Question: "What is salvation? What is the Christian doctrine of salvation?"

Answer: Salvation is deliverance from danger or suffering. To save is to deliver or protect. The word carries the idea of victory, health, or preservation. Sometimes, the Bible uses the words saved or salvation to refer to temporal, physical deliverance, such as Paul’s deliverance from prison (Philippians 1:19).

More often, the word salvation concerns an eternal, spiritual deliverance. When Paul told the Philippian jailer what he must do to be saved, he was referring to the jailer’s eternal destiny (Acts 16:30-31). Jesus equated being saved with entering the kingdom of God (Matthew 19:24-25).

What are we saved from? In the Christian doctrine of salvation, we are saved from “wrath”; that is, from God’s judgment of sin (Romans 5:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:9). Our sin has separated us from God, and the consequence of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Biblical salvation refers to our deliverance from the consequence of sin and therefore involves the removal of sin.

Who does the saving? Only God can remove sin and deliver us from sin’s penalty. (2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 3:5).

How does God save? In the Christian doctrine of salvation, God has rescued us through Christ (John 3:17). Specifically, it was Jesus’ death on the cross and subsequent resurrection that achieved our salvation (Romans 5:10; Ephesians 1:7). Scripture is clear that salvation is the gracious, undeserved gift of God (Ephesians 2:5, 8) and is only available through faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12).

How do we receive salvation? We are saved by faith. First, we must hear the gospel—the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection (Ephesians 1:13). Then, we must believe—fully trust the Lord Jesus (Romans 1:16). This involves repentance, a changing of mind about sin and Christ (Acts 3:19), and calling on the name of the Lord (Romans 10:9-10, 13).

A definition of the Christian doctrine of salvation would be “The spiritual, eternal deliverance which God immediately grants to those who accept His conditions of repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus.” Salvation is available in Jesus alone (John 14:6; Acts 4:12), and is dependant on God alone for provision, assurance, and security.

 

 

Question: "What is the plan of salvation / way of salvation?"

Answer: Are you hungry? Not physically hungry, but do you have a hunger for something more in life? Is there something deep inside you that never seems to be satisfied? If so, Jesus is the way! Jesus said, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty" (John 6:35).

Are you confused? Can you never seem to find a path or purpose in life? Does it seem like someone has turned out the lights and you cannot find the switch? If so, Jesus is the way! Jesus proclaimed, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (John 8:12).

Do you ever feel like you are locked out of life? Have you tried so many doors, only to find that what is behind them is empty and meaningless? Are you looking for an entrance into a fulfilling life? If so, Jesus is the way! Jesus declared, "I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture" (John 10:9).

Do other people always let you down? Have your relationships been shallow and empty? Does it seem like everyone is trying to take advantage of you? If so, Jesus is the way! Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep...I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me" (John 10:11, 14).

Do you wonder what happens after this life? Are you tired of living your life for things that only rot or rust? Do you sometimes doubt whether life has any meaning? Do you want to live after you die? If so, Jesus is the way! Jesus declared, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die" (John 11:25-26).

What is the way? What is the truth? What is the life? Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).

The hunger that you feel is a spiritual hunger, and can only be filled by Jesus. Jesus is the only one who can lift the darkness. Jesus is the gate to a satisfying life. Jesus is the friend and shepherd that you have been looking for. Jesus is the life - in this world and the next. Jesus is the way of salvation!

The reason you feel hungry, the reason you seem to be lost in darkness, the reason you can't find meaning in life, is that you are separated from God. The Bible tells us that we have all sinned, and are therefore separated from God (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:23). The void you feel in your heart is God missing from your life. We were created to have a relationship with God. Because of our sin, we are separated from that relationship. Even worse, our sin will cause us to be separated from God for all of eternity, this life and the next (Romans 6:23; John 3:36).

How can this problem be solved? Jesus is the way! Jesus took our sin upon Himself (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus died in our place (Romans 5:8), taking the punishment that we deserve. Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead, proving His victory over sin and death (Romans 6:4-5). Why did He do it? Jesus answered that question Himself, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). Jesus died so that we could live. If we place our faith in Jesus, trusting His death as the payment for our sins - all of our sins are forgiven and washed away. We will then have our spiritual hunger satisfied. The lights will be turned on. We will have access to a fulfilling life. We will know our true best friend and good shepherd. We will know that we will have life after we die - a resurrected life in heaven for eternity with Jesus!

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).


Question: "What is the prayer of salvation?"

Answer: Many people ask, “Is there a prayer I can pray that will result in my salvation?” When considering this question, it is important to remember that salvation is not received by reciting a prayer or uttering certain words. The Bible nowhere records a person receiving salvation by a prayer. Saying a prayer is not the Biblical way of salvation.

The Biblical method of salvation is believing in Jesus. John 3:16 tells us, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Salvation is gained by faith (Ephesians 2:8), by receiving Jesus as Savior (John 1:12), by fully trusting Jesus alone (John 14:6; Acts 4:12) – not by reciting a prayer.

The Biblical message of salvation is simple and clear, and amazing at the same time. We have all committed sin against God (Romans 3:23). There is no one who has lived an entire life without sinning (Ecclesiastes 7:20). Because of our sin, we have earned judgment from God (Romans 6:23), and that judgment is physical death followed by spiritual death. Because of our sin and its deserved punishment, there is nothing we can do on our own to make ourselves right with God. As a result of His love for us, God became a human being in the Person of Jesus Christ. Jesus lived a perfect life and always taught the truth. However, humanity rejected Jesus and put Him to death by crucifying Him. Through that horrible act, though, Jesus died in our place. Jesus took the burden and judgment of sin on Himself, and died for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus was then resurrected (1 Corinthians chapter 15), proving that His payment for sin was sufficient and that He had overcome sin and death. As a result of Jesus’ sacrifice, God offers us salvation as a gift. God calls us all to change our minds about Jesus (Acts 17:30), and to receive Him as the full payment of our sins (1 John 2:2). Salvation is gained by receiving the gift God offers us, not by praying a prayer.

