The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines salvation as 1) deliverance from the power and effects of sin. 2) a: preservation from destruction or failure b: deliverance from danger or difficulty. Salvation is an immediate, and one time event, that takes place in the soul of a man or woman who truly believes that Jesus is Lord of their lives. Salvation takes place when a person decides to give total control of their life over to Jesus, trusting that the sacrifice he made on the cross was sufficient enough to take away all past, present, and future sins. In other words, a person is saved or delivered from the power and effects of sin upon making the choice of becoming part of the family of God. It is a gift from God and there is nothing we can do to earn it for ourselves. God offers it, and the only responsibility we have is to accept it or reject it.
You see, when man sinned back in the beginning, a debt was created. “For the wages (or payment) for sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” [Romans 6:23] The payment for that debt was death. Someone had to pay the penalty for sin and death was the only way this could happen. Death simply means “separation.” There is a physical death and a spiritual death that can take place. In either of the two, there is separation. When Adam and Eve sinned, they immediately ‘died’ spiritually. The relationship they shared with God was severed or was separated. Physical death also became a product of that sin. At the time of our death, our soul ‘separates’ from our body and the relationship between body and soul is no longer there. Death was our inheritance passed on from Adam and Eve to all humans.
Since death was the payment for sin, someone had to make the sacrifice and provide payment for it. It would have been a simple gesture for us to be our own individual sacrifice for our own selves, but there are several problems that present themselves with that idea. First, I don’t think that we would be too willing to die for anyone, even ourselves. And besides, it would take an eternity of death in order for the debt to be paid. Another problem was, that the one being sacrificed needed to be without sin, and that disqualified us all from the get go. So, someone had to be willing to die, be able to pay the price and be without sin, and needed to be related to the human race. It didn’t look good for us and it seemed pretty hopeless. How could this problem be resolved? God had the answer in the person of Jesus Christ! He alone was willing to die for us! He became human in order to become a blood relative of the human race. He also had the means to pay the price and was a sinless person during his time on earth. He was the perfect sacrifice in every way! And so Jesus came, lived a perfect life, died on the cross and through that sacrifice, redeemed the entire human race. The penalty that was meant for us for all eternity has now been exchanged for an eternal life instead. What a deal! To redeem someone is to buy back, to purchase something or someone that had been lost, by a payment of ransom. Jesus did just that! He purchased us back from sin and now is able to offer us the gift of salvation by simply accepting him as the Lord of our lives whom we are willing to serve and live with for all eternity. The price paid was a very costly one, the blood of Jesus shed on the cross for the sins of the world!
Mark 10:45 – “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
2/2/2008
James
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