Life On Purpose // Part 1: Salvation
June 14, 2020
Jesus will meet every person. Maybe it is in a worship service, with a friend or on a walk. God longs to have a relationship with people so He sent His own Son to die for us. There comes a point for every person where we have to make a decision about Jesus - will I accept Him as my personal Lord and Savior, or will I reject Him and continue to live life for myself? Jesus met Saul on the Road to Damascus, and Saul’s life was forever changed. Have you responded to Jesus? If so, how is your life different? Living a life on purpose starts with Jesus.
Life On Purpose: Salvation
Salvation: The Most Important Decision You’ll Make
Think back to a day where you made a decision that would change the course of your life. Maybe it was your wedding day, or the day you chose what career you would pursue. It could be the day that you decided what college to attend, or to what city you would pick up and move your family. Did a few of those days come to mind?
Our lives are made up of a series of these decisions that we make each day, some more significant than others. When we look back at these decisions, there are always several that seem more impactful, more life-altering, than others, but there’s only one decision that has an influence on your eternity: your decision to follow Christ.
Throughout the course of each person’s life, they will meet Jesus. Whether they’re a child who grew up in a Bible-believing home or an adult who has never attended a church service, they’ll come face to face with Jesus and will have to make a choice to follow or reject Him. We all have to make the choice.
The story of Saul, who would later become the Apostle Paul, on the Road to Damascus is a clear example of a person encountering Christ while, quite literally, walking through his regular, day-to-day life (Acts 9:1-19). He was making his way along the road when, suddenly, a light came to him with a voice asking why he was persecuting Christians. It was Jesus, and He was meeting Saul right where he was, inviting him into a relationship with Him. After several days, Saul made a choice to follow Christ, which, consequently, resulted in countless lives being changed for Jesus. His decision impacted not only his eternity, but also the eternities of many others who would come after Him.
Though we may not all meet Jesus in an instantaneous and incredible way such as the Apostle Paul’s, we will all be faced with the decision – a decision that, ultimately, changes the purpose of our lives.
What the Bible Says about Salvation
When we choose to call on Jesus’ name and follow Him, the Bible promises that we will be saved (Romans 10:13). Saved means we are freed from the death that sin brings. Saved means we no longer have to live in guilt or shame because we are made new and whole. Saved means we are chosen, loved, and clean.
As a church, one of our core beliefs pertains to eternal security, holding the truth that “followers of Christ have security in their salvation for eternity,” and this security comes only from God’s grace and power, not anything we can do. Just as there is nothing we can do to earn that salvation, there is also nothing we can do to lose it.
After choosing to follow Jesus, we can have hope that nothing will ever separate us from the love of Christ (Romans 8:35-39), and we can go to Jesus directly, knowing that He intercedes on our behalf (Hebrews 7:25). Salvation is what God desires for every person, but it still remains our choice whether we will accept or reject His invitation into a relationship with Him.
Living with a Purpose
Let’s circle back to the days that held some of the most important decisions of your life. Was one of those the day that you decided to follow Christ?
That one decision will change everything about your life, including the other choices that you make and the purpose for which you are living. Our purpose changes from being introspective to looking at how we can help others. It changes from desiring our way to seeking God’s will for our lives. It changes from being all about us to being solely about the One Who changed our lives. Our purpose becomes to know Jesus and to make him known.
None of us can know how God is going to use our lives for his Kingdom. The Apostle Paul never could have known how the Lord would multiply his life, making him one of the authors of the New Testament and one of the most prominent figures in the Bible. Regardless of our inability to foresee how God will utilize us, this truth remains: when we meet Jesus, our lives, our purpose, and our eternities are forever changed.
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