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Apr 11, 2023 06:00am

Salvation Matters

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(The following is a family devotional guide with suggested questions and scriptures.)

Talk Time

What’s the kindest thing you’ve ever done for someone?

Why did you do that?

Bible Connection

Jesus did something over two thousand years ago that would be the most humble and sacrificial act of all; He knowingly accepted pain, suffering, and torture on our behalf.

He was betrayed by His friends. He was given an unfair trial. He was flogged to the point of being disfigured. He was sentenced to one of the worst forms of punishment – the cross (in which the word “excruciating” is from”). He had to carry a section of the cross to His execution site (anywhere from 100-300 pounds in weight in its entirety). He was nailed to the cross and hung on it for 6 hours before giving up His spirit.

How do you think Jesus’ disciples felt during this time?

The disciples most likely experienced a wide range of things during this time: hopeless, lost, hurting, alone, confused, and afraid. They though Jesus came to be their King on earth and save them from Rome – they were expecting a warrior! They didn’t realize He would fulfill these roles, just in a very unexpected way.

Jesus came to show us who God was. He came to teach us how to live in a God-honoring way. He came to love us and grow us. Ultimately, He glorified God by laying down His life for all the sins we would ever commit. He did this for every time we would fall short of the glory of God, for every time we would deny our God with our words and our actions, and for every time we would mess up in life.

Faith Connection

What does it mean “to be saved”?

Jesus came to bear all the sins of all the people who ever lived on earth. He did this for you, for me, for all of us so that we could receive a relationship with God and experience His forgiveness and His transforming love. Salvation (being “saved”) is a fancy word for accepting Jesus Christ as Savior from your sins.

It’s recognizing you have a sin problem, feeling sorrow over your sins, turning away from them, and turning to Jesus for help.
It’s believing God loves you so much, He gave His son, Jesus Christ, as a sacrifice for your sins so that you could have a deep and meaningful relationship with Him.
It’s surrendering your imperfect life to a perfect God, making Him Lord of your life, and King of your heart.

When you believe these things with your heart, you are saved! This means you have God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit, abiding in you. And, He helps you understand God’s Word. He illuminates words and passages. He lights our hearts on fire for something God is trying to get us to see. He gives us wisdom and discernment on passages. He connects these passages to our lives. He is our guide in reading God’s Word and our guide in living life!

If you have tried to live life your way and have found it just doesn’t work, or if you’ve made so many of the same mistakes, now is the perfect time to surrender to God, fully and completely. You can show this faith through a simply but powerful prayer, noted below in the ABCs of Salvation.

If you’ve already given your heart to God through salvation, now could be a good time to renew that commitment! Sometimes, our hearts need a little jump-start to get that passion and fire back into them to continue following Jesus. The following prayer of salvation can work for you, too. Consider it a rededication of your heart, soul, mind, and strength to the Lord (Psalm 51:12).

It is a prayer with three steps – each one weighty in meaning. It is labeled the ABCs of Salvation to make it easy to remember!

ABCs of Salvation:

A: Admit you are a sinner.

Turn from your sins and turn to God with a repentant heart, so that your sins may be wiped away. (Acts 3:19, NLT)

B: Believe that Jesus is God’s Son and that He came to earth as a sacrifice for your sins. (Acts 16:31, NLT)

C: Confess this belief with your mouth: “Jesus, I am a sinner. I believe you are the Son of God, who died for my sins and was raised from the dead. I invite you into my life as my Lord and Savior. Help me to live better and follow you. Change me, change my heart, and change my life, Jesus. I need you.” (Romans 10:9-10, NLT)

When you believe these words, God – in His lovingkindness – saves you from a life apart from Him. And, something beautiful happens when you are saved: God takes your old heart molded to sin and gives you a new heart molded to to Him (Ezekiel 36:26).

It doesn’t mean you will be perfect – it means you now have the Holy Spirit’s help, strength, and power to meet anything that comes your way. And there is more: your heart will be cleansed from all of your sins – past, present, and future. Wiped clean. White as snow. White as wool (Isaiah 1:16-18). You are now a new creation!

If you are ready for this relationship, it would be the best “yes” you would ever give! Show this faith by praying the prayer of salvation. (You could even write it down to document it.) Go over those key parts to the ABCs – say the short but powerful prayer in letter “C”. And don’t keep a good thing to yourself – tell someone! Celebrate it! Follow through by baptized to show your new commitment and your change in life (Matthew 28:19-20). Oh, this is a happy day indeed!