Salvation: “He Shall Save His People from Their Sins”

MEMORY VERSE:  “But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved).”  Ephesians 2:4, 5.

STUDY HELP: The Acts of the Apostles, 481–483.

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: “Your only hope and salvation is in overcoming as Christ overcame.”  Testimonies, vol. 3, 457.

Introduction “Abandon the idea that temporal or spiritual advantages will win for you salvation.  God calls for your willing obedience.  He asks you to give up your sins.  ‘To him that overcometh,’ Christ declares, ‘will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne.’  Revelation 3:21.”  Christ’s Object Lessons, 117.

 “Sin Bringeth Forth Death”

1     From what do we all need to be saved?  Matthew 1:21.

NOTE: “Through every device possible Satan has sought to make of none effect the sacrifice of the Son of God, to render His expiation useless and His mission a failure.  He has claimed that the death of Christ made obedience to the law unnecessary and permitted the sinner to come into favor with a holy God without forsaking his sin.  He has declared that the Old Testament standard was lowered in the gospel and that men can come to Christ, not to be saved from their sins but in their sins.  But when John beheld Jesus he told His mission.  He said, ‘Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world’  (John 1:29).  To every repentant soul the message is, ‘Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool’  (Isaiah 1:18).”  Faith and Works, 90.

2    Is the Lord’s desire to save sinners limited to a chosen few?  1 Timothy 2:4, 5.

NOTE:  See The Great Controversy, 261, 262.

“None Other Name”

3    From whom alone may salvation be gained?  Acts 4:10–12.

NOTE: “‘Sin is the transgression of the law.’  The sinner must be made to feel that he is a transgressor. Christ dying upon the cross of Calvary is drawing his attention.  Why did Christ die?  Because it was the only means for man to be saved.…He took upon Himself our sins that He might impute His righteousness to all who believe in Him.…The goodness and the love of God lead the sinner to repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.  The awakened sinner…is pointed to the law he has transgressed.  It calls to him to repent, yet there is no saving quality in law to pardon the transgression of law, and his case seems hopeless.  But the law draws him to Christ.  However deep are his sins of transgression, the blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse him from all sin.…”  Our High Calling, 141.

4    What was the motive that led Christ to save us?  Romans 8:34–39.

NOTE: “The more we contemplate the character of Christ, and the more we experience of His saving power, the more keenly shall we realize our own weakness and imperfection, and the more earnestly shall we look to Him as our strength and our Redeemer.  We have no power in ourselves to cleanse the soul temple from its defilement; but as we repent of our sins against God, and seek pardon through the merits of Christ, He will impart that faith which works by love and purifies the heart.  By faith in Christ and obedience to the law of God we may be sanctified, and thus obtain a fitness for the society of holy angels and the white-robed redeemed ones in the kingdom of glory.”  The Sanctified Life, 83.

“With the Mouth Confession is Made unto Salvation”

5    What acts are necessary on our part for the work of salvation to begin?  Romans 10:10; 11 Corinthians 7:10.

NOTE: “The great heart of infinite Love is drawn toward the sinner with boundless compassion.  ‘We have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.’  Yes, only believe that God is your helper. He wants to restore His moral image in man.  As you draw nigh to Him with confession and repentance, He will draw nigh to you with mercy and forgiveness.  We owe the Lord everything.  He is the author of our salvation.  As you work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, ‘it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.’”  Testimonies,vol. 5, 635.

6    Where does the impulse to repent come from? Romans 2:4.  Compare Acts 5:31; 11:18.

NOTE: “While it is true that repentance must precede forgiveness, for it is only the broken and contrite heart that is acceptable to God, yet the sinner cannot bring himself to repentance, or prepare himself to come to Christ.  Except the sinner repent, he cannot be forgiven; but the question to be decided is as to whether repentance is the work of the sinner or the gift of Christ.  Must the sinner wait until he is filled with remorse for his sin before he can come to Christ?  The very first step to Christ is taken through the drawing of the Spirit of God; as man responds to this drawing, he advances toward Christ in order that he may repent.”  A New Life, 20. 

7    When a sinner has repented, what promise may he claim?  1 John 1:9.

NOTE: “We have no righteousness of our own with which to meet the claims of the law of God.  But Christ has made a way of escape for us.  He lived on earth amid trials and temptations such as we have to meet.  He lived a sinless life.  He died for us, and now He offers to take our sins and give us His righteousness.  If you give yourself to Him, and accept Him as your Saviour, then, sinful as your life may have been, for His sake you are accounted righteous.  Christ’s character stands in place of your character, and you are accepted before God just as if you had not sinned.”  Steps to Christ, 62.

