Salvation
Q: Is Satan responsible for man's need to
be saved?
No, Satan is not the one to blame; man is responsible
for his choice to sin. Adam decided not to trust
God. He turned his back on God's command to only
eat of the tree of life, and broke a loving relationship
with God. He humbled himself to the lying words
of the serpent; therefore sin, unbelief, fear,
lust and death passed upon the entire human race.
Satan is the tempter. He is also called the adversary,
oppressor, deceiver, thief, accuser of the brethren,
prince of the power of the air, destroyer, defamer,
and father of lies. In these last days, we're
told that "...some shall depart from the
faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines
of devils" (I Timothy 4:1).
The heart, the inside of man, is desperately
wicked, and the Lord hates it, but He loves the
sinner. God is not angry at you! He has desired
a relationship with man ever since Adam failed
in the garden. If you're not born-again, you must
receive Christ into your heart to be free from
your Adamic, sinful nature. You'll then become
a child of God, having fellowship with Him, your
heavenly Father.
The Bible says, "You used to live just like
the rest of the world, full of sin, obeying Satan,
the mighty prince of the power of the air. He
is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who
refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that
way, following the passions and desires of our
evil nature. We were born with an evil nature,
and we were under God's anger just like everyone
else" (Ephesians 2:2,3 NLT).
Q: Can you tell us more of what the Bible
says about the condition of the heart of mankind?
When the Psalmist David repented of his sin of
adultery, he said, "Behold, I was shaped
in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive
me" (Psalm 51:5). We're born des-perately
wicked in need of a Savior. Jesus said, "For
out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders,
adulteries, fornication, thefts, false witness,
blasphemies: These are the things which defile
a man" (Matthew 15:19,20). Jesus said to
the religious people of the day, "...outwardly
you appear righteous unto men, but within, you
are full of hypocrisy and iniquity" (Matthew
23:28).
I was my own worst enemy. Yes, I had yielded
to Satan's plan for me, but my own sinful flesh,
full of unbelief, pride and rebellion was the
root problem. "But every man is tempted,
when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed"
(James 1:14).
It's easy for some of us to admit we're sinners,
but for others it's hard, especially for those
who have lived good lives. Whether we've lived
good or bad lives isn't the problem, but that
sinful nature we're all born with is the problem.
The Scripture says, "For all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God" (Romans
3:23). It's not about being good enough in order
to enter the kingdom of heaven. The requirement
is to be perfectly righteous, and we all miss
the mark in God's eyes.
In the Old Testament, the children of Israel
showed how totally helpless they were when it
came to their ability to keep the law of God.
They ended up breaking all of God's commandments
and found themselves in bondage to the heathen
nations around them. The inability to keep the
law shows us our sinfulness and our need for a
Savior. The Lord shows us the need and solution
through the prophet Jeremiah saying, "...I
will put my law into their inward parts and write
it in their heart; and will be their God, and
they shall be my people" (Jeremiah 31:33).
For this to happen, we must be born-again.
Q: So you're saying man must receive Christ
instead of continuing in their sin?
That's right, both the Old and New Testaments
encour-age us to serve the Lord. Heaven is a free
gift from God. We have nothing to lose and everything
to gain by receiving Christ. We can't get to heaven
without Him, and hell hangs in the balance.
The lyrics of one of Bob Dylan's songs goes,
"...You're gonna have to serve somebody;
well, it may be the devil, or it may be the Lord,
but you're gonna have to serve somebody."
In the Bible, Joshua said, "...choose you
this day whom you will serve; whether the gods
which your father served...but as for me and my
house, we will serve the Lord...God forbid that
we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods"
(Joshua 24:15,16). And the Apostle Paul said,
"...behold, now is the day of salvation"
(II Corinthians 6:2).
The problem is our desperately-wicked heart.
It's not capable of choosing to serve God. It's
God who gives us the ability to serve Him. The
trouble is that the gods of this world have blinded
the minds of them that don't believe. But God
gives us the faith to believe in Him. As Christians,
we call this saving faith. Without the Holy Spirit
coming upon us to show us our unbelief and sparking
faith and a desire for God, we would never make
that choice. We owe it all to God for this salvation.
