salut

The Webster’s Dictionary defines Salvation as saving a person from sin or its consequences.

Romains 5 : 8-10

« 8 Mais Dieu loue son amour envers nous, en ce que, alors que nous étions encore pécheurs, Christ est mort pour nous.

9 A plus forte raison, étant maintenant justifiés par son sang, nous serons sauvés de la colère par lui.

10 Car si, lorsque nous étions ennemis, nous avons été réconciliés avec Dieu par la mort de son Fils, à plus forte raison étant réconciliés, nous serons sauvés par sa vie.

Suppose you committed a crime, and a judge sentenced you to a hefty fine or a year in prison.  If I paid the fine for you, you wouldn’t have to go to jail unless you rejected my payment.  Jesus paid the death penalty for our sins by his death on the cross.  Accepting this payment for your sins reconciles you to God.  Being reconciled means the separation is over.  You are now a friend of God.  Is that what you want?  So, the question I ask you is, who wants to be close to God?

Let us look at this great promise of Salvation God gave to us.

Matthieu 1:21

« 21 Et elle enfantera un fils, et tu appelleras son nom Jésus, car il sauvera son peuple de ses péchés. »

God sent His angel to Mary to tell her she would have a Son and He would save his people from their sins.  The beauty of this promise is that it is for everyone.”

Jean 3:16

« 16 Car Dieu a tant aimé le monde qu'il a donné son Fils unique, afin que quiconque croit en lui ne périsse pas, mais ait la vie éternelle. »

The beauty of John 3:16 is that “whosoever” is everyone.  Notice Jesus does not say if you are twelve years old, you cannot receive Salvation.  Instead, Jesus says “whosoever” comes to Him.  Whosoever means Salvation is for everyone, young and old alike.  There is no age limit.  So, the good news of the gospel here is that Jesus came to save young people too.  He did not just come to save people out of college or older.  Jesus came to save “whosoever,” which means anyone who comes to Jesus can have Salvation.  One might ask, “Why do we need salvation?” and the answer is so we can have remission of our sins and make heaven our home.  Each of us is guilty of committing a crime, although one might also ask, “What crime is that?  or say, “I’ve never committed a crime?”.  However, our crime is that we all have sinned against God.  No one can say, “I have never sinned.”  I know this first by my experience as a young person.  Before I gave my heart to God, I did not have power over sin, but second and most important, the Bible teaches us that all have sinned, which means we all need Salvation.  Another way to say it is that we all need to be reconciled with God at some time in our lives, but preferably when we are young.

Romains 5:12

« 12 C'est pourquoi, comme par un seul homme le péché est entré dans le monde, et la mort par le péché ; et ainsi, la mort s'est étendue sur tous les hommes, car tous ont péché : "

The Bible teaches us all of us have sinned, but Matthew 1:21 so beautifully shows us that Jesus came to save us from our sins.  The truth is sin separates us from God.

1Jean 1:8-9

« 8 Si nous disons que nous n'avons pas de péché, nous nous trompons nous-mêmes, et la vérité n'est pas en nous. »

9 Si nous confessons nos péchés, il est fidèle et juste pour nous pardonner nos péchés et nous purifier de toute injustice.

God wants to cleanse all of us from our sin.  God’s forgiveness and His plan of Salvation are offered to everyone today.  Praise God; His Salvation is ready and available to all young people today as well.  One might ask, “What is sin?  and “How do I know if I am sinning?” Let us look at the following scriptures to help us understand what sin is.

Jacques 4:17

« 17 C'est pourquoi pour celui qui sait faire le bien et ne le fait pas, pour lui c'est un péché. »

God is calling all of us to do good and keep His commandments.  So if we know, we should not lie and do it anyway; this is sin.  If we learn we should not cheat and do it anyway, this is also sin.  And we also sin if we know we shouldn’t disobey our parents, but we disobey anyway.  In any case, if we do something we know we should not do, we are sinning.  The Bible is clear about what sin is and gives many examples for us to follow.  In the old testament, God gave Moses the ten commandments, and we can find explicit instruction from God.  For example:

• Thou shalt have no other Gods before you.
• Thou shalt not make any graven images that are not of God
• Tu ne prononceras pas le nom du Seigneur en vain.  Taking God’s name in vain is cursing, and we shouldn’t do it.

Un autre commandement que Dieu donne spécifiquement aux jeunes est d'honorer ton père et ta mère afin que tes jours soient longs dans le pays.

God gave this great Salvation to everyone, and to make it fair, God made the definition of sin clear to all.  Consider the following scriptures.

Galates 5 : 19-21

« 19 Or sont manifestes les œuvres de la chair, qui sont celles-ci : adultère, fornication, impureté, lascivité,

20 Idolâtrie, sorcellerie, haine, variance, émulations, colère, luttes, séditions, hérésies,

21 Des envies, des meurtres, des ivresses, des divagations, etc., dont je vous ai parlé auparavant, comme je vous l'ai déjà dit dans le passé, que ceux qui font de telles choses n'hériteront pas le royaume de Dieu.

The Bible is very fair to us.  Jesus gave us a list of things we should not do.  So, if we continue in the path of sin, Galatians teaches us that we will have no part of the kingdom of God.  The beauty is Christ came to give us power over sin.  When we give our hearts to God and receive Salvation, Jesus delivers us from sin and its consequences.  We are no longer separated from God but become His child.  I am exhorting you today just as Paul did many years ago.  We do not need to continue in sin.

Hébreux 3:13

« 13 Mais exhortez-vous les uns les autres chaque jour, pendant qu'on l'appelle Aujourd'hui ; de peur qu'aucun de vous ne s'endurcisse par la séduction du péché.

Paul urged the Hebrews to stay away from sin and praise God through the power of His Son and the blood He shed on the cross we can live each day free from sin.  Living without sin means we do not have to lie, cheat, or do any unclean thing.  The beautiful part of Salvation means that we can live holy in this life.  So, who can receive Salvation from sin?

Romains 10 :13

« 13 Car quiconque invoquera le nom du Seigneur sera sauvé. »

We see this word again, “whosoever.”  When I gave my heart to God as a young person, I was so excited to learn that when the Bible said, “whosoever,” God meant me!  When I gave my heart to God at a young age, He was able to save me from sin!  Today as I proclaim this great Salvation Christ wants to give to everyone, I have a question to ask you.  Have you accepted God into your heart?

Josué 24:15

« 15 Et s'il vous semble mal de servir le Seigneur, choisissez-vous aujourd'hui que vous servirez ; que ce soit les dieux que vos pères ont servis qui étaient de l'autre côté du déluge, ou les dieux des Amoréens, dans le pays desquels vous habitez ; mais quant à moi et ma maison, nous servirons l'Éternel.

So, I challenge you today, have you chosen to serve God, and do you have Salvation?  Choose you this day whom you will serve.  The Bible teaches us how to get Salvation from God in the following verse.

Romains 10:9

« 9 Que si tu confesses de ta bouche le Seigneur Jésus, et si tu crois dans ton cœur que Dieu l'a ressuscité d'entre les morts, tu seras sauvé. »

Christ came so that we could be saved and become children of God.  But this requires us to confess and admit that we have sinned and then believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Once we have done this, we can receive Salvation.  This Salvation is for “whosoever.”  Whether you are young or old, God can give you this Salvation.  God wants to give you this Salvation so you can be free from your sins.  God does not make it hard for us to receive His Salvation.  I want to encourage you, young and old, that God invites you to give your heart to Him.

RHT