GOD'S PLAN FOR SALVATION

The character of God

1. God is HOLY.
According to Revelations 15:4, " Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For You alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you." Now the devil, however, wants you to think that God is not holy. He will come up with lies to deceive you, for example, he may tell you that God is 98% holy and is 2% selfish. He wants to SOW THE SEEDS OF DOUBT in us about the character of God. Also, although we are not God, we can learn to BE LIKE HIM. Referring to 1 Peter 1:15-16, " But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written , ' Be holy, for I am holy. '

2. God is JUST.
Now God is a God of justice. Fairness = equality, and if God is fair, then he would be something of a communist. For example, if someone commits murder, then everyone else must also be punished, even though only that one person did it. At this rate, all 6 billion of us will be wiped off the face of the Earth. That is why the saying that "God is not fair" is true. God is not a fair god, but a Just god. God will judge people based on their individual needs and metes out justice based on a person's character and background.

3. God is LOVE.
According to John 3: 16," For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish bur have EVERLASTING LIFE." God loves us even though we are sinners! He loves us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to die for all of mankind, so that our sins will be forgiven.

4. God is MERCIFUL.
Referring to Lamentations 3: 22-23, " Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. His Mercies Are New Every Morning; Great Is His Faithfulness." This means that even after we get saved, we can't avoid sinning because we are all human. It is human nature to sin, and therefore we must live a life of repentence. If we confess and repent, God will forgive us.

THE CONDITION OF MAN'S HEART

1. Our hearts are deceitful above all things.

2. Our hearts are desperately wicked.

According to Mark 7: 21-22, " For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness." Man has the potential to do them all- when provoked or pressured under certain circumstances. As such, God is very clear about one thing, that man has sinned! That is why even people who do good, but are non-believers, go to hell when they die, because the potential to sin is there.

Sin is an inward spiritual attitude of rebellion towards God, which is expressed in outward acts of disobedience.

There are 2 types of sin, the first being :

The sin of commission = The bad things we commit , and the second being:

The sin of ommission = The good things that we fail to do.

Therefore, sin does not only mean the bad things that we do, but also the good things that we fail to do.

Referring to 1 John 1:8-10, " If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us... if we say that we have not sinned, we make him a LIAR, and his word is not in us." and James 1:15, " Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death."

The penalty of sinning, is therefore DEATH.

There are 3 kinds of death a sinner faces:

1. Spiritual death, or an inward seperation from God.

2. Physical death, or outward sicknesses and eventual death.

3. Eternal death., or banishment from God's presence forever. The third death is for all unrepentant sinners.

When sinners face eternal death, they are cast into the lake of fire, more commonly known as HELL. Referring to Revelation 20: 12,15 , " And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. ... ... This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast in to the lake of fire."

Who is specifically cast into the lake of fire?

Revelations 21:8, " But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

According to John 3: 16," For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish bur have EVERLASTING LIFE." and Romans 5:8 ,"But God demonstrates his own love towards us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ dies for us."

God sent His only son, Jesus, to become mankind's greatest scapegoat, to die on our behalf on the cross, so that we can have eternal life, and not death. In this way, God is holy and just. He judges sin and metes out punishment. At the same time, He is loving and merciful. He paid for our punishment with His own Son, so that we can be forgiven, loved and blessed.

1. Repent

1 John 1:9, " If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

2.Believe

Romans 10:9-10, " that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteoueness, and with mouth confession is made unto salvation."

3. Confess

Boldly confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is your Lord and God.