Encouragement for the Family of God by Kenton Cheek
14 November 2025
Reading From Hebrews 10:19-39
“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
—Hebrews 10:19-25
There are many who do not have full assurance that they have received salvation and are on their way to Heaven. This breaks my heart. The answer lies in the knowledge that the Bible is the trustworthy Word of God and that Christ and His Word form the solid foundation of our faith. In order that we may all have blessed assurance of salvation, sanctification and glorification, let us review together the Plan of Salvation and a collection of promises of God. Through these we can full confidence that in eternity we will live in the Presence of God the Father.
The Bible teaches that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”[1] and that there is “no one righteous, no not one.”[2] Therefore, every human being struggles with the problem of sin in their lives which separates them from God. Sin is prideful disobedience and rebellion against Him. Yes, He loves us, but He will not welcome us into His Presence in our rebellious state; we must come to God on His terms, not our own. Every human who has not been born again is in a fallen state where our natural inclination is to do whatever we please.
Sin has consequences, the chief among them being death. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”[3] Sin separates us from God and causes spiritual and physical death. In fact, it makes us enemies of Him and death is eternal separation from His Presence in Hell. God did not make Hell for humans, but rather for Satan and the demons who followed him out of the Presence of God. He does not force any human to go there, they go of their own accord.
John 3:16 reveals that, “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, who whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.” God made a way of redeeming mankind. Redemption is to buy back. He made it possible for us to be bought back from the control of sin. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”[4] The solution for sin is that Jesus, who is fully God and became fully man, took all the sins of the world upon Himself and died in our place on the cross and rising again on the third day, conquering sin and death for us.
To respond to this solution, we must choose to have faith, repent, confess and receive Him as Savior and Lord. The first step is faith. We must choose to believe and trust that Jesus is who He said He is and that He has done what He said He would do. Jesus is God, the Bible is His Word, He lived a sinless life, died on the cross, came back to life, is living today and will come back to rescue all those who trust in Him. Mark 1:15 tells us, “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Repentance means to change your mind about sin and to turn away from sin and toward the Savior. We must come to a place where we realize that doing life on our terms is not working for us and that we need God in our lives. This realization must be strong enough to make us want to not sin anymore, but rather to do what pleases God. Acts 3:19 says, “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out.”
In order to be saved, we must confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord. There is great power in making a verbal confession that we are sinners, that Jesus is God and that we have chosen to trust in Him. “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”[5]
As we choose to believe, repent, and confess, we must simply receive Him as our Savior and Lord. This means that we surrender our will to His and willingly decide, without compulsion, to submit to His authority in our lives. When we are faced with a choice between doing whatever we want to do or living loving and holy lives, we choose Him. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.” And in the New Testament, James 4:7, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Part of the Lord’s Prayer is that we want God’s will to be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.[6] We must agree to surrender to Him as Savior and Lord, relinquishing control of our lives to Him, to be saved.
The result of belief, repentance, confession and receiving Jesus as Savior and Lord is that we are born again, have peace with God the Father, and are adopted and sealed into His eternal family. Romans 5:1 reveals to us, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Through the blood of Jesus we have right standing before God the Father. We are no longer enemies of Him, but friends;[7] even more than friends, we are born again and become His sons and daughters.[8]
Jesus taught Nicodemus in John 3, “Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” A person must be born physically first (through the waters of the womb) and then born again spiritually through belief, repentance, confession and receiving Jesus as Savior and Lord. All those who are born again have the Spirit of God living within them, warming their hearts with His love, convicting of sin, gently leading, inspiring, empowering, and guiding them into all truth.[9]
When a person is born again, the Holy Spirit spiritually washes their sins away in the blood of Jesus. This is the spiritual baptism which brings us from death to life, darkness to light. “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit”[10] We die to our old way of life and are raised to new life in Christ. “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”[11] This spiritual baptism is required for salvation and the act of obedience that is water baptism is an outward symbol of this inward work.[12] “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit…Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”[13]
Jesus not only saves us from sin, He saves us to walk with Him in healthy, balanced, life-giving relationship. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”[14] Once we are born again, we must continue in the faith by growing spiritually and becoming more like Jesus. Each child of God is set apart for holy purposes and we must live loving and holy lives.[15] By yielding to the work of the Spirit in us and through us, we are remade into His image. Sanctification is the process of becoming holy, more like Jesus. Salvation is an event (we are saved, the new birth), a process (we are being saved, sanctification), and a goal (we will be saved, glorification).
God wants to transform us by His love, grace and mercy. Grace is undeserved favor. Mercy is God treated us not as our sins deserve, but according to the love shown through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”[16]
One day, Jesus will return, the dead in Christ will rise first, their spirits reunited with their bodies, and those of us who are living will be caught up to meet Him in the air. We will receive glorified bodies, the process of sanctification will be complete, we will be like Jesus and we will be made one with God, live and reign in perfect harmony with Him forever in the New Heaven and the New Earth. This is the goal of salvation, glorification. “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.”[17] If you have chosen to believe, repent, confess, receive Him as Savior and Lord and are actively cultivating a righteous, healthy relationship with Jesus, then rest assured, you are saved, you are being saved and you will be saved if you continue in the faith and endure to the end. Stand upon the promises of God’s Word. Build your life upon them. Walk in the newness of life according to the love, goodness, grace and mercy of Jesus.
“Heavenly Father, thank You for the Plan of Salvation You have provided for our redemption, sanctification and glorification through Your Son Jesus. We glorify Your holy Name. Continue to lead us by Your Spirit to worship You and do good to those around us. Help us to love You, love others and love ourselves in ways that are healthy and holy. Our desire is to please You. We are eternally grateful for Your Gospel, the bright light of Your love and truth. May we share it with as many people as possible while there is still time. In the Name of Jesus Christ I pray these things. Amen.”
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
—Romans 3:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
—Romans 6:23
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
—Romans 5:8
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
—Romans 10:9
And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
—Acts 2:38
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
—Ephesians 2:8-10
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
—Philippians 2:12-13
But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
—Matthew 24:13-14
Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For, “Yet a little while,
and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith,
and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”
But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
—Hebrews 10:35-39
And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
—II Corinthians 3:18
For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
—Matthew 23:12
But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.
—I Corinthians 6:17
I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
—John 17:20-23
[1] Romans 3:23
[2] Romans 3:10
[3] Romans 6:23
[4] Romans 5:8
[5] Romans 10:9-10
[6] Matthew 6:9-15, Luke 11:1-4
[7] Romans 5:11, John 15:13-14
[8] John 1:12, I John 3:1, II Corinthians 6:18, Ephesians 1:4-6, Romans 8:16-18
[9] II Corinthians 5:17, John 3:16, Acts 2:38, Romans 8:9, I Corinthians 6:19
[10] Titus 3:5
[11] Romans 6:4
[12] Colossians 2:12
[13] I Peter 3:18, 21
[14] Romans 8:1
[15] Hebrews 12:14, John 13:35
[16] II Peter 1:3-4
[17] I Peter 5:6
Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God 
Leave a comment