I want to tackle in this post about Biblical salvation. And I hope that it gives more understanding to those who are in doubt about their salvation.
Many people knew about
Salvation but they have never understood what salvation is all about.
In this study, I want you to understand about Biblical salvation.
What is Salvation?
Salvation is a deliverance from disasters or punishment.
At times, the Bible
uses the word salvation for the
temporary and physical
deliverance, like the deliverance desired by
the Apostle Paul to be released from prison (Philippians
1:19).
Mostly in the Bible,
the word salvation is based on Spiritual and eternal deliverance from the penalty of
sin. The Apostle Paul
is talking about salvation in Ephesians chapter two (Eph. 2), it’s about the
spiritual salvation.
Salvation is the
spiritual deliverance from the penalty of sin, received only through faith in Jesus Christ who
saved people from God's punishment for sin.
Romans 5:1, 9 “Therefore,
since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ,.. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much
more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!”
If we do really understand
that by faith in Jesus Christ who died on the cross for us,
we are justified before God and He
saved us from the penalty of sin.
Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for
those who are in Christ Jesus,..”
Biblical or spiritual
salvation is the deliverance from
the penalty of sin.
Who saved us from
the penalty of
sin?
It’s God who personally delivered us through Jesus Christ because of his grace, not
by our good works.
(2 Timothy 1:
9).
2 Timothy 1:8 - 9 “So do not be ashamed to testify about
our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the
gospel, by the power of God, who has
saved us and called us to a holy life--not because of anything we have done
but because of his own purpose and
grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of
time,..”
How can we receive salvation, is it by doing good works or by membership in a
religious group? The
Bible says it’s only by faith and it’s not through good works
either membership in a religious group (Ephesians 2: 8-9).
According to what is written in the
Bible in the book of Ephesians 2:8 that Salvation is a gift of God. Gift means,
freely given, the giver never requires a payment for it. And it is because it’s
a gift; the only thing we must do is to accept by faith believing it has
already given to us.
If salvation is received by faith plus
good works, salvation cannot be considered as a gift anymore but a reward. Many
people believe that salvation is received by faith plus good works. And if it
so, we have got a problem.
The problem is, how many good works
we must do to receive salvation? There is nothing in the Bible that we can find
how many good works to accomplish in order that God will give us salvation.
If we give a number of good works to
be accomplished to receive salvation, I must have to do all of them and after I
have accomplished all of them, I have already paid my salvation and no more.
And if I cannot accomplish all of
them because I missed one, so I am not saved and all the others that I did are
useless, more likely still I am going to receive punishment for my sin of
missing one good work. That is why salvation is by faith alone not by faith
plus good works.
What
kind of faith you must have to receive salvation?
The faith to receive salvation is
called saving faith. It is not the kind of faith to believe in God. Faith in
God is different from saving faith. Saving faith believes what God has done in
Christ Jesus for us. While faith in God believes that there is a God.
To believe that there is a God
cannot save. Almost all people have this kind of faith and even the demons have
this faith. But not all people believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for
our salvation.
To have faith in God cannot save us,
but it is necessary or else you cannot have the saving faith. That is why Jesus
said in John 14:1 “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe
also in me. (KJV)
The
Good Works
Faith in God could also produce good
works. And that is good morally. But it cannot produce righteousness in the
standard of God.
That reason why the Bible
says, there is no one righteous no not one (Romans 3:10). Even the Israelite people who have
accomplished the ten commandments of Moses still God did not consider them
righteous.
They were maybe righteous in
the standard of men like Job and Noah, but in the standard of God their
righteousness is like a filthy rag (Isaiah 64:6).
That is why the Bible says no righteous no
not one that includes, Job, Noah, Mary the mother of Jesus and all good people
in the whole world before Jesus Christ died and rose again from the dead.
Only the people who have the saving
faith or having the faith in Jesus Christ can be considered righteous in the
sight of God because they have been justified by faith (Romans 5:1).
The good works produced by the
saving faith are now credited on the believers of Jesus as acceptable in God’s
sight, and the righteousness as the result of the faith in Jesus Christ is not
like a filthy rag anymore, but as sweet smelling savor, holy and acceptable in
the sight of God.
Now it comes out that faith plus
salvation result good works or righteousness in the lives of the believers of
Jesus Christ our Lord. And we cannot find a problem with it and is a sound doctrine.
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