There is nothing more important than knowing that you are saved according to God’s definition. Although salvation could be explored from so many legitimate angles, the meaning of salvation can very simply be summed up in one word, “reconciliation.” This reconciliation puts the life of God (Greek word “Zoe”) back into us and restores us to our created purpose. Here’s what the Bible says:
FOR WHEN WE WERE YET WITHOUT STRENGTH, IN DUE TIME CHRIST DIED FOR THE UNGODLY.
FOR SCARCELY FOR A RIGHTEOUS MAN WILL ONE DIE: YET PERADVENTURE FOR A GOOD MAN SOME WOULD EVEN DARE TO DIE.
BUT GOD COMMENDETH HIS LOVE TOWARD US, IN THAT, WHILE WE WERE YET SINNERS, CHRIST DIED FOR US.
MUCH MORE THEN, BEING NOW JUSTIFIED BY HIS BLOOD, WE SHALL BE SAVED FROM WRATH THROUGH HIM.
FOR IF, WHEN WE WERE ENEMIES, WE WERE RECONCILED TO GOD BY THE DEATH OF HIS SON, MUCH MORE, BEING RECONCILED, WE SHALL BE SAVED BY HIS LIFE.
AND NOT ONLY SO, BUT WE ALSO JOY IN GOD THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, BY WHOM WE HAVE NOW RECEIVED THE ATONEMENT (THE EXCHANGE, THAT IS, RESTORATION TO DIVINE FAVOR – STRONG’S CONCORDANCE). ROMANS 5:6-11
KNOWING THEREFORE THE TERROR OF THE LORD, WE PERSUADE MEN; BUT WE ARE MADE MANIFEST UNTO GOD; AND I TRUST ALSO ARE MADE MANIFEST IN YOUR CONSCIENCES.
FOR WE COMMEND NOT OURSELVES AGAIN UNTO YOU, BUT GIVE YOU OCCASION TO GLORY ON OUR BEHALF, THAT YE MAY HAVE SOMEWHAT TO ANSWER THEM WHICH GLORY IN APPEARANCE, AND NOT IN HEART.
FOR WHETHER WE BE BESIDE OURSELVES, IT IS TO GOD: OR WHETHER WE BE SOBER, IT IS FOR YOUR CAUSE.
FOR THE LOVE OF CHRIST CONSTRAINETH US; BECAUSE WE THUS JUDGE, THAT IF ONE DIED FOR ALL, THEN WERE ALL DEAD:
AND THAT HE DIED FOR ALL, THAT THEY WHICH LIVE SHOULD NOT HENCEFORTH LIVE UNTO THEMSELVES, BUT UNTO HIM WHICH DIED FOR THEM, AND ROSE AGAIN.
WHEREFORE HENCEFORTH KNOW WE NO MAN AFTER THE FLESH: YEA, THOUGH WE HAVE KNOWN CHRIST AFTER THE FLESH, YET NOW HENCEFORTH KNOW WE HIM NO MORE.
THEREFORE IF ANY MAN BE IN CHRIST, HE IS A NEW CREATURE: OLD THINGS ARE PASSED AWAY; BEHOLD, ALL THINGS ARE BECOME NEW.
AND ALL THINGS ARE OF GOD, WHO HATH RECONCILED US TO HIMSELF BY JESUS CHRIST, AND HATH GIVEN TO US THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION;
TO WIT, THAT GOD WAS IN CHRIST, RECONCILING THE WORLD UNTO HIMSELF, NOT IMPUTING THEIR TRESPASSES UNTO THEM; AND HATH COMMITTED UNTO US THE WORD OF RECONCILIATION.
NOW THEN WE ARE AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST, AS THOUGH GOD DID BESEECH YOU BY US: WE PRAY YOU IN CHRIST’S STEAD, BE YE RECONCILED TO GOD.