Now, that does not mean prayer cannot be involved in receiving salvation. If you understand the Gospel, believe it to be true, and have accepted Jesus as your salvation – it is good and appropriate to express this faith to God in prayer. Communicating with God through prayer can be a way of progressing from accepting facts about Jesus to be true, to fully trusting in Jesus as Savior. Prayer can be connected to the act of placing your faith in Jesus alone for salvation.

Again, though, it is crucially important that you do not base your salvation on having said a prayer. Reciting a prayer cannot save you! If you want to receive the salvation that is available through Jesus, place your faith in Him. Fully trust His death as the sufficient sacrifice for your sins. Completely rely on Him alone as your Savior. That is the Biblical method of salvation. If you have received Jesus as your Savior, by all means, say a prayer to God. Tell God how thankful you are for Jesus. Offer praise to God for His love and sacrifice. Thank Jesus for dying for your sins and providing salvation for you. That is the Biblical connection between salvation and prayer!

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Question: "What are the steps to salvation?"

Answer: “In [Jesus] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7).

Giving steps to salvation can be misleading because it implies that a person can work his way to heaven. As the above verse says, salvation is by His grace; we cannot earn it (Titus 3:5). Being dead in sin, an unbeliever doesn’t have the capacity to love God (Ephesians 2:1).

Thankfully, “while we were yet sinners” (Romans 5:8), God redeemed us. Redemption is paying the price to loose from bondage. By sacrificing His Son on the cross, God paid the price for sin (which is death), freeing believers from sin’s oppression. By resurrecting Christ from the grave, God proved the sacrifice was effective, giving the Lord Jesus authority to rule and intercede at His right hand (Romans 4:25; Mark 16:19).

Although we cannot merit heaven by taking steps to salvation, we are called to respond to Christ’s redemption with repentance and faith. Even that response is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-9). Thus, the question is correctly worded, “What are God’s steps to salvation of sinners?” He did it all through Christ!

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified [declared righteous/not guilty] as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; . . . Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law” (Romans 3:23-24; 27-29).

The next question is, “What should be our response, by God’s grace, to Christ’s death and resurrection? Let’s review the following three responses. Discern whether you need to respond to God’s grace to be saved from sin and its sentence of hell.

Steps to Salvation (i.e. Response to Christ’s Redemption)

Recognize need: Before receiving Jesus as Savior, you must understand why you need a Savior. Most people think if they live a law-abiding life, they deserve heaven. The problem is their definition of law-abiding. On Judgment Day after death, we won’t stand before a fallible, human judge. We will answer to a holy God, who rightly judges our thoughts, words, and actions.

God gives His law in the Bible, summarized by the Ten Commandments. Have you kept them? You might be thinking, “Well, I’ve never murdered anyone.” But Jesus revealed the true meaning of the law. He equated hatred with murder (Matthew 5:21-22; 1 John 3:15). Looking at someone with lust, Jesus taught, was adultery of the heart (Matthew 5:27-29).

Besides, all of us have broken the two greatest commands: loving God wholeheartedly and loving others as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40). By loving possessions more than God and loving ourselves more than others, we have all “sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

Are you guilty? “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). The penalty for sin that we all deserve is death, eternal separation from God in hell (Romans 6:23). Do you realize your need for a Savior from sin? That is God’s grace in convicting you!

Repent of sin: In turning to the Savior, you must turn from sin. Repentance isn’t a “Sorry I got caught” reaction. It’s a heartfelt sorrow of how sin grieves God, and then turning away from it to Christ who gives the power to overcome sin. You cannot embrace both sin and Christ.

Although repentance leads to a change of behavior, it doesn’t mean we’ll never sin again. But we will have a different attitude toward it. Instead of craving the gratification of sin’s enticements, we’ll learn to detest it. God changes the lure of sin for the pure desire of delighting in Himself.

After convicting us of sin (first response), God’s grace gives us the repentant desire to change (second response). Turning from sin, we turn in faith to the only Savior from sin. This trust in Christ’s payment for and triumph over sin involves the third response to God’s grace.

Receive Christ: For repentant sinners, God provides salvation from the penalty and power of sin through Jesus. Our response must be faith in who Christ is and what He has done. Jesus lived a perfect life for He was God in the flesh; Jesus died a redemptive death for He is the Savior from sin; Jesus resurrected as the Victor over sin and death for He is Lord over all.

By God’s grace, we repent of sin, trusting Christ as Savior from sin and following Him as Lord of life. We’re born again to new life by the Holy Spirit. Thus, He changes our desires to joy in glorifying the Lord.

In conclusion, a person cannot merit heaven through taking certain steps to salvation. Rather, God calls a sinner to respond to Christ’s redemption. Even the response of repentance and faith is His grace. Christians have nothing to be proud about; they boast only in the Lord!

“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air [Satan], of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Ephesians 2:1-10).

Note that God saves Christians unto good works. All other religions require earning salvation by good works. Islam, for example, requires keeping the Five Pillars as steps to salvation.

In our pluralistic society, claiming one religion as truth seems arrogant. But God is not confined by men’s wishes and beliefs. As sovereign Judge, He could have let the law condemn us, resulting in eternal separation from Him in hell. But in love, God sent Christ to save His own from sin. Glory to God alone!

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