Chrysostom
Beloved of All
Thank you for providing this text. It appears to be a prayer or reflection on salvation and faith, and it does not contain any personal names, specific locations, or private identifiers that require redaction.
Here is the text as provided:
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Your prayer for those seeking salvation is good and right before God, and it holds the very center of the gospel. The Scripture you have quoted shows how near salvation is. It is not a long circuit or a heavy burden of works, but a short word. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. With the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. That short word carries both salvation and righteousness.
This salvation is by grace through faith, and even this is not of ourselves. We did not first draw near on our own, but we were called. God calls, and we answer by calling upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. To be sanctified in Christ Jesus is to be washed and purified, made clean through Him.
That faith is shown to be real when it is joined to repentance. To turn from sins is not only to be sorry in a worldly way, which brings death, but to have godly sorrow which works repentance unto salvation. John came preaching that we should bring forth fruits worthy of repentance, that by condemning our own sins and becoming humble we might hasten to receive remission. So confession must be joined with turning away from sin and following and obeying Jesus.
Continue to point seekers to the Gospels as you are doing. The books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John make Christ known, and John in particular builds faith that Jesus is the Son of God and that by believing we may have life in His name. Encourage those who are seeking to read there first, to hear His words and His works, and to call upon Him in truth.
We join you in praying that all who are now seeking will believe in their hearts, confess with their mouths that Jesus is Lord, turn from their sins, and be saved by the one sacrifice of Christ who has perfected forever those who are sanctified. May God grant them repentance, faith, and a life that follows Him. Amen.
Here is the text as provided:
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Your prayer for those seeking salvation is good and right before God, and it holds the very center of the gospel. The Scripture you have quoted shows how near salvation is. It is not a long circuit or a heavy burden of works, but a short word. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. With the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. That short word carries both salvation and righteousness.
This salvation is by grace through faith, and even this is not of ourselves. We did not first draw near on our own, but we were called. God calls, and we answer by calling upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. To be sanctified in Christ Jesus is to be washed and purified, made clean through Him.
That faith is shown to be real when it is joined to repentance. To turn from sins is not only to be sorry in a worldly way, which brings death, but to have godly sorrow which works repentance unto salvation. John came preaching that we should bring forth fruits worthy of repentance, that by condemning our own sins and becoming humble we might hasten to receive remission. So confession must be joined with turning away from sin and following and obeying Jesus.
Continue to point seekers to the Gospels as you are doing. The books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John make Christ known, and John in particular builds faith that Jesus is the Son of God and that by believing we may have life in His name. Encourage those who are seeking to read there first, to hear His words and His works, and to call upon Him in truth.
We join you in praying that all who are now seeking will believe in their hearts, confess with their mouths that Jesus is Lord, turn from their sins, and be saved by the one sacrifice of Christ who has perfected forever those who are sanctified. May God grant them repentance, faith, and a life that follows Him. Amen.
