Salvation is a term used in the Bible that means deliverance. It is a deliverance from the penalty, power, and presence of sin. We use the word "saved" because we have literally been rescued from condemnation. We believe that a person experiences this deliverance in their heart by faith. Psalm 107:2 says, "Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy." We by nature are in bondage to our sin and we can't rescue ourselves. This is a work that only God can do through His Son. Also, in Psalm 107:6 it says, "Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses." God works in us and shows us the trouble that we are in and also shows us how we can be rescued.
[Act 4:12 KJV] "12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."
Saving faith is a work of God and not a work of a person. People are by nature dead in their treaspasses and sin. A dead person doesn't have any spiritual life. This work of God is used by Jesus when He expains the new birth.
John 3:3 "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
The new birth is worked by God and not us. Just like we couldn't produce ourselves physically or birth ourselves, we can't produce the new birth. This is a work of God. It's not by the will of a person and it's not just some descision that a person makes with their intellect to be saved.
John 1:13 "Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
Our purpose is to rebuild the walls of salvation. These walls have been torn down in churches by using man made methods to get professions of faith. We sometimes call this "decsional regeneration".
"The history of the Christian Church has seen many errors concerning the new birth. These teachings depart from Scripture by attributing to man the ability to regenerate himself." James E. Adams
Where I grew up, we used the "sinners prayer", even for very young children to get professions of faith. I was one of the casualties of this false teaching, but I thank God that He brought me to the truth in my early 20's and brought me to a church that taught a real experiential salvation.
Even though Christ died over 2,000 years ago on the cross for our sins, we must come to Him by faith in order to be saved. This is the work of God and the Spirit in which He works in us to call us out of our sin, change our thinking, work Godly sorrow and repentance in us, and ultimatlily bring us to saving faith in Christ. This is why we need the preaching of the Gospel. It is good news! You can know that you are saved and you can have assurance of this but it won't be of your own works.
The "descisional regeneration" that I grew up with, left me with no assurance, no confidence in my salvation, and no victory over my sin. Eventually, when I got older it made me question, if this is all there is to salvation, is God even real. Why is there no victory over my sin. The problem was not God but it was that I actually had never been saved.
Peoples souls are at stake. Let us not be responsible for those who on the day of judgement to will hear Christ say, "depart from me, for I never knew you". This is the seriousness of the matter. Help me to say as Richard Baxter said, "I preached as never sure to preach again, and as a dying man to dying men."
Salvation is of the Lord!
Psalm 37:39 But the salvation of the righteous [is] of the LORD: [he is] their strength in the time of trouble."
We have several of our testimonies of how God saved us on our testimonies page. Please read.
by Pastor Joel Clayton
[Act 4:12 KJV] "12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."
Saving faith is a work of God and not a work of a person. People are by nature dead in their treaspasses and sin. A dead person doesn't have any spiritual life. This work of God is used by Jesus when He expains the new birth.
John 3:3 "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
The new birth is worked by God and not us. Just like we couldn't produce ourselves physically or birth ourselves, we can't produce the new birth. This is a work of God. It's not by the will of a person and it's not just some descision that a person makes with their intellect to be saved.
John 1:13 "Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
Our purpose is to rebuild the walls of salvation. These walls have been torn down in churches by using man made methods to get professions of faith. We sometimes call this "decsional regeneration".
"The history of the Christian Church has seen many errors concerning the new birth. These teachings depart from Scripture by attributing to man the ability to regenerate himself." James E. Adams
Where I grew up, we used the "sinners prayer", even for very young children to get professions of faith. I was one of the casualties of this false teaching, but I thank God that He brought me to the truth in my early 20's and brought me to a church that taught a real experiential salvation.
Even though Christ died over 2,000 years ago on the cross for our sins, we must come to Him by faith in order to be saved. This is the work of God and the Spirit in which He works in us to call us out of our sin, change our thinking, work Godly sorrow and repentance in us, and ultimatlily bring us to saving faith in Christ. This is why we need the preaching of the Gospel. It is good news! You can know that you are saved and you can have assurance of this but it won't be of your own works.
The "descisional regeneration" that I grew up with, left me with no assurance, no confidence in my salvation, and no victory over my sin. Eventually, when I got older it made me question, if this is all there is to salvation, is God even real. Why is there no victory over my sin. The problem was not God but it was that I actually had never been saved.
Peoples souls are at stake. Let us not be responsible for those who on the day of judgement to will hear Christ say, "depart from me, for I never knew you". This is the seriousness of the matter. Help me to say as Richard Baxter said, "I preached as never sure to preach again, and as a dying man to dying men."
Salvation is of the Lord!
Psalm 37:39 But the salvation of the righteous [is] of the LORD: [he is] their strength in the time of trouble."
We have several of our testimonies of how God saved us on our testimonies page. Please read.
by Pastor Joel Clayton