Listen:  89 Question 1

There is only one way of salvation.  The Lord Jesus said in John 14:6, “…I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”  There is only one savior.  1 John 4:14 says, “And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.”  There is only one kind of salvation.  Hebrews 5:8-9 tells us, “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.”

It is through the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ that we can have this eternal salvation.  It is through Him that we can have the forgiveness of our sins.  Ephesians 1:3-7 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.”  Notice here that we are both redeemed and forgiven of our sins.  To be redeemed means that we were purchased.  For those who are saved, we read in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”  As redeemed people, we belong to the Lord.  We are His purchased possession.  We are, indeed, redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus, as we read in 1 Peter 1:18-19, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”

We are also forgiven of our sins.  In the Old Testament, the people of God were said to have atonement for their sins.  We read in Leviticus 16:34, “And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he did as the LORD commanded Moses.”  To atone literally means to cover.  For us who are saved through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have something far greater than atonement; we have forgiveness.  It is also the blood of the Lord Jesus that gives us this forgiveness.  1 John 1:7 tells us, “…the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”  Notice that small word, “all”.  Not most of our sins, not just our past sins, not our future sins…all sin.  It’s important to notice that when the Lord Jesus died for us, all our sins were yet future.  As we read earlier, through the Lord Jesus, we have eternal salvation.  That means we have salvation that never ends, thus ALL our sins were forgiven when we received the Lord…past, present, and future.

However, we do need to confess our sins so that we might maintain a right relationship with the Lord.

1 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.”  This is not a verse for salvation; this is a verse for believers.  John said that “If WE confess our sins…”  He is speaking to saved men and women here.  It is so important that we continually confess our sins to the Lord so that, in a practical sense, we might have forgiveness and cleansing.  It is only through realizing that all our sins are forgiven can we truly rest in the finished work of the Lord Jesus on the cross.  (89.1)