An Invitation

When I enter that beautiful city

And the saints all around me appear

I hope that someone will tell me

“It was you who invited me here.”

-Corrie Ten Boom

I read this quote last week, and it really made me think.. Many years ago, people in my life invited me into a relationship with God by showing me what the Bible has to say about salvation. Today, I’m inviting you in to take a look.

Five Points the Bible Makes About Salvation:

1. Everyone needs salvation because we have all sinned.

The Bible says in Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

and in Romans 3:10-12, “¹⁰ as it is written:

‘None is righteous, no, not one;
¹¹     no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
¹² All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.’”

2. There is a price to pay for our sin. The price (or consequences) of sin is death.

Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

3. Jesus Christ died for our sins. He paid the price for our death.

Romans 5:8, “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

4. We receive salvation and eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. We cannot earn salvation by doing good things. 

Ephesians 2:8 , “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God”

Romans 10:9-10, “Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”

and Romans 10:13, “For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

5. Salvation through Jesus Christ brings us into a relationship of peace with God.

Romans 5:1, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we^[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.^“

Romans 8:38-39, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Now that we’ve looked into what the Bible has to say about salvation through Jesus, I want to tell you about my own experience. Many years ago, when I was a small child, people in my life shared these truths with me. In particular, my mom and two grandmas talked to me about what it meant to be a Christian. I learned that I was a sinner, that I needed to ask for forgiveness for my sin, and that I needed to confess that Jesus was the Lord of my life. I did this in August of 1983, and the course of my life was changed.

I could never repay those women for sharing these truths with me. They invited me not only to live at peace with God during my life here on earth but also to live with him eternally in heaven.

Today I want to invite you to make that same decision. If you are reading this, and you have questions about whether or not you have peace with God, please email me. It would be a complete joy for me to visit with you about faith in Christ. Email me here. (theginghamapron@gmail.com).

Please watch this fantastic video from my church. It is a collection of people describing what happened to them when they placed their faith in Jesus Christ.