He is merciful and doesn't want to punish man.
But at the same time, He is a just God and will
surely punish sin, for the wages of sin is death.
Q: Do you believe that anyone can be saved,
regardless of the crime committed?
Yes, I am proof of this fact. If God can save
me, anoint my life with His Holy Spirit and give
me a ministry to the world, He can save anyone,
no matter how bad. Listen, "We are made right
in God's sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to
take away our sins. And we all can be saved in
the same way, no matter who we are or what we
have done" (Romans 3:22 NLT).
The word salvation means to rescue from destruction,
to deliver from sin and death and to liberate
from the bondage of Satan. It also means being
healed spiritually of our sin nature, being healed
physically and to preserve and to give health.
This salvation produces soundness and makes us
victors in Christ.
The prophet Jeremiah talks about drinking out
of two cisterns; one full of living water and
the other broken, unable to hold water. The Apostle
Paul talks of drinking out of two cups; the cup
of the Lord and the cup of devils. All of my life
I drank out of the devil's cup. I walked in the
evil imaginations of my heart, but one day the
Lord came to me and showed me the wickedness of
my heart. It was clear that I needed to be rescued
and He threw me a lifeline. I grabbed it and held
on for dear life.
Remember, there are no failures in life except
people who give up too soon. I have personally
seen men come to Christ who have committed every
crime in the book. They have taken all the bridges
to Babylon on their way to destruction, but God's
goodness brings them to repentance. In other words,
they turn from their unbelief, to God, who is
"...not willing that any should perish, but
that all should come to repentance" (II Peter
3:9).
Q: You spoke of the bridges to Babylon earlier.
Can you refresh my memory on what that has to
do with sin and judgment?
Babylon represents the world system. It is called
"...Mystery Babylon the Great, the mother
of harlots and abominations of the Earth"
in Revelation 17:5. God will judge this world
system of pride, confusion, lust, pleasure and
sorcery.
In Revelation 18:23,24, the Lord says, "...for
by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. And
in her was found the blood of the prophets and
of saints, and of all that were slain upon the
Earth." At this time, God will avenge the
blood of the Apostles and prophets. The purpose
of the world system headed up by Lucifer has always
been to kill, steal and to destroy the purpose
of God on Earth.
All we have to do is read the end of the Bible
and we find out that we win. In Revelation 21:7,8
the Lord says, "He that overcomes shall inherit
all things; and I will be his God, and he shall
be My son. But the fearful, the unbelieving, the
abominable, the murderers, the whore-mongers,
the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars shall
have their part in the lake of fire." The
latter are those who have rejected Christ's payment
for their sins on the cross of Calvary.
Q: What must we do in order to be saved?
The Philippian jailer asked the same question.
Paul and Silas replied, "Believe on the Lord
Jesus and you will be saved…" (Acts
16:30,31 NLT). Our good works cannot save us,
only believing can. The Word says, "For by
grace we are saved through faith; and that not
of yourselves; it is the gift of God: Not of works,
lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8,9).
We are given the gift of righteousness when we
are born again. Our performance does not save
us, but only the performance of Christ at Calvary.
God loved us so much that He sent His only Son,
Jesus Christ, the sinless Savior, to die on the
cross in our place. We deserved death for our
sin, but He paid the price instead, by His sacrifice.
The Bible says, "For God made Christ, who
never sinned, to be the offering for our sin,
so that we could be made right with God through
Christ" (II Corinthians 5:21 NLT). The LORD
is our righteousness (Jeremiah 23:5,6).
All we must do is embrace the cross. The Scriptures
tell us, "But as many as received Him, to
them gave He power to become the sons of God,
even to them that believe on His name" (John
1:12). We must trust in and rely on what He did
for us -- this is faith. We must have faith that
His blood on the cross purchased us from being
Satan's slaves. He cleansed us, and by His resurrection
conquered sin, bringing us into God's presence.
