As a Christian do we understand the full depth of the meaning of the word “saved” or “salvation?” What does it mean to “be saved?” What are we “saved” from? To fully understand the gospel we must understand the meaning of this foundational word in Christianity. I think we get so use to “buzz” words in Christianity that we have a tendency to have a narrow or stale perspective of a word without seeing the full, majestic and breathtaking picture. There is so much meaning to the word “saved” or “salvation” that I could not in a few pages of teaching give it full justice. Yet I want to inspire you to think and meditate and treasure the deeper truths of salvation. We must go the Word of God and let it speak as to the meaning of salvation. I am not interested in the philosophies, reasoning or theologies of any person or denomination. Let’s open the Word of God, which God magnified above His name, be the final authority on salvation. I pray that God opens the eyes of your understanding that you would know the riches of His immeasurable grace, revealed in the truth of salvation.
Salvation originates with God only for He is salvation
Salvation never rests in a man or woman. No work, no deed and no accomplishment, no matter how great in the world’s eyes, can bring true salvation to a person. Education does not bring salvation. Government programs do not bring salvation. Political agendas do not bring salvation. Charity outreach does not bring salvation. Money does not bring salvation. Good deeds do not bring salvation. Helping your fellow man, woman or child does not bring salvation. Salvation never originates from the hands of people. Salvation cannot be earned, or bought. No one is good enough, smart enough, beautiful enough, rich enough, wise enough or pure enough to earn salvation. The price is too high for salvation for it to be purchased by a mere person. Tithing to a church or giving large amounts to a public charity do not bring salvation. We cannot save ourselves. It is impossible. This logically brings us to the cry of the people in Luke 18:26: Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus then confirmed in verse 27 this important truth that we are studying- Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” Salvation is only possible with God, and no other. Why is so hard for us to believe? We must stand still (not plan, not work, not design, not figure out), as Moses commanded the children of Israel, to see and experience the salvation of the Lord (Exodus 14:13). The pundits of the world in their arrogance still cry out “There is no salvation for him or her in God!” (Psalm 3:2). Salvation is mocked on television, in the movies and on the internet. The world culture proclaims we are too enlightened to be saved. They believe we have advanced so much in knowledge that salvation is an antiquated notion of the past. But God is not mocked according to Galatians 6:7 and these deceived fools will soon reap the fruit of their ignorance. Salvation belongs to God according to Psalm 3:8 and God alone can give salvation as a gift to another. Listen to these wonderful words in Isaiah:
Isaiah 12:2: Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”
God says “Behold! Pay attention! Look at this and consider!” This is a vital truth to meditate and consider that God is my salvation. Look how personal this is that the Almighty God, who created the heavens and earth, is your own personal salvation! There is no wavering, there is no doubt and there is no hesitation but instead a confident, bold declaration that God is now my salvation. Knowing this beyond a shadow of a doubt allows you to fully trust God and never be afraid of anything. When God is my salvation, he becomes my strength. The immeasurable strength and power of God rest in His salvation. His strength is your strength, his power is your power and His might is your might. Salvation always brings a song of joy, praise and thankfulness to the heart. Psalm 27:1 reiterates these truths- Psalm 27:1 (KJV): The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?-Salvation is the means to crush all fear in our lives. We need never fear any person, any circumstance or any problem once God is our salvation. With God as my salvation which is the strength of my life and my light that shines in the darkness of their world, fear evaporates when we believe this simple truth. Nothing is bigger or more powerful than the salvation of God in my life. This is why God continually cries out to the lost: Isaiah 45:22; Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. God is the only one that can save in all the ends of the earth. There is none other that has the power and ability to save to the uttermost. God wants to save. God wants salvation for every person on earth. But we must choose who is going to be our way of salvation. The Psalmist says: Psalm 68:20: Our God is a God who saves! The Sovereign LORD rescues us from death. God wants to save and rescue every soul from the sentence of death. I Timothy 2:3,4 states that “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” God is our personal Savior, yet He has a larger vision that every man, woman, and child be saved and come into a knowledge of the truth concerning their salvation.
To deepen our understanding of the Biblical definition of “salvation,” let us examine the Hebrew word for “salvation.” The root of the Hebrew words for “salvation” means “enlargement, space or removing that which restricts.” This Hebrew word (yasha) means, “to make a wide space” or “to have all that’s needed”. If you lived in the desert, you could cast your eyes over the landscape and see how far it went in every direction. Wide! If you sailed the sea, you could look toward the horizon. Wide! Lots of space for movement. No restrictions. Endless freedom. That’s concrete salvation. Room to move. Not being fenced in. Does it make you think about the endless possibilities that God has opened for you? Are you casting your vision toward the new horizon and discovering that there are no fences? And David says, “God is my wide open place.” Salvation is the doorway to endless possibilities. How wide open is your salvation? Salvation removes every form of bondage that has every held you in its chains, every captivity that has ever bound your soul, and every oppression that has crushed your life. Salvation sets you free to accomplish God’s endless purposes and plans for your life. Salvation is freedom to be what God always intended for you to be, free from the slavery of sin and the lusts of the flesh, free from the selfish and destructive direction of our sin nature. Salvation brings you into the freedom of an intimate, restored relationship with God, freedom from the exercised power of darkness in the world, freedom to walk in the power of the gift of holy spirit and freedom to love and worship God without restriction. This is truly the limitless limits and the boundless frontier of salvation.
The broader definition of the Hebrew word for “salvation” means “to rescue, to deliver, to bring to safety, to help in distress, to set free, redemption and preservation of life.’ Salvation is the ultimate deliverance, the ultimate rescue and the ultimate redemption. Salvation brings life and sets you free. We see this in the Greek word for salvation which describes the rescue or deliverance from danger, destruction and peril. It is a restoration to a state of safety, soundness, healing, wholeness and well-being. In the Old Testament one of the root things salvation delivers us from is violence. 2 Samuel 22:3,4 The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence. Psalm 72:14: He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight. The Hebrew word is chamac and it means “to violently injure or oppress, to wrong, to act violently in thought, word or deed against the truth, righteousness and goodness. The word denotes an unscrupulous assault on the rights and life of another.” This violence is rooted in a tremendous antagonism against God and His Word. According to Scripture this violence was first birthed in Lucifer due to his pride in wanting to usurp the throne of God. Ezekiel 28:16: “By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.” Lucifer whole being is filled with violence because of his sin against the Almighty. He has a relentless, twisted fury to bring violent oppression, injury and wrong to every human being on earth. He continually assaults the lives of persons, cities and nations with chamac. Every person is born in this world under the terrible weight of sin and death, birthed in their very being, and subject to the lordship of the king of chamac, the devil. He is the first violent one and the first oppressor and everything he does brings chamac. He is the father of chamac as all violence and oppression can be traced to his influence and working. It is interesting in contrast to Lucifer, Jesus Christ has not one ounce of chamac in his being and has never done one act, word or work of chamac. We see this in the wonderful prophesy about Jesus in Isaiah. Isaiah 53:9-“And they assigned Him a grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in His death, although He had done no violence (chamac), neither was any deceit in His mouth.”
