{UAH}

What is Salvation?

Salvation is being saved from the righteous judgment of God upon the sinner.

A lot of people think that salvation means being saved from yourself or from the devil.  But that is not accurate.  The Bible says that all who have sinned against God are under the judgment of God.  This judgment is known as damnation where God condemns to eternal hell all those who have offended Him by breaking His Law.

This does not mean that God is unfair.  It shows that God is holy.  God must punish the sinner.  But, He has provided a way of escape so that people will not face His righteous judgment.  This means that God is both holy and loving.  He must manifest each quality equally.  So, being saved from the wrath of God is called salvation.

Salvation is found in Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and only in Jesus, who is God in flesh (John 1:1, 14), and who died for our sins and rose from the dead.  1 Cor. 15:1-4 says... "Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand,  by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.  For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,  and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,".

This is how salvation works:  All of us have sinned against God and deserve judgment.  But Jesus never sinned (1 Pet. 2:22).  He lived the Law of God perfectly.  In this He has a perfectly righteous standing before God.  When the corrupt Jewish leaders forced Rome's hand into crucifying Jesus, God used this crucifixion as the means to place the sins of the world upon Jesus (1 Pet. 2:24; 1 John 2:2).  This is when Jesus became sin on our behalf.  2 Cor. 5:21 says, "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

The crucifixion became the place where Jesus bore our sins in His body and suffered in our place.  "But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed," (Isaiah 53:5).  Remember, no sinner could please God perfectly and no sinner could offer a perfect sacrifice to God.  Only God in flesh, Jesus, could do that.

So, since there is nothing we can do that is righteous before God (Isaiah 64:6 says our righteous deeds are filthy rags), then we cannot please an infinitely holy and righteous God by anything we do.  But, Jesus who is perfectly righteous before God the Father, died in our place.  What we could not do, He did.

If you want to escape the righteous judgment of God, then you need to trust in the sacrifice of God.  You need to be made right before God, by God.  This righteousness of Christ is given to you if you accept him, trust in Him, and believe in what Jesus did.  This is why the Bible says that we are saved by grace through faith.  "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God," (Eph. 2:8).

When you trust in what Christ has done on the cross, and in no works of your own (since they aren't good enough anyway), then the righteousness of Christ is given to you -- even as your sins were "given" to Jesus.  It's like a trade.  He gets your sin.  You get His righteousness. Once you have trusted in what Christ has done, then you possess eternal life and you will never face the judgment of God.

 

Are we saved by Grace or by the Law?

 

The Bible is clear that salvation is totally the work of God. We can do nothing to secure salvation for ourselves (Romans 3:20). The Lord chooses us (John 15:16), draws us to Himself (John 6:44), gives us life (John 14:6), and preserves us (John 10:28). The new birth is not the result "of human decision" (John 1:13). Just as the Lord brought life to the valley of dry bones (Ezekiel 37), Jesus "gives life to whom he is pleased to give it" (John 5:21). At the same time, the Bible commands everyone to repent (Acts 3:19; 17:30) and to believe in Christ (Acts 16:31).

By our own effort, we are not even close to being worthy to stand before a holy God. This is the essence of the Christian gospel, of the good news.  The Bible is very clear that all our "righteous acts are like filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6), that "no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law" (Romans 3:20), and that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). If any person  admits to these truths, he/she should be open for the good news of the true gospel of Jesus Christ, that real righteousness only comes at the cross, where God exchanged our sin for the righteousness of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). No other righteousness can stand before God on Judgment Day. Once a person admits these truths, he/she is steady and well on the way to understanding true salvation.

Once you have trusted in what Christ has done, then you possess eternal life and you will never face the judgment of God.

"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand," (John 10:27-28).

 

Man and angels, to be sure, unaided by grace both are completely incapable of corresponding to the call to holiness and to the union with God Who is infinite! Job was a just man, he too was also capable of committing sin. Therefore his justice was a work of God, fruit of grace. And it is about this which he needs to learn and, in fact, was finally instructed by God (cf. Ch. 38-42). "Apart from Me you can do nothing", affirms Jesus (John 15:5). While it is true that we must apply ourselves energetically and contribute by our free decision, it remains true that all is grace, for even these efforts were not possible without grace.

Does this mean that it is wrong for an evangelist to hold an "altar call" after his message?