This is true revival, a renewal of life -- a supernatural
rebirth.
Romans 10:9,10 says, "If we confess with
our mouth the Lord Jesus and shall believe in
our heart that God has raised Him from the dead,
we shall be saved. For with the heart, man believes
unto righteousness and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation." The word confession
means "to say the same thing" as God
says about our sin and about His solution for
sin. As we declare Jesus LORD by acknowledging
His death on the cross for our sins, and His resurrection
from the dead to give us life, we'll be saved.
In other words, a great exchange took place.
The wrath of God for sin that you deserved was
put on Christ. God poured out all of His judgment
on Jesus. He was judged and found guilty for us;
crucified, died and buried. Our old man is dead,
the new man in His righteousness is alive. The
righteousness of God that only Christ deserved
was placed upon you. You became right with God
in the Spirit. In His death, the old you died
and was buried with Him. In His resurrection,
the new you arose and lives in and with Him victoriously.
Salvation happens supernaturally by grace through
faith, as God miraculously brings us to life,
by taking up residence in our hearts. This is
called the mystery of God, "…Christ
in us, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).
Q: Where does the blood of Jesus Christ fit
into the salvation message?
God has always dealt with sin by a blood sacrifice.
In the Old Testament it was by the yearly sacrifice
of animals in the temple. Their blood only covered
sin, but today, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses
us completely of the original sin nature as the
Holy Spirit regenerates our spirit. The writer
of Hebrews says, "...without shedding of
blood there is no forgiveness of sins" (Hebrews
9:22 NLT).
The revelation of the blood of Christ is most
important to the Christian life. We are the temple
of God today; He dwells in us as born-again believers.
Our voice is to speak of the blood sacrifice that
forgives sin. In Revelation 12:10-12 (NLT), we
hear a loud voice shouting across the heavens.
"It has happened at last -- the salvation
and power and kingdom of our God, and the authority
of his Christ! For the Accuser has been thrown
down to earth -- the one who accused our brothers
and sisters before our God day and night. And
they have defeated him because of the blood of
the Lamb and because of their testimony. And they
were not afraid to die. Rejoice, O heavens, rejoice!
But terror will come on the earth and the sea.
For the Devil has come down to you in great anger,
and he knows that he has little time" (NLT).
Our voice is to ring loud with the testimony
of the blood always upon our lips, overcoming
the devil who seeks to destroy the Saints. I suggest
confessing the blood Scriptures aloud. For example,
"The blood of Jesus has purchased me for
God's purpose, the price has been paid for my
sin by the blood; therefore, I am redeemed by
the blood. I have been declared righteous, just
as if I had never sinned, and I have peace with
God by the blood of the Lamb. I am washed, cleansed,
and made a priest of God by the blood of Jesus.
He has sanctified me and given me boldness to
enter into His presence by His own blood. Therefore,
according to Revelation 12:11, I overcome the
devil by the blood of the Lamb and by the word
of my testimony." This is the voice of God,
His Word.
Q: So you're saying that our physical body
becomes the Temple of God when we're saved, right?
Actually, the temple consists of more than just
the body. We are a three-part being: spirit, soul
and body. These three make up the temple. The
spirit is part of the inner man that is regenerated
by the Holy Spirit when we're born-again. We become
participants of God's divine nature, and placed
into His family. He now lives in us by the Holy
Spirit. We are new creations, having received
the sacrifice of Christ, empowered by God and
given the ability to be renewed from the inside
out.
The soul is the part of the inner man that needs
renewal. It is made up of the mind, the will and
the emotions. As the mind becomes renewed by choosing
God's voice -- His Word -- our emotional life
falls into place and the body is energized by
the Spirit. The mind is where the battle with
fleshly thoughts takes place. We are to cast down
every demonic argument against the knowledge of
God and bring every thought to the obedience of
Christ.
The body is the outward part of man that houses
the soul and the Holy Spirit. The life of the
body is the Spirit. As Christians, we are the
temple, or dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.
