God Needs Salvation

The majority Evangelical view is that once someone has accepted Christ as Saviour they are guaranteed salvation. But is it safe to assume that once we are saved, we are saved for always? David Pawson investigates this through biblical evidence, historical figures such as Augustine, Luther and Wesley, and evangelical assumptions about grace and justification, divine sovereignty and human responsibility. He asks whether something more than being born again is required so that our inheritance is not lost. This book helps us decide whether ‘once saved, always saved’ is real assurance or a misleading assumption. The answer will have profound effects on the way we live and disciple others.

Many people today have deserted the old forms of religion. But does this make them any the less religious? Hugh Rock’s message is that people are inherently religious. The necessary task today is to articulate anew the reality of religion. In a wide-ranging survey, that draws together the past fifty years of liberal theology and sociological discussion about the interface of religion and popular culture, he concludes that it is in our new respect for the autonomous self-fulfilment of the potential of every person’s life that can be found the message transferred out of the New Testament.

Are There Two Wills in God? Divine Election and God's Desire for All to Be Saved In this short, theological essay, John Piper builds a scriptural case that God's unconditional election unto salvation is compatible with God's genuine desire and offer for all to be saved. Helping us to make sense of this seemingly paradoxical relationship, Piper wisely holds both truths in tension as he explores the Bible's teaching on this challenging topic, graciously responds to those who disagree, and motivates us to passionately proclaim the free offer of the gospel to all people.

Salvation is the power you need to overcome the world and the devil. Salvation equips you to be a winner, because now you have everlasting life through Jesus Christ. Salvation brings deliverance to those that are being oppressed, depressed, and broken from the care of this world. God gives you the ammunition to reject oppression and depression when it comes upon you. Salvation can deliver you from alcoholism and drug addiction, when you let Jesus Christ become your Lord and Savior. Let Jesus heal you from the struggles and heartache you are striving to overcome. The best council is the Word of God; it will equip you for the battle that you face each day. Having salvation, you will have power and strength to endure until Christ comes back to rapture his church.

“If there were a Guinness Book of World Records entry for ‘amount of times having prayed the sinner’s prayer,’ I’m pretty sure I’d be a top contender,” says pastor and author J. D. Greear. He struggled for many years to gain an assurance of salvation and eventually learned he was not alone. “Lack of assurance” is epidemic among evangelical Christians. In Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart, J. D. shows that faulty ways of present- ing the gospel are a leading source of the confusion. Our presentations may not be heretical, but they are sometimes misleading. The idea of “asking Jesus into your heart” or “giving your life to Jesus” often gives false assurance to those who are not saved—and keeps those who genuinely are saved from fully embracing that reality. Greear unpacks the doctrine of assurance, showing that salvation is a posture we take to the promise of God in Christ, a posture that begins at a certain point and is maintained for the rest of our lives. He also answers the tough questions about assurance: What exactly is faith? What is repentance? Why are there so many warnings that seem to imply we can lose our salvation? Such issues are handled with respect to the theological rigors they require, but Greear never loses his pastoral sensitivity or a communication technique that makes this message teachable to a wide audience from teens to adults.

Is it enough in God's eyes to be a "good person"? Why do we need a "savior"? These very important questions get Bible-based answers in this book. Why Do We Need a Savior? describes--directly from God's Word--why human beings are separated from God and in desperate need of salvation. And that's just as true for "good people" as well as the "bad guys" we so easily identify. Built on familiar verses such as Romans 3:23 ("For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God") and Romans 6:23 ("for the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord"), yet drawing support from passages throughout scripture, Why Do We Need a Savior? will encourage those already in the faith while challenging others to accept God's free gift of salvation.

God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6 This book is a cry from the heart of John Piper. He is pleading that God himself, as revealed in Christ's death and resurrection, is the ultimate and greatest gift of the gospel. None of Christ's gospel deeds and none of our gospel blessings are good news except as means of seeing and savoring the glory of Christ. Forgiveness is good news because it opens the way to the enjoyment of God himself. Justification is good news because it wins access to the presence and pleasures of God himself. Eternal life is good news because it becomes the everlasting enjoyment of Christ. All God's gifts are loving only to the degree that they lead us to God himself. That is what God's love is: his commitment to do everything necessary (most painfully the death of his only Son) to enthrall us with what is most deeply and durably satisfying-namely, himself. Saturated with Scripture, centered on the cross, and seriously joyful, this book leads us to satisfaction for the deep hungers of the soul. It touches us at the root of life where practical transformation gets its daily power. It awakens our longing for Christ and opens our eyes to his beauty. Piper writes for the soul-thirsty who have turned away empty and in desperation from the mirage of methodology. He invites us to slow down and drink from a deeper spring. "This is eternal life," Jesus said, "that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." This is what makes the gospel-and this book-good news.

This Bible study, Salvation: Exploring God's Answer for Your Greatest Need, is part of Chuck Swindoll's Growing Deep in the Christian Life Series, designed to serve the common person who wants to develop a solid network of doctrinal roots.