Salvation

     “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” John 14:6.* The words of Jesus firmly cement that there is a singular way to God in heaven: through Jesus himself. No other religion, no other god, no other work, no other path to walk than Jesus’ path. He has spoken; do we choose to listen? Jesus being the only way is further cemented in Acts 4:11-12, “This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” There is undoubtedly no other method to escape eternal hell than through Christ. Ephesians 2:8-9 further shows this by focusing on our works, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. Not a result of works so that no one may boast.” Any good deeds, any act of kindness, every word we could utter, every service we provide- it all fails spectacularly before the God of the universe. However, our gracious and merciful God has provided the gift of salvation for those who have faith in him and his Word. Praise God for this amazing gift and the chance to experience eternal glory! 

     You may be reading this and are wondering, “Why do I need salvation? I’ve never hurt or murdered anyone, I mostly follow rules and laws, and I help my friends and family whenever I can. I’m a great person!” The fact of the matter is this, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23. There is no person alive today, that has ever lived, or will ever live, that has not sinned against God. John 8:34 says, “Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.’” This is a dark reality that should bring an unspeakable pain to our hearts. Romans 6:23 says, “for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Mark 9:43 really hammers home the darkness of sin by saying, “And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.” All of our sin is irredeemable and humanity has no way of saving itself; yet in John 15:16 Jesus says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” My friends, it is incredibly important for us to recognize the indescribable depths of mercy displayed in this verse! Humanity is undeserving of any good thing, yet God loves us so much that he chooses us to be saved. Ephesians 1:3-6 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,  even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us  for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,  to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.” This passage confirms our being chosen by God and should deepen our gratitude and humility towards Him! Becoming a follower of Christ is a joyous occasion! The Lord is truly merciful! 

     If our sin is to be punished by eternal suffering, how in the world is it possible that any human is able to be saved and go to Heaven?  Titus 3:5-7 gives us our answer saying, “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.” We have spoken much about Jesus being the reason for salvation’s possibility. What exactly did he do? Jesus, the son of God, was miraculously born into humanity through the virgin, Mary. He was entirely man and entirely God at the same time. He lived an entirely sinless life, even as he was tempted by every sin imaginable and tempted by Satan himself! Jesus our Lord endured using faith and displayed perfection in every sense of the word. Jesus went from city to city, with his 12 disciples, preaching to all who would listen. He went against the hypocrisy of the religious leaders at the time and performed incredible miracles! Jesus healed hundreds of people from their sicknesses! He made paralytics walk, blind people see, and even raised a man from the dead! The gift of salvation I have talked much about is free to receive to us, yet it came at a cost to him. Jesus was born on this earth for a purpose much greater than healing and preaching. Jesus came to lay down his life for all who will receive him. (The story of Jesus’ life, including all I just said in this paragraph, can be found within the Bible. More specifically the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.)

     The entirety of Isaiah chapter 53 prophesied what was to come: the perfect lamb led by the will of God to be slaughtered. My friends, this chapter was written hundreds of years before Jesus’ birth! This should leave us absolutely starstruck and in awe at the longstanding beauty and perfection of God’s plan for our salvation and the decimation of sin! Jesus draws parallels to this prophecy while speaking to a crowd in John chapter 10 by claiming to be the good shepherd who lays his life down for his sheep. Jesus finishes speaking to the crowd saying this in verses 17-18, “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” Jesus claims in front of all these people that he has authority from God, the Father, to die and raise himself from death. Verses 19-21 show how this sparks outrage among most of the Jews listening: “There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. Many of them said, ‘He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?’ Others said, ‘These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?’” Jesus performed a miracle, a cut above all he had done so far in John chapter 11, by raising his friend Lazarus from the dead in front of many people. In their hatred and jealousy, the religious leaders of the Jews (known as the Pharisees) began their preparations to kill Jesus. The Pharisees were afraid of losing their status and reputation to a singular man who claims to be the Son of God. In John chapter 18, Jesus is betrayed by his own disciple as a small army comes to arrest him. Verse 4 shows us Jesus’ foreknowledge as he approaches this arrest party: “Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, ‘Whom do you seek?’” Jesus, being fully God, knew that they were coming to arrest him. The rest of chapter 18 shows how even the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, could not find any guilt in Jesus. Yet, when the Jews were asked to choose a man to set free, they cried out for Barabbas, the worst criminal in the court, over Jesus. John continues giving us an eyewitness report of what is happening in chapter 19. The Jews cry out for Jesus to be crucified, as was Roman custom for criminals put to death, but Jesus was no criminal. Jesus humbled himself to fulfill the Father’s plan and be our means of salvation. There he hung on the wooden cross with his pierced hands and feet. All sins of all time were placed upon him. God’s wrath poured out on him. He did this for our sake! In verse 30 Jesus cries out, “When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” Jesus, being fully man, was killed. John chapter 20 finishes out Jesus’ story on earth by testifying to his resurrection and appearance to his mother and disciples. Jesus took on all sins from all time as the perfect sacrifice! He rose from death as the means to our salvation! Praise God! 

     If you are reading this and have not yet been saved, you are treading a path that leads straight to the inextinguishable fire of eternal suffering. I do not say this to shame you! I say this as someone who was on the same path until God chose me and called me to the right path. His path. I pray fervently that the Lord changes your life for eternity, that you begin to read his Word regularly, and that your habitual sins will turn into rare exceptions! Romans 10:9-13 says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” This is what it means to be chosen! This is what it means to experience mercy undeserved! This is what it means to be saved! Believe in Jesus’ sacrifice for you and his resurrection from death! Pray to God that he softens your heart, that you’ll recognize your sinful ways are sending you to Hell, and that Jesus is the only way to be redeemed! Confess your sins and strive to walk away from your past for good! Regardless of your background, if you believe in Jesus’ crucifixion and confess your sins, the God of all mercy and love will save you! He will always be with you to offer comfort and guidance! The joy a follower of Jesus experiences is unlike any other! Being able to pray to him at any time about anything is truly incredible! Jesus tells us in John 10:28-30, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” If you have put your faith in Jesus and are now striving to live for him, there is nothing this world can do to take you away from that. There is nothing that can cause you to lose your salvation. There is nothing that causes you to lose your fellowship with the Lord; He is always with you. Your sin cannot cause God to love you any less, because Christ is your righteousness! Romans 8:38-39 says, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Praise God for this! I pray you have put your trust in God’s Word and have been born again through Christ! May the God of peace, love, justice, wrath, majesty, dominion, and all faithfulness be with you. Always. 

*All scripture in this article is referenced from the English Standard Version (ESV) translation.