What is Salvation?

Salvation, in our case, is when a perfect person comes and saves us from our sins. I don’t think many people, if any, would disagree with that. What they might disagree with is how one attains salvation. Time and time again I hear, “Jesus came and died so that we could be saved from our sin and all that we have to do is accept it. I’m left wondering “how though? How do I become saved?” This is where conflict arises. Different religions and even different sects of religions will give you different answers. So today, I’m writing to tell you what the Bible says about how we receive this salvation. 

I wish I could say that it’s as simple as saying a couple simple words and poof you’re in, then again I’m glad that’s not it. Romans 10:9-11 says, 

“If you declare with your mouth,

 ‘Jesus is Lord,’ 

and believe in your heart that 

God raised Him from the dead, 

then you will be saved. 

For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified,

 and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”

So part of it is praying and declaring Jesus to be Lord, but another part of it is believing in your heart. I said I’m glad that it’s not as simple as saying a few words because if that’s all that salvation is about, then what’s the point? When you believe something in your heart, your heart changes, it starts to follow what you believe in. Words can be empty, but belief is trusting in what you believe in. When a person comes to Jesus and puts their trust in Him, their heart changes. It no longer desires what it wants but desires what Jesus wants. The heart no longer wants to be sinful but to share the good news of Jesus. This brings me to what happens when a person receives salvation. They repent. 

The word repent means ‘to turn away from’ and for us that means turning away from sin. So often professing our faith and believing is where we stop. It’s where our journey of faith stops because we don’t repent. After we receive salvation we stop moving toward sin and we start moving towards Jesus. We start the mission that He left for us. 

“Then Jesus came to them and said, 

‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, 

baptizing them in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,

 teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. 

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’”

Matthew 28:18-20

We begin to tell the world who Jesus is and what He did for us. We daily ‘take up our cross and follow Him’(Luke 9:23). So from here, we go together to the ends of the earth.