Salvation
Upon asking many people in the world today, “Are you saved?”, most will reply with an automatic, “Yes”; but if we ask them what they are saved from, most of them will have no idea what we are even talking about…
Salvation is deliverance. It is being rescued from something. It is something that is done by one who has the strength and power to save, for someone who has the need and desire to be rescued.
Salvation in the New Testament is spoken of in two tenses:
1.) Salvation from the bondage of sin, so that a person can be changed from a sinner into a saint (all Christians are saints), and have the power to live a holy life free from the bondage of sin (present tense)…
2.) Salvation from the wrath of God Almighty [Jesus Christ] which is to come (future tense) by living in the power of the gospel of Christ, and keeping oneself free from sin until the day of judgment.
Paul taught it this way in Romans 5:9,10:
“Much more then, being now (present tense) justified by his blood, we shall be (future tense) saved from wrath through him.
For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled (present tense), we shall be saved (future tense) by his life.”
SALVATION FROM THE BONDAGE OF SIN
“Verily, verily I say unto you, he that committeth sin is the servant of sin.”
(John 8:34)
“We are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners.”
This statement is true of all who are not in Christ by the gospel of the New Testament. Every man and woman ever born (except the Son of God, whose Father was not a man), was born under the curse of sin that Adam brought upon himself and his seed.
Man is a sinner. That is why he sins. He must sin. He is a bondservant. He was born that way and cannot help it, much in the same way that a baby born from a mother addicted to crack cocaine is born addicted to crack cocaine when he has never personally used it. It is not fair; he was just born that way.
That is why God came in the flesh as the last Adam, to “undo” what the first Adam did in the beginning.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came into the world, never sinned, and became the perfect sacrifice to pay the death penalty that every person on earth deserved.
“For all have sinned, [That includes you] and come short of the glory of God…”
(Romans 3:23)
“The wages of sin is death…”
(Romans 6:23)
“The soul that sinneth, it shall die.”
(Ezekiel 18:4)
The Bible says that,
“…the life of the flesh is in the blood, therefore have I given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls…”
(Leviticus 17:11)
…and so in order for the death penalty to be satisfied there had to be a blood sacrifice…and in order for that sacrifice to be able to save others it had to be innocent itself; otherwise its blood would only pay the penalty for its own transgressions. Therefore it had to be sinless blood, if it could save anyone.
The only man ever born that did not come from Adam was Jesus of Nazareth the Christ of God. His mother was a woman, but his Father was God and not a man. Therefore he was fully human, but his blood came from his Father (God, not Adam), and he was not under the curse of Adam. As such there was no sin in him (1 John 3:5), although he had the opportunity to sin, as he was,
“tempted in every way like as we are, yet without sin”
(Hebrews 4:15).
So, he became the perfect sacrifice. He died, was buried, and rose from the grave on the third day, as it was written in the scriptures for centuries before he came.
After his resurrection, he showed himself alive to his disciples, and commanded them to preach this gospel (good news), all over the world, which they did and are still doing. They were taught of the Lord to preach that he was risen from the dead incorruptible (that means he can never die again), and that whosoever believes on him can have remission (pardon, forgiveness) of sins and a resurrection into the kingdom of God through his name (Acts 10:43, 13:38,39)!
And this is the way that the apostles of Jesus Christ preached that we should become saved:
“Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost; For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call… Save yourselves from this untoward (unruly; wicked; out of control) generation.”
(Acts 2:38-40)
On the first day of the New Testament, Peter, the chief apostle, preached that message; and it is the same message that all of the other apostles preached from that time, and it is still the only message that will save the sinner from the power of darkness, so that he can live a holy life in covenant with God Almighty and enter into his glorious kingdom.
When we repent, we die; because we make the decision not to live for ourselves any longer, but rather for Jesus in obedience to his word.
Then, when we are baptized, we become “buried with him in baptism” (Colossians 2:12); and therein we are “risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, which hath raised him from the dead” (Colossians 2:12 again) by receiving his Spirit, the Holy Ghost.
So, just as Jesus went through death, burial, and resurrection for us, we also experience death, burial, and resurrection through obedience to the gospel his apostles preached, so that we become “new creatures in Christ Jesus“, risen again to walk in newness of life!
SALVATION FROM THE WRATH OF GOD ALMIGHTY (JESUS CHRIST) ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT
“…to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God.”
(Psalm 50:23)
And because we are commanded of God, “Be ye holy, for I am holy.” (Leviticus 19:2, 20:26, 1 Peter 1:16), it is only when we are able to walk in newness of life by the power of God, that we shall enter into the kingdom of God.
For you see, my friend, the GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST IS FOR SINNERS.
But the KINGDOM OF GOD, is not.
The KINGDOM OF GOD, is for the SAINTS.
This is why Paul the apostle of Christ wrote that:
“…the gospel of Christ is the POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION to every one that believeth.”
(Romans 1:16)
ONLY BY THE POWER OF GOD CAN ANY MAN OR WOMAN BECOME HOLY (A SAINT).
And, as it is written:
Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14)
So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:8)
The wages of sin is death…(Romans 6:23)
…the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9)
This is the gospel of Christ, my friend.
It is the GOOD NEWS that you don’t have to be a sinner anymore, and remain under the wrath of Almighty God!
You can literally be SAVED from the power of sin and death, so that you can fulfill the righteousness of the law by faith in Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour! (Romans 8:4)
And THEN, if you live and walk in the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, keeping yourself unspotted from the world, and endure to the end, THEN shall you be SAVED from the wrath of the living God, which is soon to come upon the world of the ungodly; and you shall enter into his eternal holy kingdom with great joy, and reign forever with him.
Amen.
Praise the Lord Jesus Christ!
