Deborah | Pastor Jory Petitti

If you don't know Christ as your personal Savior, I want to encourage you to continue reading and to study out the passages that are listed.

Salvation is:
(1) By grace alone (Acts 8:20; 10:45; 11:17; 15:11; 18:27; 20:24; Romans 3:24; 4:16; 5:2, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21; 6:1, 6:14, 15, 23; 11:6; Galatians 1:6; 2:21; Ephesians 1:6, 7; 2:5, 8-9; II Thessalonians 2:16; Titus 2:11; 3:7).

(2) Through faith alone (Genesis 15:6; Psalm 17:7; 32:10; Joel 2:32; Habakkuk 2:4; Mark 5:36; Luke 7:48-50; 8:12; 18:42; John 1:7, 12; 3: 15, 16, 18, 36; 5:24; 6:28-29, 35, 40, 47; 7:37-39; 8:24; 11:25, 26; 12:36, 46; 20:31; Acts 1:21; 10:43; 13:39, 48; 15:8-9, 11; 16:31; 26:18; Romans 1:16, 17; 3:22, 24, 25, 26, 28, 30; 4:3, 5, 21-22, 24; 5:1-2; 9:30, 32, 33; 10:4, 9, 10, 11-12, 13; I Corinthians 1:21; Gal. 2:16; 3:2-5, 6, 7-9, 11, 22, 24, 26; 5:5; Ephesians 1:13, 19; 2:8; Philippians 3:9; I Thessalonians 2:13; II Thessalonians 1:10; I Timothy 1:16; 3:16; 4:10; II Timothy 1:12; 3:15; Hebrews 4:3; 10:38, 39; 11:1-40; 11:7; I Peter 1:5, 9; 2:6-7; I John 5:1, 4, 5, 10, 13).

(3) In Christ alone (Matthew 1:21; 5:17; 18:7; 20:28; Luke 9:56; John 1:4, 17; 1:29; 3:14-18 6:35; 7:37; 8:36; 10:7, 9; 11:25; 12:47; 14:6; Acts 3:23; 4:12; 9:34 Romans 4:25; 5:10-21; 10:4; I Corinthians 15:22, 57; II Corinthians 5:15, 21; Galatians 2:20; 3:13, 14, 16, 24; 4:4-5; Ephesians 2:13; 5:2; I Thessalonians 1:10; I Timothy 1:15; 2:5, 6; II Timothy 1:1; Titus 2:14; 3:6; Hebrews 1:3; 2:9; 4:15; 7:25; 9:12, 14, 26-28; 10:10, 12, 14; 13:12; II Peter 1:2-3; 1:19; 2:21, 24; 3:18; I John 2:2; 2:12; 3:5; 3:16; 4:9, 10, 14; 5:11-12, 20; Revelation 1:5; 5:9; 7:14; 12:11; 13:8).

(4) Not of works, the law or anything we can do (Acts 13:39; 15:10; Romans 3:19, 20, 21, 28; 4:4; 5:6; 8:3; 9:6, 32; 11:6; Galatians 2:16, 21; 3:2-3, 5, 10, 11, 12, 18, 21; 5:6; 6:15; Ephesians 2:8, 9; 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 3:5).

(5) Everlasting--once you're saved you're always saved (Luke 10:20; John 1:12; 3:3-8, 15-18, 36; 4:14; 6:37, 47, 39; 10:28-29; 11:26; 12:36; 14:2, 16; Romans 6:6-7, 18; 7:4; 8:1, 9, 10, 14-21, 35-39; 9:26; 15:7; I Corinthians 1:2, 8-9, 30-31; 3:15; 5:5; 6:11; II Corinthians 1:22; 3:11; 5:17-18; Galatians 3:3, 7, 25-26, 29; 4:5-7, 22-26, 28, 31; 6:15; Ephesians 1:5-7, 13-14; 2:1, 6, 19; 4:30, 32; 5:8; Philippians 2:15; 4:3; Colossians 1:12-14, 21; 2:10-14, 20; 3:1, 3:10; I Thessalonians 1:10; 5:5; II Timothy 2:11, 13, 19; Titus 3:5, 7; Hebrews 7:27; 9:12; 10:10, 12, 14, 18; 12:6-11, 23; I Peter 1:4-5, 23; 2:5-6, 9-10, 16; 3:18; 4:17; II Peter 2:7-8; I John 2:2; 3:1, 9, 14; 5:13; II John 1:2; Jude 1:1; Revelation 1:5-6; 21:7).

(6) The same throughout all of time (Genesis 15:6; Psalm 17:7; 32:10; Joel 2:32; Habakkuk 2:4; Acts 2:21; Romans 4:1-25; 9:33; 10:11, 13; Galatians 3:1-29; Hebrews 11:1-40).

Sin cannot dwell in the presence of God for eternity. Though God is gracious, merciful, loving and longsuffering, He is also holy, just and righteous. Because of Who He is, if we have sin, we cannot have fellowship with Him after death. To top it all off, if we have sin, the Bible says that we deserve hell.

God's Word further explains how that all are sinners (I Kings 8:46; Psalm 14:1, 3; 53:1, 3; 143:2; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Isaiah 53:6; John 1:29; 3:16; Romans 3:9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14-18, 19, 23; II Corinthians 5:19; Galatians 3:10, 22; I Timothy 2:6; Hebrews 2:9; James 2:10; I John 2:2). This means that every single one of us deserves hell.

Now, most people think that if you just do enough good things in life, and abstain from enough wicked things, you'll spend eternity with God. However, that is not what God's Word says. Even if we've only sinned just one time, we still are guilty and deserve hell (Galatians 2;10; James 2:10). The whole issue is sin, not how much sin or how much good we've done. God is holy, righteous and just and cannot allow any sin.

What all of this means is that nobody can get to heaven and that we all deserve hell because nobody is perfect. So, what are we supposed to do? How can we be saved? The answer is Christ. Because He is also gracious and loving, He provided a way for us to be saved. The Bible says that Christ bled and died for the sins of the world and thereby suffered the penalty we deserved. The whole issue we had concerning sin, well Christ took care of it by taking our sin for us and dying in our place.

The Bible continues and says that Christ was buried and rose again, thus proving He provided the way and conquered sin and death.

If you simply trust Christ and what He already did, Christ says you will be saved. He made a way for you, therefore trust His way, not yours. Acts 16:31 says "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and though shalt be saved." Eternal life is a gift--receive it today by placing your faith in Him alone.

For more information, go to hobblecreekbaptistchurch.com, and please feel free to contact us if you have any questions. We hope to meet you in eternity someday!