The Miracle Of Salvation

John 1:12-17, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”

On September 30, 2026, I heard in the news about a disturbing incident in the Middle East involving flight 1073. The lunatic co-pilot suddenly started stabbing the 39 year old pilot from India, and then using the plane's controls put the aircraft into a deadly nose dive. The troubled plane descended 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds, ripping off part of the tail wing section of the aircraft. The pilot by some miracle was able to unlock the cockpit door and holler for help. The pilot was severally disabled and lying on the cabin floor. One of the courageous passengers had seen how to operate the throttle in a movie, so he took the plane out of a nose dive and saved everyone. It is an absolute miracle that those 174 passages and crew survived:

1. The fact that the pilot after being stabbed multiple times was able to make it to the cockpit door and unlock it, and then yell for help while bleeding profusely and still fighting off the madman, is a miracle.
2. The fact that one courageous passenger took the initiative to fight the lunatic co-pilot is rare. A true hero!
3. I saw the damage to the tail wing section. After plunging over 14,000 feet in just 30 seconds, it is a miracle that the tail wing section wasn't completely torn off from the extreme wind shock at 700 mph.
4. And the fact that the courageous man (a plumber by trade) knew how to recover the plane out of a nose dive, which he later said he had learned from watching movies, is absolutely astounding.
5. The fact that by chance there was a passenger on that plane who is a pilot was incredibly fortunate and rare.

I cannot believe they are alive! When we think about all the things that could have gone wrong, and all of the amazing things that went right, it is mind boggling to realize in hindsight that 174 people survived this traumatic ordeal. Praise God!

I think there is a good spiritual illustration here. Jesus Christ is our pilot. Satan bruises His heal, trying to hinder Him from flying the plane. Like salvation, under normal circumstances when passengers get onboard a plane, they have no part in reaching their destiny except to just trust the pilot. We have no part in our eternal salvation except to get onboard by trusting the pilot (i.e., the Savior). That's all Noah and his family did to be saved from the flood, they just got aboard the ark, by faith trusting that it would save them.

The popular damnable heresy of Lordship Salvation teaches that to reach their destination, the passengers must behave well, remain in their seat, and turn from their sinful bad habits. Clearly, this is false teaching. It doesn't matter how the passengers think, live or behave; all that matters is that they trust the pilot enough to get aboard the plane. The pilot does the rest. 

Likewise, Noah and his family simply got onboard the ark. It didn't matter how they behaved once the ark's door was closed and sealed by God. It didn't matter if they took daily baths or kept the ark tidy, or if they got along with each other and the animals. They were saved for one reason and one reason only, because they obeyed the Lord to get on the ark.

God deliberately made His plan of salvation so easy, simple and free that even a small child can be saved (2nd Timothy 3:15). With that truth in mind, it is tragic that many corrupt preachers today, such as Pastor John MacArthur (1939-2025), are making salvation difficult, complicated and hard...

"There is no such thing as a childhood conversion." —Pastor John MacArthur; September 25, 1990 at the Calvary Baptist Church; SOURCE

Blasphemy! In Dr. MacArthur's complicated plan of salvation, it is so difficult and demanding that a child cannot be saved. MacArthur says that salvation is an “adult experience,” because it requires the wherewithal to commit one's entire will and personality to God to be converted. The disgraced preacher even calls salvation "an exchange" or "a trade of sorts." Eternal life is a “free gift” the Bible teaches in Romans 5:15-18, that does not require anything to be given in exchange or a trade to receive it.

It is alarming how many pastors and clergy still idolize John MacArthur, succumbing to his toxic theology which contradicts the inspired Word of God. In our illustration of the co-pilot (Satan) attacking the pilot (Jesus), Mr. MacArthur could easily take the place of the lunatic co-pilot who attempted to deliberately crash the plane by perverting "the grace of God that bringeth salvation" (Titus 2:11b).

Salvation is a supernatural new birth (a bona fide miracle) wrought by the Holy Spirit of God, in response to a man's faith in the GOOD NEWS (Gospel) of Jesus Christ crucified, buried and bodily ressurected three days later (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). When we think about all the things that could go wrong, and the things that didn't go wrong, it is truly a miracle that anybody ever gets saved. That is why we can truly exclaim with the prophet Jonah in the belly of the whale in Jonah 2:9b, “Salvation is of the LORD.”

Mark 10:25-27, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved? And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.”

It is a part of our inherent sinful nature to corrupt God's simple plan of redemption, by adding human effort to the equation. Adam sewed fig leaves together in an attempt to cover his sin and shame, but God rejected Adam's fig-leaf religion. Cain tried to impress the LORD with the most delectable produce that his fields could yield, but it was an offense to God. These men failed to understand God's simple plan of salvation. Ah, but Abel understood, which is why he simply offered up a lamb sacrifice as a demonstration of his faith in the Lamb of God (John 1:29). God doesn't save anyone who is TRYING to be saved; He only saves those who are TRUSTING to be saved. The free gift of eternal life is RECEIVED, not ACHIEVED.

Salvation is of the LORD, and please don't ever forget that beautiful truth. All of these foolish pastors and evangelists today, who go around requiring that you “repent of your sins” or “be willing to turn from sin” to get to Heaven, have no idea of the woeful damage they are doing to the cause of Christ. They are wickedly preaching “another gospel” (2nd Corinthians 11:3-4).