At the very center of this chamac is sin as chamac is a manifestation and overflowing of sin and rebellion against God. Proverbs 8:36: “He who sins against me does violence (chamac) to his own life.” The rebellion of sin and its working of chamac is a tremendous sentence of doom on the human race and the whole creation cries out for a Savior, for deliverance from sin and chamac that are wrapped around all of the peoples of the earth like a garment.
The Devil is the god of this world according to II Corinthians 4:4 and the first usage of the word chamac in the Bible shows the effect of his lordship and kingdom over the earth. Genesis 6:11-13: “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” In the days of Noah, the entire earth was filled with chamac and it corrupted God’s way upon the earth. The nature of sin and earthly flesh is to corrupt and oppose God’s ways, purposes and plans for a person’s life and to rob them of a vibrant, living, and intimate relationship with God. The entire world is subject to the chaos of chamac and cries out day and night “Who shall deliver us from so great a violence and oppression of our souls!” “Who shall deliver us from the corruption of the wicked and the heavy oppression of the cruel systems of this world?” The world has no solution for chamac that rages like a forest fire through its cities and nations devastating billions of people. Job 19:7a is the cry of the person who does not have God as His salvation: “I cry out of chamac but I am not heard!” The Almighty God is the only solution for chamac and His plan of salvation delivers us from every vestige of chamac. As part of His plan of salvation he promises a future kingdom on earth and a new heavens and earth where chamac will no longer dominate the landscape. Chamac will have no part or place in this kingdom as this great robber and oppressor will be silenced forever. Isaiah 60:18: Violence (chamac) shall no more be heard in your land, devastation or destruction within your borders; you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise. What a day that will be when chamac has vanished off the face of the earth and paradise is restored and the whole creation will be filled with praise and awe at God’s salvation.
So how does a person receive this salvation? What is God’s plan and purposes to make this salvation available to human race? There are many ways of counterfeit salvation that cry out every day to the human heart to follow their paths but they only lead to death, destruction and disappointment. In America alone we have countless false idols of salvation promising life, peace, prosperity and well-being. Where do we turn? Who can deliver us from chamac and bring the salvation we all crave? Is death our ultimate end or is there more to life? Remember that the Bible declares that Yahweh is salvation and there is salvation in no other. Salvation never rests in another God. There is no salvation in Allah. There is no salvation in Buddha. There is no salvation in the popular Hindu gods of Ganesha, Shiva, Krishna, Rama, Vishnu or Durga. There is no salvation in Sikhism. There is no salvation in Taoism. There is no salvation in Confucianism. There is no salvation in Jainism. There is no salvation in Shinto. There is no salvation in Wicca. There is no salvation in witchcraft or Satanism. There is no salvation in atheism. There is no salvation in humanism. There is no salvation in money, riches or wealth. There is no salvation in good works. There is no salvation in bloodline or social status. There is no salvation in physical abilities or strength. God’s plan of Salvation rests in one alone and that is Jesus Christ. Without Jesus Christ, there is no salvation. Salvation only comes through Jesus Christ and none other. John 14:6: Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” The word “no one” is oudeis in the Greek and is a powerful negating conjunction meaning “absolutely no one, not one thing or nothing at all” and this word shuts the door leaving no exceptions. Jesus Christ is not a way among many or just another religion or philosophy. He is the only way to salvation. He is the only way to eternal life. He is the only way back to the heart of God. Absolutely no one can come to the Heavenly Father and be reconciled and restored and given the gift of salvation without Jesus Christ. He is the only door and the only gate to salvation. All other ways, doors and gateways lead nowhere but to ultimate destruction and day. As Proverbs says “There is a way that seems right to a man but its end is the way of death.” In John 10:9a Jesus Christ declares, “I am the door! If anyone enters by me, he will be saved” The Word of God revealed in Acts should be heralded out to every person on earth so that all know this infallible, unchanging truth-Acts 4:10-12: Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” There is salvation in no one else under than Jesus Christ. No other name can save you. The name of Mohammed cannot save. The name of Buddha cannot save. The name of any other religion cannot save. There is not an amnesty program for salvation. Only the finished work of Jesus Christ in his death and resurrection bring the gift of salvation.
Jesus Christ also is not just one way of life among many choices, He is THE LIFE. Without him there is no true, vibrant life now and no eternal life in the future. I John 5:11,12: 11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. John 10:10: The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly .John 1:4: In him was life; and the life was the light of men. John 6:35a: And Jesus said unto them,” I am the bread of life” John 5:25, 40: Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. 40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. The word “life” in the Greek means “life in all its manifestations; it is life needful for its designed position or purpose.” Its only source is God who is the “living One” and this life proceeds and originates in God alone. Salvation brings life again as God originally intended before the fall in the Garden of Eden. Salvation restores to us the true purpose and design God has for our lives. This is not just existence, it is life overflowing and abundant in all its manifestations.
When Simeon held the baby Jesus in his arms he proclaimed by revelation about Jesus Christ in Luke 2:30: “For my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,” Jesus Christ is God’s salvation that He prepared this plan for salvation thru Jesus for every people on the face of the earth. God’s salvation is not seen in any other person, name, religion or philosophy on earth.
In Hebrews 5:8,9. Jesus is referred to as the author of eternal salvation: “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him”
The Greek word for ”author” means “the originator, the cause and the source.” It is the point at which something begins its course or existence. It means that in which the cause of anything resides. Salvation begins its course of existence with Jesus Christ. He is the only cause and source of eternal salvation. Without him, salvation does not exist for the human race.
