Salvation: Deliverance from the power and effects of sin by the blood of Jesus Christ.
Genesis 2:15-17 (NLT) says The LORD God placed the man (Adam) in the Garden of Eden to tend and care for it. But the LORD God gave him this warning: “You may freely eat any fruit in the garden except fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat of its fruit, you will surely die. When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, sin entered the world. God is holy, righteous, perfect, and just. He cannot be in the presence of sin and He must punish sin to remain just. Adam and Eve’s sin caused separation between man and God. Because of their actions, all of mankind is born into sin. Romans 5:12-14 (NIV) Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.
God gave Moses the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai and through the law, man’s sin was revealed to him. Romans 2:12-13 (NIV) says All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. The Bible says the wages of sin is death. According to the Old Testament, if you were a Jewish person, you were responsible to keep the law of God. There are 613 laws. The Jew was called to strict obedience. If a Jewish person broke just one of those 613 laws, according to that law, he was called to make a specific sacrifice to God. When, not if, you failed to be obedient to the law, you had to come before God with a sacrifice to be forgiven. Hebrews 9:22 (NIV) says In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. You picked the finest animal from your flock. You brought it to the temple and offered the animal to God as your sacrifice. You stand before the priest. He takes your hand and places it on the head of the animal and your sin is transferred from you to the animal. The animal is standing in your place it will take the punishment you deserve for the sin you committed. The priest takes the life of the animal and your sins are covered. The price has been paid to make up for your sin. This was the ONLY way to make up for breaking any of the 613 laws. You feel sad and guilty because an innocent animal must lose its life because of your sin. The problem is that you cannot keep the law and you know you will sin again so this sacrificial system is a never ending cycle.
So far what has been discussed reveals the GREAT DILEMMA of the Christian faith. It begins with the holy, just nature of Almighty God and from there it goes to the fallen, sinful nature of man. Romans 3:23 (NKJV) says …for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The dilemma is this: God cannot forgive wicked man and remain just. If God is truly just and man is truly wicked, God must judge and condemn us so that justice is served. Proverbs 11:21 (NIV) says Be sure of this: The wicked will not go unpunished, but those who are righteous will go free.
God, for His own glory and to show the great love He has for us, sent His Son Jesus to rescue us. Jesus left the comforts of heaven and came to earth to live a perfect life. Because of His love for us and His obedience to His Father, Jesus fulfilled God’s plan of redemption for mankind. Galatians 3:13 (NIV) says Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” Someone had to receive God’s wrath, someone had to be punished, and someone had to die. This is the only way for justice to be served. Romans 3:25-26 (NIV) says God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in His blood. He did this to demonstrate His justice, because in His forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—He did it to demonstrate His justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. Jesus went to the cross and carried the burden of sin for all mankind. Jesus suffered physically and was nailed to the cross. He was the sacrifice necessary to uphold the law of God. He took our place and suffered the punishment we deserved. Because of the finished work of Jesus, the Great Dilemma is solved. God is now and forever just and at the same time the Justifier of the wicked.
Jesus satisfied justice with His death and He made it possible for a just God to forgive a wicked people. Propitiation is an atoning sacrifice to gain or regain favor or goodwill. Propitiation is what happens in God when our sins are taken away. Jesus was able to redeem man because God was propitiated, justice was satisfied, and God’s wrath was removed. When Jesus said “It is finished!” He finished the work He came to do and He conquered sin once and for all. (We still have the presence of sin, but we are no longer under the penalty of sin.) He was the ultimate and final sacrifice and there was no longer a need for a system of sacrifice. Jesus dies and your sin debt is satisfied, PAID IN FULL! Romans 10:9-10 (NIV) says 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. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. If you repent and believe and receive Jesus Christ as the Lord of your life you will be saved. If not, John 3:36 (NIV) says Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life for God’s wrath remains on him.
Ephesians 2:8 (NIV) For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. You had nothing to do with your salvation. It is a magnificent work of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. Salvation is a work of the grace of God. Titus 2:11, 14 (NIV) says For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. Jesus Christ gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good. The Christian will not sin like he did before he was saved because he is a new creation. He will be convicted by the Holy Spirit (our Helper). John 16:7-8 (NKJV) tells us 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.
Pastor Adrian Rogers says “Because salvation is a gift and it roots are not in the merit of man, but in the mercy of God. Not in the goodness of man, but in the grace of God. Does that mean, therefore, it doesn’t make any difference how we live? Well, The Apostle Paul puts that lie to death. Romans 6:1-2 (NKJV) says, What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Any Christian that is saved by grace who continues to live a life of sin is a disgrace to grace. Now we are saved by the grace of God, but after we are saved by the grace of God, we need to learn to live in victory! So the grace of God is an inducement to live a godly life and it also supplies the power to live a godly life.” (from Love Worth Finding, Salvation, Romans 10:1-13).
On your own, it is impossible for you to come to God. This is why you must be BORN AGAIN to believe in Jesus. If there is no spiritual conversion into a new creation, you are still the same person who is not saved. You will know you haven’t been converted because you will still be living in your flesh and doing as you have always done according to your evil, wicked heart. If you are saved, your old nature has gone and you have a new nature. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV) says Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! Your old nature hated God and His righteous, holy ways. Your new nature loves God, loves His righteous ways and hates your own sin! When you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, God by the power of the Holy Spirit came into your heart and supernaturally changed your nature. You now have a new relationship with God and a new relationship with sin. You love God and you hate sin. You want to live for God and His glory and you want nothing to do with anything from your former life that involved sin.
The person who is truly saved knows he would not be saved if all he did was take five minutes out of his life to pray a prayer and ask Jesus to come into his heart. This is not all there is to the Christian life. The person who is truly saved is a new creature with a new beginning to a new life. You are in an intimate relationship with Jesus and God’s Spirit dwells in your heart. The Holy Spirit is in a continual process of conforming you to the image of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6 (NIV) says being confident of this, that He Who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. You will have a new lifestyle which includes: new habits, new behaviors, new beliefs, a new attitude and a new way of thinking. Romans 12:2 (NLT) says Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect His will really is. You have given your life to Christ and He is now guiding your steps. You live according to His divine word, the Bible. You DO what the Word of God says and your life has changed and is in a continual process of change. Romans 8:29 (NIV) says For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son. When your thoughts or actions sway from His ways, your loving, merciful, gracious God loves you enough to discipline you to keep you in His will and on the right path for your life. This is salvation! It’s not a one time act!
Romans 5:1-2 (NIV) says Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. God has saved you through your faith and by His grace. God’s eternal goal for your life is that you spend eternity with Him in heaven. Ephesians 2:10 (NIV) says For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. God’s ultimate purpose for your present life is for you to do good works to bring Him glory. God uses every circumstance of your life to conform you to the image of Jesus Christ so that you can do even GREATER works to glorify Him even more!
Go Live The Victory!
