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Apr 24, 2025 18:00pm

What Now?: Salvation

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The following comes from the devotional book “What Now?” by Ashley Akers. To learn more, go to www.whatnowdevo.com.

Salvation

I have attended church since I was two years old. As a teen, I thought I was a good person and considered myself a good Christian. I attended all the youth activities, was at church every time it was open, went to camp, tried to live a good life and talked to people about Jesus, but one thing was missing—Jesus.

Even though I was doing all those things, my relationship with Jesus wasn’t there. Please hear me when I say that going to church and having a relationship with Jesus are two different things! Don’t get confused. Going to church, doing good things, or being “good enough” won’t give you a free ticket to Heaven.

In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus said,

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Did you catch, I never knew you, in this Scripture? Jesus is after you and your heart! To get to Heaven, you must have a relationship with Him, accepting Him as Savior during your time on earth. Period. There is no. other. way. We must first know that we need Him.

Romans 3:23 says,

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Do you consider yourself a “good” person like I did? We will never be good enough to enter Heaven on our own merits. We will miss the mark every time. It is in our nature to do wrong, and that is sin. Lying, murder, pride, hatred, jealousy, adultery, idolatry (putting anything above God), disobedience, taking God’s name in vain, disobeying your parents, anger, stealing, gossiping, lust and unbelief make up just a short list of sins. Have you ever been guilty of any of these? We cannot live up to God’s standard because of our sinful nature. We are born that way.

Romans 3:10 says,

As it is written: None is righteous, no, not one.

If you continue reading in verses 11-18, you will see that none are innocent. We easily sin through our thoughts, actions and words.

Romans 5:12 continues,

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.

Because of Adam’s sin and our resulting sin nature, we are all sentenced to death and separation from God. We are all descendants of Adam. It’s in our DNA and we need the Savior.

Romans 6:23 says,

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

You may be wondering, “Is sin so big a deal that it should require death as its penalty?” Yes! God is holy and will not wink at sin. The Bible says he cannot even look upon sin. But, there is HOPE through His free gift!

Romans 5:8 says,

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

At no point did we ever have to be “good enough” for God to love us. He loves you exactly the way you are. You don’t have to wait until you “feel” like you are a better person, or your life is together for Him to love you. He. Meets. You. Where. You. Are. But He provides a way to get us beyond where we are, too.

John 3:16 says,

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 10:9-10 continues,

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

God loves us so much that He sent His own Son to die on a cross to pay the penalty for our sins. He rose again from the grave three days later, defeating death. Jesus made a way for all of us to live eternally in Heaven through His death on the cross. Not by works or being good enough, but by believing in Him in your heart. This is salvation and the only way to Heaven. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we are justified—God looks at you just as if your sin never happened. Salvation is not just for a select group, it is offered to everyone.

Romans 10:13 says,

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Don’t listen to the lie that says you are not good enough for God and your sins are too great to be accepted by Him. When you acknowledge your need for forgiveness, He will wipe away all your sin. Sometimes we try to make this complicated, but it isn’t. It truly is asking God to forgive you of your sins and asking Him to come into your heart. Simple. But, you must believe with your heart, not just say mere words. When you believe in something or somebody, you are passionate and your life changes.

After attending church all my life, I finally accepted Jesus in my early 20’s. After a Sunday sermon, I was convicted about my sin and felt like I was carrying a heavy weight all week. I knew that if I died I would not go to Heaven and for the first time it really scared me. I had known about God all my life, but I had never put my complete faith in Him and I didn’t really know Him. I did not have a personal relationship with Him. What I did have was a God-shaped void in my life, emptiness, and nothing else was able to fill it. Being the “good” wife I thought I needed to be, I was sitting on my bed about 10:00 p.m. that Friday night, waiting for my husband to come home from a late shift and I finally surrendered my life completely to Jesus. Best decision I’ve ever made. Easily.

If you have not accepted Jesus as your Savior, I would love to help you. I encourage you to pray the following prayer; similar to the one I prayed, and mean it in your heart to experience the joy of salvation! The power of salvation is not in words you pray, but in what God is doing in your heart. He will save you. Let these be your heart’s cry to Jesus:

Jesus, I am broken and I know that I am a sinner. I can’t go on anymore with the burdens of my sin. The load is too much. I am so sorry. Please forgive me of all the things I have done wrong and come into my heart. I want You to be Lord over my life and take control. I am declaring now with my mouth that I believe that You came to earth, died on the cross and rose again so that I can have a relationship with God. I trust you with my heart and with my life and I am completely surrendering everything. I pray that you would fill me now with your Holy Spirit and change me. Thank you for saving me. Amen.

Once I prayed, surrendering my life to Jesus, I cried. The joy and peace I experienced was overwhelming and in a good way. It was a totally new experience and I was a new person. In that moment, God made me a new creation, adopting me into His family and I was excited to proclaim Jesus to anyone who would listen. I want everyone to experience the grace of God, including YOU. Jesus chose to sacrifice His life so that we could have real life with Him. Truly, there is power in His name!

Reflection Questions

1. If you have already experienced salvation through faith in Jesus, when did you make this decision? If not before reading this, have you now prayed to accept Him?

2. How did your heart change after you accepted Jesus? If you have not accepted Jesus, what is keeping you from a relationship with Him?