Salvation

Salvation

What is salvation? Salvation is defined as deliverance, bringing safely through, keeping from harm. This brings the writer to the next question, who brought whom through and from where? It was God Himself who brought humanity (His people Psalm 27:1; 88:1) safely from the clutches of sin. See, the Old Testament saints was looking forward to the cross, because the Messiah had not come. This brings the writer to another question, how was the Old Testament saints saved if the Messiah (Jesus) had not come? They were saved by their faith in God as their delivers and believing in the prophets messages.

Another school of thought is that the Old Testament saints took God at His word, if God said it they believed, He promised the world a savior; the savior(Jesus) came; and that He did, therefore Jesus Christ is the way to Salvation (John 3:16). Then how do we gain access to the Father? We gain access to the Father through Christ (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). Therefore, God provides humanity salvation through His grace which He freely gives in His Son Christ Jesus who shed His blood on Calvary’s cross for humanity’s sins. All who accept Christ as their savior died to sin with Him and was raised with Him as He continues to make intercessions for believers (Hebrews 7:25).

Allow the writer to present salvation from a different perspective, which is:
(A) Salvation is a gift of God’s grace through Jesus Christ, which God extends to us (humanity) as a result of His grace. This brings the writer to a question, what is grace? Grace is God’s unmerited gift, meaning giving humanity something we do not deserve. God’s love for His prized creation would not allow Him to leave mankind in his fallen state. Therefore, God was compelled to give His best, Jesus.

(B) It, salvation, is received by us (humanity) through the response of faith (see Acts 16:31, Romans 1:17, Ephesians 1:15). Then what is faith? Faith is defined in Hebrews 11:1 as “the substances of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” The entire chapter of Hebrews deals with “trusting God in all circumstances which enable believers to persevere and remain loyal to God’s word at all times” (KJV commentary). This writer likes the common sense approach of Ms. Corrie Ten Boom on faith, “Faith sees the invisible, believes the unbelievable, and receives the impossible.” So then in a word faith is trusting in God unequivocally.

From here the writer will segway to the three stages of salvation, which are (a) Past stage, (b) Present stage, and (c) Future stage and see what happened or each stage holds for the believer. We will begin with the Past stage where believers received forgiveness of their sins as a free gift and they passed from a spiritual death to a spiritual life. Believers were freed from sin’s power to that of God. In addition, salvation freed believers from Satan’s dominion and placed them under God’s rule. This rescue (salvation) brought a new personal relationship with God that freed the believer from the penalty of sin.

During the present stage of salvation, we are saved from the bondage, power, and dominion of sin, and salvation brings us, the believer into fellowship of the Holy Spirit. This fellowship includes the following:
(a) A person- to-person relationship with God as our Father and Jesus as our Lord and Savior (see Matthew 6:9, John 14:18-23).
(b) Believers are called into account ourselves dead to sin (Romans 6:1-14) and we are to submit ourselves to the leading of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God (Romans 8:1-17, John 8:31; 14:21, 2 Timothy 3: 15-16).
(c) Believers have the invitation of being filled with the Holy Spirit and the command of continuous filling of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2:33-39; Ephesians 5:18).
(4) Believers are encouraged to separate ourselves from sin and a present corrupt generation. Why is this? Because believers are the salt of the earth, we are God’s ambassadors; we are the Holy Spirit’s dwelling place. Furthermore, believers are light to a darken world; we are heavenly compass to lost souls. Therefore, believers are called to contend for the advancement of God’s kingdom against Satan and his demonic host because we fight a spiritual warfare daily (Ephesians 6:11-18).

Finally, we will peek into the future stage of salvation and see what it holds for believers on our heaven bound journey. In this stage of salvation, believers can anticipate the following:
(a) Being delivered from God’s coming wrath (Romans 5:9; 1 Corinthians 3:16’ 5:5). This all took place on Calvary cross during the reconciliation process of Jesus Christ, while we were being reconciled back to God and held in sin’s captivity.
(b) Believers sharing in Christ’s glory and receiving a transformed body (Romans 8:29; 1 Corinthians 15:49) Meaning we will have been changed from mortality to immortality.
(c) Believer will receive our rewards for being faithful over comers. This is the goal of all Christians; make it to heaven (1 Corinthians 9:24-27; Philippians 3:8-14).

Finally, closing this discussion on salvation, have you accepted you gift? It is free; Jesus paid it all. When? It was paid one Friday many years ago. Where? Calvary’s cross. For whom; You and I; how do I get salvation? Accept Jesus Christ (John 3:16). God left His Word the Bible as our roadmap, and the Holy Spirit as our compass to get us (humanity) to heaven. What’s the excuse?

Be blessed

Faith

What is Faith? The book of Hebrews (11:1) defines faith this way, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Life in the Spirit Study Bible, King James Version). However, when we read the entire chapter 11 of Hebrews, it deals with “faith as we trust in God in all circumstances, which enables the believer to persevere and remain steadfastly loyal to God and His word at all times.” (Life in the Spirit Study Bible, King James Version, commentary).

Why does the word “faith” cause the believer to remain loyal to God’s word? To answer this question, the author will give some results of what faith does for the believer.
(A) It leads to righteousness.
(B) It causes us to seek God, believe in His goodness.
(C) It causes us to obey His commands.
(D) It regulates our lives on His promises.
(E) It helps us to reject the evil spirit of this world.
(F) Faith causes the believer to realize that this is not our home and helps us seek our heavenly home.
(G) It helps the believer to persevere in the time of trouble.
(H) It helps us to resist the pleasures of sin.
(J) Faith enables the believer to endure persecution.
(K) Faith causes the believer to perform mighty acts of righteousness.
(L) Faith allows the believer to suffer for God.
(M) Finally, Faith gives the believer the courage to journey to a far country and not returns home like Abraham.

From the above paragraph on faith and its results, one can conclude that faith is a very important word in the Bible. See how important faith in the life of the believer
According to CARM, “faith is where the promise and work of God are made real to His redeemed.” (WWW.carm.org). CARM outlines the importance of faith in the following manner. (A) Ephesians 2:8-9, we are saved by grace through faith.
(B) Romans 1:17, we live by faith.
(C) Romans 4:13 tells us we receive righteousness by faith.
(D) In Romans 5:1, we are justified in Christ by faith.
(E) In Romans 5:2, we have access to God’s grace by faith.
(F) We see from 2 Corinthians 1:24 that we stand firm in our belief by faith.
(G) Galatians 3:14, we have the promise of the Spirit by faith.
(H) Then in 1 Timothy 1:4 we do God’s work by faith.
(I) The last two supporting evidence of the importance of faith is that Galatians 5:5, tells us that we are to wait for the return of Christ by faith, and that faith are vital to the Christian belief.

I will close today's discussion on faith, post your comments, most of all purchase the book, online at Amazon.com, Borders Barnes & Nobles. com