Also in Hebrews 2:10, Jesus Christ is called “the captain of our salvation.” The Greek word for “captain” is archegos (from arche = beginning/rule + ágo = lead) and denotes a leader who opens up a new way, a ruler, or one who begins heroes or those who cut a path forward for their followers. In Greek writings archegos was used of a “hero” who founded a city, gave it a name, and became its guardian. It also denoted one who was “head” of a family or “founder” of a philosophic school. The term also had distinct military connotation referring to a commander of an army who went ahead of his men and blazed the trail for them! Archegos always refers to someone who involves others in his endeavor. For example, It was commonly used of a pioneer who blazed a trail for others to follow. Archegos is variously translated as “Author” (NASB, NIV) “Captain” (KJV), “Pioneer” (NRSV), “Leader” (cf. TEV) or “Champion.”
Jesus Christ is the Captain of our Salvation who blazed a pathway thru the wilderness and chaos of this world, thru the guilt and condemnation of sin and thru the captivity of the devil’s kingdom into the amazing promise of salvation and the future hope at the very gates of heaven itself into the glory of eternity. Eye has not seen or ear even heard the wonders of this new heaven and earth that the Captain of our Salvation has given us as a heavenly inheritance. We will have new glorious bodies, living and displaying the wonders of his grace, love and mercy and His glorious salvation from everlasting to everlasting. Our Captain took on all the forces of hell for us and delivered us from the power of and grip of darkness, utterly crushing Satan’s kingdom by the cross and resurrection. He leads us in triumphant procession of eternal salvation and victory for all the kingdom of darkness to behold. He is the true pioneer who blazed the path of salvation and the only true superhero who forged the path to the heart of God making available full reconciliation with the Heavenly Father. He gave himself up as the ultimate sacrifice, paying the supreme price on the battlefield of atonement to pay the full price of salvation. There is no other Captain of the ship of salvation; there is no other prince of salvation; there is no other champion of salvation, but Jesus Christ. He is the firstborn among many brethren and the first fruits of salvation.
God desires all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth and He designated only one mediator between God and the human race and that is Jesus Christ.
I Timothy 2:3,4: Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
Jesus Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last. He is the beginning and ending of salvation. One day every eye will see him and every knee will bow to him and so many peoples from every race and religion will wail in sorrow because they will realize they have been deceived into making the most foolish decision in all history, namely rejecting the Captain of Salvation and turning their back on Jesus Christ.
Revelations 1:5-8: And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
The name of Jesus reveals these great truths about salvation as in the Hebrew it means “Yahweh saves!” and in Matthew a foundation truth about salvation is revealed.
Matthew 1:21: She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
The first thing salvation accomplishes through Jesus Christ alone is save a person from their sins. Only Jesus can save a person from their sins legally, physically, mentally and spiritually. Islam, Buddhism and all other earthly religions never can save us from our sins and the verdict of guilty that hangs over the human race like a cloud. Every person according to Ephesians 2:1 is born dead in trespasses and sins. The wages of sin is death and we are under the tremendous weight, curse and bondage of sin without hope unless we turn to Jesus, the only one who can save us from our sins. Jesus gives complete deliverance from sin and the consequences of sin. He crushed the power of sin on the cross and in his resurrection where we no longer have to be under its power and condemnation. Romans 6 states that we no longer have to be the slave of sin. Every person that does not come to Jesus Christ is a slave to sin. We do not have the power or ability to end this slavery. No other idol, religion or person has the power to emancipate and deliver us from this servitude. Sin is the vilest most dreadful master imaginable. Sin is a harsh taskmaster that ruthlessly uses its slaves, but fails to offer any true reward. Sin is a cruel tyrant. It is the most devastating and degenerating power to ever afflict the human race. It corrupts the entire person, infecting the soul, polluting the mind, defiling the conscience, contaminating the affections and poisoning the will. It is the life-destroying and soul-condemning cancer that festers and grows in every unredeemed human heart like an incurable gangrene. Unbelievers are not just infected by sin but enslaved by it. John 8:34: “Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the slave of sin.” Every human being until the moment of redemption under the domain of darkness and dominion of sin. The unbeliever is wholly corrupted by the bondage of his fallen condition and utterly unable to free himself from it.
Romans 5:12 (Amplified); Therefore, as sin came into the world through
one man, and death as the result of sin, so death spread to all men, [no one
being able to stop it or to escape its power] because all men sinned.
Adam introduced sin into God’s creation, and it corrupted all forms of life. The curse of sin and death passed on to all of Adam’s progeny. No human could stop the infiltration of the sin nature or escape its power. Death, which had not existed in any form before, became the strong ally of sin, as every human born on this earth was subject to death. This was not only physical death, but spiritual death also.
E.W. Kenyon, in The Bible in Light of our Redemption, writes:
Sin has ruled as king in the realm of spiritual
death, where man lives under the cruel Emperor, Satan. Every effort of man has to failed to eradicate
the power of sin. Education has failed. History confesses that every single rise in civilization has
been accompanied by a decline in morals. War has dominated in every period of the life of every
nation, destroying the youth and strength of humanity. It has brought untold suffering to man. Its cruelty is but a manifestation of Satanic Dominion at work in its destruction of man. Man has been unable to strike at the root and the cause of sin, sickness and death. The law of disease has fastened itself upon the human body, blighting and scourging humanity. Death is the supreme problem that all men at all periods have faced. It casts its shadow on upon every happiness born in the sense of man. Man, lying in the embrace of Satan, cries in agony against this vain struggle which only ends in a hopeless death and doom…He is born to die…Spiritual death, the nature of Satan, is the soil out of which has grown sin, sickness, physical death and every sorrow that has darkened the life of God’s man.
