SALVATION
DEFINITION: Biblically, salvation means the act of snatching others by force from serious spiritual danger, saving a person from spiritual death, and delivering one from the penalty, peril, and power of sin.
FACTS ABOUT SALVATION:
Salvation implies that you are delivered from something to something. You are saved from sin and reconciled with God. You are saved from the Kingdom of Satan and born-again in the Kingdom of God. You are delivered from spiritual death to spiritual life.
Salvation is a gift. There is nothing you can do to earn it (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9).
God’s goodness leads you to repentance. Romans 2:4 indicates that it is God’s goodness–not His judgment–that draws you to repent.
Salvation comes only through Jesus Christ. There are not “many roads to God”. The Bible says there is one way to God, and that is through Jesus Christ.
Salvation is attained by repentance and confession. Confession is necessary in order to receive forgiveness: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives” (1 John 1:8-10).
You are not required to confess to another person. Jesus Christ is the mediator between you and God, and you can confess directly to Him. Some people find it helpful, however, to ask a spiritual leader to help them confess their sins to God. If you do this, prayerfully select someone who will keep your confidences.
Public confessions are not necessary in order to receive forgiveness. In fact, public confessions are sometimes disruptive in a church fellowship. Confessing your faults and asking for prayer as mentioned in James 5:16 is different than confessing specific sins. For example, you might say “I need prayer for my problem with unforgiveness” rather than pointing out specific people in the church you are unable to forgive! You should, however, always confess and ask forgiveness of anyone you have wronged.
Benefits of salvation include not only reconciliation with God, but also the gift of hope (1 Thessalonians 5:8-10); provision (Matthew 6:33); eternal life (John 3:16-17); freedom from the bondage of sin (2 Corinthians 3:17); release from sin, shame, and guilt (Isaiah 53:3-5); and abundant life in this world and eternal life in the one to come (John 3:16-17).
DEALING WITH SALVATION:
Confess your sins to God in the name of Jesus. Confess your known sins, and He will forgive them and then cleanse you from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:8-9). Confession is part of the model prayer that is to be prayed daily by believers (Matthew 6:9-13).
Do not keep confessing sins of the past. Once confessed, God forgives you. The Bible says that God takes your sins, casts them as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12), and remembers them no more (Isaiah 43:25).
Realize that you are a new creature in Christ. The Bible teaches that man is body, soul, and spirit. When you accept Jesus as Savior, you experience a spiritual rebirth (John 3:5-8). You are a totally new person in Christ.
You must allow your spirit to rule. For years, your soul ruled your spirit and your body. Whatever your soul desired or dictated, you did – whether it be drugs, alcohol, pornography, immorality, etc. You did not exercise control over emotions such as anger, unforgiveness, and bitterness. You went where you wanted to go and did what you wanted to do. You got to where you are today by doing what you did. If you want things to change, you must do something different. You must learn to let your redeemed spirit control your body and your soulish nature -your mind, will, and emotions.
When your old soulish nature rises up and you sin again, it does not mean you were not saved. You do not need to accept Jesus as Savior again. You simply need to confess and ask God to forgive you (1 John 1:8-9).
Break the strongholds of habitual sin. Habitual sin enslaves you and erects spiritual strongholds in your life are erected. This is why you should never deliberately sin. Study about the struggle of Apostle Paul in Romans 7:15-21 and the glorious solution in Romans 8. God has given a way of escape in every temptation. Take it! ANo temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it@ (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Recognize the difference between conviction and condemnation. Condemnation is general. You believe you are a bad person, you can never change, etc. These thoughts come from the enemy to discourage you in your new life. Conviction is specific and is from the Holy Spirit to reprove you for wrong so you can correct it. For example, you feel convicted because you lied to someone. This is the Holy Spirit working with you to help you live out your new life of faith.
Continue to grow in your faith.
-Study the Word of God. You cannot grow without food. Just as natural food supplies energy for your physical growth, the Holy Bible is the food which supplies energy for your spiritual growth. Your spiritual growth will be in direct proportion to your increasing knowledge of God’s Word. Personal Bible study must become a part of your daily routine. Start by reading the book of John.
-Pray. Use the pattern of the Lord=s prayer to guide you in daily prayer (Matthew 6:9- 13).
-Attend a local Bible-believing church so your new faith will grow.
-Make friends with other believers who will strengthen your faith.
Ask God to remove spiritual blindness from the minds of the unsaved. Ask the Father to draw your unsaved loved one to Him (John 6:44, 2 Corinthians 4:4). Pray for the Holy Spirit to convict and convince them (John 16:8, AMP). Continue to believe for household salvation and never give up (Acts 16:31, Luke 18:1, AMP).
WHAT GOD’S WORD SAYS ABOUT SALVATION:
Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Selah. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord–and you forgave the guilt of my sin.” (Psalm 32:2-5)
Read David’s great psalm of confession: Psalm 51.
As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103:12)
He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy. (Proverbs 28:13)
I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more. (Isaiah 43:25)
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:3-6)
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God–children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. (John 1:12-13)
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16)
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” (John 5:24)
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. (John 10:27-28)
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you–even Jesus. (Acts 3:19-20)
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)
…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:23)
That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. (Romans 10:9-10)
…Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Romans 10:13)
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. (1 Corinthians 10:13)
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)
So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.” But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved. (Hebrews 10:35)
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade–kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3-5)
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. (1 John 1:8-10)
And this is what he promised us–even eternal life. (1 John 2:25)
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 John 5:13)
(See also “Repentance” and “Confession” in this database.)
