salvation
Salvation is the deliverance of humanity from sin, destruction and judgment (Matthew 1:21, Romans 10:9-10). In order to fully understand what salvation is all about, we must first understand the concept of sin.
What are sins? Every unrighteousness or wrongdoing is a sin. The scripture made us understand that everyone born into this world has sinned (Romans 3:23). We have all offended both God and man at one time or the other. No one is righteous (Psalm143:2). We are all sinner. And no sinner is worthy to have any relationship with God both on earth and in heaven because God is too holy to stand the sin of man. In the light of that, God placed a curse on sin: “the soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20 KJV), “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23 KJV). The death referred to here goes beyond the physical death, it extends to both spiritual and eternal death.
The question then is: can God be so wicked that He wants us to die and perish? The answer is NO. God is a God of love. He loves us so much, that He created us in His image and commanded his blessings on us (Genesis 1:27-28). God loves us so much that He designed a pathway to rescue us from our sins and its consequences. He sent his Son, Jesus, to save us (Matthew 1:21) and deliver us from eternal death and damnation.
That is the summary of salvation that God has provided for us all. Nobody is excluded from the plan of God. However, it is a matter of choice - the above scripture says 'whoever believes in him should not perish'. Those who prefer destruction may choose not to believe. What a choice!
WHY SIN? WHY PUNISHMENT?
The plan of God for us is that we should love him and obey His commandments and also love our fellow human being (Matthew 22:37-39). That is all God is demanding from us so that we can live a peaceful life both in this world and beyond. However, we have an enemy who does not like the plan of God for us: what he wants is violence not peace, disorderliness not orderliness, wickedness not love, disobedient to God not obedient to him, lies not truth, death for us not life (John 10:10, John 8:44). His name is Satan, A.K.A, the devil. He is the arch enemy of God and everything that God has created. His job is to inspire us to do everything that is contrary to the will of God so as to destroy us. Unknown to us, we obey him and so he brings wickedness to our heart. We become lovers of ourselves not lovers of others or God. We seek pleasures at the expense of others and God – fornication, adultery, killing, greed, jealousy, rivalry, envy, idolatry and all other wicked acts becomes our regular lifestyle and we justify them. We do not want to know or even hear anything that concerns God who created us and loves us.
Now, think about this, if you were God who created man, what will you do? Well, this is what God did when it happened in the days of Noah: God became angry with man and He destroyed both man and everything he gave him to enjoy (Genesis 6:5-7) with heavy rain but saved Noah and his family because he was righteous in his sight.
The same wickedness that pervaded the earth in the days of Noah has dominated the earth today, but God has promised He will not destroy the earth again with rain (Genesis 9:11). So what is He going to do? He has a different plan: His is bringing judgement upon the earth with a more devastating destruction through fire (Malachi 4:5, 3:2, 2Peter 3:7, Zeph. 1:18). Everyone will account for his good and bad.
"And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ"
(2Thessalonians 1:7-8)
WHO IS THE SALVATION OF GOD MEANT FOR? WHO WILL BE SAVED?
The salvation of God is meant for everyone who is ready to form a relationship with God in this evil and disobedient world.
“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world” (Titus 2:11-12)
God does not want anybody to perish, except if we deliberately choose to. However, God is not the God of injustice: He loves those who love Him (Proverbs 8:17). He knows everyone who has a relationship with Him: those who listen to him and obey Him while they live on earth (2Timothy 2:19); those that accept the offer of his salvation. He will not cast them away and neither will He destroy them with the wicked. The scripture expressly states that the Lord knows how to deliver the godly (2 Peter 2:9). For that same reason, He sent Hs Son, Jesus, into this world to deliver them that will listen to Him. This is what Jesus said about those who will be delivered:
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24)
The salvation of God is for his saints: those who believe and accept Jesus as the Son of God (John 3:16). Salvation is for those who believe what God is saying and adhere to them. The salvation of God is not for the proud, neither is it for the disobedient but for the humble. Salvation is not for those who denied Christ as Lord, it is reserved for the beloved of the Lord. If anyone chose not to have any relationship with Jesus on earth, how can he dwell with him in heaven when he dies? If we choose to deny Him, he has no option than to deny us (2Timothy 2:12).
IS IT ONLY JESUS THAT CAN SAVE? WHY?
Jesus is the only one that can save. The reason is not far-fetched. We have sinned and the consequence of our sin is death. It cannot be changed; as a result, somebody has to die in other to take away the curse of death from us. This is exactly what Jesus did. He did not sin himself, but died our death – He took the consequences of our sins upon himself and died the death that is meant for every sinner. He received the wages for our sin on our behalf.
“the wage of sin death, but gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23)
It does not just happen, it has been designed long ago that he is the only one that can bring salvation to his people. There are other gods and lords that people worship, but they cannot save. The reason why they can’t save is that they don’t have the power to conquer death but Jesus did. He that will deliver others from death must have power over death. In other words, he that will deliver others from death and give them eternal life must have eternal life in himself. Jesus conquered death through resurrection from the grave.
“For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him”. (1Thessalonians 5:9-10 ESV)
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)
Salvation belongs to the Lord and not to any man (Psalm 3:8, 37:39). It is only the power of God that can deliver us from his wrath. All other gods cannot do it.
HOW DO I RECEIVE SALVATION?
- The first step towards the salvation of your soul is repentance. You need to realise that you are unrighteous (Isaiah 64:6) and as a result, you are not worthy of having any relationship with God unless you repent by asking God to forgive you of all your sins (Acts 3:19).
- The next step is to confess the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and saviour and believe that he died because of your sins and that God has raised him from the dead.
- “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10 KJV)
- Your confession is very important. It is as important as your faith because that is where the enemy may stand to contend with you if you don’t do it prayerfully. Now if you will like to receive salvation immediately, then bow down your head in prayer and make this confession loudly enough to be heard.
Dear God,
I realise today that I am a sinner and that my sin will keep me away from Heaven. Now I believe in your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe he died for my sins by dying on the cross and that He can forgive me of all my sins. I now accept and trust Him alone as my Lord and Saviour. Please, forgive me of all my sins and accept me today. Thank you for your gift of love and of eternal life (In Jesus name I pray).
Congratulations if you have done that from the depth of your heart. Continue to trust in Lord Jesus Christ. Prayerfully seek His help daily and you will be surprised what will happen in your life. You may need to find a bible believing church and start attending if you have not been doing so before.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you forever (amen).
Thanks and God bless.
© 2012 Christian Devotions & Resource Centre