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Do You Want To Be Successful? - Good Advice for Young People of All Ages

By Jeffery Canaday, Youth Director, Calvary Baptist Church, Monticello, Florida

How to Glorify Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ With Your Life By Applying the Principles and Practices of Fundamental Independent Baptists.

Part II - Understanding The Doctrine Of Salvation

Through Adam, the inborn tendency to sin entered the human race and humans became sinners by nature. When Adam sinned, his inner nature was transformed by his sin of rebellion, which brought him spiritual death and corruption that would be passed down to everyone that came after him. Humans became sinners not because they sinned, they sinned because they were sinners. This is the condition known as inherited sin. Just like we inherit physical characteristics from our parents, we inherit our sinful natures from Adam. You here people say “We are created in God’s image” but that is not true, we are made in the image of Adam, a sinful man. (Genesis 5:3)

Another type of sin is imputed sin. This just means that it is reckoned (an accounting term that means to charge to a person) as our sin and we will be dealt with as being guilty, that we are just as responsible as Adam, just as if we had eaten the fruit ourselves and will receive the just punishment from God. For us as Christians it means that the sin of Adam is imputed to all of us, his descendants and, more importantly, the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us when we believe in Him, and God considers Jesus’ righteousness to be our own.

You may think that this sounds unfair but God used the principle of imputation to benefit mankind when He imputed the sin of believers to the account of Jesus Christ, who paid the penalty for that sin, which is death, on the cross. Imputing our sin to Jesus, God treated Him as if He were a sinner though He was not, and had Him die for the sins of all who would ever believe in Him. It’s important to understand that sin was imputed to Him, but he did not inherit it from Adam. He bore the penalty for sin, but He never became a sinner. His pure and perfect nature was untouched by sin. He was treated as though He was guilty of all the sins ever committed by all who would ever believe, in fact, the whole world’s sin, even though He committed none. In exchange, God imputed the righteousness of Christ to believers and credited our accounts with His righteousness just as He credited our sins to Jesus’ account.

Personal sin is what is committed every day by every human. Because we have inherited a sin nature from Adam, we commit individual, personal sins, everything from “so called” innocent fibs to murder. Those people who have not put their faith in Jesus Christ must pay the penalty for these personal sins, and inherited sin and imputed sin. On the other hand, believers have been freed from the eternal penalty of sin, spending an eternity in a REAL place called Hell and spiritual death. Now we can choose whether or not to commit personal sins because we have the power to resist sin through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, sanctifying and convicting us of our sins when we do commit them (Read Romans 8:9-11).

Once we confess our personal sins to God and ask forgiveness for them, we are restored to perfect fellowship and communion with Him. 1^st John 1:9 says “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”. Inherited sin, imputed sin, and personal sin, have all been crucified on the cross of Jesus, and now, if you are saved, you can say “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;” Ephesians 1:7.

But first things first, I have to ask you a question:

ARE YOU BORN AGAIN? – In a very complicated, religious world God has made salvation simple. Romans 10:13 says "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.". Your salvation experience will be the beginning of your relationship with Jesus Christ. Understanding salvation is as simple as "A.B.C."

A. Admit that you're a sinner in need of God.

A relationship with Jesus Christ begins with your admission that you need God. You must admit you need God to do three things:

1. You need God to forgive you of your sins, those attitudes or actions that don't meet God's standards. 1^st John 1:8-9 says "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

2. You need God to give you eternal life. Romans 6:23 says "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

3. You need God to show you His purpose for your life. John 10:10 says "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."

B. Believe that Jesus died and rose again for your sins.

The penalty for your sin is death. God loves you so much, He provides a way for you to escape that penalty. John 3:16 says "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Jesus can and will save anyone from an eternity without God. He died and rose again for your justification, to right your relationship with God. Romans 4:25 says " Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification."

Belief in the death and resurrection of Jesus for your sins is essential for salvation, but it is not enough. James 2:19 says "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble."

You must do more than believe in Jesus. You must confess him as Lord or Boss of your life.

C. Confess Jesus as Lord of your life.

Confessing Jesus as Lord means to commit total control of your life to Christ. You give him the ownership of your life. He becomes your new Boss. If you confess Jesus as Lord of your life, the Bible says you will be saved. Romans 10:9-10 says "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

If you can’t say with confidence “I am born again!”, I beg you to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. Hell is a real place where all people who are not born again will be sent, it is a place of unimaginable torment for ever and ever and ever and ever. Please pray the following prayer right now before it’s too late.

Sample Prayer

Dear God, I admit I am a sinner in need of you. Please forgive me of my sins and give me abundant life here on earth and eternal life with you in heaven. I believe Jesus died and rose again for my sins. I confess Jesus as Lord and Savior of my life. Thank you for saving me. In Jesus' name, Amen.

If you have prayed this prayer, please let us know, our email address is CalvaryBaptist@cbcflorida.org.