Seven Facets of SalvationÖrnek

Salvation is Initiated by the Character of God

Deuteronomy 32:5, “He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.”

Micah 6:8, "He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

Ephesians 2:4-5 “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”

As we described on day 1, we are dead and decaying. We’re getting worse – not better, so what can we do? We are faulty to the core. Many self-help programs teach us how to think or imagine ourselves as a better person. But the best they can do is help us feel a little better and act a little better; we can’t save ourselves. We must have direct input from an outside source, and God is that source.

God is our creator, He created us because He IS love (an unselfish choice for the highest good), and He wants the best for His creation. In His quest to save us from ourselves and lift us out of the quagmire of sin and destruction, God went way beyond any goodness that we have ever experienced or even imagined.

Philippians 2:5-8 describes what Jesus Christ did for us: “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!”

Second Corinthians 5:21 says, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

This is exciting and amazing news! The uncreated Creator of the universe – the holy and absolutely pure and sinless God - actually became sin for us, taking the punishment for our sin upon Himself. Through Jesus Christ, we can become sin-free and whole again, and God doesn’t just cover up our sins, He completely removes them: Psalm 103:12, “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

David rejoiced in Psalm 103:2-5, “Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”

There is only one way out. God the Creator did not provide a list of various ways to be saved, He provided only one – through faith in the saving blood of His Son, Jesus. He always holds the door of forgiveness open for those who, as we read in 1 John 1:9, ”If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

The result is that we are clean in His sight because for those who receive the free gift of salvation held out through Jesus’ sacrifice, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1-2)

Reflection: God is by His very being the ultimate in justice, mercy, forgiveness, faithfulness, and the list goes on. The enemy of our souls would delight in keeping us from enjoying the forgiveness and freedom that Jesus Christ offers. Only by turning away from the world’s enticements will we find true freedom and strength; the strength He provides for those who turn to Him in faith.