wHAT IS "SALVATION"?

Salvation is the result of believing that God sent His Son Jesus Christ to take away our sins and to save us from eternal separation from God.

As it is written in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

“The Life” – Jesus Christ – was manifested for all to see, and in Him alone is Eternal Life and abiding fellowship with the Heavenly Father & with the Holy Spirit of God:

“For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us.” – 1 John 1:2

Therefore, the Message of Salvation is that through Jesus Christ alone, it is possible for those who were once in the darkness to live in the Light of God – to see, to hear, and to know (to intimately love and walk closely with) the Only True & Living God – “on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).

As we draw nearer to Him in Whom there is “no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5), all the darkness within and around us is gradually stripped away and we come into the “perfection” of the Love of God – into the fullness of His goodness and Truth.

It is this radical transformation and total deliverance from darkness to light – from Death to Life – that is the substance of the Gospel, “The Good News” of Jesus Christ, who Is the Son of God, and the Savior of all Mankind:

“Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has to us. God is love, and he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear: because fear has torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us.” – 1 John 4:15-19

According to the Word of God (1 Corinthians 15:1-8), Salvation starts with “belief” in the demonstrated love and power of God, as shown in the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus for our sins – but an intimate relationship with God is only developed “by faith”: “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” – 2 Corinthians 5:7

It’s after you first believe in the testimony of Jesus Christ that you can begin living out that belief – or “walking by faith” – in day-to-day fellowship with God, through loving faithfulness and growing obedience to the commandments and the teachings of Jesus (which are also the spiritual laws, or “commandments”, of “the Kingdom of God” as well):

“But without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” – Hebrews 11:6

Thus Salvation (developing an eternal relationship with God through Jesus) involves first “believing” that God “is” – and then continues forward as we “diligently seek” God and go on to do those things which “please Him”…

By faith.

Salvation & the “Three-Part” Nature of Man

People come to a deeper revelation of Salvation and of the Lordship of Jesus Christ differently – but this is what salvation has meant for me “in practice” (or, “apart from any specific denominational or theological affiliations”):

Salvation, for me, has meant the progressive attainment of total wholeness and restoration in body, soul, and spirit, through intimate communion with our Creator – God the Father, Son, & Holy Spirit – by way of my continued faith in

1) His love for me, as demonstrated by Jesus taking on the weight of all of our sins on the Cross;

and in

2) His power to overcome all forms of darkness and sin in my own life, as demonstrated by Jesus’ Resurrection and manifest victory over death & Satan, three days later.

What Jesus did for everyone is a reminder of what He will do for anyone, and what He accomplished “universally” is what He wants to accomplish for us individually as well.

All we have to do is to come to Him believing that He is “the same” today as He was “yesterday”:

“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forevermore.” - Hebrews 13:8

One reason I describe salvation as a “progressive attainment of total wholeness” is that this has honestly been my experience: becoming “whole” wasn’t necessarily an “overnight” or “instantaneous” process – even after I came to know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.

I also describe it as such because the New Testament reveals to us that mankind is comprised of three distinct parts: body (Matthew 4:4), soul (Matthew 10:28), and spirit (John 3:5).

“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:23

“The Body” is the outward part of us – the part that corresponds to our physical interactions and physical needs. “The Soul” is similar to what some know as “the mind” or “the personality”.

The Soul is the “bridge” between the Body and the Spirit, and it is comprised of our thoughts, emotions, desires, and “free will”.

At the same time, Jesus’ own words make clear that the most significant part of all of us is “The Spirit”, which contains our eternal spiritual nature – and without the right kind of Spirit, Jesus says that we cannot even “see” or “enter” into eternal life.

In other words, without having the right kind of spirit, we “cannot enter the Kingdom of God” – here on earth, and later on when our physical bodies expire:

“Jesus answered, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.’” - John 3:5-6

Because of this “three-part” nature of Man, which directly corresponds to the “Triune” nature of God Himself (Romans 1:20) – various aspects of all three of these different parts of us – body, soul, and spirit – are addressed through the maintaining of our belief in who God is overall, and specifically in what God as our Heavenly Father has already accomplished for us through first sending us the gift of His Son Jesus Christ, and through Christ, giving us access to the gift of the Holy Spirit as well.

