Salvation

Not too long ago, I was presented with a question about salvation. The question was along the lines of when and how God grants his salvation and can He take it back, or can we lose it? The question in itself can be a very frightening one, but one that I think can be answered very easily.

First let us define “salvation”; the act of saving from harm, deliverance from sin through Jesus Christ (Encarta Dictionary). Next, let us define “grace”; the infinite love, mercy, favor, and goodwill shown to humankind by God, the condition of being free of sin (Encarta Dictionary). Finally, we also need to define “faith”; the belief in, devotion to, or trust in (Encarta Dictionary).

God the Father, in His “infinite love, mercy, and favor”, has saved us from the penalty of sin; through the sacrifice, suffering, and death of Jesus Christ His Son; requiring nothing more than our belief, trust and devotion to.

“But GOD, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses (sin), made us alive together with Christ -by grace you have been saved- and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages, He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 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. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which GOD prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” –Ephesians 2:4-10

Our salvation is never in question; it is never, “not there”. Through His gift, through Jesus Christ, salvation exists for everyone, for all time. The only requirement, the only act, the only condition or prerequisite is our “faith”. All we have to do is believe, to accept, to trust; GOD says here it is, all you have to do is take it, and because of His infinite love that is many times beyond our understanding, he gives us the choice to accept it, or pass it by. He will never take it away; however, we can by our own decision, choose to turn from it and reject it. So, can we lose it, the answer is emphatically NO. Can we choose to turn from it, unfortunately we can.

Once in the body of Christ, once saved, once we have made the decision to accept our free gift of salvation from sin and death; it then becomes most important for us to stay in prayer, stay in the word, stay in our relationship with GOD and get in a family of fellow Christians, a family of support. Know this, Satan will stop at NOTHING to get us angry, frustrated and/or defeated using any method he can to get us to turn from GOD, to lose our faith, to turn from our salvation. But in GOD, through Jesus Christ, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, in a simple act of faith, a simple act of trust, Satan is defeated and we are saved!

WhoKnowsBest

Who knows best
Just recently my pastor at church was talking about the Holy Spirit and he touched on a passage that at the time spoke to me, but the longer it has sat on my heart, it has really began to move me. He was speaking from Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose”. The point he was driving home is that God knows what is best for me. On hearing this concept, it was not new. Of course God knows what’s best for me. That was no problem. God knows what’s best; all I have to do is just trust in God, right? No problem, piece of cake, just trust in God; trust. That’s when I hit the big wall.

Have you every completely trusted someone. Have you ever released all control of everything and turned it totally over to anyone else. Think of an amusement park and getting on a roller-coaster. We watch the ride, we see where it goes, we know what is going to happen, but we still get on the ride with a little fear and apprehension as they strap us in and we relinquish control. Is it so exhilarating because we give up some control? (By the way, I hate roller-coasters.)

Let me just say now that I have some major trust issues. Most of my life, I have felt that the only person that I could trust, was me. At some point, I have felt that everyone I have known has let me down. I have crawled into a shell of trusting only in myself and then no one can let me down or hurt me. So to say, trust in God, I find myself stopping and realizing that in order to do that, I have to give up my trust in ME! I have to admit, when that realization first hit me, I had a little panic attack!

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.” Proverbs 3:5. Say it, read it, sounds simple, but is it? Trust in the LORD with ALL your heart. I challenge you as I have recently challenged myself. Trust in the LORD, it is beyond all our understanding, but in that trust, relinquish control, turn it over to him. So I ask; where do we put God in our lives? Is he our first thought when we wake in the morning? Does he consume our every thought through the day? He wants to.

We need to turn it over to the Lord, trust in him, hand him the reigns and let him lead. All we do on our own or in our own name, is wasted time, wasted breath and wasted energy. “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.” (Psalm 127:1-2)