Salvation / Dr. Jim Tillotson

<p>Dr. Jim Tillotson opens with his personal testimony of growing up in a Christian home, attending Christian school, memorizing Scripture, and yet not being saved until age nineteen at a Christian college. He argues that every year at least one student at Faith Baptist Bible College is in that same position — and this message exists to make sure no one goes through the semester uncertain about their eternal destiny.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Scripture Texts</strong></p><p>Hebrews 9:24-28; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 Corinthians 3:11-15; Revelation 20:11-15; Ezekiel 18:21-32; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Main Points or Ideas</strong></p><ul><li><strong>This appointment will be kept</strong> - Hebrews 9:27 declares it is appointed for men to die once. Death has no cure and no respecter of persons — college students, newlyweds, and the healthy all die unexpectedly. There is no thirty-minute warning, no second chance after death, and no loophole. The person who plans to get right with God before they die is banking on an opportunity that may never come.</li><li><strong>A judgment will happen</strong> - Every person will stand before God in judgment, but there are two distinct judgments. Believers will stand before the judgment seat of Christ, where not their sins but their works will be tested by fire — gold, silver, and precious stones endure; wood, hay, and straw do not. Unbelievers will stand before the Great White Throne, where anyone not found in the Book of Life is cast into the lake of fire. Tillotson paints a vivid picture of the horror of hell — drawn from Scripture&#39;s own descriptions — and presses the point that Jesus spoke more about hell than anyone else in the Bible, and that lost people all around us are headed there.</li><li><strong>The good news: substitutionary atonement</strong> - Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many (Hebrews 9:28). He took our place. When God forgives, he buries sin in the depths of the sea and removes it as far as the east is from the west — complete and total forgiveness, never to be remembered again (Ezekiel 18:21-22). For those already saved but carrying guilt, 1 Corinthians 6:11 is the word: &quot;Such were some of you — but you are washed, sanctified, and justified.&quot; God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked; his plea is simply, &quot;Repent and live.&quot;</li><li><strong>Salvation is a personal choice</strong> - Getting saved requires three things: knowing you are a sinner and being sorry, believing Jesus died and rose again, and repenting — being done doing it your way. The third is where most people stall. Tillotson closes by distinguishing true saving faith from the devil&#39;s acknowledgment of the facts, and calls each student to make it personal: this cannot be your parents&#39; God or your pastor&#39;s God. It must be yours.</li></ul><p><br></p><p><strong>Conclusion</strong></p><p>Dr. Jim challenges believers to ask whether they are building gold, silver, and precious stones — or wood, hay, and straw — and invites anyone unsure of their salvation to talk to student life that day. He closes with the urgency of the gospel: every person in the room will influence people for eternity, and how they choose to live this semester matters far more than they know.</p>