HOW ARE WE SAVED? [2]
Article by Pastor O’femi Ogunyemi
From the last episode, we have been looking at how a person is saved. And, Ephesians 2:8-9 makes it abundantly clear that salvation is ONLY by grace through faith. In that episode, we focused on the “by grace” part, and saw that God saves only on the merit of His own kindness, not our goodness. Grace makes salvation a gift of God to undeserving people. Prophet Isaiah foretold this free nature of God’s salvation, in Isaiah 55:1:
“Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink— even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk— it’s all free!” [NLT]
Glory to God!
Now, we come to look at the “through faith” part.
THROUGH FAITH
The Faith Response
By grace, God offers salvation freely to men. Yes, the offer of salvation is for all! All of humanity is planned for in salvation plan. The Bible is clear about this.
1 TIMOTHY 2:1-4:
1 Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
The atonement of Christ is for all men, not a select few. Apostle John, writing to believers, in 1 John 2:1-2, said:
1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
The atoning works of Christ is for the sins of the whole world. But the atonement of Christ do not translate to salvation automatically for all humans. God, seeing our bankruptcy, made Jesus the sacrifice for our sins, and has offered salvation from the affliction and power of sin freely to all.
But those to whom the offer is made must respond to the offer to either accept or reject it. Man’s positive and right response to God’s offer of salvation is what faith is. Through faith in the gospel, we indicate our willingness to accept the offer of salvation.
MARK 16:15-16:
15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes [the gospel] and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe [the gospel] will be condemned.” [Parenthesis added]
The gospel is the too good to be true news of what God, by Christ, has done to rescue humanity from the penalties and power of sin, and to bestow His glorious riches on us. It is the too good to be true news that God, by Christ’s bodily suffering, has secured our release from the sufferings of sins, both present and eternal, and given us access to life with Him. The gospel is centered on three events—Christ’s death, burial and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).
What Must Be Believed
Faith—saving faith—is accepting as true the Bible’s testimony that these three events are true. This is the point where faith that births salvation starts from. A person must believe the historicity of Jesus’s death and resurrection. Now, aside the biblical sources, there are ancient, non-Christian historians who also testified to these events. So, they are actual events.
Then, we must believe that Jesus died, was buried and was raised to life by God’s plan, to save us from our sins and reconcile us unto Himself. Jesus’s suffering on the cross was not natural, or accidental as some think, but a design of God, made from eternity past (Acts 2:22-24).
And, we must accept that what Jesus did, He did for us. It is crucial to understand that Jesus was standing in for us in His sufferings and death. He had no sin for which He should suffer and die. What He did was on our behalf and for our sakes (Luke 23:39-41; 1 Peter 3:18).
Finally, we must accept that Christ’s atoning works are efficacious and sufficient for our salvation, regardless of the weight of our sins. We must believe that Christ’s atoning sacrifice is enough for our cleansing and salvation, that we don’t have to add anything to it or do anything more. And, whenever, wherever and in whoever this kind of faith is found, God is bound to wrought salvation. Faith in the gospel is the delivery vehicle for the free gifts of salvation to men.
ACTS 13:38-39:
38 Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; 39 and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.
ACTS 16:30-31:
“And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.””
ROMANS 10:9-11:
9 That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confe- ssion is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”
It is faith in the gospel that qualifies us to obtain salvation. Salvation is a gracious gift of God, to be received through faith. This is what being saved by grace through faith means!
(To be continued in the next episode.)
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