SALVATION 101…

Clarifying the Muddle of Modern American Christianity
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A composition by Benjamin S. Dennis

To begin, we must first answer some questions concerning our understanding of salvation, as taught by the twenty-first century church in America.

Q: Who is the God of the Bible?
Many people have many different perceptions and concepts of who and what God is.
Is the God of the Bible the same God religions such as Muslims, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Buddhists, and Native Americans worship?
Is God the “Big Guy”, “the Man Upstairs”, or “the Big G”?

A: The God of the Bible is the creator of the universe, the ruler of all things eternally.
God is sovereign (all powerful), righteous (perfect in every way and unable to do wrong), just (fair in all matters concerning Himself and man), immutable (unchanging), omniscient (He knows all things, even of the heart and mind), eternal (everlasting with no beginning and no end), love (willingly sacrificing the life of His own son that we may be saved), and wrath (rightly punishing those who refuse Him and choose to remain in their sin).
God is also triune (three beings in one; the Trinity or the Godhead). He is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
Many names are used to describe God. Names such as YHWH (Jehovah), I Am, Father, Refuge, Protector, Alpha and Omega, Strong Tower, El Shaddai (Almighty God),  Adonai (Master), Elohim (God), Jehovah-Jireh (the Lord will provide), Jehovah-Rophe (the Lord who heals), Jehovah-Nissi (the Lord is our banner), Jehovah-M’Keddesh (the Lord who sanctifies), and the list goes on.
Above all, God is kind and merciful. Consider for a moment that the very next breath you take is done solely because God allows it. God loves His creation and longs for His creation to seek after Him.

Q: Who is Jesus Christ?
Outside of Christianity, people take vastly differing views of Jesus. Was he was a great teacher and guru? Was he was a revolutionary? Was he was a prophet? Was he was con-artist? Was he fictitious? Was he an extra-terrestrial?
Is the Jesus of the Bible the same Jesus of other religions?
Was Jesus a man chosen by God or God Himself?

A: Jesus is the savior of man, and God in the flesh.
Yeshua Ben Josef, both fully God and  fully man was conceived of the Holy Ghost and born of the virgin, Mary of Nazareth. His step-father was Joseph (Josef), a carpenter by trade who was contracted to be wed to Mary at the time of Jesus’ conception.
Jesus, while on earth maintained constant communion with God the Father, but handicapped himself by taking on the frailties of man. While still God in the supernatural sense, Jesus Christ was susceptible to all things that humanity was faced with (temptation, injury, hunger, exhaustion, emotions, and physical need). Yet, while enduring all things, he remained sinless and thus perfect for the sacrifice for which he was intended.
Jesus lived the life of a common carpenter for thirty years, and then in the three years that followed, impacted the world so much through his teachings, miracles, and compassion that millions would willingly die for his name’s sake over two thousand years later.
He is the Messiah, the Savior, the Prince of Peace, the Rose of Sharon, the Redeemer, the Mediator, the Light of the World, the Lamb of God, the Son of Man, the Word Made Flesh, the Image of the Invisible God, the Son of David, the Great Physician, the True Vine, the Lily of the Valley, the Good Shepherd, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Jesus was sent into the world to live perfectly and die as an atonement for sinners, taking the wrath of God upon himself and saving us from the punishment that we deserve.
Jesus Christ died, not suffering the punishment of one man, but the punishment of every man, woman, and child who has ever and will ever live. According to the prophet Isaiah, “It pleased the Lord to crush him”.
Not because God is a masochistic tyrant, but because He is perfect and holy, and cannot bear to look upon sin. Only Jesus could take that sin and bear the brunt of God’s wrath. Moreover, only Jesus loved you enough to do so.

Q: Who am I?
Is man inherently moral? Is it possible to be a good person? If so, does God reward you for your goodness and kind deeds?

A: Man is God’s creation, put upon the earth on the sixth day of creation. Adam, the first man was created out of the dust of the ground and had the breath of God breathed into His nostrils to bring forth life in him. Eve, his wife, was created from his own body. Some say from a rib, but the original text says from his side.
Man is sinful from birth following “the fall”, when sin was first introduced into the world following Eve succumbing to the temptation of the devil. Man’s fallen nature drives him to sin, and that sin creates enmity between he and God.
Because of this, man cannot come to God without a savior to rescue him from the filth of his sin and to justify him before the throne of judgment.
Outside of a relationship with Jesus Christ, man’s primary love and affections are for himself, and himself alone. The natural character of man is a self-serving and idolatrous one, and apart from the work of the Holy Ghost, we can never be drawn to God.

Q: What is Salvation?
Is it baptism? Is it saying a prayer at an alter? Is it doing kind deeds and mimicking Jesus?

A: Man is saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone.
No work that man is capable of can save him, as man is sinful in nature and an enemy of God as a result of that sin.
The Bible tells us this in Ephesians 2:8 and 9: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
People are often mislead to believe that by praying the “Sinner’s Prayer” at the alter of their church, that they are saved, but this is unbiblical. Primarily because it is supported nowhere in Scripture, but also because many time following “the Sinner’s Prayer” a pastor or congregation will welcome the individual as new Christian and declare them “saved”.
The truth is, we cannot judge the salvation of others, we can only see the evidence of it through the “fruit” that they bear. Salvation is an intimate relationship between a formerly ungodly sinner and their savior.
Salvation is an act of God, not an act of man.
While the Bible calls us to repent (apologize for and turn away from our sins) and believe that Jesus is the only way to salvation, it is the Holy Ghost the leads us to repentance and belief. The Holy Ghost is God’s manifestation within us, and in fact, Him beckoning us to Himself. No man seeks after God without the work of the Holy Ghost within him.
Salvation often comes in two steps. The first being when the sinner professes that they believe that Jesus Christ is the savior and that only through him can they be saved. The second is regeneration, a work of the Holy Ghost which crushes the sinful nature and creates a new man with new desires and a heart for God. Sometimes this happens immediately, but many times it happens as we continue to grow in the grace of God.
We seek after God because God first sought after us, and because He, through His immeasurable love sent His son Jesus to make us worthy to live forever with Him in the kingdom He has prepared for us.
To live for God, is to die to one’s self. To deny that which pleases you and seek that which pleases Him. No earthly pleasure can compare to the gifts God has prepared for us eternally if only we give our lives over to Him.

Hopefully this has broadened your understanding of God’s gift of salvation.
Soli Deo Gloria (glory to God alone).

Advertisement