Not at all. However, we must be careful never to attribute our spiritual peace with God to a physical act of our own. Coming to the front of a church is not the same thing as coming to Christ. Also, we should remember that simply "making a decision" of some kind is not what saves us; it is the all-powerful, and all sovereign work of God in Christ that saves. Rather than calling on people to "invite Jesus to come in," it would perhaps be better to urge them to repent of their sin and cast themselves on the mercy of God in Christ.

Can I gain Salvation by doing some work or actions?

The simple answer is that salvation by works seems right in the eyes of man. One of man's basic desires is to be in control of his own destiny, and that includes his eternal destiny. Salvation by works appeals to man's pride and his desire to be in control. Being saved by works appeals to that desire far more than the idea of being saved by faith alone. Also, man has an inherent sense of justice. Even the most ardent atheist believes in some type of justice and has a sense of right and wrong, even if he has no moral basis for making such judgments. Our inherent sense of right and wrong demands that if we are to be saved, our "good works" must outweigh our "bad works." Therefore it is natural that when man creates a religion it would involve some type of salvation by works.

Because salvation by works appeals to man's sinful nature, it forms the basis of almost every religion except for biblical Christianity. Proverbs tells us that: "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." Salvation by works seems right to men, which is why it is the predominantly held viewpoint. That is exactly why biblical Christianity is so different from all other religions—it is the only religion that teaches salvation is a gift of God and not of works. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Here we can learn from the holy angels: They acknowledge their total dependence on God; they renounce any form of self-affirmation by covering their face (the understanding) and their feet (power of motion, hence, volition), and by opening their arms wide totally disposed for the will of God. In this posture they are simply servants before their Lord, "ministering spirits", "warriors who fulfil His commands, attentive to the sound of His words" (Psalm: 103:20).

When we look up to our heavenly brothers and, like them, accept our limits and our constant dependence on grace, then every situation in life becomes an invitation to learn and to grow in humility and holy fear, in a healthy 'insecurity' and mistrust of oneself. At the same time, recognizing God's grace, we are called to grow in gratitude and confidence, in trust and abandonment, to be truly disposed for the holy Will of God, and so to attain to holy union with Him

 

Can paying Tithe bring me Salvation?

 

God's grace through our faith in him saves us and not the law of tithe. Many Christians struggle with the issue of tithing. In some churches, giving is over-emphasized. At the same time, many Christians refuse to submit to the biblical teachings about making offerings to the Lord. Tithing/giving is intended to be a joy and a blessing. Sadly, that is sometimes not the case in the church today.

Tithing is an Old Testament concept. The tithe was a requirement of the Law in which the Israelites were to give 10 percent of the crops they grew and the livestock they raised to the tabernacle/temple (Leviticus 27:30;Numbers 18:26;Deuteronomy 14:24;2 Chronicles 31:5).

In fact, the Old Testament Law required multiple tithes—one for the Levites, one for the use of the temple and the feasts, and one for the poor of the land—, which would have pushed the total to around 23.3 percent. Some understand the Old Testament tithe as a method of taxation to provide for the needs of the priests and Levites in the sacrificial system.

The New Testament nowhere commands, or even recommends, that Christians submit to a legalistic tithe system. The New Testament nowhere designates a percentage of income a person should set aside, but only advises that gifts/offerings should be "in keeping with income" (1 Corinthians 16:2). Some in the Christian church have taken the 10 percent figure from the Old Testament tithe and applied it as a "recommended minimum" for Christians in their giving.

The New Testament talks about the importance and benefits of giving. We are to give as we are able. Sometimes that means giving more than 10 percent; sometimes that may mean giving less. It all depends on the ability of the Christian and the needs of the church. Every Christian should diligently pray and seek God's wisdom in the matter of participating in tithing and/or how much to give (James 1:5). Above all, all tithes and offerings should be given with pure motives and an attitude of worship to God and service to the body of Christ. "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 9:7).

 

 

"It is not out of fear but out of a feeling for what is right that we should abstain from doing wrong." "Doing right is based most of all on respecting the other person." "We ought to do our best to help those who have suffered injustice." "The wise man belongs to all countries, for the whole world is a homeland to a great heart." "Poverty in a democracy is as much to be preferred to so-called prosperity under despots as freedom is to slavery" "I would rather discover a single causal law than be king of Persia!"
 Democritus (ca. 460 BC – ca. 370 BC)