12 FOUNDATION STONES—INTRODUCTORY NOTES 1.2
A LIFE CHANGE—SALVATION   


Section 2: "Now that you're saved…"
> 	 Getting to know Jesus!
	It's so wonderful to know Jesus personally, the Author of that wonderful Book, the Bible!—The very Son of God Himself! 
	God sent Jesus to show us what He's like and what He looks like, you might say. It's too difficult for people to grasp the idea of God; He's a spirit and they can't see Him, they can't feel Him, they don't know where He is; He's everywhere, He's all powerful, all knowing and everywhere, in and around everything. That's just too big an idea for people to grasp, so God had to show what He was like by sending His Son in the form of a man so we could see Him and we would see what God is like because He's like Jesus in the Spirit.
	Getting to know someone happens in stages. You hear about him, you are told what he's like and what he is, and finally who he is, then you become acquainted when you're introduced and he receives you and you receive him. Once you've met him, there is a period where you learn to know him personally, and later you can grow into a really intimate relationship that is not dependent on what you've heard or learned about him from others. At that stage, you don't use qualities or titles for his name, but you use his first name that his friends call him. You have a personal relationship with him, and he's become your personal close friend.
	It's that way with getting to know Jesus: We hear about Him, then we meet Him personally, but as time goes on we grow to really know and love Him.
	
We can know the author!
	  There's a story about a girl who was assigned some book to read in college. She started, but because she found it kind of dry and uninteresting, she threw it in the top of her closet and thought she'd read it later. Later on a man came to the college and lectured. She found out during the course of his lecture that he was the author of the book! She fell in love with him on his visit to the college and after hearing his lectures she went home and dug the book out of the top of her closet and buried herself in the book to read it!—Why? How come the book was all of a sudden so interesting, whereas she thought it was dry and uninteresting before?—She knew the author! 
	What's the most important reason why we know the Bible is true? We know the Author. Before somebody introduced you to the Author, you probably didn't care much about the Bible and didn't know whether it was true or not, never read it, and maybe didn't even believe it. But now that you've been introduced to Jesus and have received Jesus in your heart, all of a sudden you're interested in the Bible for the first time maybe in your life, because now you know the Author, and you want to hear what He has to say! 

* 	 What you need to grow in spirit
	As a spiritual newborn, you will need nourishment in order to grow! The nourishment you need is God's Word: 
	1 Peter 2:2—As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby.

* 	 Salvation is forever!
	Once you have received Jesus, He will never leave you! His love for each of us is infinite. The gift of eternal salvation means He will be with us from now through all of eternity! 
	John 6:37—All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.
	John 10:28—And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
	Romans 8:38–39—For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, (39) nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
	2 Timothy 2:13—If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.
	
How can we be sure? Going by the Book!
	  Two men, the one a foreman, the other, one of the carpenters under him, were standing on the deck of a steamship, then on the stocks, in one of the shipbuilding yards on the Clyde River in Scotland. "Well, Stephen," said the foreman, "I have been anxious to have a conversation with you. I'm told you are one of those people who say they know for certain that they are saved. Is that true?"
	"Yes," said Stephen, "quite true. Thank God, I know I'm saved. In fact, there is nothing I'm more sure of, than that I'm saved."
	"Well, now," said the foreman, "that is something I cannot see through. How any man can say that he is saved as long as he is in this world. I think it is rather presumptuous for anyone to say so..."
	"Well," said Stephen, "there is a reality in being saved, in being a child of God, and in knowing it. What is the diameter of this pipe?" 
	The foreman, astonished at the apparent sudden change in the conversation, said, "Why, 35 centimeters all around, to be sure. What makes you ask that, when you know?"
	"But are you quite sure that it is 35 centimeters?"
	"Certainly."
	"But what makes you so sure?"
	"Why, I'm going by the book," and, as he said so, he pulled a book out of his pocket, in which were marked the sizes and position of the various things on the deck.
	"I'm sure it is 35 centimeters, for it is here in the book, and I got the book from headquarters."
	"Oh, I see!" said Stephen. "Now look here. That is exactly how I know I'm saved. I'm just going by the Book. It came from Headquarters.—It is God's Word."

It's a gift!
	Jesus, God's gift of love to us, is just that—a gift—and we just have to receive Him humbly, knowing that we can't possibly pay enough to buy our way into Heaven, to buy eternal life, to buy the happiness that Jesus brings. Accepting salvation through His Word is a work of God's grace. 
	Ephesians 2:8—For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.
	You can't earn a gift or else it wouldn't be a gift!
	Salvation is not a reward, it's not pay, it's not wages, it is a gift that you can't earn by faithfulness or by any kind of works of your own. Your good works can't save you and your bad works can't damn you! We're saved purely by faith in Jesus, the gift of God, by His grace. The worst sinner can go to Heaven by faith and the best person can go to Hell because of unbelief! Heaven is full of sinners!—Saved by grace through faith! 

Isn't it wonderful to know Jesus? Isn't it wonderful to be saved?
	"Our God is the God of salvation!" (Psalm 68:20)—Total salvation—body, mind and spirit. God has rescued us from the very gates of death and Hell. If you have received Jesus, the battle for your soul is won, and it's a permanent victory of salvation forever! You'll never have to worry about going to Hell or whether you're going to go to Heaven or not. You have eternal life through Jesus, which is the gift of God!—And you cannot lose it, for He will keep you! You are His!
	God says He's blotted out your sins like a cloud, and like a thick cloud He's put them behind His back, and will remember them against you no more (Isaiah 44:22).—You're all clean now, not dirty any more. You can start life all over with the Lord, for you're a new creation in Christ Jesus.—Old things are passed away and all things are new (2 Corinthians 5:17).
	You're born again, a new person, God's new child, with a new plan and purpose in living! He'll give you peace of mind, purity of heart, rest of soul, and happiness of spirit now and forever!

Section 3: Holy Spirit power!
> 	What is the Holy Spirit?
	In John chapter 14, Jesus promised His disciples that after He left this world, the Holy Spirit would come to help them:
	John 14:16–17a—And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth.
	John 14:26—But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
* 	After Jesus rose from the dead, He appeared to His disciples and told them: 
	Acts 1:8a—But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me. 
* 	The Holy Spirit is a gift promised to those who believe in Jesus: 
	John 7:38–39a—Jesus said, "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." But this He spoke concerning the [Holy] Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive. 
> 	Tap into the power!
	The primary purpose of the Holy Spirit is to empower you to share God's message and love with others. Being filled with the Holy Spirit also helps you greatly in your personal relationship with the Lord. It gives you a stronger contact with Him and better communication through prayer, as well as a much deeper understanding when you read God's Word.
	And one of the most wonderful things about it is that you can be filled with the Holy Spirit of God—right now!
	All you have to do is ask. Like salvation, you can't earn it or be good enough to deserve it. It's a gift. Then, whether you feel any change or not, you will know that you have received it because of His promise 
	Luke 11:13—If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!

* 	 Prayer to be filled
	  If the students did not already pray to receive the Holy Spirit, you can lead them in prayer as follows:
	 Dear Jesus, please fill me to overflowing with Your Holy Spirit so that I can love You more, follow You more closely, understand Your Word, and have greater power to tell others about Your love and salvation. Amen.