Astonished at the Salvation He Offered

Jesus made salvation simple, so simple that people have been trying to twist it and complicate it ever since. He told His apostles to go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature, instructing that anyone that hears them, believes the gospel and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be condemned. That is simple. Even a ten-year-old child can understand it. But many people with PhD's deny it!

When Jesus told Nicodemus that except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God, many astonished folk cry out; "But that is water salvation!" But it isn't; it is the Lord's salvation. The result of the apostles' preaching was well documented in the book of Acts. In Jerusalem they preached that Jesus is the Christ (Acts 2:36) and people asked, "What shall we do?" The answer was, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins". It was then recorded that as many as received His word were baptized and were added to the Church.

People are still astonished at what the Lord taught concerning salvation and what it does to people's lives. Paul commended the people for responding to the gospel with godly sorrow. They had sincerely repented, and now their slate was completely clean! So many people today find it difficult to accept God's forgiveness for their sin and to feel forgiven. It is necessary to remind us that the Lord will not add anyone to His Church unless there a genuine repentance and acceptance of Christ's salvation. The record is very simple: the Lord added to the Church daily such as were being saved. That has always been the plan of the Lord - to save us and have us added to the Church.

Let us recall that in the Bible, as the gospel was preached, repentance followed and they that believed were baptized (Acts 8:12). In the case of the Ethiopian eunuch, when he had an encounter with Jesus Christ, he exclaimed, "Here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? The answer is very simple: Nothing! And so, he was baptized. The apostle Paul charged at the Romans: "Are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him through baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:3).

When we come to Christ for salvation, baptism puts us into Him and into His death. And after being buried in baptism, we then begin newness of life because we are now in Christ. Many are still astonished at Jesus and His teaching. Don't be. Just accept Him and His Word. Trust Him, be baptized into Him and He will save you and add you to His Church. For many people, that sounds too simple. But the plan of Jesus IS simple. Jesus said so. Just accept what He says and receive His salvation.

Vitus Ejiogu is a writer and publisher with the Fire-Brand Int"l Ministries, a media ministry that is based in Nigeria.

He is the editor of FOUNDATION SATELLITE magazine also published by the ministry. He pastors a Church in Bauchi and is married with two children.

You can reach him at: firebrandhq@yahoo.com or: 234 80 8181 829.

Website: http://www.palmgates.com or http://www.firebrandhq.com