SALVATION

Scripture teaches that God is distinct from us in person and essence. He is the Creator of all things and has made us in His image and likeness within His creation. We were made for a relationship with Him, though He is superior to us in every way. God’s character is holy, meaning that He is perfectly balanced in qualities like His love and justice. Being holy, it is right and necessary for God to hold all humanity accountable for sin and yet He lovingly provides a way of escape from judgment.

Salvation is God’s deliverance of people from his holy wrath through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. All of humanity has rebelled against God and are condemned to eternal death and separation from Him. Jesus, God’s Son, was sent to die in the place of condemned sinners to make it possible for them to be brought back into a right relationship with their Creator. This was the only way redemption could be bought; God gave His son and Jesus sacrificed Himself willingly and with full knowledge of this. Only through faith in Jesus, who was raised from the dead, people can experience God’s forgiveness and have hope of eternal life with Him.

When a person turns to God and places their trust fully in Jesus they are “born-again” by the Holy Spirit. This means that the Holy Spirit comes to dwell forever in the spirit of the believer making them alive to God and able to live a “new” life that honors the Lord. The believer is sealed by the Holy Spirit for the day of Christ’s return and is assured of being spared from God’s wrath. After Christ’s return, believers will dwell with God forever.

Salvation is experienced when a person’s faith is placed in Jesus Christ for forgiveness and a right relationship with God. This is the experience of “new birth” sometimes referred to in the Bible as “regeneration.” Salvation is worked out in our lives as we submit to the work of Christ’s Spirit, motivating and empowering us to obey Him, sometimes referred to in the Bible as “sanctification.” Salvation will be realized fully when Christ returns again to take us to be with Him forever, referred to as “glorification.”

The following statements further explain various aspects of the salvation that can be experienced through faith in Jesus Christ.

Romans 6:19-22; 8:18,29-30; Philippians 2:12-13; 1Thessalonians 4:13-18; Titus 2:3:4-6