“God Is Spirit”: Why Soulish “Salvation” Leads to Spiritual Death

According to Jesus, the spiritual component of man is so important that not only can we only enter eternal life through the Spirit, but we also need the right kind of spirit to truly worship God even while still on earth:

“Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father…

But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.’” – John 4:21-24

In addition to this, the apostle Paul outlines in his New Testament letters how before becoming born again, our original spiritual nature is considered spiritually dead – or “dead in sins” (Ephesians 2:1-3).

There are several detailed explanations for why this is throughout the Bible (especially in the first chapters of Genesis & Romans) – but what it essentially comes down to is this: because of its destructive nature, sin causes a kind of “spiritual barrier” between us and our Heavenly Father, who is entirely Spiritual and entirely sinless -

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
– Romans 5:1-2

Take a brief look at all of the evil that has happened in the world ever since Adam and Eve first disregarded the Voice of God in the Garden of Eden and decided to listen to the devil’s voice instead.

This is no coincidence.

Everything bad that has ever happened – all sickness, disease, poverty, strife, abuse, and death – can be traced back to that single event in one way or another.

When Adam and Eve broke communion with God, their spirits “died” instantly just as God had warned them they would – even though their physical bodies went on to live much longer after that.

They “died” immediately because joining the devil (through their agreement with him) caused them to become both spiritually and physically separated from God.

Separation from God is the goal of all sin.

This is why the ultimate end of sin is “death”, as the Bible repeatedly emphasizes: “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” - James 1:14-15

If we read through the Bible carefully, we see that the term “death” is always referring to some form of separation.

“Physical death” is what happens when a spirit or soul is separated from its physical body.

“Spiritual death” is what happens when a person is separated from God.

All people will one day experience “natural” or physical death, but those who choose to remain separated from God in this life will later experience an additional “death” known in the Scriptures as “the second death”.

The Second Death is reserved for the unbelievers and idolators who deliberately refused to receive Jesus and be reunited with God while they were still alive:

“He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
- Revelation 21:7-8

People who reject the words of Jesus are abiding in “spiritual death” even while their natural bodies are still alive, and then when their physical bodies die, they will eventually experience “the second death”
(Revelation 2:11, 20:6, 20:14).

According to 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9, The Second Death is not “the end” of a person’s spiritual existence but rather the eternal continuation of a person’s deliberate choice to exist apart from the total goodness and love of God (for more on this subject, see our post entitled “What About Hell?”).

Therefore, it’s only in receiving an entirely new spirit directly from the Lord Jesus Christ (through the spiritual “new birth” experience), that we can

1) have “peace with God” for all of eternity,

and 2) gain “access by faith” into His Grace, which allows us to “stand” victorious against sin and all the other destructive works of the devil even now:

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
– Romans 5:1-2

After I became born again, I began to seek answers from the Holy Spirit about why it was that although I went to a denominational church for many years growing up, attended a religious high school, and had been “praying to God” ever since I was a little girl – it always seemed as though no matter how much I tried to “be a good person” and to “do the right thing” – I hardly ever “felt” any closer to God for all of it, nor did I have the sense of truly communicating with Him in a two-sided way.

Simply put, we had no personal relationship.

On top of that, before I became born again, I had almost no desire to read the Bible except in strictly religious or church settings.

Whenever I did try to focus on it on my own, I could never seem to get past just one or two chapters without getting bored, getting distracted, or practically falling asleep while reading it.

Although I said I “believed” in Jesus at different points in my life – and therefore I knew that His words in the Bible were important and had to mean something – I just couldn’t seem to be able to know, or even consistently care, about finding out what those “hidden” meanings were.

Amazingly though, after I truly received Jesus into my heart, reading the Bible seemed as easy as drinking water.

I realized that I could now spend entire days reading it, studying it, meditating on it, talking with others about what I read, and listening to others speaking and teaching about it as well. I literally couldn’t get enough of the pages.

To me, my growing hunger and desire to understand the Word of God was one of the first major indicators that something remarkable had taken place within me, after my initial supernatural experience meeting the Lord.

