HOW TO BE SAVED FROM DEATH
The churches of Christ Greet You (Romans 16:16)
This lesson has been written to the Glory of God who Created the World. The Bible says, “Hear, O
Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord” (Deut. 6:4). The ONE GOD
has revealed Himself to us in nature, for “the Heavens declare the
glory of God: and the firmament sheweth
his handywork” (Ps. 19:1). But
even more objectively, the ONE God has revealed Himself to us in the
Bible (READ 2 Tim.
God created man in His own image (Gen. 1:27). He is the Provider
of life and ALL GOOD THINGS, “For in him we live, and move, and have
our being” (Acts
Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden. God gave them ONE COMMAND,
saying that if they broke this law the penalty would be DEATH (Gen.
2:15-17). After being tempted by Satan (the devil), Adam and Eve
sinned [disobeyed the
CREATOR] (Gen. 3:5-6).
Because they CHOSE to sin, they immediately died spiritually and were
expelled from the presence of God (Gen. 3:23). Their bodies began
to deteriorate, leading to physical death (Gen. 5:5). Man fell
from God's GRACE when death entered the world through sin (Rom.
By the days of Noah, "God saw that the wickedness of man was great in
the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was
only evil continually" (Gen. 6:5). God therefore sent a
flood to destroy all men (2 Pet. 2:5), saving only Noah and his family
(Heb. 11:7).
Because Abraham (by faith) obeyed God, he was chosen to become the
patriarch of
Laws, including the Ten Commandments, were given to Abraham’s descendants (Deut. 5). Though laws
change,
the punishment for sin remains the same - DEATH (Ezek. 18:4, 20; Rom.
Because of God's MERCY and LOVE, He repeatedly promised through the Old
Testament prophets that a Savior would come from among the descendants
of Abraham to provide forgiveness for man's sins and allow man to
return to fellowship
with God (Isa. 53; Acts 2:30). As we
continue
to glorify God (1 Cor.
The Bible says, “When the fullness of time had come (during the days of
the
Because GOD LOVED US (John
Before Jesus came in the flesh, God spoke to men in many ways (Heb.
1:1-2). Today He speaks to us ONLY THROUGH HIS SON (John
Jesus claims to be: the LIGHT of the world (John
Jesus tells us that the MOST IMPORTANT COMMANDMENTS are to LOVE GOD and
LOVE OTHERS (Matt.
Our sins require DEATH as punishment (Rom.
The shedding of blood was required for us to have forgiveness of sins
(Heb.
The GOOD NEWS of the Gospel is that on the third day after His burial,
Jesus Christ AROSE FROM THE DEAD (1 Cor. 15:1-4). This was
witnessed by many people (1 Cor. 15:5-8). After 40 days, He
ascended back to Heaven (Acts 1:3, 9-11).
Jesus proved to us that by His power we, too, can CONQUER DEATH.
Christ proved that He has authority over Satan who had the power of
death. Jesus offers to RELEASE those who are slaves to the fear
of death (Heb.
In Acts chapter 2, when the apostle Peter preached the first sermon
after the return of Jesus to Heaven, many were moved by the message and
asked, "What
shall we do?" They were told, "REPENT, and let EVERY one of
you
be BAPTIZED in the name of Jesus Christ for the REMISSION OF SINS; and
you
shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:37-38).
About three thousand believed and were baptized (Acts
That means we are to meet for worship each Sunday and remember Jesus by
partaking of the Lord’s Supper (Acts
20:7). In order to lay up treasures in Heaven, we are to
cheerfully give of the material blessings God has given to us (Matt.
As we study the many New Testament examples of conversion to Christ and
salvation from sin, all found in the Book of Acts, we learn that those
who
obeyed the commands of Jesus, did so by hearing and believing the Word,
repenting
of their sins, confessing Jesus to be the Son of God, and in every
case,
being baptized (immersed in water) to wash their sins away by the blood
of
Christ (Acts 22:16; Rev. 1:5). At the point of their baptism they
were
saved (1 Pet.
The same PROMISE of SALVATION is offered to us if we obey the SAME
COMMANDS (Acts 2:39). When we respond in the same way to the same
message, we are SAVED from SPIRITUAL DEATH, and the Lord ADDS us to the
SAME body or church
of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 3:6).
When we REPENT, we die to our old sinful self (
When we come up out of the water, we are born again into a new life (2
Tim. 2:11; 2 Cor. 5:17); FREED from the guilt of our past sins (Rom.
6:7), just as Jesus was resurrected without the sins He bore on the
cross. This is a SPIRITUAL REBIRTH (John 3:5). After we
OBEY the GOSPEL, we must continue to live under the GUIDANCE of God
(John 8:31). Only by following His word can we enjoy His
FELLOWSHIP (1 John 1:5-7.)
Friends, Jesus Is Coming Again! He has promised that HE WILL
RETURN (John 14:3). At that time the WORLD will be BURNED UP (2 Pet.
3:10-13). Then God will JUDGE every soul INDIVIDUALLY according
to his or her DEEDS (Rev. 20:12-13).
Neither man's opinions, nor man’s
doctrines or commandments will be what judges us in the end (Matt.
15:9; John 12:48). ETERNAL PUNISHMENT in HELL awaits those who
have not OBEYED Jesus Christ (2
Thess. 1:8-9). Those who did not accept Christ as their
substitute by obedience to His word, will have their SINS punished by
ETERNAL DEATH (James 1:15), forever SEPARATED from God (Heb.
10:29-31). The NEVER ENDING JOYS of HEAVEN await those who have
had their SINS WASHED AWAY by the
blood of Jesus and have remained FAITHFUL to the LORD'S WILL (Rev.
2:10; Matt.
24:13).
God's JUSTICE demands IF YOU SIN, YOU WILL DIE (Ezek. 18:20)!
God's LOVE allows IF YOU BELIEVE AND OBEY JESUS, YOU CAN LIVE (Heb.
5:8-9)! God's WILL is revealed ONLY in the Bible. He has
allowed us to CHOOSE the road we will follow (Matt. 7:13-14). He
has given us clear WARNINGS about following our own will (Prov. 14:12), and wonderful PROMISES about
following His will (Matt. 7:21-29).