Salvation is by faith and faith alone- John 6:40 “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”  The word, "believe," in the original Greek translates more like the word trust in the English language. It means to be totally convinced of something. The moment that you are totally convinced that Jesus Christ alone guarantees you eternal life, you will have eternal life.  For a more in-depth explanation please read the information below.
 

Straight to the point- Everybody will die physically no matter what and everyone will be judged after death by God. Hebrews 9:27 "And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,"

However, God loved His creation so much that He made a way for them to have eternal life despite their incurable sin nature. Rom 5:6-9  "For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him."
 

Jesus Christ, God the Son, voluntarily laid down His life by dying on a cross at Calvary so that anyone who would believe, or trust Him for their eternal life, would have it free of charge by faith alone in Christ alone. John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."

John 5:24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life."

John 6:40 "For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day." J

John 6:47 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life." 

Notice that we've highlighted certain key words. Why? Because we want you to know that the Word of God always teaches that eternal life is by belief, or faith alone. We would also like to point out that a person who has believed will have no reason to ever fear loosing their status as a Believer, they are eternally secure in Jesus Christ. Rom 8:1 “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Is it really that simple? Yes, on the authority of God's Word, we can say it is a free gift, apart from works, or by faith alone. Eph 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” 

2 Timothy 1:8-9 "Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God,              9. who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,"

 Who or what actually is a sinner? If you would hear many Christians or religions leaders speak it would be everybody but them, or their church. However, the Bible plainly describes who is considered a sinner. 1 John 1:8 "If we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us."  The Book of Romans also clears this up for us. Romans 3:10  "As it is written, "there is none righteous, not even one:" Romans 3:23 " For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." So to answer the question, all people, Christians and non-Christians, are sinners.

What is the penalty of sin? Sin is a transgression against God and its penalty is death. Romans 6:23a   " For the  wages of sin is death," First we have physical death, our bodies are dying daily because of the fallen state of man that began in the garden of Eden as a result of the sin of Adam. He was the representative for all mankind.. Genesis 3:19  "By the sweat of your face you will eat bread, till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; For you are dust, and to dust you shall return."  Romans 5:12 "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—" Second, we could die spiritually, or be eternally separated from God in hell, if we don't have our sin paid for, or atoned for, while we are yet living. This process is sometimes referred to as getting our names recorded in the book of life. Revelation 20:14-15 “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.  And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

How is sin paid for? The answer to this question many times sets people back a bit. The answer is, sin was paid for by the blood of a perfect sacrifice. Why? Because sin represents death, and blood is the life giving force of any living thing. So we need the life giving force of blood to counteract the death bringing force of sin, Leviticus 17:11 "‘For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.’" This explains why we see so many blood sacrifices in the Old Testament, because they were trying to make atonement for their sins by sacrificing the best of their livestock. They would apply the life giving force of the blood to cover the death bringing sin in their lives.

The problem with this process was that those perfect animals of the flock were not eternal beings, so their blood was not eternal and could not make eternal atonement, or payment for sin. They had to come back year after year and sacrifice again and again. Hebrews 10:1-4 "For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have a consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." Mankind needed a perfect sacrifice with eternal blood that could be sacrificed one time and cover all sins eternally.

He accomplished this through His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus, being all God, became flesh so that He could pay the sin debt of the world. When Jesus took on human flesh, He mixed the eternal nature of God with the flesh and blood of man. This meant that we finally had a being with eternal blood in His veins yet perfect and without sin because He was still God. Philippians 2:5-8 “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped [or taken advantage of], but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (brackets added)

Because of the faithfulness of Jesus all men have the opportunity to have eternal life by faith and faith alone. John 5:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life."
 

Questions? If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at Grace Christian Church either by phone at the church. 260-347-3923 or by email on our "contact us" page on this website.