Sin and spiritual death brought enormous consequences upon the human race. Every type of suffering, pain, misery, sickness, affliction, torment, and anguish began to grow and flourish upon the earth because of sin and spiritual death. A great separation and barrier now existed between God and men, women, and children. The human race’s relationship with God was thrown into chaos and confusion. It was like a thick, iron door was shut on a person’s access, communion, and fellowship with God. Adam and Eve had become alienated from the life and presence of God, and their understanding became darkened. They were like blindfolded people wandering aimless in a fog of darkness. The light and spiritual life within them was extinguished, and it left a great void of hunger and need for their loving Creator. Adam had sealed the fate of the human race, and now the great cry was for a Redeemer, a Savior, and a Liberator. Oh how the human race needs salvation from this horrible predicament! No matter how smart, how talented, how strong, how powerful, or how rich a person may be, no one could free themselves from the bondage of their birth nature of sin and their condition of spiritual death. Jesus Christ took upon himself the entire weight of sin; he bore every crushing infirmity, every horrible trespass and every hideous sin as II Corinthians states “he was made sin” for us. Isaiah 53:5,6: But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. I Peter 2:24: He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. John 1:29:
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! I Corinthians 15:3: For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, Jesus bore every sin and every consequence of sin so that we could free from the power, dominion and slavery of this cruel, oppressive tyrant. He bore the burden and penalty of sin for each one of us. The cross of Jesus Christ that he bore consisted of every sin, every sorrow, every transgression, every sickness, every rebellion, every addiction, every oppression and every form of darkness that has ever plagued the human soul. He made us whole from the pollution of sin and delivered us from its corruption. He gave his life as a sacrifice so the full debt of sin is forever marked paid in full for those who confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in their heart that God has raised him form the dead.
I John 2:2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
Hebrews 10:12: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God;
I Timothy 2:6: He sacrificed himself for all people to free them from their sins. This message is valid for every era.
We have been purchased, bought with a price and redeemed from the slavery and consequences of sin. Salvation brings redemption, a spiritual purchase of the believer in which legally a full price was paid to buy sinners out of their slavery. We were slaves to sin by nature, figuratively sold into bondage of sin at birth and redemption is the only means of rescue from sin’s damning mastery. When we are born again thru Christ, bought with a price and fully ransomed thru Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross, we can rejoice as the full price of sin has been paid and we have remission and forgiveness of sin.
I Peter 1:18,19: knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. Ephesians 1:7: In whom we have redemption (apolutrosis) through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Hebrews 9:12: Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. Mark 10:45: even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom (lutron = the ransom price) for many.
Apolutrosis was used was used in secular Greek as a technical term for money paid to buy back and set free prisoners of war or to emancipate (= to liberate a person from subjection or domination, to free from restraint, control, or the power of another) slaves from their masters. Apolutrosis conveys in every case the conception (of) the delivering of a person from a situation from which he was powerless to liberate himself or from a penalty which he himself could never have paid. Redemption means to set a prisoner free, figuratively referring to the release of sinners from power of Sin or our old Adamic nature by the payment of the only ransom price acceptable to God, the precious Blood of His dearly Beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The redemption is “in Christ” not only as the source but also as the sphere in which the born again believer lives (we have obtained redemption [through the payment to set the captives free] in Him, in Christ, and we now and forever live in the “atmosphere” of the light, truth and power of that same eternal redemption.. It’s as if the “redemption” Christ has provided is now the “air” in which we as believers live and breathe and have our being, God has purchased you away from the clutches of sin and Satan and made you his most treasured possession. How valuable you must be to God for Him to purchase you with the precious blood of His Son! The worth of an object is determined by its price. God paid the ultimate price for you by the life of His Son. You are His and He is ours. We have been forever set free from every chain of sin! We have been released from all the prisons of sin. Jesus chose to endure the cross, to endure the pain, to endure the beatings, to endure the mocking and to endure the torture because he loved you and me. When Jesus was beaten, mocked and crucified, he had you on his mind. Jesus would have gone through all the agony of the crucifixion for you, even if you would have been the only person who would ever believe and be saved. That is how special and valuable you are to our Lord. Isaiah 43:2-5(a) (The Message Bible): Don’t be afraid, I have redeemed you. I’ve called your name. You’re mine. When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you. When you are in tough waters, you will not go down. When you’re between a rock and a hard place, it won’t be a dead end-Because I am God, your personal God, the Holy of Israel, your Savior. I paid a huge price for you…that’s how much you mean to me! That’s how much I love you! I’d sell off the whole world to get you back, Trade the creation just for you. So don’t be afraid; I am with you. How special you are to God! How fathomless is His love for you! God was willing to reach down His mighty hand and rescue you from the curse of Adam’s transgression that has plagued the human race and release you from every captivity known to mankind. Redemption is a release from the chains of the bondage of sin into the blossoming of a new life. Redemption breaks the power of death and the grave and gives the believer the hope of eternal life. Redemption restores our life, our liberty, our joy, and our dignity. Redemption means you belong to God as His precious child, purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ and released from the authority and dominion of the devil. This is the height of God’s goodness: nothing could stand in His way of paying the greatest ransom for your redemption, as He gave us His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, as your redeemer.
Salvation also brings justification which is a legal term meaning “freedom from the penalty of sin.” Dikaioo describes the act by which a man is brought into a right state of relationship to God. Dikaioo is a legal term having to do with the law and the the courtroom, where it represented the legally binding verdict of the judge. The word is a forensic or legal term with the meaning “acquit”. It is the normal word to use when the accused is declared “Not guilty”. We see its significance in an Old Testament passage: “When men have a dispute, they are to take it to court and the judges will decide the case, acquitting (or, justifying) the innocent and condemning the guilty” (Deut. 25:1). Dikaioo means to declare the rightness of something or someone. Justification is God’s declaration that all the demands of the law are fulfilled on behalf of the believing sinner through the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Justification is a wholly forensic, or legal, transaction. It changes the judicial standing of the sinner before God. In justification, God imputes (reckons, places on one’s “account”) the perfect righteousness of Christ to the believer’s account, then declares the redeemed one fully righteous. In salvation dikaioo describes the legal act whereby God declares the believing sinner righteous on the basis of the blood of Christ. Justification is not doled out piecemeal over a period of time through mediatorial agents and ritual observances. Stated another way, justification is not a process but is an act that occurs once and need not be repeated. It is something God does, not man. Justification is not subject to recall so that you have to get it over and over again. Justification is a change of our relation to God. Justification describes a person’s status in the sight of the law, not the condition of his or her character. Being justified is once and for all time and as such defines the believers’ permanent state. Just as you may not be tried for the same crime again after being acquitted, God’s justification means you will never be tried or condemned by Him again for your sins–past, present, or future. This is good news indeed. As someone has well said justification goes beyond acquittal to approval and beyond pardon to promotion. Acquittal means only that a person is set free from a charge. Justification means that positive righteousness is imputed. It is important to realize that justification is a reckoning that takes place in the mind of God. It is not something a believer feels. The believer can be certain it has taken place because the Bible says so.
