If people were to sit down with a piece of paper and write out the pros and cons of salvation, I bet they would opt for salvation every time.

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8

From the past several days:
When Peter made his great statement in Acts 4:12, he gave us a unique definition of salvation from God’s perspective,

¹² Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

There are several questions that arise from this verse.

1. Must a person be saved?
2. From what is he lost?
3. Is he not capable of saving himself?
4. Why Jesus’ name?
5. What makes His name special?
6. Everyone?
7. What is required?
8. What shall we gain/avoid?

We have discovered that we all need to be saved from sin, from ourselves, and from the evil one. We are not capable of saving ourselves. We need Jesus. It is Him and His name on which we call. His name represents all that He is as God the Son, Messiah Ha’Mashiach, our Savior and Lord. Everyone needs Jesus, and He’s already done all the heavy lifting. All we have to do is accept His gift of forgiveness and mercy and receive Him as our Savior and Lord. What shall we gain and what shall we avoid by becoming His followers?

We gain:

1. Life- “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.” John 5:24
2. Love- “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” 1 John 3:1
3. Joy- “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7
4. Peace- “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13
5. Hope- “And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” Romans 5:5
6. The Holy Spirit- “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,” Ephesians 1:13
7. A Family- “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. ¹⁷ Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” Romans 8:16-17

What we avoid-

1. An empty life- “At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.” Mark 10:22
2. Being led astray- “…By your [Satan’s] magic spell all the nations were led astray.” Revelation 18:23
3. Being cast out into outer darkness- “And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ Matthew 25:30
4. Eternal punishment- ““Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” Matthew 25:46

As we can see, there is much to gain and much to lose. Yet, it is not a choice we can make on our own. Salvation comes from an invitation by Christ. The awareness of His invitation IS His invitation. If you have not taken Him up on it, “now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).

Abba, I look back on the day You invited me to receive Your salvation with much gratitude. I have never truly doubted Your presence in my life. What I have learned is that, really, it’s my life in You. May you live Your life through me even as I live my life for You. Amen.