In 1882, Priscilla J. Owens penned these opening words of a familiar hymn: “We have heard the joyful sound: Jesus saves! Jesus saves!” What could be a more “joyful sound” than that? In fact, if you were looking for a simple two-word summary of the whole Bible, you could not find one better than “Jesus saves!” Let us think about this exciting subject!
Jesus saves by the grace of God! The Scripture plainly teaches, “For by grace have you been saved…” (Eph. 2:8). Salvation is not something that we deserve or can earn—it is “the gift of [the grace of] God.” What a joyful sound: Jesus saves!
Jesus saves by His own blood! “Through His blood” we can have “the forgiveness of sins” (Eph. 1:7), for “without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Heb. 9:22). What a joyful sound: Jesus saves!
Jesus saves those who obey Him! We must be “doers of the word” (Jas. 1:22), who do “the will” of the Father and “obey” Christ, that we might “enter” into “eternal salvation” (Matt. 7:21; Heb. 5:9). What a joyful sound: Jesus saves!
Jesus saves those who believe in Him! We must “believe…that God raised Him from the dead” (Rom. 10:9) and that He is “the Son of God” (John 20:31), in order to be saved from our sins (John 8:24). What a joyful sound: Jesus saves!
Jesus saves those who repent of their sins! Sin violates God’s will (1 John 3:4) and separates us from God (Isa. 59:2). One must turn from those sins in order to have them blotted out (Acts 2:38; 3:19). What a joyful sound: Jesus saves!
Jesus saves those who confess their faith in Him! We can only be “saved” if we will, “before men” (Matt. 10:32), “confess with [our] mouth the Lord Jesus” (Rom. 10:9). What a joyful sound: Jesus saves!
Jesus saves those who are immersed into Him! Just as essential as all of the previous acts of obedience, “baptism now saves us” (1 Pet. 3:21). Only then will the blood of Jesus “wash away your sins” (Acts 22:16), when we “believe” (Mark 16:16), “repent” and are “baptized for the forgiveness of sins” (Acts 2:38). What a joyful sound: Jesus saves!
Jesus saves those who serve Him faithfully! Once Jesus cleanses us of our past, we are “enlisted” by Him as “a soldier of Jesus Christ,” and it is our responsibility to “please” him (2 Tim. 2:3-4). That involves a lifetime of “faithful” living (Rev. 2:10) and active service in His church (1 Cor. 15:58; Matt. 25:23). What a joyful sound: Jesus saves!
The last line of that beloved hymn shouts, “This our song of victory: Jesus saves! Jesus saves!” God “gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:57). Only those who comply with His will shall have eternal salvation!
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