Testimony of Salvation

Proverbs 2:6 For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

This would have to be the verse that overlies my testimony of salvation. God is the one who gives knowledge, understanding, and wisdom.  Through these three stages, the LORD allowed the Holy Spirit to guide me to a state wherein I have been reconciled to God through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

I had always believed that the Creator God existed.  No other religious “creator” figurehead made any sense to me.  Just looking at the physical world around me, convinced me that this planet we live on had to be created.  Too much order was present in this world for it to have just come about on its own.  After my salvation experience, the more I studied physics, geology, astronomy, biology, etc. the more it reinforced what I had already believed.  No other source, other than the Creator God, could have created the universe that we live in.

I knew about the Holy Bible.  I knew about the accounts of creation, Adam and Eve, the exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt.  I knew that a man named Jesus had died on a cross.  I knew that the last book of the Holy Bible stated that Jesus would come back again.

Going into seventh grade, my parents decided to send me to Rockford Lutheran High School.  Marty Kohlwey was my Religion class teacher.  David Steinbacher was my Earth Science Teacher.  Through the many teachings that they presented to me, the following verses stood out to me and kept returning to my mind:

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son; that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

            I had knowledge at this point; and then the Holy Spirit began to work in me and give me understanding.  God had allowed me to take the pieces of knowledge that I had acquired, and have it all make sense. I began to understand that there was a need for mankind to be saved. God created mankind. Man rebelled against God’s command. This act made all of us unholy before God. Now it all made sense. This is why Jesus had to die and make the atonement for all mankind.  Jesus sacrificed Himself to reconcile us back into a state where we would be acceptable to God. Because we fell short of the glory of God, Jesus came and lived the perfect life that we could not.

Now that I had understanding; I still had to make a choice.  Either I could be wise and accept that I was a sinner and unholy before God and accept what Christ had done. Or, I could be foolish and reject what the Holy Spirit was leading me to do.  I didn’t want to stand before God and be unholy before Him.  I felt I owed it to Him to believe on His Son. He created me, and I did not want to spend eternity without Him.

This is where the Holy Spirit gave me wisdom.  I understood God’s plan; I just had to accept it personally.  I don’t remember the exact day or time, but I do remember when I was twelve years old I asked God to forgive my sins and accepted Jesus Christ into my heart as my personal Lord and Savior.

God gave me the knowledge that He created this universe.  God gave me the ability to understand His plan for all mankind.  And God gave me the wisdom to accept His plan. I cannot boast in any of these things.  All these things were given to me by God; it was all His working through the Holy Spirit to bring me to a saving state which has been provided by the work of Jesus Christ.