By: Mike Wallace
Sinful humanity may be saved from the penalty of eternal death and receive eternal life instead, solely by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, apart from human merit, works, or ceremonies. Atonement for sins, with its attendant promise of eternal life, comes through Christ’s death and resurrection on our behalf and is received in human experience by faith and repentance.
What then is SALVATION? Salvation is God saving mankind from the spiritual consequences of sin and the resulting eternal death caused by sin; Salvation is God giving to mankind His gift of eternal life to live with Him in His Kingdom of God.
How then are we saved? What is the process of salvation?
First, we must understand what “sin” and its consequences are. Paul tells us in Rom. 6:23 that the wages of sin is death but the GIFT of God is eternal life. Sin kills, God gives eternal life. From the time of Adam and Eve ALL mankind has sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). All souls that sin (all people who have ever lived) will die as it says in Ezekiel 18:4, 20. The apostle John is VERY clear in his definition of sin, “Sin is the transgression of the law” (I John 3:4). We are told in Heb. 9:27 that “it is appointed unto men once to die…” Without the mercy and love of God we are all as good as dead!
God alone is “immortal” (I Tim. 6:16; John 1:1-4; John 5:26). Only God has and will live forever. It is His will as our “salvation” gift to grant us immortality (I Cor. 15:50-54). Mankind is NOT immortal and does NOT have an immortal soul. See “This We Believe” p. 49 and CSCOG7 Staff Immortal Soul for further study concerning the “immortal soul”. If mankind already had an “immortal soul” God would not be granting His gift of eternal life? Make no mistake, eternal life is God’s gift to us (Rom. 6:23b).
What must we do to be saved? On the very first Pentecost of the new covenant era, the Jews convicted of their sin and complicity in the murder of Jesus asked Peter, “Men and brethren, what shall we do (Acts 2:37)? This was the sincerest possible question they could have asked Peter. The answer the apostle Peter gave to these very first Christians is the exact same answer for us today. “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). To be “saved” we must 1) Repent of our sins (we all have and will sin) 2) Be baptized and 3) Receive the “gift” of the Holy Spirit.
We have seen we all need to be saved from death because we all have sinned and sin is the transgression of God’s law. We are mortal and only God is immortal, therefore only God can save and redeem us from our sins. God’s gift to us is eternal life. We receive this gift by repentance, baptism and by the receiving the Holy Spirit.
For a full and comprehensive study on this subject it is suggested that one read “This We Believe” Chapter 4 Man, Salvation, and Life pages 47-58.