I recognized the accompanying signs of my inward transformation, but in the beginning, I didn’t understand why or how it was that everything “spiritual” which once seemed so hard, so boring, or practically impossible to do, had now become much easier, much more desirable, and almost natural to do following that first experience.

Now, based on the biblical understanding of the “three-part” nature of Mankind – I see that the reason I often failed to commune with God before is that I was attempting to reach the Heavenly Father, Who “is a Spirit”, by way of my soul and physical works alone – and not through the “door” of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit (John 10:9, Acts 1:8).

“I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” - John 10:9

In short: the only way to have a lasting relationship with God is through a recreation of our spiritual nature by the inner working of the Holy Spirit – and the only way to have access to the Person & Power of the Holy Spirit of God is to first believe and receive Jesus Christ.

When our spiritual nature is recreated, we become “a new creation” – and this is what salvation is all about.

It’s not just about “avoiding hell” or “going to heaven” – but about becoming a New Creation, (re)made in the image and likeness of Christ, through being spiritually “in Him”:

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” - 2 Corinthians 5:17

There is no other way to reach the Kingdom of Heaven or to commune with the Heavenly Father Himself besides this (John 14:6).

This is why, according to the Bible, without having the Spirit of God dwelling within us – and without receiving the “new birth” from above – it’s impossible for us to consistently talk with and accurately hear from God (in worship, study, or prayer), and it’s impossible to have victory over sin, the devil, and all the powers of darkness.

Therefore, attempting to “get right with God” through soulish means alone (or as Paul says, through our own fleshly “works”, and not through the “spirit-filled” works of God that He has “ordained” for us already, according to Ephesians 2:8-10) will always leave us feeling exhausted, disappointed, disillusioned, and defeated.

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.

The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”

- John 6:63

“War of Wills”: Self-Will or God’s Will?

In my experience, attempting to please God through “my own“ will and “my own” strength alone eventually led to me walking away from so-called “Christianity” until I finally decided to just create “my own” personal spirituality, through the influence of soulish teachings on “the power of positive thinking” and other New Age philosophies.

“Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.” - Colossians 2:8-10

In going down the “New Age” rabbit holes of “cosmic principles” and conspiracy theories, I quickly found myself in a much worse place than where I’d started before.

It wasn’t until I’d reached a kind of “mental and emotional rock-bottom”, that I was ready to acknowledge that doing things “my own way” had led me to that point in the first place.

Based on my testimony and the testimonies of many others who have gone through the same thing, it seems like whenever a person finally gets to a kind of soulish rock-bottom, they are probably closer to finding God than ever before, because it sometimes takes the breaking down of our souls for us to be willing to receive God in our spirits.

Once we are willing to let go and to receive from God, we can become “born again” and receive the Holy Spirit within us to empower us to do all the things we couldn’t do before by our own efforts, our own power, and our own desires alone:

“... This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, says the Lord of hosts.’” - Zechariah 4:6

According to Jesus, to receive eternal life we must be willing to die to the selfish life of the Soul and receive a new life ‘for His sake’, through the spiritual new birth (John 3:3):

“For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” – Matthew 16:25-26

Therefore, “Believing in Jesus” unto salvation is about first repenting (turning back) from not believing in Him before, and then continuing to believe in Him after that, by exchanging “our (soulish) life” for God’s (spiritual) life instead.

As we continue to believe in Him, the spiritual level of salvation (that makes it possible for us to have eternal life with Him even when our physical bodies expire), begins to manifest itself within our renewed souls and bodies also.

“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” - Romans 8:11

In summary, true salvation begins in the realm of the Spirit, and then it is manifest in the transformation and restoration of our physical bodies and souls as well.

The “Narrow Road” & “The Cost” of Discipleship

Forgiveness of sins and access to eternal life are “free gifts” provided to us through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, but when it comes to serving the Lord and accomplishing the Will of God here on earth – there are “costs” involved:

“For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it – lest, after he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him ...