Justification is that act of God whereby He declares righteous all who believe in Jesus. It is something which takes place in the mind of God, not in the nervous system or emotional nature of the believer. Justification in the Bible sense therefore is the act of God removing from the believing sinner, his guilt and the penalty incurred by that guilt, and bestowing a positive righteousness, Christ Jesus Himself in Whom the believer stands, not only innocent and uncondemned, but actually righteous in point of law for time and for eternity. The words justify, justification, righteous, righteousness, as used of man in his relation to God, have a legal, judicial basis. God is the Judge, man the defendant. God is the standard of all righteousness. The white linen curtains of the court of the Tabernacle, symbolized the righteousness which God is, the righteousness which God demands of any human being who desires to fellowship with Him, and the righteousness which God provides on the basis of the acceptance on the sinner’s part, of the Lord Jesus who perfectly satisfied the just demands of God’s holy law which we broke. A just person therefore is one who has been thus declared righteous (Romans 1:17). Justification is a judicial act of grace where God Almighty in the court of God declares the final verdict of not guilty as to the condemnation of sin as the legal demands for justice have been satisfied in Christ and legally declares us righteous before the entire heavens and earth free from every trace of condemnation, sin and guilt. It is an eternal verdict etched in the book of life with the blood of Jesus Christ. We had nothing to do with our justification. It is an act of God because we believed on His Son, Jesus Christ. Justification is a legal term similar to a verdict from a judge, where by a judicial act, God declares that all the demands of the law have been completely satisfied and fulfilled for the believing sinner by the righteous act of Jesus Christ. Justification changes forever the judicial standing of a person before God from being dead in trespasses in sins to being completely righteous in Christ and completely free from the death penalty of sin. You have been judged and found righteous. You have been acquitted, found not guilty, and restored to a right relationship with your heavenly Father. You have been declared legally innocent and pronounced forever righteous because of the blood of Christ. This is a permanent state for the Christian believer, as this declaration of righteousness can never be repealed, overturned, or declared null and void. There is no double jeopardy, where a person would be tried for the same crimes again in a court of the law. The court of heaven, with God as the righteous judge, has forever pronounced a verdict to His entire creation that you have been made the righteousness of God, completely justified, free from the bondage and penalty of sin, and able to boldly stand in His presence without any sense of sin, condemnation, guilt, or unworthiness. This verdict has been sealed in the blood of Christ, and no satanic power can overthrow it.
The salvation of God thru Christ also brings righteousness. Righteousness is one of the most misunderstood words in the Bible. Righteousness is one of the most fundamental and important sonship rights of the Christian believer, yet it so often neglected in the walk of most Christians. It is only when you understand righteousness and live in it that you can accomplish your calling in this world as a son or daughter of God. What is the biblical definition of righteousness? Righteousness is the God-given ability to stand in the presence of God without any sense of guilt, condemnation, shame, or unworthiness and to stand in the presence of Satan without any sense of inferiority, weakness, fear, or cowardice. Righteousness is to be legally brought into a right relationship and standing with God that will last forever. Righteousness is part of our salvation in Christ and rests upon God’s act of justification, where he legally declared us free from the penalty of sin and judicially delivered us from everything that stands in the way of us being declared righteous. You can also stand in the presence of the devil and his entire kingdom in absolute victory, knowing that you have been completely delivered from the power of darkness. The devil is under your feet and has no authority anymore over you, because Jesus Christ forever crushed and paralyzed the evil one from hurting, harming, or ruining your new life in Christ. Now that is a verdict worth talking about! II Corinthians 5:21 (KJV):For he (God) hath made him(Christ) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Jesus Christ was our complete substitute for sin and the consequences of sin, and we have been made the righteousness of God in him. The word “made” in the Greek means: to bring into existence, to begin to be, to become, and implies origin through a special agency. It signifies the entrance into a new condition. We now have become a new creation and entered into a new condition of righteousness. God alone has brought into existence our new life of righteousness, and He has given to us His actual righteousness, which becomes just as much a part of us as our leg or arm. We are the righteousness of God! What a liberating truth to know that we are now in full and legal possession of the righteousness of God as a living part of us. We can live, move, and breathe in this glorious righteousness every moment of the day. Righteousness restores everything Adam lost in the Fall and allows us to enter into an intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father. Righteousness reinstates a person into right standing in the literal presence of God with full rights and privileges, as a child of God. In the Old Testament, only the high priest could enter the literal presence of God (in the Holy of Holies) in the Temple on the Day of Atonement. The children of Israel and Judah could not enter the Holy of Holies into the presence of God. When Jesus Christ cried out, It is finished” on the cross and took his last breath, the veil that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple was completely torn from the top to bottom, signifying that through Jesus Christ all barriers to the presence of God have been removed. Jesus Christ made available a new and living way of righteousness, where a man, woman, or child can have 24 hours a day access to the throne of God and stand in His wonderful presence. Access to God’s throne room is never closed, never blocked, and never limited for the Christian believer.
Ephesians 3:12 (Amplified): In Whom, because of our faith in Him, we dare to have the boldness (courage and confidence) of free access (an unreserved approach to God with freedom and without fear).
Righteousness gives us an unreserved and unlimited approach to God with boldness and complete confidence. Righteousness restores fellowship with God to a person whereby we can walk and live in deep intimacy and companionship with our Heavenly Father. Adam lost this righteousness and fellowship in the Garden of Eden and immediately ran and hid from the presence of God. Adam was full of fear, uncertainty, and unworthiness in the presence of God. God’s first words to Adam after the Fall were “Where are you? “ as God realized the terrible consequences of Adam’s act of disobedience. Adam lost his connection with God; sin broke the benefits of righteousness and took it away from mankind as a legal and inherent right. People could no longer stand in the presence of God without any sense of fear, guilt, shame, or unworthiness and they became subject to and in bondage to the god of this world, the devil. Sin infiltrated the human race and contaminated its standing before God.
