Salvation
Salvation – Salvation is one of the promises of God to all believers: to be given the gift of eternal life. Salvation also is described as the process we go through before we can receive eternal life (John 3:16, Rom. 6:23). It refers to the act of God’s grace in delivering his people from bondage to sin and condemnation, transferring them to the kingdom of his beloved Son (Col. 1:13)—all on the basis of what Christ accomplished in his atoning sacrifice. The Bible says we are saved by grace through faith; and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God (Eph. 2:8). Salvation, virtually synonymous with the overall concept of redemption, includes a past (justification), present (sanctification), and future (glorification) sense. There is only one foundation for the plan of salvation and that is JESUS CHRIST, through whom alone we can be saved (Rom. 10:9-10).
| Man’s Condition | All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). Apart from Christ, we are “weak” and “ungodly” (Rom. 5:6), “sinners” (Rom. 5:8), under the coming “wrath of God” (Rom. 5:9), “enemies” of God in need of “reconciliation” and salvation (Rom. 5:10), under the “judgment” and reigning “death” that followed Adam’s “one trespass” (Rom. 5:16-17), “enslaved to sin” (Rom. 6:6, 16-17, 20), presenting our “members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness” (Rom. 6:19), “of the flesh, sold under sin” (Rom. 7:14), having “nothing good” dwelling in our flesh (Rom. 7:18), having bodies “of death” in need of deliverance (Rom. 7:24), “hostile to God” (Rom. 8:7), the fruit and wages of which are death and condemnation (Rom. 6:21, 23; 8:1). |
| Coming Judgment | “It is appointed for man once to die and then judgment.” (Heb. 9:27) Apart from Christ, we are “by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” (Eph. 2:3) Those with “hard and impenitent hearts are storing up wrath on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.” (Rom. 2:5) “Those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil…” (Rom. 2:8-9) “They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might…” (2 Thess. 1:9) |
| Initial Salvation | Initial salvation refers to the event of a person’s conversion. If you repent of your sin and turn in faith to Christ as Lord and Savior, your sins are immediately forgiven, your fight of faith has begun, and your future in Christ is secured forever. “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Rom. 10:13) “He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:3-7) |
| Progressive Salvation | Progressive salvation refers to the journey of a believer between conversion and death. It is the only path that leads to eternal life (Rom. 6:20-23), and is walked by faith alone, in the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8, Gal. 3:2-5). It contains bumps and struggles and setbacks, but is marked by growth in love for others and for God. It involves a fight of faith, a striving for peace and holiness (Heb. 12:14, 1 John 1:9), and a reoccurring approach of the throne of grace (Heb. 4:16). “Our Lord Jesus Christ… will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1 Cor. 1:7-9) |
| Final Salvation | Final salvation refers to the event of God saving his people at the final judgment, the great divide between sheep and goats, wherein sheep are identified by their work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in the Lord Jesus Christ, and accepted on the ground of their union with Christ, the righteous substitute. |
Prayer of Salvation
Heavenly Father, I come before you as a sinner and ask your forgiveness for all that I have done, said or thought that was not of You, I receive Jesus into my life and all that He has done for me. I plead the blood of Jesus over my life. I receive Jesus as my Lord, Shepherd, Refuge and Fortress. Father, I choose to forgive and release everyone that has wronged me and ask that you forgive them also. I will walk in forgiveness from this day forth. Father I give you permission to purge me from all unrighteousness and ask that you create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me. Your word says that a broken heart and a contrite spirit, You will not despise. My hope lies in you now Jesus. I offer my life as a living sacrifice unto You, that I may be whole and complete in You, looking to the day that I will be with You, for eternity. Amen
Scriptures
Psalms 23:1 Psalms 91 Mark 11:24-26
Psalms 34:18 Matthew 6:14-15 Jeremiah 17:7
Psalms 51:17 Matthew 18:35 Joel 3:16
Example from the Bible (Salvation Begins with Being Born Again)
John 3
“There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized. And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized. For John was not yet cast into prison. Then there arose a question between some of John’s disciples and the Jews about purifying. And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him. John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all. And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no man receiveth his testimony. He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true. For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”