Previous: Why Do You Need to Be Saved?
Introduction
Previously we delved into God’s Word, the Bible, to find an answer to the question, Why Do I Need to Be Saved? We saw that we need to be saved because of the consequences of sin. Sin is transgression, a disobedience to God’s law (1 John 3:4, King James Version). All of us sin (Rom. 3:23). Sin results in spiritual death (Romans 6:23. But, even as Paul points out the “wages” of sin, he reveals that there is good news!
In this article, we will see what the good news is that the apostle writes about. The good news is the result of God’s grace. Joseph Henry Thayer in his Greek–English Lexicon defines the Greek word translated, grace, “good will, loving-kindness, favour.” Grace is sometimes defined as “unmerited favor,” because it is a favor that is not and cannot be earned.
Justification and Redemption
When Paul wrote in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,” he continued, “…being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus…” (Rom. 3:24). We are justification (The Greek word translated, justified means, “to show to be right or righteous”; in the passive voice, to be justified,” according to William Edwy Vine). (The Greek word translated, redemption, means, “a releasing, for (i. e., on payment of) a ransom,” accordint to Vine). The redemptive price that was paid to make justification possible was the blood of Christ. Peter writes in 1 Peter 1:18-19:
…knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.
Jesus died for us so that we might not die spiritually (Rom. 5:8; John 3:16; 1 John 3:16). He paid the price for our redemption from the consequences of sin.
Grace
We cannot earn salvation. Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8-10, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” The Greek word translated, grace, means, “good-will, loving-kindness, favor,” according to Thayer.
We cannot do enought works, or be good enough, to earn salvation. We are saved by the grace of God.
Faith
But, notice that Paul says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith.” Grace is God’s part of salvation. He did His part when He sent His only begotten son to die for us (John 3:16). Faith is our part of salvation. What is faith?
The Greek word translated, faith, here, means, “firm persuasion,” a conviction based upon hearing (akin to peitho, “to persuade”), is used in the NT always of “faith in God or Christ, or things spiritual,” according to Vine. Paul writes in Romans 10:17, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”
Faith is our firm conviction that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that He rose from the dead. Paul writes in Romans 10:9, “…that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved…” When Philip preached to the Ethiopian on the road to Gaza, Luke writes (Acts 8:36-37):
As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, Look! “Water! What prevents me from being baptized?” And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
Hearing the Word
Jesus said in the Great Commission, in Matthew 28:18-20:
All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
He said in Mark’s parallel account (Mark 16:15-16):
Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.
Notice Jesus’s emphasis on preaching and teaching the gospel. Paul tells us what the gospel is in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4:
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…
The Good News
The gospel is the good news that Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose on the third day, just as the Scriptures had said He would. Approximately 300 Old Testament prophecies foretell the birth, life, mission (our salvation and His reign over His Kingdom), death, and resurrection of Jesus. Every one of them was fulfilled!
Conclusion
Is there anything else we must do to be saved besides believing in Him? Paul uses an interesting phrase in Romans 1:5 and 16:26, “obedience of faith.” What does he mean? Is obedience required of us upon our faith in Christ? Lord willing, we will see what God’s Word says in our next article. See you then!
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