Salvation is the Lord’s
Begin your time today with prayer, that Jesus will be clear to you and that you will fall in love with Him as a result!
Salvation. It’s quite a word, one that may possibly be misused at times.
According to Webster’s 1828 dictionary it means “The act of saving; preservation from destruction, danger or great calamity. Appropriately in theology, the redemption of man from the bondage of sin and liability to eternal death, and the conferring on him everlasting happiness. This is the great salvation. “Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation.” 2 Cor. Vii. Deliverance from enemies; victory.”
What in this definition means the most to you?
Noah Webster used the Bible to define certain words. It is interesting that he considered God’s Word authoritative even in the intent of language. He wasn’t looking to define words himself, but to know and write their definition on God’s terms.
We’re going to do the same, and it’s a good thing, too, because God has specific meaning to ‘salvation’ and we need to know what He says.
Please write out Psalm 3:8 and see who owns salvation.
What accompanies true salvation?
Psalm 9:14
What is God’s definition of salvation?
Isaiah 12:2
Salvation is not a thing, but a Person!
Can a person enact salvation for another?
Psalm 62:1
Acts 4:12, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Why do we need saving? If we could learn righteousness, and do good, and earn God’s approval, wouldn’t that be enough? Can’t we live clean lives and make good choices? Isn’t that why we teach our children, so they will do what is right?
Well, yes, we do, and living this way teaches us how to show kindness to others. These are good things, and that is evident to us. We may do many things that are right and good, but none of them will meet God’s holiness because our motives are not pure. So those good things are not totally good, but done for our own benefit. We are centered on ourselves, and in God’s eyes, that is sinful. We may not think it is, but because He is the Creator He is also the Judge. He knows what selfishness is, and it separates us from Him.
In fact, the Bible teaches us we are born disconnected from Him. Our spirits are stillborn because of the sin of the first man and woman. It is our natural inheritance.
“Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me,” Psalm 51:5.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23. To offend God is no small thing, and no good deed can make up for it. That offense reveals that there is a source under it. Just as a row of garden peas reveal that there is are seeds in the ground, there is a sin nature under every act of disobedience. It’s not just the action that is against God, but the nature, the heart that allowed it.
We have one wage coming if we are humans. Please copy the first line of
Romans 6:23:
Death is our reward for the condition of our spirits, and the works and words that come from that condition. Physical death is a picture of the more serious: eternal spiritual death. This spiritual death is an ongoing condition of dying without end for our body, soul, and spirit, apart from God who is Life.
Please also copy the second half of Romans 6:23:
“But God demonstrates His own love for us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us,” Romans 5:8.
There is our hope. We have One Way out of our assigned punishment: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man comes to the Father except through Me,” John 14:6.
The reason Jesus died on the cross is that “the life of every creature is in its blood” (Leviticus 17:14). Because death is the penalty for sin, blood must be shed in payment. “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness,” Hebrews 9:22.
How does this exchange take place? If I want to receive what Jesus did in my place, what must I do?
First, acknowledge before God that you need His forgiveness.
And then believe that His death paid the price for you. This believing is called faith.
Then ask Him to come into you: “ Forgive me of my sin, wash me clean, and fill me with Your Spirit of life! I give You my life in exchange for Yours.”
Read the Word of God each day; that’s how God talks to you. Pray to Him; that’s how you talk to Him. And find a church that teaches the Bible in truth. You will find you have family there! The rest of your life will be filled with understanding more and more of what He accomplished on the cross and through the empty grave for you! The inheritance of life that you now receive as a child of God is for this life as well as for eternity.
If you have received Him, welcome to God’s salvation! Welcome to the family of God!
“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,” John 1:14.
If you have received Him earlier in your life, thank God through prayer and rejoice that your name is written in the Book of Life!
The best is yet to come!
Please pray with me:
Oh Father! Thank You for the Way You have provided so that I can be forgiven and filled with Your life! I am parched and dry on my own, but You quench my thirst. Thank You! I receive what You have done, and I rejoice in Your salvation! Help me no longer to depend on others to make me happy, but to find my satisfaction in You. In Jesus’ precious name, A-men.
P.S. If you have previously received the forgiveness that Jesus offers, can you share this news? It is the best news ever spoken by the human tongue! Keep the message simple: We are separated from God by our sin, Jesus gave Himself to pay for the debt we owe God, and receiving Him into one’s heart brings forgiveness from God and eternal life in heaven! Simple, yet profound!!
1 comment:
A fine undertaking, Nic
Post a Comment