So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.” - Luke 14:28, 33

You can be “saved” instantly just by crying out to Jesus, but you will not experience the full blessings of the Kingdom of God (on earth, or in heaven) unless you are willing to “let go and let God” after you’ve been initially “saved”.

Therefore godly repentance is not really about listing out every sin we ever committed, but about turning away from our old path of doing things “our way”, and then submitting to God to let Him lead us onto His Way instead.

This places us on the path to becoming “disciples” of Christ – not just one-time “Believers” in Him.

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” – Matthew 7:13-14

Discipleship is the “narrow gate” and “difficult way” that leads to life because it only begins when we finally turn away from doing things “our way” so that we can fully start on God’s “New and Living Way” instead (Hebrews 10:20).

This way is “the Way” of faithful obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ, who alone is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6).”

As we continue going on Christ’s Way instead of ours, God will lead us to more of “the truth” and more of “the life”, through the Holy Spirit, so that what once seemed like “the more difficult way” of righteousness will grow better and brighter each day:

“But the path of the just is as the shining light,

that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.”

- Proverbs 4:18

Additionally, salvation in our spirits and souls also makes it possible to attain physical healing, contentment, prosperity, and wholeness as well.

As we continue to be led by the Holy Spirit as disciples of Jesus, many physical conditions, circumstances, and environments that seemed impossible to move past will be transformed for us as well.

Also, various sicknesses, diseases, addictions, bad habits, and wrong ways of relating with and thinking about others will begin to fall away from us as well, as our hearts and minds get more and more “renewed” and transformed through our daily obedience to the Words of Christ and the leading of the Holy Spirit.

“Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.”

- Colossians 3:9-11

God’s Way Is Perfect”: The Rewards of Righteousness

If you choose to continue surrendering your life to Christ after the initial point of salvation, you may feel like you’re letting go of and missing out on a lot of things in the beginning.

Yet according to Jesus’ words, God is just clearing the way to lead you to things far better and far greater than what you would have ever imagined for yourself:

“So Jesus answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions— and in the age to come, eternal life.’”

– Mark 10:29-30

Therefore, according to Jesus, we should be willing to “sacrifice” all the things we had before Christ (including the “good” things) in exchange for God’s best for us instead.

“God’s best” might not always seem like our idea of “the best” at first, but ultimately, His best is what leads to the eternal life, and life “more abundantly”, that Jesus was willing to come in the flesh and die on the Cross to deliver us from the devil and provide us with:

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.

I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

– John 10:9-10

Additionally, doing things God’s Way isn’t always “comfortable”, predictable, or without various tests and challenges.

Nevertheless – God’s way “is perfect”, and it’s always the best way:

“As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.”

– Psalm 18:30

No one knows the real “you” and the real purpose for your life more than the One who made and knew you before you were in your mother’s womb (Jeremiah 1:5).

And no one will ever care for and love you more than the One who created Love from the beginning – the One who Himself is real love:

“In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation [forgiveness] for our sins.”

– 1 John 4:9-10

For these reasons, while God alone is the ultimate authority on all things, the Scriptures make it clear that salvation is not meant to be just a “once in a lifetime” event.

Instead, our spiritual “new birth” experience should be the doorway – or the starting point – to a growing mutual relationship with God founded upon the pillars of daily fellowship, service, love, obedience, fulfillment, creativity, communion, and covenant with all three persons of the Godhead:

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

All of us need to take the time to carefully ponder all the scriptures on salvation and to honestly evaluate them in the light of eternity before we conclude that anything in God’s Word is completely false because it seems “illogical”, “impossible”, or even “irrelevant” to us on the surface.

Just as ‘ignorance’ of social and natural laws does not exempt us from experiencing the long-term effects and consequences of breaking them – ignorance of spiritual and eternal truths doesn’t exempt us from the effects of not believing in and acting upon them either.

But thank God that right now, Jesus “stands at the door and knocks” (Revelation 3:20) – inviting us to believe in Him, receive Him into our hearts, become “born again”, and begin living the abundant lives with and for God that we were meant to be living all along!

Hallelujah!

BY: YEMURAI, LOOK AT GOD TEAM

"Jesus saith unto him,

'I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, ​but by me.'"
- John 14:6