Acts 13:39
And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.
The key to being saved is to be justified. In other words, God the Father must look at our record and say that the payment for our sin has been paid. You see, every person born has a problem, and that is they are a sinner. Romans 3:10 declares, There is none righteous, no, not one: We are not righteous because we are sinners. Now that we have sinned, which is breaking God’s law, the punishment has been ruled upon which is death. Romans 6:23 says, For the wages of sin is death;… The only way for sin to be paid is that someone must die for our sin. Herein comes the problem; many have tried to substitute the payment for sin, but God makes it clear in the Scriptures that the only way your sins can be paid is through Christ. Let me point out what cannot save you.
First, keeping the law cannot save you from sin. The verse above says that ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. Those trying to live by the law must realize that the purpose of the law is to show our need for a Saviour. There is no person who can keep the whole law; therefore, every person is a sinner because every person has broken God’s law. You can try to keep the law, but you will find that it cannot save because the law did not die to pay for sins.
Second, good works cannot save. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. If we could work our way to Heaven, we would say once we got there that we got to Heaven on our own merit. My friend, if works can save a person from Hell, then God’s Word is a fairytale and Jesus Christ is a fraud.
Third, baptism cannot save. The Ethiopian eunuch, when seeing water, asked Philip, what doth hinder me to be baptized? He thought being baptized could save him, but Philip answered, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. The eunuch then put his trust in Christ and then got baptized. Baptism has never saved one person, nor has it had a part in them being saved because it did not shed blood through a sacrificial death for the sins of mankind. You can trust your baptism to get you to Heaven, but you will find that it falls short to be justified in God’s eyes.
Fourth, experiences cannot save you. Many want to trust an experience for salvation, but your experience has never died for your sins. If you are trusting the feeling you got from an experience or what you saw in an experience to save you, you are still on your way to Hell. There will be many in Hell who trusted an experience instead of trusting Christ’s payment for their sin.
Fifth, a representative of the church cannot save you because they are a sinner themselves. Certainly, we ought to respect our pastor, but he cannot save you from Hell. Your Pastor, Rabbi, Priest, or the Pope has never died to pay for your sin; therefore, to trust them will send you straight to Hell.
The only One who can save you is Jesus Christ. He alone can save you because He alone paid your debt by dying on the cross and shedding His blood for the remission of your sins. When you trust Christ’s payment for your sin, God the Father can look at your account and say your debt has been justified.
