Salvation is the act of God’s grace by which we receive remission of sins and stand before God as though we had never sinned. This experience is necessary to inherit eternal life in Heaven. In order to receive it, we must repent (have godly sorrow for the sins we have committed) and turn away from all sin. Then by faith we must reach out to God for mercy and forgiveness, and claim His promise of pardon.

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden, the entire human family became sinful in nature. From that day on, every person born on earth is a sinner by birth and needs to repent of the sins he or she has committed. The penalty for sin is death (Romans 6:23), but God provided the plan so that we can be saved. Jesus, God’s Son, died in man’s place that we might have forgiveness for sins through His Blood (Colossians 1:14).

Man is a free agent, even though sinful in nature. By exercising that free will, we can reach out to God and be saved from sin by faith in God’s redemptive plan. We can have the assurance that we are saved (also referred to as being born again). When the work of salvation has been done in the heart, God’s Spirit witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God (Romans 8:16).

John 1:1-13; 3:3; Acts 2:21; 10:43; 13:38-39; Romans 3:25-26; 5:1; Galatians 3:11,24

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