Romans 3:20-24 (NIV): Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, And are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:9 (Amplified): And that I may [actually] be found and known as in Him, not having any [self-achieved] righteousness that can be called my own, based on my obedience to the Law’s demands (ritualistic uprightness and supposed right standing with God thus acquired), but possessing that [genuine righteousness] which comes through faith in Christ (the Anointed One), the [truly] right standing with God, which comes from God by [saving] faith.
Romans 10:4 (KJV):For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Righteousness can never be acquired by money, works, social status, religious ceremony or other efforts of the flesh. Righteousness for any human being can only come thru faith in Christ. He is the only way to be legally and eternally righteous by God Almighty. If we could do it on our own than Christ died in vain.
Galatians 2:16, 21 (Amplified): Yet we know that a man is justified or reckoned righteous and in right standing with God not by works of the Law, but [only] through faith and [absolute] reliance on and adherence to and trust in Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). [Therefore] even we [ourselves] have believed on Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the Law [for we cannot be justified by any observance of the ritual of the Law given by Moses], because by keeping legal rituals and by works no human being can ever be justified (declared righteous and put in right standing with God). [Therefore, I do not treat God’s gracious gift as something of minor importance and defeat its very purpose]; I do not set aside and invalidate and frustrate and nullify the grace (unmerited favor) of God. For if justification (righteousness, acquittal from guilt) comes through [observing the ritual of] the Law, then Christ (the Messiah) died groundlessly and to no purpose and in vain. [His death was then wholly superfluous.]
Galatians 2:21 (New English Translation): I do not set aside God’s grace, because if righteousness could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing.
If righteousness could be achieved by legalistic rituals, good works, or religious rules, then God would have never needed to send His only begotten Son into the world. Christ died for nothing if a person could obtain righteousness through his own effort. Self-righteousness is rooted in the way of Cain and can never put someone in right standing with God. God’s righteousness is a gift that is only available to any man or woman by the grace of God. God’s righteousness gives a person a new capacity and ability in life to live and breathe in the freedom of His presence, free from guilt and condemnation. We have a new source of power and life, for we are in Christ and Christ is in us, and we share in his righteousness. God’s righteousness is a vital part of our new nature in Christ, and it enables us to live life in a whole new realm and in an entirely different manner than the ways of the world. We can live dynamically with authority as children of God, without any fear, in a loving, close union with our Heavenly Father.
Romans 5:17: (RSV): If, because of one man’s (Adam) trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
This new creation is the gift of righteousness. The word “gift” in the Greek means: a free gift and emphasizes the gratuitous nature of the gift which is freely given to another without price or compensation. It is a free present that bestows a special privilege or favor. The righteousness of God inherent in the new creation is a free gift because of the super abundance of God’s grace. You have been made the righteousness of God in Christ. You did not pay for it because Jesus Christ did. Righteousness is free to all those who accept the Lord Jesus Christ by believing faith. God gave you the best present you could ever imagine and that is righteousness which breaks the rule and power of the old sin nature inherited from Adam.
Righteousness gives you the ability and power to reign in life through the Lord Jesus Christ. The word “reign” in the Greek means: to rule as a king and exercise kingly power, to exercise the highest influence and control, to have complete authority, and the right to control in an absolute manner.” A king rules with authority and power for he knows who he is, and that he has an absolute legal right to reign over his entire kingdom. A king does not question his authority, but rules with confidence and boldness. You are not defeated; you are not down-trodden; you are not powerless; you have the righteousness of God when you were born again. God’s proclamation is that you are to reign in life just as a king rules over his kingdom. God never intended for you to live a weak, haphazard, and insignificant life upon this earth. God never intended for you to live a life in bondage to fear, condemnation, and inferiority. Righteousness gives us the ability to triumph in all of life’s circumstances; it gives us confidence and boldness to stand firmly in the midst of the pressures and storms in life. Righteousness allows us to live without fear of any device or tactic of the devil and boldly stand and resist our spiritual adversary, no matter how fierce the spiritual battle.
One of the most amazing and breathtaking truths about salvation is that we are born again, literally birthed as God’s own children. The Bible refers to this as sonship, where God’s incorruptible seed is created within us and we receive thru grace the heavenly birthright as God’s daughters and sons. This is one of the great benefits of salvation and the pinnacles of the grace of God. Spurgeon has said every part of the plan of salvation sets forth the splendor of the Grace of the Most High God and the magnificence of the new birth is earth-shattering in its beauty and majesty.
I Peter 1:23: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.
The first time I was born I was born of the corruptible seed of my mother and father. It is corruptible because of our sin nature inherited from Adam as this corruptible seed eventually is subject to death and the grave. The word “seed” implies a birth and a birth cannot be reversed. We all have the seed of our mother and father within us and we are birthed into their family and in this fleshly birth, I am always the son or daughter of my parents because I carry their seed. But the beauty of the word “seed” is that there is a new birth, a birth from above, being born of the Spirit of God and the word “seed” implies that there will be progeny, children, and a newly birthed people out of the finished work of Jesus Christ. Only this seed is incorruptible. It will never die; it will never perish; it cannot be lost; it cannot be changed. It is a birth. Salvation in Jesus Christ is a literal new birth; God’s incorruptible seed is forever planted in you and in that wonderful moment you forever become a son or daughter of God by seed. By faith when you hear and believe the Word of God concerning salvation in the gospel, the miracle of the new birth takes place. You have birthed into the family of God as a treasured child of the king. I am still amazed by well-meaning preachers and teachers who believe that salvation can be lost, that the new birth can be reversed and a Christian can lose his salvation and eternal world. God used the word “seed” and “birth” in the Bible to strongly illustrate that this is an impossibility. You cannot lose seed or a birth. You or God’s sons and daughters because His seed has been created within you in the new birth and it is incorruptible. Nothing that I or anyone does can ever change this. This is the astounding greatness of the grace of God and the salvation God offers only through Jesus Christ.
The new birth is a literal creation of God within you that changes your entire being. This is why 2 Corinthians 5:17 states that we are a “new creation” in Christ. When we are born again, we are a new creation. As David Wilkerson so aptly put it in The Cross and the Switchblade, “The heart of the Gospel is change. It is transformation. It is being born again to a new life.”
