LESSON THREE: SALVATION

“For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him”

John 3:17

Objectives of the lesson

• Define salvation
• Know and Understand the reason we need salvation
• Know and understand who saves
• Know and understand grace

What is salvation?

Salvation - (Latin-salvatio; Greek-soteria; Hebrew –yeshuah)

It is being saved / protected from harm / being saved or delivered from some situation.

It is the saving of the soul from sin and its consequences.

It is deliverance from danger or suffering (Philippians 1:19).

The academic study of salvation is called soteriology.

It concerns an eternal spiritual deliverance (Acts 16:30-31).

Jesus equated being saved with entering the kingdom of God (Matthew 19:24-25).

Salvation is the work of grace and faith in God (Ephesians 2:8-9).

• Refers to our deliverance from the consequence of sin and therefore involves the removal of sin.

What are we saved from?

• We are saved from sin and death.
• We are saved from the bondage of sin and its effects, which is death.
• We are saved from wrath-God’s judgement of sin (Romans 5:9).
• Our sin has separated us from God and the consequences of sin is death (Romans 6:23).

Who does the saving?

• Only God can remove sin and deliver us from Sin’s penalty (2 Tim 1:8-9, Titus 3:5).
• Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty to God for all mankind’s sins. God needed a perfect sacrifice so He sent his son to take all the sins of man and died on the cross as payment.
• We are rescued by Christ’s work, the work of one who knows what we are going through because He went through it Himself (Ephesians 2:8-9).
• We have no role in this rescue, it is only Gods doing, we are saved not because we want to be saved, but only because God wants to save us and He needs no help from us.
• God wants and intends that all be saved, it is a gift given because God favors us even though we don’t deserve it.

How does the saving occur?

• We are saved by faith.
• Some people say they believe in Jesus but what they mean is that they believed he actually lived and died in the same way as Nelson Mandela  or Lebo Mathosa lived and died.
• They believe he was a real person in history but don’t Him to do anything now.
• It is just not enough to know Jesus (James 2:19).
• On the other hand, turning to God only in times of need is still not enough. Temporary faith does not save (1 Corinthians 15:19).
• You need to trust in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life (Acts 16:31).
• You need to;
• Understand what Jesus Christ did for us.
• To agree that what he did is true.
• To trust in Him.

The Process of Salvation

For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but the world through Him might be saved John 3:17

Jesus declared “For the son of man is come to seek and save that which was lost “Luke 19:10

Jesus Christ said “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man cometh by the Father, but by me John 14:6

Salvation is totally a WORK OF GRACE, but we must be sincere with our prayers and believe in Jesus Christ wiliness to keep His Word, which He always does, Jesus Christ offers salvation and the gift of salvation is free to all who accept it, if you wish to be saved you must

• Acknowledge your lost state

The Bible says “For all sinned and come short of the Glory of God” Romans 3:23, all we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all Isaiah 53:6

• Believe the Gospel

That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal life. He that believeth on Him is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already John 3:15,18 “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 John 5:24

• Repent of your sins

The Bible says,”….except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish”, Luke 13:3, let the wicked forsake his ways and unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God for He will abundantly pardon Isaiah 55:7

• Receive Jesus Christ as your savior

The Bible says “For God so loved the world , that He gave His only begotten son ,that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life John 3:16

Behold I stand at the door and knock, if any man hear my voice and open the door, I shall come into him and will sup with him and he with me, Revelation 3:20 “He that hath the son hath the life, and he that hath no son of God hath not life 1John 5:12

• Confess Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior

The Bible says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved, for with the heart the man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation Romans 10:9-10

Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the son of man confess before the angels of God, BUT he that denies me before men shall be denied before the angels of God Luke 12:8-9

PARTS TO SALVATION

Justification

Set free from penalty of sin

Just-as-if -I- never sinned!

2 Corinthians 5:21

Sanctification – an ongoing process of being made holy

Set free from the power of sin

Proverbs 4:18

Glorification

Set free from the presence of sin – Final removal of sin at the end times

Philippians 3-20-21