THE IMPORTANCE
OF OUR SALVATION TESTIMONIES
“…if you confess
with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has
raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto
righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Rom
10:9-11.
Satan opposes our salvation or any new commitment to the Lord.
Satan
opposes any new commitment that takes away any allegiance to him. He demands
the right to keep what belongs to him.
Examples:
Peter’s taking the role of headship over the
brethren.
“And the Lord said,
"Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as
wheat. But I have prayed for you, that
your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your
brethren." Luke
22:31-32.
Joshua being high priest overseeing the rebuilding
of the temple.
“Then he showed me Joshua
the high priest standing before the Angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at
his right hand to oppose him. And the
LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD who has chosen
Jesus before commencing His ministry.
“Then Jesus was led up by
the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” Jesus had to overcome each
accusation by the word of His testimony. “Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you,
Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only
you shall serve.'" Matt
4:1-2, & 10-11.
Satan’s accusations are overcome by the “word of our testimonies.”
“Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven," Now
salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His
Christ have come…” Rev 12:10.
The reading declares that salvation has come, and we are transferred
into the kingdom of Christ. Paul
confirms this: “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed
us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.” Col 1:13.
The
reading from Revelation goes on to say that Satan has the power to accuse us
day and night, but that we have been given the tools to overcome his
accusations.
“…for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.” And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” Rev 12:10-12.
Satan
opposes our salvation, but the reading lists the three ways Jesus provided us
for overcoming them. They are:
1. “by the blood of the Lamb.” We are redeemed by the
blood of the Lamb.
“…and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” Col 1:14.
No
matter what Satan accuses us of before or after our salvation, there is one
answer that he cannot dispute. “…the blood of Jesus Christ His Son
cleanses us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7.
2. “The word of our
testimonies,” We testify to our belief in
the Scriptures.
In this case we testify that we believe that Jesus is
the Son of God… He bore the punishment for our sins on the cross…we
are now righteous and blameless before God…we are eternally saved.
What we testify to is very important, as it establishes the
matter. “…by the mouth of two or three
witnesses the matter shall be established.” Deut 19:15. It is not often understood that we are
testifying to the spiritual world as well as to those in our company. We are testifying before Satan and all powers
of darkness, and before God and His heavenly hosts. Before we enter into the Lord’s salvation
Satan opposes us before God. The
testimony of our mouths in front of witnesses establishes our salvation.
In principle, our salvation is similar to a marriage
commitment. In both we enter into a
life-long covenant commitment before God.
The groom doesn’t say, “you know how we feel, so pronounce us
married.” By the testimony of their
mouths, the bride and groom enter into a covenant commitment in the presence of
God, so that He can respond by overseeing their marriage relationship, to keep
it, and bless it.
By
the word of our mouth our salvation is established in heaven, on earth, and has
to be acknowledged by Satan and his powers of darkness.
3. The third tool provided for
overcoming is vital. “and they loved not their
lives unto death.”
Again this is established by
the words of your mouth. Your confession
is,
“I choose to make Jesus Christ the Lord of my life.”
“Then Joshua said to the children of
And Peter instructs us, “Therefore,
brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure…” 2
Peter 1:10.
When
Jesus’ disciples returned and exulted over their power over the enemy, Jesus
reminded them that their real basis for rejoicing was that their names were
written in heaven in “the Book of Life.”
“Behold, I give you the authority to trample on
serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall
by any means hurt you. Nevertheless do
not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice
because your names are written in heaven." Luke 10:19-20.