Hey ladies and gentlemen this is Matt Powell. I wanted to do a video specifically dedicated to
somebody that had reached out to me and sent me a few letters from Africa and just specifically
take some time for this gentleman that had shared his concerns with me about his salvation. He had
watched our film The Sacred Name and he was just getting into the Hebrew Roots movement and is now
starting to see the light and he shared with me that he's confused about some things and so
I just wanted to go ahead and dedicate this video specifically to him and one of the things that he
had shared with me is that he's very unsure about his personal salvation and so I just want to take
some time to really go over what the gospel is, what salvation is, and how simple it is to be
saved and how easy it is to be saved and how we don't have to fear about going to hell or
losing our salvation once we're saved and we don't have to fear at all. In fact, the Bible says
that there's simplicity in salvation, there's simplicity in the gospel, and that's what I'm
going to go ahead and go over in this video. The first thing that people need to understand
about the gospel is that it's simple, it's easy. The Bible says,
but I fear lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety,
so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. So the Bible
clearly tells us that there's simplicity in the Lord Jesus Christ and that there's simplicity
in salvation. So salvation is not a complicated thing. No matter what any internet teacher might
say, no matter what any person might preach out there, the Bible says that the gospel is simple,
that it's easy. The Bible simply even says just believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall
be saved. And so the first thing that people need to understand before being able to be saved
is that they're not saved and that they are condemned if they have not believed on the name
of the Son of God. The Bible says for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And so
obviously all of us are sinners. None of us are exempt from that. And the Bible does say that sin
is the transgression of the law. So when we break God's law, we sin. And the Bible says that there's
a penalty for sin. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. And so because we're sinners,
one day we're going to have to die. Now you only have to do one sin to be a sinner. And the
Bible says that all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone,
which is the second death. Now I know that everybody's lied before. I've lied before.
You know, and if you say that you haven't lied before, you're lying right now. You're lying to
yourself. And so everybody's committed sin and we've all done stuff worse than lying. So according
to God's word, we would deserve hell. The Bible says, but the fearful and the unbelieving and the
abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars shall have
their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. And
so that's what we deserve for our sin is the second death. And without Christ, the Bible says
that we will go there. We will have to pay for our own sins and endure the second death, which
goes on forever and ever. But the Bible says that God commended his love toward us in that while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And so even though we were sinners, even though we didn't
deserve the gift of salvation and the opportunity to go to heaven, Jesus Christ took our place as a
substitute. The Bible says that he was God manifest in the flesh. And so Jesus was basically God with
skin on. And the Bible says that he did not commit any sin. The Bible says he was tempted at all
points, like as we are, yet without sin. So Jesus was fully God and fully man. And Jesus went about
doing many miracles. And Jesus would always tell the truth. And sometimes whenever you tell people
the truth, they get really offended. And they got so offended at the words of Christ that they took
and nailed him to the cross. And the Bible says that while Jesus was on the cross, it says who
his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree. So literally every sin I've ever done,
every sin you've ever done, it was as if Jesus had done it himself. You know, he was being punished
in our place for our sins. And so he was the substitute lamb. He was the one who came and took
our sins upon his own shoulders on that cross and bear them in his own body, as the Bible says.
The Bible even says that Christ died for us. And so Jesus took our place. He took my place. He took
your place. And salvation is actually as simple as that. It's as simple as realizing that you can't
save yourself and that you're a sinner and you deserve hell. But Jesus Christ himself came and
took your place, took your sins and my sins and bear them in his own body and wiped away
that punishment and was the substitute lamb for us. Now obviously they took Jesus's body down
and buried it, but three days later he rose again from the dead. And that's the Gospel,
is believing that Jesus died for your sins, was buried and rose again. The Bible even just simply
says in Acts 16, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved. Now it doesn't say thou
might be saved, or thou could be saved, or you just might make it somehow. No, the Bible says
that if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ or you trust him and what he did on that cross,
you shall be saved. There isn't any question about it. When you put your trust in Christ,
he promises to hold on to you. And one of the most important things to understand is that once
you're saved, you're always saved. The Bible says in John 5 24, Jesus said,
verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me,
hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.
And so those are some pretty powerful words that tell us that once we trust Christ,
once we receive that gift of salvation, that we are passed from death unto life. And he also says
that you have everlasting life. Now, everlasting by definition goes forever. And so if I had
eternal life today and I lost it tomorrow, that didn't last forever. And just as you may have
children of your own, nothing that they could ever do would be able to separate them from being your
son or daughter. And it's the same way with God. Once you're born into his family, there's nothing
that you can do to remove those genes. The Bible says that it's not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration and
renewing of the Holy Ghost. So when we get saved, it's not by our own righteousness,
but by the righteousness of Christ and by the washing of regeneration. The Bible also says
that to as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name, which were born. So you get born again into his family the moment you
receive him as your savior. Even the most famous verse in the entire Bible says, for God so loved
the world that he gave his only begotten son. So notice how it says he gave his only begotten son.
It's a gift. So when God gave Jesus as a gift to us, as a gift to mankind, a salvation,
we just simply receive it. You don't work for a gift, you receive a gift. So if God gave his
only son, that tells me and that tells anybody reading the Bible that you receive Christ as
savior. God makes a promise to everybody that trusts in him that he will never leave them nor
forsake them. He says, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. That's a promise.
you