Belfast OutReach

Salvation does not come by anything the natural man can do. A person cannot be saved by repeating a prayer,by walking a church aisle, by making a decision, or by being baptized and joining the church. Salvation comes to helpless, dead sinners only by the mighty, effectual operations of God the Holy Spirit. Salvation is the result of Holy Spirit conviction. Our Lord Jesus declares that when the Spirit of God comes in saving grace to a sinner he will convince that person "of sin, because they believe not on me." Martin Luther wrote, "The recognition of sin is the beginning of salvation." But that recognition of sin is much more than just the recognition that you have committed a sin, or a number of sins. It is a recognition of your nature, your inward corruption and depravity. When the Spirit of God convicts a person of his sin the convicted sinner is graciously forced to see and acknowledge his guilt before the holy God (Psa. 51:3-5). And he sees that he is utt

while back ago, I had heard a very disturbing statistic. The statistic was that 50% of all newborn Christians were dropping out of their walks with the Lord within the very first year after they had just been saved. Getting saved and being truly born again by accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior has to be the greatest experience any person can have this side of heaven, because with the gift of eternal salvation comes forgiveness of all of our sins and entrance into heaven when we die and cross over. We also receive the Holy Spirit, who will come and live on the inside of us in our human spirits at the moment of our salvation with the Lord. There thus can be no question that with all of these benefits and blessings, that the gift of eternal salvation through Jesus Christ has to be the greatest experience any of us can have down here on this earth. So if that is really the case – then how can you logically explain such a disturbing statistic? How can