Hello, Beloved Reader! I’m Faith. Thanks so much for visiting me today! I have a topic to discuss here that concerns the entire world.
Yes, that’s right, the ENTIRE WORLD.
There are many topics that the world might need to know about, such as topics on how to deal wisely with finances. The world needs to know about taxes, eating healthy, and how to label an envelope so it gets to its proper location. These are a few physical topics people on Earth need to know about.
What about some non-physical topics?
Take learning to communicate as an example. Most have heard the phrase, “Communication is key.” Other examples could be knowing how to think critically or figuring out how to make 1+1 = 2.
The subject we are talking about today goes deeper than any physical or mental topic one could know: Salvation.
When a person breaks the law, they are sent to jail. When a person gives to a worthy charity, they are praised. When a child hits another child, they get punished. When a child works hard and gets good grades in school, they are rewarded. When an eternal soul leaves the fleshly body, there are one of two places it will go. Heaven (the reward for a Godly life) or Hell (the reward for a worldly life). Simply put, the actions of a person are very important. Actions are things that bring about the consequences that have been set up for them.
God, of course, has ultimate power and He has given man free will. Man has been given the choice to send himself to Heaven or to Hell. It is not God who sends them. (2 Peter 3:9) Where man ends up is dependent upon his actions.
Salvation is a change that happens within a person. It’s not a surface-level thing. I will try to break this into pieces so it’s easy to digest.
Romans 10:13 – “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Why does this “whosoever” call upon the Lord? If you read down a little further to Romans 10:14, it talks about how people can’t call on God unless they believe in Him, and they can’t believe in Him unless they hear of Him. So, these people hear about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and believe in Him through hearing about His sacrifice and all that He can and will do for them. They call on God because they realize they need to be saved.
But from what?
Yes, God’s salvation does save us from Hell, but what is Hell exactly? Hell is the reward for unrepented, ungodly actions that send a person there. Check this out.
Mark 7: 20-23 – “And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”
Left to our own devices, with nothing as a higher, moral truth to compare ourselves with, then we will do all these things. The heart of a man is evil, wicked, and will do all it can to please itself. (Jeremiah 17:9-10) This ultimately destroys the soul, rewarding it with eternal death and fire when it leaves the body.
This is what salvation is meant for: to save us from ourselves.
The devil uses our fleshly lusts to tempt us so that we will sin. This sin brings death and without atonement then death gives way to eternal damnation. (James 1:15) But Jesus, in His mercy and love, gave an opportunity for us to be saved from ourselves. In so doing, we can live eternally, abundantly, with Him.
So, a quick recap.
Salvation is ultimately the change within a person that causes them to live in a Godly manner as they strive to discard the fleshly lusts that hinder them from having life and having it more abundantly.
This is the first of a series of multiple blogs in which I will be talking about salvation. This week it was defining salvation. Next week we’ll talk about why salvation is important in the individual life and the world.
Thank you for reading and be sure to join me soon for the continuation of this series!
— Faith Cross
