The primary definition of salvation in the Oxford Dictionary is
“preservation or deliverance from harm, ruin, or loss” similar to – lifeline
So many people speak about salvation as though it’s a mythical concept. A concept that is not for them. Either they don’t believe salvation is real, or they don’t need it, or they believe their personal actions put them beyond salvation.
But Yahweh Whispers…
‘… God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) ‘ Ephesians 2:4-5
Salvation – or preservation or deliverance from harm, ruin, or loss – does not come from what we do. It comes from what we believe (through faith).
Believe in God’s love for you.
Believe His love comes without condemnation.
Believe He loved you so much, that he separated a piece of himself from himself to create His son in the form of man – Jesus Christ. Christ then sacrificed himself for YOU.
If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9 NLT
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 NLT
Believing this complex, mind-blowing concept – that Jesus died a physical death, so we could have a spiritual life – is the foundation for receiving salvation. Salvation from the harm that sin – bad decisions, bad behaviors, and bad emotions/feelings – brings to our lives.
That is mind boggling enough, but it gets even deeper.
The physical resurrection of the body of Christ can also be viewed as a metaphor of a physical body this is dead and unclean, yet alive through the power of His Heavenly Father. God transformed the body of a dead man into one who was alive again – walking the earth, ministering, touching lives. Though the physical body was dead and unclean, it was overpowered by the spiritual being. The spirit of God’s Son was in that body – therefore it could not and did not stay in the tomb.
That is a lot to grasp, and hard for many to understand – even harder for many to believe. Yet our faith confirms it true.
Our belief and faith that:
Yahweh LOVES US
He wants the BEST for US
He does not condemn US
Yahweh sent his only SON:
- To teach us
- To model faithful behaviors
- To model true love
- To sacrifice himself as a demonstration of Yahweh’s love for US
- To model human life, human death, and spiritual re-birth for us
- To die a physical death
- To be resurrected in a dead body
- To then join His Father in heaven
…. And that message is [this] very message about faith that we preach: If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” ‘ Romans 10:8-11
Christ could have simply died.
His life, teachings, and story still would have created millions of followers. He may have still gone down in history.
However, His Father – Yahweh – chose to raise Him from the dead. That act demonstrated the ultimate power of our Heavenly Father and His ultimate love for us. For we too are spiritual beings housed in unclean lifeless bodies.
