What is Salvation?
Salvation is an act of God whereby He saves people from Satan, sin, the world, death, judgment, wrath, and punishment. There must be a problem with man if the solution belongs to God. God created man very good. Man was tempted in the Garden of Eden, by a rebellious angel, who had indwelt a serpent. The fall of man from the garden paradise also included the world around him. The consequence of man’s sin and apostasy against God was death. It is appointed once for a man to die, and then comes the just judgment at God’s throne. God warned the first people that sin would result in death. Death includes the body and the soul, the spirit which resides in each human body made by God.
Satan is the adversary of man. His devilish acts, as a fallen angel, include an attempt to usurp the throne of God. God gave man dominion over the earth, but Satan usurped that dominion when he deceived man into insubordination against God; therefore, he is called, “the god of this world” and the “prince of the power of the air.” Satan is a destroyer, a murderer from the beginning. He is the father of lies. He leads an army of demons (fallen angels) who joined in the insurrection against Almighty God. Eternal hell and the lake of fire were created by God, as the prison abode for fallen angels. Fallen man shares the same destination, having joined the revolution. Man has also been enslaved by Satan in sin.
Sin is lawlessness. It is the dominant influence in man’s life. Sin is the representative spirit within each person’s nature. It results in particular acts of transgression known as “sins.” Man is conceived in sin. He is born in sin. He lives in sin. He dies in sin. Sin is killing man because sins have consequences. Sin’s domain is the world of men, who daily obey the instruction of their slave-master. Sinful man is helpless against the power and influence of sin, and sin is so crafty, it makes man enjoy sinning against God during his short stay in this world.
The world is polluted with sin. The natural world was created by God, but in the fall, it became a place of competition and death. The course of this world is managed by Satan, whose objective is to destroy each person made in the image of God. The world is a system that causes man to compete with His neighbor.
Man plays Satan’s game, fashioned in the likeness of the children’s game, “king of the mountain.” Man observes his environment and calls it, “survival of the fittest.” Man’s curse is his toil in this world. Humans try to cope with their futile existence through a variety of distractions, including: leisure; entertainment; food; alcohol; drugs; sex; travel; education; hoarding; building work empires; etc. Many of these demonic-inspired distractions away from God’s salvation produce addictions.
When Adam and Eve (man) were cast out of the paradise garden, they entered a world of entropy, decay, and death. Death came to human bodies and souls. When death manifested in the first murder, the soul of Abel departed from his body. Murder and other methods of death remain apparent, but the death of the soul is not so well understood. When man fell into sin his soul died, and his body followed his soul in death. Each person born has a dead soul, spiritually-speaking. This means the person has no life for God in them. Man is born a slave and dies a slave, with only an inclination to serve Satan and sin. Death reigns over man because of sin. Death leads to God’s judgment. Man fears death because he recognizes judgment and punishment are related to death. He fearfully waits out his life in this world, for what is on the other side of the veil of death. His fear is justified. Man is in great trouble.
God is just in judgment and punishment of fallen angels and fallen humanity. The wrath of God is rightly directed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness. When man sins, he does so in the times of his life; but man also sins in eternity because time exists in eternity. Therefore, man is immortal in the sense of his existence. He was created by God, and he will live forever. Man in sin, death, judgment, and punishment lives on and on. Without salvation, man is in a permanent state of enmity against the eternal God.
God created everything and everyone. He did not create everyone equal. The Bible clearly shows us two very different groups of people in this world of sin. Distinctive terms are used in the Bible to show this truth: darkness and light; righteous and unrighteous; sheep and goats; wheat and tares; believers and unbelievers; and most vividly — children of the devil and children of God.
God chose one group of people to be saved before He created anything. By doing this, God displays His free will, mercy, sovereign grace, love, power, wisdom, etc. God chose to pass over the other group, who will not be saved. This is the doctrine of reprobation. By doing this, God displays his anger; justice; judgment; wrath; punishment; power; wisdom; etc. Thus, salvation began before time and space in God’s free and gracious selection of some people and not others.
God is the God of the Jews and the Gentiles, also. He chose the Jewish people, to serve as a type for all people, to learn of His relationship with His beloved people (true Israel). Therefore, God covenanted with Israel, made gracious promises to them, gave them His Law, blessed them for obedience, cursed them for disobedience, and sent the Savior of the world through the Jews. Thus, when considering salvation, one must look to God’s revelation, spoken to the Jews, which is called the “Hebrew Scriptures” or “Old Testament” of the Bible. The Bible is the written Word of God.
God delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and sent a deliverer, Moses. God dwelt with His people as He led them to the Promised Land, a place He had prepared for them to dwell in security and prosperity. The typology of these historical events reveals God’s intention, to deliver His people from bondage to sin, through a Deliverer, into an eternal dwelling place. Heaven is depicted as a city of glorious opulence, boasting the presence and power of God to provide security and prosperity for His people, forever. If Jerusalem in Canaan was the typological destination of the Israelites, the New Jerusalem is the type fulfillment. Heavenly Zion is the place of eternal rest — completed salvation.
God cannot and does not allow sin, nor sinners, into His presence. The Jews, like the other nations of people, were sinners. The penalty of sin must be paid, according to the Law of God. Each person is responsible for his or her sins against God, but God permitted a substitute for payment of sins. This was depicted in God’s design and implementation of blood sacrifices in the tabernacle/temple of the Jews.
The Law exposed sin, but it also made provision for priests to offer sacrifices to reconcile the separation of the people from God. The blood of the unblemished substitute would allow God’s people to draw near to Him. The life of the substitute was poured out in the blood/death. Sins were paid for, wrath was diverted from the one offering the sacrifice onto the substitute, and the blood brought forgiveness of sins by the mercy of God. The blood sacrifice brought atonement. God and man could have communion and dwell together in peace.
The Old Testament serves one purpose: to point to Jesus Christ. The New Testament reveals and explains who Jesus is and what Jesus has accomplished for God’s people. Salvation belongs to God. It is entirely a work of God. God chose a people to save. God made a righteous provision for blood sacrifice; one that would be offered only once, for all of His people to be redeemed and reconciled to Him. God’s salvation is Jesus Christ. Salvation is not a legal process. It is not by the will of man, nor by the works of man. In this way, God receives all honor and glory for what He has done.
Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God. He is God, the Son. He has always existed. He is not a creature. In fact, He is the Creator. The Son of God came into the world by taking on flesh and dwelling among humanity. He avoided sin, being conceived by the Holy Spirit, in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Being fully God and fully man, Jesus Christ lived a perfect sinless life. He was identified as the unblemished Lamb of God, and therefore, the perfect sacrifice for the sins of God’s people.
Jesus Christ is the one and only anti-type of the Old Testament salvation types. He is the fulfillment of the prophetic Scriptures. He is exactly what God’s people embedded within every nation, tribe, and tongue need for salvation. Jesus Christ, in life and death, is anticipated and realized salvation.
The death of Jesus Christ, by Roman crucifixion, caused His life blood to be poured out for all of the sins of all of His people, from around the world and across history. Just as sins committed in time and eternity demand eternal damnation, so the death of Christ, in time and eternity, executes eternal salvation.
Satan is defeated. Sin no longer has dominion over God’s people. Death is no longer to be feared. Justice is satisfied. The Law is fulfilled. Judgment is no more, as there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Punishment has been meted out in the body of Jesus Christ.
The work of God the Father is a finished decree. The work of God the Son is captured, in His final words on the Cross, “It is finished.” Christ is victorious, but salvation must have its application to God’s people, for one to appropriate the benefits of so great a salvation.
God the Father and God the Son have sent God the Holy Spirit to bring salvation to God’s people. To know God the Savior is to know His salvation. This knowledge is found in the Bible, both Old and New Testaments. Vital to salvation is God’s Word, which is like the seed of a farmer, who anticipates a harvest. The seed of God’s Word enters the soil of human hearts, and it brings new and abundant life to those who receive the Holy Spirit.
God’s Word is like a powerful sword in the hands of the Almighty Spirit of God. Christ Jesus has defeated Satan, sin, and death; and therefore, He clearly has the power to open the hardened hearts of people enslaved in this world. God’s salvation is being preached in the world, today. By reading this short explanation, based on Scripture revelation, you are all the more aware of what God is doing in this fallen world of sin.
If you remain dull, even dead, to these matters, you will live and die in your trespasses and sins. God will judge you with perfect justice, and your eternity will be suffering in hell and the lake of fire. If you are drawing near to God regarding what is written here, then you must continue toward the light of the world. You are experiencing the warmth and love of a gracious Savior. His name is Jesus Christ.
Salvation is the greatest idea in the world of knowledge. God is saving His people. He has not failed in decree; nor has He failed, in executing what was needed for redemption and reunion with His people. He is sending His Word and His Spirit to those who have not yet been transferred from the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of His Beloved Son. Is that you? God’s salvation is personal.
If you believe God is calling you to come to His salvation, then He is calling you to Jesus Christ. Cease from every distraction and make this the priority of your very existence. Take hold of every opportunity to call upon the name of Jesus in prayer and to know Him from the Holy Scriptures. If you need help in this matter of salvation, then ask a born again Christian to explain it further to you, with an open Bible.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
November 19, 2020