The Apostle Paul speaks of our being in an "earthly
tent" while earnestly longing for a heavenly
house not made with hands. One day, Jesus "...shall
change our vile body, that it may be fashioned
like unto His glorious body" (Philippians
3:21). But until then, we "...are being changed
into His image from glory to glory by the Spirit
of the Lord" (II Corinthians 3:18).
Q: What is the answer to living a successful
Christian life?
A growing intimate relationship with Jesus Christ
makes a successful Christian. We must trust solely
in the strength of God's grace -- His sufficiency,
not our flesh, works or keeping a list of rules.
At the cross, God manifested his willingness to
use His power and ability on our behalf even though
we don't deserve it.
We are to embrace the cross at all times, experiencing
the love of God, which brings healing and success.
This means taking every painful situation to the
cross. Instead of rising up in our flesh to handle
grief and sorrow, we see ourselves joined to Christ
and what He did for us. We let the peace that
comes from Christ rule our hearts.
The Apostle Paul speaks of our new dignity and
worth, "Since you have heard all about Him
and have learned the truth that is in Jesus, throw
off your old evil nature and your former way of
life, which is rotten through and through, full
of lust and deception. Instead, there must be
a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes.
You must deeply display a new nature because you
are a new person, created in God's likeness --
righteous, holy, and true" (Ephesians 4:21-24
NLT).
Our thoughts and attitudes must be renewed to
our new identity in Christ. We are righteous,
holy and true. We know who we are, what we have
and what we can do in Christ. We are children
of God, a royal priesthood, new creations, made
right with God and accepted totally by Him. We
have a new love, new life, the light of God and
power to live this Christian life. We can do all
things in Christ who strengthens us. Our God supplies
all our needs according to His riches in Christ
Jesus.
As our thoughts stay lined up with the reality
of God's promises, the Holy Spirit will bring
forth wholeness. The Spiritual mind is life and
peace (Romans 8:7). Through prayer and meditation
on the power of God demonstrated at the cross,
the realization of our victory in Christ produces
the fruit and gifts of the Holy Spirit. The love
and glory of God is free to spring forth to all
those around us. We are seen as vessels of gold
and silver, manifesting glory and honor.
Q: But first we must be born-again to receive
all you're talking about, right?
That's right, we must be born-again of the Spirit
by acknowledging we are sinners. Heaven is a free
gift. It is neither earned nor deserved. God loved
us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ,
to take care of the sin problem with His blood.
We must, by faith, accept His death on the cross
in our place, His burial and His resurrection,
which gives us new life. We must repent by now
turning from our sin to God. It's as easy as telling
God in prayer that you are trusting what Jesus
Christ did on the cross of Calvary for you.
Remember, it's not a prayer that saves you, but
it's trusting in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Would you like to pray now? If so, say: "Dear
God, I know I am a sinner. I renounce the works
of Satan and all his ways. I know my sin deserves
the punishment of death. I believe in my heart
that Christ took my punishment. He died on the
cross paying the price for my sin, was buried
and raised from the dead. I trust Jesus alone
as my Savior and confess Him as Lord. I give You
my life, Jesus, and ask you to cleanse me from
my sins and come into my heart. Be Lord, boss
over my life and make it pleasing to You. Make
me a new creation and change me. Thank You for
saving me. Amen."
Now begin to thank God for making you His child.
The Apostle Paul wrote, "Give thanks unto
the Father, which has made us able to be partakers
of the inheritance of the saints of light: Who
has delivered us from the power of darkness and
has translated us into the Kingdom of His dear
Son" (Colossians 1:12,13).
Our being changed on the inside affects the outside.
We are changed from the inside out. If we desire
our outside circumstances to change, we must first
be changed on the inside. If we need deliverance
from any sin, that deliverance starts by being
born-again. As we spend time with God and listen
to His voice, a new tomorrow will dawn. As we
come to know who God says we are and what we have,
we will provoke our destiny. A new vision for
life will be birthed. We are to make the best
use of our time because the days are evil. Our
new purpose now is to bring forth the kingdom
of God into every aspect of our lives.
