"The Truth About Salvation - part 4"

"For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world."  Titus 2:11,12

I hope that through these past few devotionals you are seeing the truth about salvation.  There are not enough good deeds that we can do to save us- just ask the rich young ruler.  There are not enough religious duties we can perform that will make us right with God-- just ask Nicodemus.  We can't just believe in the existence of God and that will give us eternal life-- even the devils believe and tremble.  We have to be born-again-- that's what Jesus said.  We have to be born of God.  We have to come back alive spiritually.  We have to receive salvation by the grace of God as a free gift.  We have to posses the Kingdom of God within us.  And when we are saved by grace through faith, when we are born-again, when we have received eternal life through the way that God has provided-- not our own-- our lives will be a reflection of that salvation. 

Now, having said all that let me say this:  that doesn't mean that we may not make mistakes after we are saved.  It doesn't mean that there might not be times when we are tempted to sin and give in.  There are times when our flesh gets weak and we get weary and do those things we should not do.  We have an enemy that is always working against us to steal, kill and destroy-- the devil.  Our own flesh wants to pull us back into sinful habits.  That is not what I have been talking about.  

What I am talking about, just so you will be clear on the subject once and for all, is that if we have had a true salvation experience, we no longer practice sin.  We no longer do it by habit.  We should no longer be "cussing like a sailor", "shacking up" with someone we aren't married to, having sex outside of marriage-adultery, holding grudges and unforgiveness, full of hate, gossiping, drunkenness, loving evil, stealing, cheating, and so on. 

If we have had a true salvation experience we have now come into a relationship with the Lord.  We have been reconciled to Him.  We are no longer rebels against Him.  We want to live a life that is pleasing to Him, we want to live godly, we want to have communion and fellowship with Him.  We love Him and want our lives to honor and glorify Him. (This automatically comes with a true born-again experience because we become a "new" person.)  

If we have had a true salvation experience it doesn't mean that we won't ever "mess up" again, but it means that when we do, we will have remorse in our hearts and repentance because of it.  It means we will not habitually keep doing it.  We will not want anything to hinder our relationship with the Lord.

Have a great day.  Do you still love to do the things you used to do before you "got saved"?  Or do you love the Lord and want to do the things that please Him? 

Scripture references:
 Luke 18:18–30
John 3
James 2:19
Luke 17:20-21
1 Corinthians 6:9,10