“For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—not from works, so that no one can boast.” ~Apostle Paul

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Deliverance, Faith, God is God, Grace, Jesus, Salvation

Jesus came to earth in all humility. He left His place of honor with our Father and came to us, like us. He was a little lower than the angels for a while. But then through death and resurrection, the Messiah completed salvation for us. How amazing is that?

• Who did God put in charge of salvation? Man? No.
• There is no way we have what it takes for that.
• Angels? No. Not even they could make it happen.
• Who then?
• What was His solution?

Jesus experienced death for us. He experienced death in our place. We are now raised to a whole new life and mission with Him. We are new creations. We are no longer slaves to sin but slaves to the Messiah Jesus.

May we appreciate all that Jesus, the Messiah, has done for us!

Salvation is deliverance from danger or suffering. To save is to deliver or protect. The word carries the idea of victory, health, or preservation. Sometimes, the Bible uses the words saved or salvation to refer to temporal, physical deliverance, such as Paul’s deliverance from prison.

More often, the word “salvation” concerns an eternal, spiritual deliverance. When Paul told the Philippian jailer what he must do to be saved, he was referring to the jailer’s eternal destiny. Jesus equated being saved with entering the kingdom of God.

What are we saved from? In the Christian doctrine of salvation, we are saved from “wrath,” that is, from God’s judgment of sin. Our sin has separated us from God, and the consequence of sin is death. Biblical salvation refers to our deliverance from the consequence of sin and therefore involves the removal of sin.

Who does the saving? Only God can remove sin and deliver us from sin’s penalty. Jesus is the one who made it happen.

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Today is a good day to start the journey to Jesus. We have good news! Want to know how to be saved? Click here or here for more.

 

How does God save? In the Christian doctrine of salvation, God has rescued us through the Messiah Jesus. Specifically, it was Jesus’ death on the cross and subsequent resurrection that achieved our salvation. Scripture is clear that salvation is the gracious, undeserved gift of God and is only available through faith in Jesus the Messiah.

How do we receive salvation? We are saved by faith. First, we must hear the gospel—the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Then, we must believe—fully trust the Master Jesus. This involves repentance, a changing of mind about sin and Jesus, and calling on the name of the Master.

A definition of the Christian doctrine of salvation would be “The deliverance, by the grace of God, from eternal punishment for sin which is granted to those who accept by faith God’s conditions of repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus.” Salvation is available in Jesus alone and is dependent on God alone for provision, assurance, and security.

• Ephesians 2:8–10 (CSB) —For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
• Romans 3:28 (CSB) —For we conclude that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.
• Isaiah 64:6 (CSB) —All of us have become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like a polluted garment; all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.
• Romans 3:19–23 (CSB) — 19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are subject to the law, so that every mouth may be shut and the whole world may become subject to God’s judgment. 20 For no one will be justified in his sight by the works of the law, because the knowledge of sin comes through the law. 21 But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, attested by the Law and the Prophets. 22 The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, since there is no distinction. 23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;
• Romans 5:12–18 (CSB) — 12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned. 13 In fact, sin was in the world before the law, but sin is not charged to a person’s account when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam’s transgression. He is a type of the Coming One. 15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if by the one man’s trespass the many died, how much more have the grace of God and the gift which comes through the grace of the one man Jesus the Messiah overflowed to the many. 16 And the gift is not like the one man’s sin, because from one sin came the judgment, resulting in condemnation, but from many trespasses came the gift, resulting in justification. 17 If by the one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus the Messiah. 18 So then, as through one trespass there is condemnation for everyone, so also through one righteous act there is justification leading to life for everyone.
• Romans 7:24 (CSB) — 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
• Ephesians 2:3 (CSB) — 3 We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also.

Bonus — Digging Deeper with Wayne Grudem

Wayne Grudem on salvation [1]

• Election (God’s choice of people to be saved) is an act of God before creation in which he chooses some people to be saved, not on account of any foreseen merit in them, but only because of his sovereign good pleasure. The New Testament teaches election as a source of comfort for believers ( 8:28), as a reason to praise God (Eph. 1:5 – 6), and as an encouragement to evangelism (2 Tim. 2:10).
• Effective calling (proclaiming the message of the gospel) is an act of God the Father, speaking through the human proclamation of the gospel, in which he summons people to himself in such a way that they respond in saving faith ( 8:30).
• Regeneration (being born again) is a secret act of God in which he imparts new spiritual life to us (John 3:3 – 8).
• Conversion (faith and repentance) is our willing response to the gospel call, in which we sincerely repent of sins and place our trust in Christ for salvation (John 3:16). Both faith and repentance continue throughout life ( 6:12; Gal. 2:20).
  • Saving faith is trust in Jesus Christ as a living person for forgiveness of sins and eternal life with God (John 1:12).
  • Repentance is a heartfelt sorrow for sin, a renouncing of it, and a sincere commitment to forsake it and walk in obedience to Christ (2 Cor. 7:9 – 10).
• Justification (right legal standing)is an instantaneous legal act of God in which he (1) thinks of our sins as forgiven and Christ’s righteousness as belonging to us, and (2) declares us to be righteous in his sight ( 2:16).
• Adoption (membership in God’s family) is an act of God whereby he makes us members of his family (John 1:12).
• Sanctification (right conduct of life and likeness to Christ) is a progressive work of God and man that makes us more and more free from sin and like Christ in our actual lives ( 6:11 – 14).
  • The baptism of the Holy Spirit refers to the activity of the Holy Spirit at the beginning of the Christian life when he gives us new spiritual life and cleanses us and gives a clear break with the power and love of sin (1 Cor. 12:13).
  • The filling of the Holy Spirit can occur repeatedly in a Christian’s life and produces increased sanctification, increased power, and effectiveness in ministry (1 Cor. 12:31).
• Perseverance (remaining a Christian). The perseverance of the saints means that all those who are truly born again will be kept by God’s power and will persevere as Christians until the end of their lives, and that only those who persevere until the end have been truly born again (John 10:27 – 39).
• Death (going to be with the Lord) is the final outcome of living in a fallen world, is not a punishment for Christians, and is used by God to complete our sanctification (1 Cor. 15:54 – 55). In the intermediate state between death and resurrection there is a separation of body and soul. The souls of believers go immediately into God’s presence (2 Cor. 5:8) and the souls of unbelievers go immediately to eternal punishment (Luke 16:24 – 26), but the bodies of both remain on earth.
• Glorification (receiving a resurrection body) is the final step in the application of redemption. It will happen when Christ returns and raises from the dead the bodies of all believers for all time who have died, reunites them with their souls, and changes the bodies of all believers who remain alive, thereby giving all believers at the same time perfect resurrection bodies like his own (1 Cor. 15:12 – 58).

[1] The 4-Minute Explanation of How Salvation Works – ChurchSource Blog

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