THE ONLY SOURCE OF SALVATION

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

Revelation 7:10

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

I think I can safely say that most people of the world hold onto a hope for Heaven when this life is over both for themselves and their loved ones. This is supported by a 2023 survey done by the Gallup International which found that nearly 60 percent of responders believe that Heaven exists.

Given this, you might think this percentage represents good news. After all, it is close to two-thirds of the surveyed global population.

But it’s one thing to believe Heaven exists and another to actually know how to get there. Therein is the rub when we’re talking about this subject for there are a multitude of people who think they are good people, or see their beloved people as good, and think that’s the chief qualifier to enter into eternal life. And with a hold on this mindset, we see how easily Satan has deceived human beings to sense that they can somehow earn a right to the Kingdom of God through their own merit.

Obviously, these people haven’t given consideration to the Bible, the very compilation of God-breathed words that set what is true and expose all falsehood.

Here’s a good place for anyone to start, two verses that quickly let a person know where they stand when it comes to gaining Heaven minus any kind of divine intervention:

“...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23

God despises sin and has shown that He will bring destruction on anyplace or anyone who chooses to commit in His sight...and He sees everything. If you doubt this, look up what happened to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and their populations (Genesis 19). The Lord utterly annihilated them, sending burning sulfur from Heaven to earth.

And so every single person is in a bad place. They are inherently sinful before a God who brings consequences to sinners, consequences that can be deadly.

Given this, the two-thirds of the people who believe in Heaven also need to know what they need to believe in order to get there. Thankfully, the Word of God makes this simple and let’s begin by our scripture verse today, verse 10 of Revelation, chapter 7:

And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

Who were the “they” mentioned in this passage?

We looked at the answer in yesterday’s message as a multitude of saved people, a number so vast that it couldn’t be counted, entered into John’s sight. We read where they were from “every nation, tribe, people and language” and were clothed in “white robes” and “holding palm branches in their hands”. It was this body of new Christ believers who “cried out in a loud voice”:

“Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

The scriptures are clear. God is the only One which holds the key to Heaven and the only One who can use that key to open the door to everlasting life is Jesus. Returning to the Bible for affirmation of this, we find these verses:

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9

Jesus answered, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6

Here, we find that God has made the way for Jesus to be the only source of salvation. In other words, no one can come to the Father in Heaven except through the Son.

God, out of His incredible love and grace and mercy, loved the world and its people so much that He didn’t wish for them to perish in their sinfulness. And so given that there was a blood sacrifice needed to atone for the sins of all mankind, once and for all, God offered up His Son Jesus, the Lamb of God, who was crucified on the cross of Calvary so that anyone who would believe in Him would be justified or made as if they had never sinned. They would be covered by the shed blood of the Lamb Jesus, washed clean and set for a life forever with God. He is the only One who can bring someone to the Father and the Father dwells in Heaven.

So...anyone who believes in Heaven and wishes to live there eternally, escaping the everlasting darkness and torment of Hell in the process, must believe in Jesus as Savior, trusting in their hearts that God raised Him from the dead...and one day will do the same for them.

It’s really that simple for He and He alone is the only source of salvation, all made possible by our God who “sits on the throne”.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.