My brothers! I am so glad to see you today. As you know, many people are afraid of coronavirus while some people don’t know what they are supposed to do. I hope and pray that at this moment, God protects and guides you and your family as He is our faithful Father in heaven.
Today’s verse is important because it shows a summarization depicting the journey of salvation. So, I want you to go over every step or phase that we go through when we receive salvation through the story of the three men.
In order to receive salvation, we first need to have the right attitude and faith towards Jesus. In today’s scripture, two criminals and Jesus were crucified. We can see that the attitudes and minds the two criminals had were totally different.
One criminal cursed and made fun of Jesus saying, “Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!" However, the other said to him, “Don't you fear God, we are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong” He asked Jesus, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” He even became humble.
My dear brothers, what do you think about Jesus? Is he a great teacher, guru or rabi telling you a good story? Or Is Jesus the king and God who can transfer you from the cross to paradise?
Salvation starts with the right attitude and faith towards Jesus. Many people do not admit Jesus as their personal savior. What about you? I pray that you will have the right attitude towards Jesus.
In order to receive salvation, we then have to ask for the right thing to God. One criminal asked Jesus, “Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us” It shows that he asked Jesus for earthly life. However, the other criminal asked Jesus, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” He asked for eternal life with God!!
There are two kinds of people. One asks for their bodily needs, worldly greed and the works of man. The other asks for spiritual needs, heavenly desire and the works of God.
In the Bible, those who ask for worldly things perish but the one who asks for spiritual needs or the work of God is always answered. Colossian 3:1-2 says, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. My brothers! What do you ask for? Whatever you ask for, you will be given.
Thirdly, in order to receive salvation, you should get God’s unconditional love. There are two significant misunderstandings about salvation. One is the belief that salvation depends on personal deeds and work. Some guarantee their salvation because their life and works are good.
Galatian 2:16 says, “a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So, we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.
The other is the belief that people can’t be saved because of huge sins. They may think that their great sins block them from salvation. Some people even say, “God hates me because of my sin” Roman 2:4 says, “do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?
Your good or bad can’t do anything for your salvation because salvation is a free gift from God for those who don’t deserve it. When God called Abraham, He didn’t count Abraham’s good deeds or bad deeds. Because of His grace, love and plan, God called Abraham and Abraham answered God with his faith.
Look at the criminal on the cross. His life was bad and he was worthy of being sentenced to crucifixion, the most terrible and horrible execution. However, Jesus didn’t care about his faults. Jesus showed His unconditional love and grace to accept him. There are no good deeds that can get us salvation and there are no great bad deeds that prevent us from getting salvation. Those who answer Jesus’ invitation will be saved.
Let me recap the three things needed to obtain salvation. First is your attitude and second is what you ask for and third is receiving Jesus’ unconditional grace. My dear brothers do you have these three things? If you have any questions about today’s message please don’t hesitate to ask me. I pray that your knowledge and wisdom about salvation are increased in Lent and you will go into the paradise the criminal went into by God’s grace.