FOR HE HATH MADE HIM TO BE SIN FOR US, WHO KNEW NO SIN; THAT WE MIGHT BE MADE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN HIM. 2 CORINTHIANS 5:11-21
We were created in God’s image and likeness to have an unending love relationship with God our Father. God gave us dominion to exemplify His holy nature and enforce His will in the earth over anything that would oppose it. When Adam and Eve yielded to Satan’s temptation and disobeyed the one prohibition God had given them, that sin brought death into the world.
This death was first spiritual before they died physically because sin caused separation from God. Tragically, all of us have chosen to sin. If you have trouble believing that about yourself, only review the 10 commandments. ( i.e. Ever lied? Stolen? Disobeyed parents? Engaged in sexual activity outside of marriage? Just to name a few.) These are not just arbitrary laws, but reflections of God’s perfect, holy character.
Everything wrong with humanity and our world is due to the separation from God, the Life Source, that our sin has caused. Depression, disease, demonic behavior, and death are all evidence of our wholistic separation from God : spirit, soul, and body. Hell was not even created for humanity, rather for the devil and his angels. However, if we insist on following the example of the devil in his rebellion against God, we leave God no other option but to sentence us as eternal beings to the place most fitting for our nature. If we received divine justice, we would all be damned.
The good news for us begins with the fact that the same Bible tells us that God loves us and would rather show us mercy than judgment. However, in His perfect wisdom, He cannot send the message that sin doesn’t cost and justice doesnt matter. There are spiritual laws which humanity had violated that had to be met. God the Son, Jesus Christ, willingly came to earth, fully God and fully human. He lived a perfect life without sin and fulfilled the law as well as the prophecies of the Jewish Messiah. Although man initiated the separation, God initiated the reconciliation. Through the life of Jesus, God was reconciling the world to Himself. In Jesus, the Father found a man that fulfilled the created intent for man from the beginning, unlike Adam and everyone else. Therefore, in the ministry of Jesus, we see how God truly wants to treat humanity (i.e. love, forgiveness, healing, deliverance, provision, miracles).
Largely rejected and misunderstood by Jewish religious leaders, Jesus was betrayed and condemned to die. He was brutally beaten, then nailed to a cross, speaking forgiveness the whole time. For six hours, He hung on the cross, being made a curse for the law we’ve broken. The innocent for the guilty. Before breathing His last, He declared with a loud voice, “It is finished!”, signifying that the price of our redemption had been “paid in full.” God demonstrated mercy and justice in the cross of His Son. How much stronger could He have initiated reconciliation with us?
After three days in the grave, God resurrected Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit! Jesus ascended to the right hand of the throne of God, still fully God and fully man. The only way to be reconciled to the Father is through His Son, Jesus. God commands all people everywhere to repent of sin (turn from self-rule) and believe on Jesus as Lord. When we trust alone in Jesus and not our own goodness, God gives us grace and eternal life. We become new creatures in Christ, with new hearts and new desires. Our spirit is made alive to God, righteous, and like Jesus , because He lives there. The Christian life is basically growing in understanding and applying in our mindset and lifestyle who God has made us in the spirit. If a stated reason for which Christ died is so that we would no longer live for ourselves, then living for ourselves is the root of all that is wrong with humanity. Therefore, living only to love God with all our being and others as ourselves by giving and serving unselfishly is the end of sin’s reign in our lives. Grace makes this possible, if we believe it!
Dear reader, your sins have been paid for. Forgiveness is provided. Reconciliation of spirit, soul, and body is offered exclusively through the Lord Jesus Christ. However, reconciliation requires both parties to consent. Do you believe the Gospel? Faith is the persuasion, or conviction of a truth. Are you willing to admit that you can do nothing to earn God’s gift of salvation? Do you trust Jesus as your only hope and way to be approved by God? Are you willing to stop sinning by allowing Jesus to live His desires through you? Why not then open your mouth and voice that faith to the Lord now? He’s willing and ready to move in!
If you have questions, or if you received the Lord Jesus in response to this post, please let us know in the comments!