What does it mean to be saved?

Are you brought down by heartache in your life, and long for something better?  Do you feel like you’ve treated people in the past in an unforgivable manner, and you don’t know how to change?  Do you feel alienated from God, and do not feel worthy enough to speak with Him?

I can assure you by God the Father’s throne that there is nothing(except for later complete apostasy from Him) that God cannot forgive you for. The magnificent deal all rests in His Son, Jesus.

When the first man, Adam, and the first woman, Eve, were drawn into sin—or activity displeasing to God—then God’s creation of us was corrupted.  Every man afterward became as a filthy rag to God.  That is, until He forgave them.  Every patriarch of ancient Judaism was forgiven his sins- because each believed in the promise that God would somehow be able to bring peace and cleansing in the sin debt, and each man of faith conversed in a heartfelt, true way to God.

God later instituted the slaughter and sacrifice of livestock to symbolize the forgiveness of sins committed.  Notice that the key word is “symbolize”, because there was no merit in any animal to cancel the sins of a man/woman.

When the mystery was revealed in the Gospel age, the sinless Man of God, Jesus Christ, came to Earth to be with us, and offered Himself up as a sacrifice- under the guidance of God the Father.  Jesus, His Son from Eternity, never committed one act of rebellion against God the Father while He was among us "in the flesh", withstanding all the fiery darts, or temptations, of the devil—whether overtly by satan himself, or through one of his human minions.  This is crucial to understand, because a worthy sacrifice for crimes committed against God must be void of sin: pure and spotless.  The sacrifice also had to be the only begotten Son of God, because only a sacrifice of God could act as a sin substitute for every man and woman created.  By Jesus Christ’s perfect life, He was fit to become a sacrifice for every person who would accept it.  In this way, Christ became a mediator between God and man.  To fulfill this, Jesus was murdered on a Roman cross by the people who should have embraced Him: the Jewish people(my ancestors included).  But God would serve His purposes by this vile act of killing.  Christ's blood was spilt to save our souls.

By His resurrection, Jesus proved that all who accepted Him, and willingly followed in His footsteps of behavior and faith to God, would also be resurrected at a certain time after they die in this life.  Jesus is God; so when He says to take up your cross and follow Him, He promises to help you along the way.  The gift of the Holy Spirit starts the process of sanctification in a believer of Jesus, and the work will be finished when he/she reaches Heaven.

In God’s eyes, it doesn’t matter what you’ve done(e.g. adultery, murder, theft, etc.), you CAN and WILL be forgiven of all your sins if you turn your life over to Jesus Christ--foremost by repenting--and accept His Holy atoning blood as a sacrifice for all the wrongs you’ve committed; admit to the evil you’ve caused.  It requires a total and complete repentance of all the sin in your life.  Once you take that step from a true heart, God will forgive you.  From then on, you can expect and be assured that you will begin to be sanctified as a saint.  As long as your heart remains honest and warm toward God, you can anticipate that He will never leave you nor forsake you.  Once you are in Christ’s hands, nothing can snatch you away unless you turn from Him completely.  Yet, as I’ve seen and experienced it, almost no one wants to leave God’s presence- with the love that He shows toward each of His sons and daughters of faith(followers of Jesus Christ).  Nothing shows a truer Christian than someone who is willing to give whatever they can of themselves to further God’s Kingdom.

So, do you know that you’ve been awful in the sight of God, and want to change?  Only God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—can help you to become a useful creation of light and honor.  My dear friend, Jesus Christ loves you, and wants you to come to Him, as a prodigal son or daughter comes to seek repentance.  His heart breaks every moment that you reject the truth and His help.  God the Father would not have given His sinless Son over to a torturous death, and Christ the Son would not have had the courage to submit His life for a ransom of many, if They didn’t love you and I dearly.  Jesus wants to heal you by the work of the Holy Spirit, so let Him into your life.  Only through Jesus Christ of Nazareth can we come to communicate with God, so don’t delay another moment.  Life is very short, and you may not have a long time to make this decision of utmost importance.