WHAT IS A SAINT?
A saint is anyone who has trusted in the finished redemptive work of Jesus alone for his or her salvation and thus been sealed with the Holy Spirit, become a member of the body of Christ, and received the promise of an eternity with Him.
In other words, YOU are a saint, Christian!
Check out this Got Questions article for further explanation and scripture.
How Do You Know You Are Saved?
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved….That Christ died for our sins…was buried, and that He rose again the third day…
1 Corinthians 15:1-4
God loves each one of us so much and it is His desire that we would all choose Him rather than reject Him.
He gave us free will so that our love and decision would not be forced.
God is perfect but we as humans are incapable of reaching this level of perfection because we sin; we all fall short of the glory of God. Thus there is a spiritual separation between us humans and God that needs to be reconciled for us to be able to live in unity.
But God planned for a solution to this spiritual gap before he even created humans. God came down in the form of a human- Jesus. He lived a perfect, sinless, innocent life that no other man could live. And then he intentionally died a sacrificial death to pay the debt for the sins of all humans, (the wages of sin is death), becoming cursed for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him, if we would just believe this and receive His free gift of salvation.
And since Jesus is God in the flesh, He did not die forever, but resurrected, and later ascended back into heaven, where He waits for us now.
God wants you to be a part of His family, to be one of His children.
Trust in God, seek Him out diligently and call out to Him, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:13, Acts 2:21)
We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
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The most critical issue every person will ever face concerns their relationship with God; thankfully, God has not left us wondering where we stand.
Why Do I Need to Be Saved: No matter how good anyone believes they are, the fact is we have all sinned (Romans 3:23; 5:12; Ephesians 2:3), and our sin makes us unrighteous and separates us from God. A JUST God MUST require payment for sin, or He would not be just. Our sins MUST be paid for.
What Do I Need to Be Saved From: The penalty (wage) for sin is death (Romans 6:23), and because sin (evil) can not dwell with God (Psalms 5:4; 101:7), our destination can only be hell (Psalms 9:16-17; Philippians 3:18-19). Biblical salvation refers to being saved from the eternal consequences of our sins.
How Can I Be Saved: The ONLY way to be saved from the penalty of sin is by believing The Gospel of Salvation (Romans 1:16; 2:16; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4). The gospel or good news is God’s plan to reconcile God and man by dealing justly with man’s sin through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
If you believe that Christ died for YOUR sins, was buried, and rose again, then God forgives your sin based on Christ’s sacrificial death in your place and replaces it with His righteousness (Romans 3:22; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Thus freeing you from the penalty of sin and making you, from that moment on, and forever more, a child of God and heir with Christ (Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30; Titus 3:7).
God neither requires nor accepts ANY work on YOUR part for salvation either before or after believing the gospel. It is a free gift to all who believe, based solely on the finished work of Christ and our belief in the gospel (Romans 3:28; 4:4-5; 11:6; Ephesians 2:8-9).
It is God’s will for ALL to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4).
Where do YOU stand? Have you obeyed “the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 1:8).
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Romans 5:1-2
Copied from Berean Bible Society's article The Gospel of Salvation
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Encouragement for the Tribulation Saints
Many people in the body of Christ believe that we are seconds away from the rapture of the church and the ensuing tribulation, also known as "the time of Jacob's trouble," a seven-year period culminating in Jesus's second coming.
If you are reading this after the rapture, when God’s people (including all the children) disappear from the earth, please read this letter in its entirety so that you may be prepared mentally, physically and spiritually, for what will come-
Encouragement for the Tribulation Saints.
Trust God for everything and DO NOT take the mark that will be needed to buy or sell.
People will be getting it in their right hand or forehead. My belief is that it will be a computer/identification chip like Neuralink that will also change your DNA and eventually allow whoever controls it to control the people who have it via technological possession. Those who get the mark of the beast will no longer have control of their own thoughts and thus will lose their free will. This means they will never again be able to choose God.
Practical Points:
- Pray, pray, pray. Prayer can be talking to God but it can also be warring in the spiritual realm. We are in a spiritual battle between God and the devil over the eternal fate of our souls and prayer is essential. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal. Use the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (the Bible), and speak it out loud, having faith that God's word will accomplish what he intended for it to do. For example, pray Psalm 91 for protection.
- Please, get a physical Bible and read it. Pray for understanding. Beware of incorrect translations of most newer versions. It is best to always compare with the King James Version (KJV). There are Bibles in different languages in this Zip file of Tribulation Resources.
- Online Bibles (which will likely be inaccessible or changed and corrupted eventually)-
- Bible.com
- Blue Letter Bible (you can read the original Greek or Hebrew for each word as well as notes for each verse)
- My suggested teachers-
- Online Bibles (which will likely be inaccessible or changed and corrupted eventually)-
- You're going to need to try to survive for 7+ years or accept losing your life to calamity or for not worshipping the antichrist. But it is better to lose your mortal life and gain an eternal one than vice versa!
- If you have somewhere to go to live "off the grid" that might be a good choice. If not now, then in several years from now.
- ASAP, stock up on food and water sources as much as you can. Prepper websites can help with this. Keep in mind that water sources will be contaminated at some point.
- Stock up on first aid supplies and personal medications.
- Plan on how to cook with no electricity or natural gas. Suggestions might be a fire pit, candle warmers, and portable cooking devices (stock up on fuel).
- Think about survival through the elements with no electricity. Wood stove or fireplace and lots of wood, warm clothes and sleeping bags, etc.
- Stay away from fault lines, mountains, and sea shores.
- Get ready for infectious disease. Try to obtain face masks, rubber gloves, disposable gloves, bleach, hand sanitizer and basic medications (pain relievers, antihistamines, anti-nausea, anti-diarrheals, etc).
- Get some multi-vitamins and protein powders to supplement your diet.
- Think about humane plans for your pets.
- Consider living/survival arrangements with others.
Download Zip file with Tribulation Resources here.
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us.
Here are three portions of scripture describing the rapture, or "harpazo" in the original Greek of the New Testament.
It is described as being "caught up" in the English.
Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.
SPREAD THE GOSPEL
For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness,
and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: in whom we have redemption through his blood,
even the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:9-14 NKJV