John 3:3-7: Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water (the first birth-the water surrounding the amniotic sac breaking) and of the Spirit (the second birth), he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
The first birth is being born of the flesh and the send birth is being born of the Spirit. When you are born of the Spirit, God creates His very nature and seed within you, even in a deeper and more profound sense than your earthly mother and father. You are sealed with the gift of holy spirit that God creates within you, perfectly designed for your body and by the miracle of this new birth you become His literal birthed child. I b sometimes with the usage of the word “adoption”
What absolutely crushed the devil’s purposes and schemes for the human race and completely blindsided him was this new birth, this new creation that a man or woman becomes in Christ. David Needham, in Birthright, Christian, Do You Know Who You Are?, states:
I hope it will be clear that the answer to the problem of sin and the despair of meaninglessness is found in discovering the vast scope of the miracle God performed when he saved you-a miracle that actually changed you…By physical conception my parents gave me “flesh” birth. It involved much more than me “getting something.” I became a real, full-fledged, “flesh” person…Similarly by the new birth, I became a brand-new kind of person…The divine activity re-makes a man. He is born all over again by the very Spirit of God…Perhaps this “new personhood” idea seems far away from the daily activity of your life. That still doesn’t change the basic fact. If you have received the Savior, you simply are not the same person you were before. When you were “in the flesh” (Romans 8:9), life and meaning for you had to be found right there-and there alone. Your brain, your emotions, your senses, your creativity, your glands, your world environment, your relationships-this was life. It could be
found nowhere else. But if you have been born again, this is not so anymore, whether you know it or not. You may weigh the same, look the same, feel the same but you are not the same…God has not only justified you and reconciled you, he has also birthed you…children of God….Could this really be? “Children,” not by adoption, but by birth. Yes, emphatically it is true…Even after it was known the Savior had risen, seven weeks passed before anyone grasped the pivotal importance of his death and resurrection. Finally on the Day of Pentecost, the fire fell; the Spirit came. From deep within “rivers of living water” flowed…The risen Christ was dispensing LIFE.
By the new birth, realized in its fullness on the Day of Pentecost, life was theirs as they never experienced it…Life was now “resurrection life” The persons they use to be, persons who only knew life in the flesh, had been crucified with Christ. They were “risen with Christ, “alive to God,” as they had never been alive…What does all this mean? It means that by the new birth, you and I are now participants in the ultimate new age of God’s eternal purposes. We are living within the fulfillment of the prophets’ aching dreams and God’s promised miracle.We are now actually, the internally transformed citizens in God’s kingdom of righteousness-where Jesus reigns,within the kingdom of our hearts…Christ… is now reproducing himself progressively in the lives of the saints. .Now the last Adam [Christ]…is reproducing his very life-his image-in us!…The image concept is now more glorious than Adam, even in his innocence. This is the new age. The consummation of all the ages has begun. We are now by birth, by the Spirit, “the children of God,” pulsating with the risen life of Jesus.Some day, perhaps soon, it will reach its apex when at last our “physical …bodies” will be transformed
into “spiritual bodies”-at the “redemption of our bodies.”…The new aeon [age] which has dawned
with Christ, brings a new creation, the creation of a new man…the union with Christ which brings
justification also brings new life…The believer enters not just into a private relationship with Jesus,but a new humanity in which he becomes a new kind of man…Jesus Christ is no less than the
inaugurator of a new humanity. New age, new humanity, new creation. We are both corporately
and individually-part of something which is the capstone of everything God has or ever will do.
We are the blessed progeny, the new humanity, the new species, the seed of Christ, and children of the living God. We have the gift of holy spirit born within and the resurrection life of Jesus Christ pulsating and energizing every ounce of our being. We are infused with spiritual power from on high and the very divine nature of God. This is what the human heart has been craving for since the fall of Adam: a new creation, authored by God Almighty, that fundamentally changes who we are, and who we will be in the future. We have passed from death unto life, from sin unto righteousness, from condemnation to justification, from separation to reconciliation, and from enemies to beloved children.
The first Adam’s disobedience produced a race of mortal people destined to die and to be ravaged by sin and its consequences. The Last Adam, Jesus Christ, through his obedience, death, and resurrection is producing a race of people who will live forever and be victorious over the terrible twins of sin and death and all their consequences. The first Adam produced a race of people born dead in sin and enslaved to the rule of Satan as the god of this world. The Last Adam made it available to all those who believe to be born again to life and to break the power of the devil’s kingdom in their lives. The last Adam is in the process of producing an everlasting race of perfect people who will one day live and reign with him forever upon a perfect earth. As sure as the sun rises every morning, the Last Adam, Jesus Christ, is coming back to establish his kingdom upon the earth. Nothing can stop it.
God’s original plan was to have many sons and daughters living in Paradise forever. The first Adam was supposed to be the father of such a perfect race, but he failed and sentenced the human race to sin and death when he disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden. God’s dream, God’s intense desire, God’s ultimate plan after the Fall was to restore His original purpose of having birthed children live with Him forever on a perfect, beautiful, and amazing earth. The entire Bible points to Jesus Christ as being the agent, the mediator, the Savior, and the sacrifice that would bring about this restoration. The Last Adam, Jesus Christ, had to face the fierce enemies of sin, death, and the devil and he overwhelmingly conquered them all. He became the Head and Firstborn of all the redeemed born again believers whom he can rightfully call his brothers and sisters. He is not ashamed to do so, because he knows that they are birthed new creations in Him and sons and daughters of His heavenly Father.
We are new creations in Christ, because he set the pattern of who we become when we are born again in both resurrection life and a new glorious body at the Rapture, along with the power and ability to do his works and to walk like him in thought, deed, heart, and action. We have the mind of Christ, the heart of Christ, the ability of Christ, and the power of Christ born within us at the new birth.. This truth is an enormous aspect of the goodness Jesus Christ accomplished in His death and resurrection.
II Corinthians 5:17 (NIV):
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old is gone; the new has come.
What a breathtaking truth that in Christ we are a new creation; we have a new divine nature; we are new people created in the likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we are His seed. The word “creation” in the Greek means: to bring something into existence that has not existed before; the act of founding, establishing, and building through creation, and refers to God’s creative action. The word “new” in the Greek means: that which is new in kind or quality, and is something unprecedented, novel, uncommon, and unheard of. It relates to something not previously present. This word “new” does not mean that something is simply renovated, but something that it is entirely new in species and character.
