"It is finished" are the last words Jesus spoke before he left this world. The word "finished" in the Greek indicates the paying of a debt. Therefore, when Jesus stated, "it is finished" He acknowledged that the sin debt of the human race had been paid in full. Jesus Christ left the throne of Heaven, became human, lived among us, and then took on a debt that we could never pay. This debt that He took on cost Him His life, and beyond that it cost Him seperation from His Father. Never in all of created history has Jesus been seperated from His Father yet that is exactly what happenned that day. And when the last of the sins of the human race were poured out on Him, He could say, "IT IS FINISHED" once and for all, for all eternity.
If the debt has been paid in full, and it has, then the issue for the human race is, "do you believe in what Jesus did?" period..Do you believe that His sacrifice on the cross and His subsequent resurrection three days later is sufficient to make amends with God?
You do not need to prayer the sinner's pray, or make Jesus Lord of your life, or walk an aisle, or be baptized or any of the other things that MEN require us to do. According to the Bible all that is required for salvation is "Faith alone (nothing more) in Christ alone (no one else)". When a person SIMPLY BELIEVES in Jesus Christ that person is saved for all eternity by the SOVEREIGN CHOICE OF GOD not by anything that person does. You see, God is the one who decided that faith alone in Chrit alone was the requirement for salvation, not men. Anything added to it is "of men" and therefore false.
3 comments:
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the
Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"
- Galatians 3:20-21
Michael,
God has blessed you with the knowledge that few will know. I will know you in Heaven.
Mark, this is especially relevant and precious to me, since we live in an area that is permeated with 'lordship salvation.' Even many in our church, though the pastor stresses faith, believe this. There is a thing going around called ABC's: Accept (that you're a sinner), Believe, and Confess. So insidious.
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