What is salvation?

Technically speaking, when Christians talk about salvation they are talking about God’s gift to those believe in Jesus Christ, whereby he grants them eternal life and saves them from the horrors of hell (eternal death).

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8)

“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him” (John 3:36)

So what is eternal life?

Jesus defined eternal life very profoundly on the night before his death:

“Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. (John 17:3)

What he meant was that the heaven to come is granted to those who know God through him and that eternal life comes by knowing God and this knowing begins on earth. Now heaven is the place where God resides and where the throne of God is located (Revelation 4). But as Christians, our eternal reward is not merely a beautiful place to live, but eternal communion with God which begins here on earth in the heart and is fully realized when we stand before God.

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:26)

But more personally speaking, eternal life is living in presence of God (or with God) in his kingdom forever: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world” (Matthew 25:34)

Where do we start if we would seek eternal life?

With Jesus.

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:4)

Only Jesus?

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12)

How do I find salvation in Jesus?

By faith.

“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household” (Acts 16:30-31)

Isn’t it more than belief? What about all those good works God seems to require?

Good works are the evidence of true faith. They are a sign that God has moved your heart to simultaneously hate your sin while loving Jesus Christ.

“But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (James 2:18).

But this heart movement where you come to hate your sin while loving Jesus begins with belief:

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6)

Faith is very simple. It is believing in the fullness of who Jesus is, and through this belief, Christians receive the Holy Spirit who guides and inspires them to do good works that both glorify God and show the world that they are saved through faith in Jesus Christ.

What must you believe? Aren’t some creeds pages long and don’t they demand belief on all points?

Paul said something very profound that is overlooked by many professing Christians:

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9)

The two things that Paul says are a requirement to believe about Jesus (Jesus is Lord and that Jesus rose from the dead) are anchors to every creed and statement of faith that rests on Scripture. For example the Nicene Creed begins as follows:

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, light from light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven…

After carefully study, you will note that if you approach with the mindset that Jesus is Lord (that Jesus is the Godman both fully God and man) that you will have no problem believing what is written here. So there are many things that Christians believe about Jesus, but each thing believed is first looked at through Paul’s lens which states that Jesus is Lord and that God raised him from the dead.

{ 0 comments }