Salvation is something a person experiences in this life. It is something that is known, felt, and experienced in the heart. SALVATION IS A LIVING UNION WITH THE SON OF GOD BY FAITH. If a person ever experiences salvation by the grace of God, if you and I are saved three things must be found in our hearts.
1. No man, woman, or child is truly saved until his heart is made to experience HOLY SPIRIT CONVICTION. Our Lord told us that the Holy Spirit would come to "reprove (convince, or convict) the world of Sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment". It is the work of God the Holy Spirit to convict men, to persuade and convince men, of their sin, the evil of their hearts, of the righteousness of God in Christ, and of the satisfaction of divine justice by the death of Christ. No one is saved who does not have such conviction in his heart.
2. No one is saved until he is given a true HEART FAITH IN CHRIST. "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness." I am not talking about a decision you made for Jesus. I am talking about true faith, a true and continual heart confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ, a reliance of the heart upon the sufficiency of Christ's righteousness, the efficacy of his blood, the merits of his intercession, and the power and ability he has to save. No one is saved without Holy Spirit conviction and faith in Christ.
3. And no one is saved who does not experience in his heart REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD. our Lord said, "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish!" Repentance is a change. it is a change of mind, a change of motives, and a change of Masters. A man has not truly repented, until he repents of his sin – the evil of his nature, his sins – the evil of his deeds, and his righteousness the evil of his supposed goodness. Do you know anything about the conviction of the Holy Spirit, faith in Christ, and repentance toward God? Have you experienced these things in your heart? Do you now experience them? Without conviction, faith, and repentance wrought in your heart by the Holy Spirit, there is no salvation.
A PERSON IS TRULY SAVED WHEN, BY THE REVELATION OF GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT, HE SEES THE GLORY OF GOD IN THE CRUCIFIED CHRIST. "For God, who commanded the light to Shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." "How can a man be just with God? How can he be clean that is born of woman?" How can God be just and yet justify the ungodly? Where can righteousness and peace meet together? Where can mercy and truth kiss each other? How can justice be satisfied and grace be extended? Find the answer to those questions and you will learn the gospel. There is but one answer. It is found in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the death of Christ we see both the wisdom and the power of God. THE REDEMPTIVE GLORY OF GOD IS REVEALED IN THE CROSS OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. No man is saved until he sees, by Divine revelation, the glory and justice of God, as well as the grace of God, in saving sinners through the substitutionary sacrifice of his Son at Calvary.
God sacrificed his Son in the place of his people, because in order for a holy God to save sinful man SIN MUST BE PUNISHED, RIGHTEOUSNESS MUST BE MAINTAINED, and JUSTICE MUST BE SATISFIED (Rom. 3:19-26). How can God forgive sinners and save them by his grace? Only by SUBSTITUTION! Through the sacrifice of his Son as our propitiation to make an atonement for our sins, God is as just as if he never showed mercy, and as merciful as if he had no justice.