Salvation
Salvation is one of the most important beliefs in Christianity. It is why Jesus Christ, our God and Savior, descended from Heaven, became Man, was crucified and died on the cross for our sins. He also taught us the way to salvation while He lived on earth.
In discussing, the Christian belief in salvation we must look at all the verses in the Holy Bible to understand how we are saved.
Firstly, we are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ which was shed on the cross. In suffering and dying on the cross, Jesus received the punishment for our sins. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). As Jesus also rose from the dead, so we also live in Him. This is salvation by grace which is offered to all people everywhere. We are all in need of it because we “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Our sins are an offence against God who is Infinite. There is nothing a limited human can do to right a wrong against God who is Unlimited, Incomprehensible, Immeasurable. Therefore only our God and Saviour Jesus Christ could be the infinite atonement for our sins- to pay the price for our sins. This is the beginning of salvation – that we believe and accept that Jesus Christ died for us and rose again from the dead. Since He lives, we choose by faith to live in Him – for in Him we are saved – in Him we have eternal life as mentioned above in Romans 6:23. Therefore God has forgiven us and saved us for the Bible says we have been “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith” (Romans 3:24-25). Also the Bible says, “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2: 6-10) Therefore, we can see from the above that it is because of Jesus Christ dying on the cross and rising from the dead that we are saved. This is the free gift from God to those who believe in Jesus and live in Him – in Jesus who is alive and perfect. And although doing good deeds is not enough to save us, for it is “not by works”, yet we are “in Christ Jesus to do good works”.
The Holy Bible establishes faith as necessary for salvation because the Bible says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John3:16) and also “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved” (Acts16:31). However, this faith must bring forth good deeds and lead one to obey God’s commandments.
Although, we have seen that good deeds are not enough on their own for salvation they are however absolutely necessary for salvation. This is because the Holy Bible says, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (James 2: 14-17) and therefore the Bible says a person “is justified by works, and not by faith only” (James 2: 24). Furthermore, the Bible warns that even with the grace of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and belief in him, yet, if we choose to be slaves to sin and disobey God’s commandments then we are on the path to death not salvation (Romans 6:15-16), (Galatians5:19-21), (1 Corinthians 6:9-10), (Ephesians 5:5-6).
“There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance” (Luke 15: 7)
The Bible also tells us about the necessity of baptism for salvation. The Lord Jesus said, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark16:16). Furthermore, the Bible tells us of the need for repentance. It says, “Repent, and let everyone of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts2:38). Also, Jesus said that, “unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:3). We have seen that the remission or forgiveness of sins is necessary for salvation. However, we can see that the Holy Spirit living in us and helping us to do good is also necessary for salvation. For the Bible says about the Helper, the Holy Spirit, that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). These are necessary good works. It is also apparent that we cannot save ourselves and need help from God because Jesus says in the Bible, “Without me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Therefore, as Christians we must abide in Jesus and He in us so that we may be saved. This points to the fact that Holy Communion is also necessary for salvation because the Lord Jesus said “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them” (John 6 : 56) and also “ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day” (John 6: 54). And so it is important to gather with other Christians as a Church, to have Holy Communion, to eat some bread and drink a little wine as Jesus did with His Apostles saying to them, “do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19).