Listen to the instructions of the Apostle Paul,
"…be careful to put into action God's
saving work in your lives, obeying God with deep
reverence and fear. For God is working in you,
giving you the desire to obey him and the power
to do what pleases him. In everything you do,
stay away from complaining and arguing, so that
no one can speak a word of blame against you.
You are to live clean, innocent lives as children
of God in a dark world full of crooked and perverse
people. Let your lives shine brightly before them"
(Philippians 2:12b-15 NLT).
Q: You mentioned a problem with feeling accepted
earlier in the interview. Has being born-again
taken care of that problem?
Yes, it's much less important that people accept
you when you know the Creator of the universe
accepts you in Christ. His payment for our sins
took away the barrier between God and us. We're
promised that when our ways please God, it will
even cause our enemies to be at peace with us.
Because God accepts us, we can accept others unconditionally.
I have a totally new purpose in life: to love
God with all my heart, mind, soul and strength,
and to love others as myself. I fall short, but
my purpose is to grow moment by moment toward
the high calling of God. I am unconditionally
loved, completely forgiven, totally accepted and
given power to live this life with a divine hope.
According to Scripture, "God alone made
it possible for you to be in Christ Jesus. For
our benefit God made Christ to be wisdom itself.
He is the One Who made us acceptable to God. He
made us pure and holy, and He gave himself to
purchase our freedom. As the Scripture says, 'The
person who wishes to boast should boast only of
what the Lord has done' " (I Corinthians
1:30,31 NLT).
Q: Do you think your crime was God's plan
for your life?
No, what I did in my past was the devil's plan
for me, and I cooperated. "People ruin their
lives by their own foolishness…" (Proverbs
19:3 NLT). God has sure opened my eyes. Jesus
said of the devil, "The thief's purpose is
to steal and kill and destroy" (John 10:10
NLT).
Jesus told the unsaved, "For you are the
children of your father the devil, and you love
to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer
from the beginning and has always hated the truth.
There is no truth in him. When he lies, it is
consistent with his character; for he is a liar
and the father of lies" (John 8:44 NLT).
The enemy's plan always involves death and destruction.
But God came through Jesus Christ to give new
life and "…life in all its fullness"
(John 10:10 NLT). He has a wonderful plan and
future for all of us who will receive Him. He
pardoned us of our sins 2000 years ago -- past,
present and future. He gave us power over the
lies of the enemy, but we must wake up to the
truth of this Good News. I experience the truth
of my salvation daily, through a loving relationship
with my heavenly Father.
Although I listened to the wrong voice in my
early years, God's divine will is greater. He
is forgiving, merciful, gracious, patient and
abounding in goodness and truth. Even when I was
dead in my sin, He made me alive, together with
Christ when He raised Him from the dead. Salvation
was God's plan for my life, along with telling
the world about the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Q: Do you think what you are doing is your
destiny?
My destiny was to fulfill my God-given calling
in this life on Earth. God knew I would turn from
Him in unbelief as a child, and where I would
end up -- He is all-knowing. In spite of my gross
error, God placed me back on His path. His calling
upon my life as a preacher of the Gospel is now
being fulfilled daily.
The Lord promises those in captivity, "For
I know the plans I have for you", says the
Lord. "They are plans for good and not for
disaster, to give you a future and a hope"
(Jeremiah 29:11 NLT).
His plan was my salvation, not that I would do
what I did. God forbid! I am now reaping the consequences.
I was given a second chance to turn my life around,
even though I didn't give my victims that chance.
Humanly speaking, nothing can change the crime;
it is still evil, tragic, senseless and unjust.
God had great mercy upon my life. I don't fully
understand why, but He did.
I rest on His promises: "But God is so
rich in mercy, and He loved us so very much, that
even while we were dead because of our sins, He
gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead…For
He raised us up from the dead along with Christ,
and we are seated with Him in the heavenly realms…
And so God can always point to us as examples
of the incredible wealth of His favor and kindness
toward us, as shown in all He has done for us
through Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:4-7
NLT).
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