March 10, 2016
Grace plus faith plus nothing.—That’s salvation. You don’t have to be good to get saved, and you don’t have to be good to stay saved. But this does not mean that you can just live as you please once you are saved. If you are really a Christian you will always be saved, but if you commit sins against the Lord and others which are unconfessed, unrepented of, and not made right, you will suffer for them in some way, “for whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.”1 But even if you are disobedient at times and are chastened by the Lord for your sins, if you are saved, you’ll always be saved.
When, as a young Christian, I read John 3:36, that ended all my worries. “He that hath the Son hath everlasting life.” That was it. I knew I had Jesus, and I knew He didn’t keep popping in and out of my heart. He was there all the time. He says, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”2 He says, “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee,”3 and “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.”4
So thank the Lord that we can be saved and know it. And of course, if you really are, you’ll show it too. You’ll no longer be like everybody else in the world; you’ll be different. You’ll be a “new creature in Christ Jesus; old things will be passed away, and all things will become new.”5 There’ll be a change, a real change.
Jesus coming into your life not only renews and purifies and regenerates your spirit, but it also renews your mind, breaking old connections and reflexes and gradually rebuilding and rewiring you into a whole new computer system with an utterly different outlook on life, a new way of looking at the world, and with new reactions to nearly everything around you.
It’s impossible for men to really change themselves, but it’s possible for God to change anyone. And when Jesus comes into your heart, everything is changed. You are a new person.
If you are genuinely saved, born again, a new creature in Christ Jesus, old things are passed away and all things are become new. And if you “abide in Him and He abides in you, then you shall bring forth fruit.”6 If you are genuinely saved, if you are genuinely born again, if you have God in your heart, if you have salvation, if you have Jesus, you’re a new creature and you will be different.
So expect things to be different. Not totally different perhaps, as you’re still human. But you’ll find a change in your spirit, in your thoughts, in your heart and in your direction. You’ll be happy and overflowing with love. Because if you have Jesus, you have love. For “God is love.”7
Do you have Jesus? Have you taken Him into your heart and been born again by His Spirit? Are you truly changed, a new person, a new creature, one in which old things have passed away and all things have become new? You don’t have to walk down to an altar; you don’t have to stand up, sit down, turn over, or stand on your head. It has nothing to do with the position of your body. It’s all in how you position your heart. If your heart is humble before God and you know you’re a sinner and need His help, all you have to do is ask Him into your heart.
Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.”8 Salvation is so powerful, but God will not force it on you. His love is all-powerful, but He won’t make you receive it. Jesus knocks at the door; He doesn’t kick it in. He could break it down or pulverize it with one look, but He refuses to force His way into your heart.
He simply asks to come in, and you have to invite Him. That is the limitation He has set and the condition He requires. You have to let Him come in, but if you won’t invite Him willingly, He won’t force His way in.
He wants to save you, but He can’t do it unless you want Him to. You have to ask Him to come in. Gentle Jesus stands there, meek and mild, in loving patience, and perhaps has been for years, waiting at your heart’s door—knocking again and again by His Word, by His love, perhaps by some sad incident or the parting of a loved one, a death or sickness or pain.
But God has left the majesty of choice up to you as an individual, and nobody can ever force you to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior. You alone can make that choice, if and when you want to. He certainly wants to be your Savior and He will come in, just as soon as you ask Him. But you must make the decision. He’s left that choice up to you.
Do you have Jesus in your heart? Then you are saved forever and bound for heaven and will never be lost. Are you saved? If you’re not sure, make sure right now and receive Him personally as your own Lord and Savior by sincerely praying this simple prayer:
“Lord Jesus, please forgive me for all my sins. I believe You died for me. I believe You are the Son of God, and I now ask You to come into my life. I open the door and I invite You into my heart. Jesus, please come in and help me to love others and tell them about You, that they may find You too. Help me to read Your Word and understand it by Your Spirit. In Your name I ask. Amen.”
If you pray this prayer and mean it, Jesus will come in. Jesus promised that if you open the door to your heart, if you ask Him to come in, He will come in. Period.
True salvation is based on pure faith in God’s Word, not faith in feelings. Your feelings may change from day to day—sometimes good, sometimes bad—but the Bible, God’s Word, never changes. So put your faith in His Word, for “faith comes by hearing the Word of God.”9 The Bible is definite, so no matter how you feel, if you ask Jesus to come in, He comes in, because He promised He would.
Of course, being born again, receiving Jesus, will result in a change in your life, as you show your faith by your works.10 But it is not necessarily always manifested at the moment by a big emotional feeling or outward show—although it sometimes is. But regardless of your feelings, God’s Word is always the same and Jesus will always come in when asked.
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”11 God bless you with His love and salvation—now and forever.
Originally published March 1984. Adapted and republished March 2016.
Read by Jerry Paladino.
1 Hebrews 12:6.
2 Matthew 28:20.
3 Hebrews 13:5.
4 John 10:28.
5 2 Corinthians 5:17.
6 John 15:5.
7 1 John 4:8.
8 Revelation 3:20.
9 Romans 10:17.
10 James 2:18.
11 Acts 16:31.
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