Salvation

God’s Deliverance

Salvation can be described as “snatching” someone from serious danger. Just as you would “snatch” your child from before an oncoming automobile to save his life, the Lord Jesus saves or “snatches” every individual who trusts in Him from the pathway that leads to eternal death in Hell (Rom. 6:23). Salvation thus can best be understood as God’s deliverance. In the Old Testament, God delivered Israel from their enemies many times (Judg. 3:9, 15, 28). In the New Testament, God delivered sinners from eternity in Hell (Acts. 16:31).

Salvation requires not only God’s initial action but also your response. There are basically three aspects of God’s salvation or deliverance: justification, sanctification, and glorification. Justification is God’s deliverance from sin’s penalty. When a person accepts Christ into their life, they become totally free from the penalty of sin and spiritual death (Rom. 3:23–25). The penalty for sins that have been committed in the past or sins that will be committed in the future has been paid through the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross.

Sanctification is God’s progressive deliverance of a believer from sin’s power (Eph. 5:26; 1 Thess. 5:23). God desires that believers mature and become more Christlike, that become free from sin’s control in her life. But if the believer sins because of her fallen nature, God has made provision (1 John 1:9). God has given the Holy Spirit to aid believers in the process of sanctification.

Glorification is God’s ultimate deliverance of the believer from sin’s presence. Glorification will not be actualized until the Lord returns for His children (1 Cor. 15:51–57). While you are living on this earth, you will always be in the presence of sin. However, those who have trusted in Christ will one day be free from sin completely.

Your personal response to God’s action is also of utmost importance in salvation:

* You must know who Christ is, what He has done, and what He is able to do.

* You must have a conviction that this knowledge about Christ is true.

* You must act upon that knowledge and conviction, trusting in Christ daily.

You must have a personal encounter with Christ, surrendering your life to the Lord. At this point salvation or “deliverance” occurs. From that point throughout eternity, the power of Christ in the believer is greater than the power of sin over that believer (2 Tim. 1:12), and Christ, in turn, covers your sins by having paid the penalty for those sins through His death on the Cross. You then are challenged to live for Him and grow in His grace.

Taken from The Woman’s Study Bible