By the divine act and will of God, He founded, established, and built a new spiritual nature in all born again believers. This new creation is of perfect quality and character, because it originates from the creative heart of God. It is absolutely unprecedented in the nature of a person because it is a divine seed planted by God. We become partakers of the divine nature, and in Christ we have a dynamically powerful new spiritual nature. This is a spiritual birth and the seed of God within us is permanent, incorruptible, and indestructible. Once you are born of your earthly parents, you are always their child because you have their seed within you. The same holds true for the spiritual new birth in Christ, as this incorruptible seed of God is created within you, and you forever become God’s new spiritual son or daughter of God.
Bullinger, in his article “A New Creation” expounds on this new creation:
What is it to create? Not to change, not to renovate, not to reform, not to improve, not the old nature adorned and beautified, not the flesh with its corruptions and lust trimmed and trained; but it is the new and Divine nature imparted, with all its spiritual blessings and holy privileges. It is not the old Adam made clean or religious, clothed and adorned. No! It is something altogether NEW. Therefore in Christ Jesus, I am a partaker of the Divine nature; I am a partaker of His Resurrection-life, according to the Father’s promise…A new Divine nature is not a mere influence, is not a mere passing religious feeling induced by ravishing music or pathetic story, but a real existence in living union with a crucified, risen, exalted, glorified, coming Lord. What a glorious union!
How glorious is this salvation that brings a new creation and a new identity! How glorious is this salvation that births us as sons and daughters into the family of God forever. There is an incredible intimacy that comes with the new birth, deeper than the love of any human relationship.
Galatians 4:5-7: To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. 6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
The word “adoption” is an unfortunate translation as it has lessened the impact of becoming a child of God by birth. The Greek word for “adoption” means “receiving into a relationship of a son; the making of a son and the placing of a son.” This is done by God creating His seed within us at the new birth, giving us the gift of holy spirit and becoming a new creation, a literal son or daughter by spiritual birth. It should more accurately be translated as “sonship.” We are now sons and daughters of God and have a new found intimacy with our Heavenly Father. The relationship is so deep, loving and close that we can cry “Abba Father.” The Aramaic word “abba” is an intimate family expression that denotes the tender address of a child to its father. It could be translated “dear father”, or “father, father” and in today’s modern vocabulary would mean “daddy” or “papa.” “Abba” signifies the deepest bond of love and affection and the intimate, close relationship of a father and child. The Greek word “cry” means: a loud cry expressing deep emotion and confidence. God sent His Son to purchase our freedom and bring us into a deep intimate relationship with the Father as His cherished son or daughter. Any moment you pray, converse, talk or fellowship with your Heavenly Father, you can express the deepest emotions of love and adoration and call Him abba, dearest father, daddy or papa. Only Jesus Christ makes this type of intimacy available with the Father, and God desires above all else that your relationship with Him is this close, this personal, this warm, and this intimate every second of the day.
Romans 8:15-17: For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
In this wonderful salvation we receive the spirit of sonship and as a new born child of God we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. We share fully in everything that God is in Christ and everything that was accomplished in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross and resurrection. Imagine the privilege; imagine the honor; imagine the grace to be an heir of God and joint heir of God. Everything that God is: His love, His righteousness, His grace, His peace, His joy, His patience, His wisdom, His kindness, His compassion and His power are all wrapped up in this seed of God that is planted in you at the time of the new birth. We are His children, and His heirs and this new life is to explode forth in our bodies and living as we reflect the image and characteristics of our Heavenly Father. This intimate sonship is also a guarantee that no matter how much we have had to endure in this world there is a day coming that we will be glorified together with Christ and fully enjoy our spiritual inheritance. Salvation is the promise of future glorification with our Savior for all eternity. 1 Peter 1:3,4: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, In Christ alone we have a heavenly reservation that cannot fade away or be revoked. We have an inheritance that is incorruptible as heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. How much better is this reservation than any earthly promise of fame, fortune or happiness! What a hope we have in this salvation that we can enjoy our inheritance in the kingdom of God forever because of the grace of God revealed in the plan of salvation thru Jesus Christ. No other religion can deliver this type of reservation as they are simply empty promises and false hopes. This reservation is only available in Jesus Christ.
What incredible love for God to bestow upon the privilege to be His beloved children. Ephesians 1 says that He has made us lovely and acceptable as His beloved. We are His precious children and the apple of His eye. 1 John 3:1,2: See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. That is what we are is children of God. The world will ever understand; the world may mock us; the world may ridicule us but who cares because the heavenly verdict and decree is that we are children of God waiting for the coming of our Savior to bring us into the full completion of our salvation and inheritance. God loves us more than we can even comprehend as he lavishes His love upon us in this great salvation by making us His beloved sons and daughters for all eternity. Don’t you want a salvation like this! Don’t you want to be saved and experience this type of fathomless love? We have access to the throne room of God as His children 24 hours a day and come into His presence at any time for any need or any circumstance. Our Heavenly Father is never on vacation, never too busy and never too preoccupied for His children.
Hebrews 4:16: Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Romans 5:1,2: By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that’s not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise. Ephesians 3:12: In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
God has opened the door to His heart and we confidently can have access to Him every moment of our life. We can approach God as His child with freedom and boldness because we know our position in Christ and the benefits of our salvation. We have received the reconciliation according to Romans 5 and have been reconciled back to God our Father through Jesus Christ our Lord. We have the honor of now living in His presence for His glory. Our intimacy with our Heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus Christ should grow in deep richness ad love each day. Our hearts should cry “Abba Father” daily as we need to enjoy the greatness of our awesome God. If you are reading this and have not been saved, don’t you want this wonderful salvation? Repent of your sins, turn to God, confess Jesus as Lord from the depths of your heart and believe that God raised His form the dead and experience the wonders of His salvation and the new birth in Christ. Now is the time of your salvation and now is the time to come to Christ and be saved. Your eternal destiny hangs in the balance. Don’t be deceived by the glitter of this world or the claims of other false religions. Jesus Christ is the only way, the only truth and the only life and He alone is the only way to this wonderful heavenly Father. He is the only mediator between God and the human race and He is the only one that can save us from the violence, destruction and power of sin and set us free to enjoy His salvation. God is calling you to come now and by faith through Christ enter into the gates of His glorious salvation.
By Tim Rowe
Goodness of God Ministries
http://www.thegoodnessofgod.net
