What is salvation?

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by Pat Lunsford

Created on: October 22, 2010 Last Updated: December 06, 2010

Salvation happens when the Holy Spirit gives life which enables us to see the glory of Christ and what He did for us on the cross. It is a supernatural experience that changes a person forever. We cannot earn it. It is a free gift from God.

John 3:16 is no doubt one of the most famous verses in the Bible. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Yet most readers don’t understand the full implications of this verse because most readers don’t fully understand the holiness and justice of God, the magnitude of sin, and what Jesus accomplished for them on the cross.

Holiness is the total absence of sin. God is the pinnacle of existence. No creature in existence can fully understand His divine greatness. Sin is disobedience and to disobey the Most High means instant death yet we as sinners still live.

God is not an indifferent force. He is a personal God. He feels emotion such as anger, regret, pity, hate, love, and joy. He is moral. He is the standard by which all righteousness is measured.

Why would such a righteous, holy God give thought to such sinful creatures as us? Because He created us in his own image. But man disobeyed the creator through the deception of Satan which plunged the entire human race into sin and rebellion. The earth came under a curse, man was driven from the presence of God, and Satan has been accusing us ever since.

God loved the world so much that He broke into history and entered His creation to settle the sin problem once and for all. Jesus Christ was God incarnate. And though we were yet sinners He died so that we might have life.

Jesus died on the cross to pay for the sins of the world and three days later He rose from the dead. Now, if people believe this they will be saved, right? ...Wrong. The devil believes it and he's not saved.

However, the devil knows that Christ didn’t die for him. Salvation is a personal thing. Jesus bore the sins of each and every one of us. Our sins were nailed to the cross with Jesus and He took the punishment we deserved so that we could enter the kingdom of God.

We are still sinners so we can’t approach a holy God. When Jesus rose from the grave He wrapped his righteousness around all who believe in Him so all who are clothed in the righteousness of Christ can approach God. We have no righteousness of our own therefore we cannot approach God on our own.