WHAT SALVATION LOOKS LIKE
Article by Pastor O’femi Ogunyemi
Glory to the name of the Lord. Welcome to another episode of this salvation series. So far, we had seen the meaning of salvation. We saw God’s motivation for salvation in episodes two and three. And, in episodes four and five, we saw how a person gets saved, which is by grace through faith. Now, in this sixth episode, we are looking at the nature of the the salvation God does. And, there are three words that describe it.
A FINISHED WORK!
The final words of Christ on the cross were, “It is finished” (John 19:30). He wasn’t saying His life or ministry had ended. He is alive forever, and has a high ministry now of interceding for the saints (Revelation 1:12-18; Hebrews 7:22-25).
When He uttered those three words, He was announcing the completion of the redemption work. “It is finished”, translated from a single Greek word—telestai, is a perfect tense verb. The Greeks used it in three contexts:
- In business—to signify that the actual cost of a merchandise has been paid, or that a debt owed has been fully settled;
- In the judiciary system—to signify that the sentence for a crime has been fully served.
- In the military—to signify that a battle has been fully won and the enemy fully defeated.
When Jesus said, “Telestai”, He had these three things in mind. Hallelujah! He was announcing that:
- The full price for man’s redemption from the tyrannical rule of sin has been paid, and our debts paid off. We are no more debtors to satan (1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:23).
- God’s judgement for sins (death) has been fully served (Genesis 2:17; Ezekiel 18:20). By Christ’s death, we sinners are reckoned to have died (1 Corinthians 5:14-15; Romans 6:4-6).
- The war against sin and satan has been fully won through His cross. (Colossians 2:15 Amp; Hebrews 2:14-15). It takes an ignorance of what Christ did on the cross to still stay afraid of the devil. Sin and satan have been fully defeated by Christ.
So, by the word “Telestai”, Christ was announcing that man’s redemption was fully accomplished, that there is nothing more to be added. His atonement was once for all.
HEBREWS 7:26-27:
“Who [Christ] does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.” [Parenthesis and emphasis added]
“One for all”, from Greek ephapax, denotes actions that happen only once, not to be repeated (see Romans 6:10; Hebrews 9:12). The supremacy and efficaciousness of Christ’s atonement is such that it needed to happen only once. The effects thereof last for all times.
And, like the atonement, which last eternally, so are the blessings that come by it. This is the doctrine of eternal salvation, an uncomfortable doctrine for many, who think it encourages sin. So, they believe in a salvation that can be lost, to keep men in check. But, good as their intention is, it negates the Bible’s revelation of the redemptive works of Christ. The Scriptures can’t be broken.
If salvation is of such nature that it can be lost, then God wasted time, energy, resources, and most vital of all, His Son’s life, in providing it, and to our shame, has made us proclaimers of what is not certain. But the salvation that God does is of no such uncertain nature. It is certain! It is eternal! Praise God!
HEBREWS 10:10 [TPT]:
“By God’s will we have been purified and made holy once for all through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus, the Messiah!” [Emphasis added]
Here, the term once for all was used in relation to what was done to us by Jesus’s sacrifice. We were made holy ONCE FOR ALL!
Verse 14 says:
“For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sancti- fied.” [Emphasis added]
Perfected forever!
Whew!
All that God did by Christ, and whose fruits have become ours by grace through faith, are eternal in nature.
The life that we received in salvation is eternal life—a life that has no end!
1 JOHN 5:13:
“These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.”
Either we don’t understand “eternal life”, or we don’t believe God’s word for it. But we can’t understand it and believe God’s word to be true, and still be afraid of losing the life that we have received. Eternal, Greek aionios, means never to end. The new creation life is not a life that ends! Why? God was not stingy with the gift of His life to us. He gave it abundantly.
JOHN 10:10:
“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
Our redemption is eternal!
HEBREWS 9:12:
“Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.”
Are you seeing this? This is so exciting!
Our salvation is eternal!
HEBREWS 5:8-9:
8Though He [Christ] was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. 9 And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.” [Parenthesis and emphasis added]
Our inheritances are eternal!
HEBREWS 9:15:
“And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.”
We can go on and on, looking at scriptures after scriptures. But one thing is certain for us to find, that salvation is a finished, eternal work of God. We can’t improve on what God has done. What He did is sufficient to save those who believe eternally. We are only to receive it by faith, and live rejoicing in it all days. Glory to God! I close this episode with two scriptures.
HEBREWS 7:25
“Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”
JUDE 24-25:
“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.”
(The series continues in the next episode.)
One Response
We have received in abundance that which cannot be lost. Glory!