Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

First of all I must ask this one thing. What are you being saved from? It is not only a vital question, it is the only question at hand this moment.

We were talking about being lost. Did you get what lost meant? Being lost to a personal relationship with God is being lost. The whole point of this saving faith is restoration of relationship and if it is not, you may find yourself on a path of wandering aimlessly, searching for answers to the wrong question.

Sin is the barrier to relationship with God and sin has to be dealt with in order to restore a right relationship with your creator. If you feel lonely and want to be surrounded by loving people you can find that but it will not satisfy that hole inside you, that longing for God. They cannot make you whole again. Only God can restore a right relationship with God. People cannot do it and you cannot do it. Only God can.

There will be many who will focus your attention of the penalty of sin, eternal damnation. They have their point and if fear is great enough, this persuasive argument will get you into church, get you into studies, will get you into performance of rituals, but will not save you because that alone will not restore your relationship with God.

God provided each and every one of us with a measure of faith to restore that relationship. It admits that in the most quoted scripture in the Bible.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Whosoever is all inclusive, meaning that anyone can be saved IF they put that faith in Christ. I emphasize IF because once again the word believe is used in place of faith here. There is no saving belief, there is only saving faith.

Revelation 20:3b that he should deceive the nations no more

I borrow only enough of yesterday’s ending scripture to highlight the issue of deception. Satan play’s the spoiler by means of deception, lies, and appetites. It feels good therefor is must be good. Here is the secret to the first issue of salvation, a turning of sorts by the power of God through the Holy Spirit as an external force. A longing for us by God to create in us a longing for Him.

Sin will no longer be as pleasing and satisfying as it once was for you. That process can take on many forms because pleasure can also take on many forms. The one unchangeable law of sin is consequences. There will always be consequences for sin. Now I will reuse a word I used earlier, rebellion. When it comes to consequences, sin will say, I will have my way regardless of the consequences. That’s rebellion in its raw form. “I will have my way regardless of who gets hurt.” Another form of that is “I am only hurting myself.”

This touch of the Holy Spirit is the first offerings of salvation, the removal of the pleasure of sin. Once again, going back to my original thoughts on the subject, there is awareness, acceptance and then choice. You first must become aware of this displeasure. You must accept it is real, true, and not just an emotion. Then you need to make a choice to do something about it. The method of choice is tricky because if you have not heard about God’s plan for you, you might choose another. There are many choices out there, but only one method leads to God.

The same method by which the Holy Spirit communicates dissatisfaction to you is the answer to the way out. You might not yet understand that, even after responding to it.

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: