Salvation

This page is devoted to the topic of Salvation. Salvation to me is forgiveness of my sins through the blood of Jesus and the belief that Jesus died for my sins but arose three days later and is now seated in Heaven. Through Salvation I believe that I have a personal relationship with God the Father and that the Holy Spirit dwells in me.

On this page, I will connect you to some of the passages of the Bible where I find this is discussed.

I encourage anyone interested in the topic of salvation to study the Bible. The verses I list on this page are only a few of the places you can find each of these topics referenced in the bible. Please, read the passages, pray, and allow God to speak to your heart about Salvation as well. As it is my prayer that others will come to know Christ as their Lord and Savior and gain that personal relationship with God as well.

What Is Salvation According to Ephesians 2:8 and 9 

For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift. Not from works, so that no one can boast.”

Salvation is God’s gift to us!!

John 3:16

“ For God so loved the world in this way. He gave his one and only son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.”

It is the free gift from God to us of everlasting life and freedom and salvation from our sins.

Some might ask, but why did god have to sacrifice his son for our salvation?

In the old testament the removal of sins was based on offerings presented before God. These offerings were called sin offerings and often involved an individual presenting a blood sacrifice to the priest before the Lord. ( I couldn’t imagine living in a life where I had to daily make a sin sacrifice for the sins I had committed- I would be burning through a lot of farm animals, both literally and figuratively).Leviticus Chapter 4 details God’s direction to those of the old testament on sin offerings.

God seen the need for a different type of sin sacrifice to be made. One that was a final sacrifice and where no other sacrifice would ever be needed. God’s desire was for us to be saved and to follow Him. He desires for us to choose a life of peace through Him.

So, to fulfill this need God sent His only son to be born of a virgin ( Mathew  1:18-24 ) to live life on earth, then die on the cross ( Mathew chapters 27) to be resurrected three days later( Mathew 28) in the flesh  before ascending back to heaven ( Luke Chapter 24  ) leaving us with the presence of the Holy Spirit. All of this happened so that Jesus, Son of God, and God in the Flesh could be the sin offering we needed in order to be saved from our sins. ( Romans 8:1- 4)

Now again, I listed references to these topics through the new testament, but these topics can be found referenced in many other passages in the bible as well. All the more reason that I encourage anyone who visits this page to read and study deeper the passages of the Bible for themselves.

so if God has given his son to be the sin sacrifice we need for salvation, how do we accept this salvation and establish that relationship with god

Romans 10 : 9 – 13- CSB version

“  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. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on him will not be put to shame, since there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, because the same Lord of all richly blesses all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”

 

What Happens next?

In Acts 2:38 Peter tells those he is speaking to

“Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”

To me, the Holy Spirit is the spirit of God living in us. The spirit of God is how we feel God’s presence in our lives, how we hear God speak to us today, and what helps us feel and know we are a child of God. It is a hard thing to describe, but it is easy to experience once God moves in you.

John 14:15-26- In these verses Jesus tells us of the Holy Spirit that is sent to us to dwell in us. He goes into detail on how the Holy Spirit dwells in us but not the world ( those who are not saved) and how the spirit is sent to teach us and show us all the things of God.

John 16:13-15 Jesus tells us how the Holy Spirit is sent to speak to us and teach us the truth.

Ephesians 1:12-14- We are told of the promised Holy Spirit we received as the result of our faith and salvation through Christ.

What else comes from having the Holy Spirit dwelling in us when we are saved by grace? Galatians 5: 22-26 Discusses the fruits of the spirit. That is, what characteristics we then possess as children of God. Some of these include: joy, peace, faithfullness, gentle-ness and self control.

So after we receive God’s gift of salvation, we repent of our sins, cry out to God for the salvation and confess Jesus as our Lord and Savior we then are filled with the Holy Spirit. We might not get what this new life looks like right from that moment forward, but the Holy Spirit begins to dwell in us and through that and our relationship with God we begin to learn more about Christ and have a desire to walk more closely in the life God calls us to live. We begin to feel God’s presence in our heart and life immediately.

Walking in faith

If you do not feel that you have accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior and do not have this personal relationship with God and the Holy Spirit dwelling in you, but you are interested in this saving grace and free gift God has provided. . . Reflect on the verses I have listed out, read more for yourself, pray, seek counsel from Christ followers around you, or reach out to me through the contact options ( email or facebook messenger). It’s ok to have questions. It’s ok to want more information. It’s ok to not always understand.

Mark 9:23 and 24 - Jesus tells a man that If he just believes then everything is possible for those who believe. The man looks at Jesus and says “ I do believe, help my unbelief”

It’s not ok to run from God or lack the faith. Running from God and lacking the faith does not get us that free gift. The free gift comes from surrendering ourselves to God. HE is the one you should talk to most about this. He knows that although we do believe, we can also struggle with unbelief.