONE OF THESE STATEMENTS
ABOUT SALVATION ARE TRUE. They are all the inventions of men. Not one of them has any foundation
in the Word of God. When is a person saved? The Apostle Paul tells us that A
PERSON IS SAVED WHEN IT PLEASES GOD TO SAVE HIM. "When it pleased
God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his graces to
reveal his Son in me." "When the fulness of time was come ...
God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba Father."
My friends, "Salvation is of the Lord,"
Salvation comes to men according to God's sovereign pleasure. He says, "I
will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whom I
will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that
runneth, but of God that showeth mercy." God saves whoever he is
pleased to save; and he saves them whenever it pleases his to do so. When is a
person saved? Mark it down. -- A PERSON IS SAVED WHEN IT PLEASES GOD TO SAVE
HIM.