What Exactly is Salvation?

According to my little Oxford English Dictionary, salvation is "the saving of a person from sin and its consequences..."

The word before that is "salvage" which means "rescue something that is in danger of being lost or destroyed".

Maybe some of you didn't know you needed salvation or salvaging. But, we all need it. Sin has consequences.

Romans 3:23 says "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." And,

Romans 6:23 says "For the wages of sin is death..."

Hmmm...

But, aren't we all going to die?

The verse goes on to say, "...but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Yes, we are all going to die. This flesh we live in is temporal. That's a given. With all the new technology and discoveries we've made, nobody has figured out how to make this "house" we live in infinite. Nobody, except God. He will give us new, eternal bodies not made out of flesh and blood.

Hey! Is that a bonus for believing in Jesus or what?

We get new bodies when these ones wear out or get killed. AND we get eternal life! So, does that mean that some people will die for eternity?

Yes, apparently there will be those who will die a "second death". And some who go to hell. But, let's not talk about that. Let's talk about the benefits of salvation.

Once you believe in the birth, death and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ, your life will be different. You will have a new purpose and meaning for your life and a communion with God which can be attained in no other way. That's because, Jesus Christ is the Mediator of the New Testament. He is the Connection between humans and God. He explains things to God for us. He excuses us and gets God to pardon us.

He has the power to do that because He was crucified and bore our sin on the cross. Then, He conquered death. Jesus was the Only One Who had the power to conquer death because He had no sin. He was the pure sacrifice given for the salvation of the world.

So, how do we get saved? What is the secret formula? How do we receive eternal life?

BY FAITH.

The one and only way to be born again into the spiritual realm where you can begin to understand the mind of God is by faith! Faith is the key that opens that door. Faith and faith alone. Yep.

You must believe that Jesus was born. (Easy, right? It's a historical fact.) You must believe He died. (Not much more difficult to believe.) And, believe that He rose from the dead. (This is where some have trouble.)

Ok, maybe you're not 100% sure that Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the third day. Maybe you weren't raised with that kind of teaching. You may have been raised to believe the exact opposite. But, you can try! You can TRY to believe it, can't you? Ask God to HELP you to believe it.

It's not something that you can work up. You just have to be WILLING to believe it. God will do the rest. Take a step of faith out on the impossible and God will meet you halfway! I know it's not an easy thing to believe that this man died 2000 years ago and that He was raised from the dead and walked around on the earth in His new body for 40 days. You weren't there to see it. You only have faith to go on!

But God loves faith! And if you will ask God to help you to believe it, He will show you the truth so that you will HAVE the faith to believe it! Give it a try! It's so easy and well worth the effort.

Here's a little example of a prayer you can pray to be saved for eternity:

"Dear Lord Jesus,
I believe You were born and died. I don't know if You rose from the dead, but I really want to believe it. Please help me to believe that You rose from the dead. I will say by faith that I do believe You rose from the dead. I pray You will forgive me for all my sins and help me to be born again in the Spirit. Please come into my heart and give me eternal life. AMEN."