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!