It may seem unusual to see this page on a financial firm's website. But it goes to the very heart of why this firm exists. We may or may not know it, but we all have a need that's greater than anything else--yes, even greater than a financial plan or investment advice. That need is for salvation for our souls, and only God, the true vinedresser, can provide it.

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"Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it."  Matthew 7:13-14

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​The Bible is very clear that there are only two options for us: the broad way that leads to eternal destruction, and the narrow way that leads to eternal life. It's narrow because there's only one way to eternal life, and that one way is only through Jesus Christ.

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"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'"  John 14:6

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It's important to understand why the eternal destruction option even exists. It starts with the character of God. He's loving, perfect, pure, and holy, so His abode (heaven) must necessarily also be sinless, perfect, and pure. We, however, are not. If we ask ourselves if we've ever lied, if we've ever disrespected our parents, or if we've ever coveted (wanted something that someone else had), etc., it doesn't take long to see our imperfection--our sinfulness. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" Romans 3:23. And 'all' means all; we're all guilty before a pure, holy God. He cannot have sin in His presence, so in our natural sinful state, we are separate from Him. "Your iniquities [sins] have separated you from your God" Isaiah 59:2. And because God is also perfectly fair and just, He must have consequences for sin. "For the wages of sin [what we earn because of our sin] is death"  Romans 6:23.  Here, death refers to eternal separation from God (i.e. eternal destruction). This of course is the bad news, but it gets much better.

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"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."  John 3:16

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God knows our impossible natural predicament, and because He's also loving and gracious, He provided a solution. God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, from heaven to earth, as deity in the flesh so that He could "taste death for everyone" (Hebrews 2:9). He died on the cross to pay the wages of our sin for us, in our place, as our substitute.

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"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  Romans 5:8

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"Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. And...He was buried, and...He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures."  1 Corinthians 15:3-4

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Jesus Christ's resurrection shows that God's justice was satisfied and He accepted Jesus' substitutionary payment for our sins. This way, all by His grace, He can offer us eternal life as a free gift because He's paid the full purchase price of that gift. All that's left for us to do is to receive it, and we do this only by believing in Him and only Him, nothing more. If we think we have to add anything more, we imply that Jesus didn't do enough, that He didn't really save us. But a Savior saves completely, or he's not really a savior. Does a lifeguard save a drowning person completely, or does he or she require the drowning person to kick a little bit or take a few strokes? Or does the lifeguard bring the drowning person most of the way to shore but then require the person to struggle the rest of the way? No, the lifeguard does all the work; the lifeguard saves drowning people because the people cannot save themselves. The drowning person must put their faith, or trust, in the lifeguard.

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"What must I do to be saved? So they said, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.'"  Acts 16:31

 

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."  Ephesians 2:8-9

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"But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us...."  Titus 3:5

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This also means that being a "good person" will not get us into heaven. And neither will praying, going to church, doing good deeds, being water baptized, obeying the ten commandments, etc. All these things have a place, but it's not here. Notice what the verses on this page (and many others in the Bible) say and don't say. John 3:16 for example says "whoever believes in Him"; it does not say "whoever believes in Him and (something else we have to do)." Jesus Christ has already done everything needed for our salvation; all God asks is that we believe it. He just wants our faith. If we think we have to add even one little work to it, then we don't really have faith in what He did. It's all or nothing. And if we could go to heaven by our own good works, then why did Jesus have to die? "...if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain" Galatians 2:21.

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What does God promise to those who believe in Jesus Christ? They have eternal life, starting at the moment of belief. By its very definition, eternal life is forever and can never be lost, or God wouldn't call it 'eternal.' Believers are kept by the power of God, again not by our works. We also don't have to show good works to prove to others we have eternal life. It's not about our good or bad works--it's all about Jesus Christ's finished work on the cross. Some of His last words were, "It is finished!" (John 19:30). In these times in Rome, 'It is finished' was an expression used when a debt had been paid in full. Jesus Christ was saying that the sin debt had been paid in full--for all people for all time--at the cross. And if the Son of God says it was 100% finished then and there, then it was. Period.

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"And He Himself [Jesus Christ] is the propitiation [substitute] for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world [everyone]."  1 John 2:2

 

"These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life."  1 John 5:13

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"And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one."  John 10:28-30

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In the gospel of John alone, the word believe is used 98 times as the sole condition to salvation. John emphasizes this also from the opposite angle by explaining the sole reason for condemnation--unbelief.

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"He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."  John 3:17-18

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God's gift of salvation is available for everyone, but not everyone accepts it. Those who do are on the narrow way, but those who don't are on the broad way. Those on the narrow way believe only in Jesus Christ to save them; those on the broad way don't. God leaves the choice to you.

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For additional information and resources,

please see Grace Gospel Press 

https://www.gracegospelpress.org/.