“He was Manifested to Take Away Our Sins”

8    What assurance may the one have who abides in Christ?  1 John 3:5, 6.

NOTE: “More than this [see previous note], Christ changes the heart.  He abides in your heart by faith. You are to maintain this connection with Christ by faith and the continual surrender of your will to Him; and so long as you do this, He will work in you to will and to do according to His good pleasure.  So you may say, ‘The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.’  Galatians 2:20.  So Jesus said to His disciples, ‘It is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.’  Matthew 10:20.  Then with Christ working in you, you will manifest the same spirit and do the same good works,—works of righteousness, obedience.”  Ibid., 62.  See also The Desire of Ages, 123.

9    What symbol are we given to show the contrast between this new life and the old one?  Romans 6:1–6.

NOTE: “As you openly renounced sin and Satan, the three great powers of heaven pledged themselves to help you to overcome.  You were raised in newness of life by the power that raised Christ from the dead. You came forth from the watery grave pledged to devote your life to the Master’s service.  You are henceforth to live a new life, as if reason, knowledge, affection, speech, property, and all else you have, had been anew entrusted to you, with a distinct intimation from heaven that they are to be used for God. You are to live a life of cross-bearing and self-denial, a life bound up with the life of Christ.”  Signs of the Times, February 12, 1902.

“Now is Our Salvation Nearer Than When We Believed”

10   What verses look forward to the time when our salvation is complete?  Romans 13:11;
1 Thessalonians 5:8; Hebrews 9:28.

NOTE: “We are never to rest in a satisfied condition, and cease to make advancement, saying, ‘I am saved.’  When this idea is entertained, the motives for watchfulness, for prayer, for earnest endeavor to press onward to higher attainments, cease to exist.  No sanctified tongue will be found uttering these words till Christ shall come, and we enter in through the gates into the city of God.  Then, with the utmost propriety, we may give glory to God and to the Lamb for eternal deliverance.”  Maranatha, 236.

11   What assurance do we have of salvation in the judgment?  Psalm 76:7–9.

NOTE: “We are now living in the great Day of Atonement.  In the typical service, while the high priest was making the atonement for Israel, all were required to afflict their souls by repentance of sin and humiliation before the Lord, lest they be cut off from among the people.  In like manner, all who would have their names retained in the book of life should now, in the few remaining days of their probation, afflict their souls before God by sorrow for sin and true repentance.  There must be deep, faithful searching of heart.  The light, frivolous spirit indulged by so many professed Christians must be put away. There is earnest warfare before all who would subdue the evil tendencies that strive for the mastery.  The work of preparation is an individual work.  We are not saved in groups.  The purity and devotion of one will not offset the want of these qualities in another.  Though all nations are to pass in judgment before God, yet He will examine the case of each individual with as close and searching scrutiny as if there were not another being upon the earth.  Everyone must be tested and found without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.”  The Great Controversy, 489, 490.

“He Will Come and Save You”

12   To what precious promise may God’s people look forward?  Isaiah 35:4.

NOTE: “You must experience a death to self, and must live unto God.  ‘If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.’  Self is not to be consulted.  Pride, self-love, selfishness, avarice, covetousness, love of the world, hatred, suspicion, jealousy, evil surmisings, must all be subdued and sacrificed forever.  When Christ shall appear, it will not be to correct these evils and then give a moral fitness for His coming.  This preparation must all be made before He comes.  It should be a subject of thought, of study, and earnest inquiry, What shall we do to be saved?  What shall be our conduct that we may show ourselves approved unto God?”  Testimonies,vol. 1, 705.

13   Who are the ones who will be saved when Christ returns? Psalm 50:1–6.

NOTE: “We must be partakers of Christ’s sufferings here, if we would share in His glory hereafter.  If we seek our own interest, how we can best please ourselves, instead of seeking to please God and advance His precious, suffering cause, we shall dishonor God and the holy cause we profess to love.  We have but a little space of time left in which to work for God.  Nothing should be too dear to sacrifice for the salvation of the scattered and torn flock of Jesus.  Those who make a covenant with God by sacrifice now, will soon be gathered home to share a rich reward, and possess the new kingdom forever and ever.  Oh, let us live wholly for the Lord, and show by a well-ordered life and godly conversation that we have been with Jesus, and are His meek and lowly followers.  We must work while the day lasts, for when the dark night of trouble and anguish comes, it will be too late to work for God.”  Christian Experience and Teachings of Ellen G. White, 104, 105.

“I saw that the reason why God did not hear the prayers of His servants for the sick among us more fully was that He could not be glorified in so doing while they were violating the laws of health.  And I also saw that He designed the health reform…to prepare the way for the prayer of faith to be fully answered. Faith and good work should go hand in hand in relieving the afflicted among us, and in fitting them to glorify God here and to be saved at the coming of Christ.”  Counsels on Health, 247.