Foundations of the Faith: Day 3SALVATION
| Results of Salvation |
What happens to you when you accept salvation? A definite spiritual
change, a transformation, takes place. Sometimes this is called a change
of heart. Second Corinthians 7:10 says, "For the sadness that is used by God brings a change of heart that leads to salvation." Second Corinthians 5:17
tells us, "When anyone is joined to Christ, he is a new being; the old
is gone, the new has come." This change can be seen in several ways.
Sometimes a person's attitude toward life changes from sad to happy, or
perhaps he now loves someone he couldn't love before.
There can also be physical transformations. Those who have been bound by habits such as alcoholism can be set free. The Lord is powerful to make any changes necessary in the person who now believes on Him.
To accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior also means to be born into the family of God. This is what Jesus meant when He said in John 3:3 that we should be "born again."
John 1:12-13 says, "Some, however, did receive him and believed in him; so he gave them the right to become God's children. They did not become God's children by natural means, that is, by being born as the children of a human father; God himself was their Father."
The Bible also speaks of adoption which brings out a similar relationship. By adoption we are received into God's family. God makes us His children, giving us all the rights of inheritance that belong to the sons of God.
"God's Spirit joins himself to our spirits to declare that we are God's children. Since we are his children, we will possess the blessings he keeps for his people, and we will also possess with Christ what God has kept for him; for if we share in Christ's suffering we will also share his glory" (Romans 8:16-17).
Being in the family of God is special. This is why you will hear Christians call each other "brother" or "sister." This is a way of saying, "We belong to the same family."
There can also be physical transformations. Those who have been bound by habits such as alcoholism can be set free. The Lord is powerful to make any changes necessary in the person who now believes on Him.
To accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior also means to be born into the family of God. This is what Jesus meant when He said in John 3:3 that we should be "born again."
John 1:12-13 says, "Some, however, did receive him and believed in him; so he gave them the right to become God's children. They did not become God's children by natural means, that is, by being born as the children of a human father; God himself was their Father."
The Bible also speaks of adoption which brings out a similar relationship. By adoption we are received into God's family. God makes us His children, giving us all the rights of inheritance that belong to the sons of God.
"God's Spirit joins himself to our spirits to declare that we are God's children. Since we are his children, we will possess the blessings he keeps for his people, and we will also possess with Christ what God has kept for him; for if we share in Christ's suffering we will also share his glory" (Romans 8:16-17).
Being in the family of God is special. This is why you will hear Christians call each other "brother" or "sister." This is a way of saying, "We belong to the same family."
| Can We Be Sure? |
Can we be sure of our salvation? One day a young woman asked for prayer.
She told me that when she accepted Christ as her Savior she had felt so
wonderful, so full of joy. Now she didn't feel that way and wanted to
know why she had "lost her salvation." We know that we are not saved by
feeling, but by taking God at His Word.
If we have met the conditions that the Bible gives us for salvation, we must believe we are saved no matter what we feel. The Holy Spirit can speak this assurance to our hearts also. We can find reassurance from our brothers and sisters in Christ. too, like my friend did the day she came to me.
"We know that we have left death and come over into life: we know it because we love our brothers" (I John 3:14).
Perhaps you have heard Christians use the words justification and sanctification. What do these mean?
Justification is being free from sin, made righteous. It is a result of salvation. God forgives our sin, takes away all guilt, and says that we are now righteous--just as if we had never done anything wrong. Romans 5:1 tells us, "Now that we have been put right with God through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Being put right with God is justification.
Sanctification means being made holy, that is, clean from sin and dedicated to God.
"May the God who gives us peace make you holy in every way and keep your whole being--spirit, soul, and body--free from every fault at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Thessalonians 5:23).
God wants all Christians to be sanctified, made holy. "God wants you to be holy and completely free from sexual immorality" (1 Thessalonians 4:3).
"Try to be at peace with everyone, and try to live a holy life, because no one will see the Lord without it" (Hebrews 12:14).
There is another point that should be touched upon while talking of the results of Jesus' death on the cross. This is divine healing. Divine healing was included in the benefits Jesus bought for us on Calvary.
Many people brought to Jesus had demons in them. Jesus drove out the evil spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. He did this to make come true what the prophet Isaiah had said, "He himself took our sickness and carried away our diseases" (Matthew 8:16-17).
"We are healed by the punishment he suffered, made whole by the blows he received" (Isaiah 53:5). Divine healing is the supernatural power of God bringing health to the human body.
James 5:14-15 tells us how we can claim this healing: "Is there anyone who is sick? He should send for the church elders, who will pray for him and rub olive oil on him in the name of the Lord. This prayer made in faith will heal the sick person; the Lord will restore him to health, and the sins he has committed will be forgiven."
If we have met the conditions that the Bible gives us for salvation, we must believe we are saved no matter what we feel. The Holy Spirit can speak this assurance to our hearts also. We can find reassurance from our brothers and sisters in Christ. too, like my friend did the day she came to me.
"We know that we have left death and come over into life: we know it because we love our brothers" (I John 3:14).
Perhaps you have heard Christians use the words justification and sanctification. What do these mean?
Justification is being free from sin, made righteous. It is a result of salvation. God forgives our sin, takes away all guilt, and says that we are now righteous--just as if we had never done anything wrong. Romans 5:1 tells us, "Now that we have been put right with God through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Being put right with God is justification.
Sanctification means being made holy, that is, clean from sin and dedicated to God.
"May the God who gives us peace make you holy in every way and keep your whole being--spirit, soul, and body--free from every fault at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Thessalonians 5:23).
God wants all Christians to be sanctified, made holy. "God wants you to be holy and completely free from sexual immorality" (1 Thessalonians 4:3).
"Try to be at peace with everyone, and try to live a holy life, because no one will see the Lord without it" (Hebrews 12:14).
There is another point that should be touched upon while talking of the results of Jesus' death on the cross. This is divine healing. Divine healing was included in the benefits Jesus bought for us on Calvary.
Many people brought to Jesus had demons in them. Jesus drove out the evil spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. He did this to make come true what the prophet Isaiah had said, "He himself took our sickness and carried away our diseases" (Matthew 8:16-17).
"We are healed by the punishment he suffered, made whole by the blows he received" (Isaiah 53:5). Divine healing is the supernatural power of God bringing health to the human body.
James 5:14-15 tells us how we can claim this healing: "Is there anyone who is sick? He should send for the church elders, who will pray for him and rub olive oil on him in the name of the Lord. This prayer made in faith will heal the sick person; the Lord will restore him to health, and the sins he has committed will be forgiven."
| Memory Verses |
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.
- Ephesians 2:8-9
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
- Titus 2:11-14
- Ephesians 2:8-9
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
- Titus 2:11-14
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