An Anatomy of Salvation

What are the conditions for eternal salvation according to the Bible? The verses that come immediately to mind are Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Grace is another word for a free gift, and faith means to trust or be firmly persuaded. So it involves a free gift and includes a trust in something or someone. In John 3:16, that someone is “His only begotten Son,” a clear reference to Jesus Christ. When one trusts in Jesus Christ as “His only begotten Son”, he is ready to receive a free gift, a gift that cannot be received by human works. It is the gift of salvation in Ephesians 2:8, but this gift may also be referred to as eternal life (John 3:16). And what about the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38)? This is an amazing gift!

In John 4, Jesus and His disciples were traveling to Galilee from Judea and He made a point to travel through Samaria, a route not normally traveled by a good Jew. This was intentional because He had a divine appointment with a Samaritan (Gentile) woman. In verse 10, Jesus spoke to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." Of course, Jesus was teaching her, a Gentile, about salvation and how to receive eternal life (verse 14). He was teaching her that the elements of salvation were the recognition of the Giver, Who He is, and that He has a free gift for her.

Later in the conversation, she recognizes Him as a prophet (verse 19), and then in verses 25-26, Jesus confirms that He is the Messiah. How do we know she got saved? In verses 28-29, “So the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city and said to the men, 29 ‘Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?’" She became the first missionary in the New Testament age. She accepted the free gift when she recognized the Giver. 

The Simplicity of the Gospel

This is the simplicity of the gospel. Saul of Tarsus was on his way to Damascus as an esteemed Pharisee when something profound took place. He tells the story this way in Acts 26:14-16, “And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' And I said, 'Who are You, Lord?' And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen but also to the things in which I will appear to you.” In that moment, Saul came to realize that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah, and he was being promoted into his gift. The manifestation of that gift in soon-to-be Paul’s life was the incredible ministry that God was calling him to, that he would be the Apostle to the Gentiles.

There’s another example to consider here. It’s found in Acts 16 when Paul and Silas are imprisoned in a Philippian jail. The reasons why are not important to this conversation. God decided that Paul and Silas were no longer to remain in jail, so He sent an earthquake to shake the foundations of the prison house, and the prison doors were opened. The jailer woke up to see this miraculous event and drew his sword to kill himself, believing that the magistrate would have him put to death since the prisoners were escaping. In verses 28-29, “But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!’ And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas”.  His question to them is still sounding today: "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"   

Their answer also rings true today: "Believe in [epi – on] the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” This jailer and his whole household believed in Jesus as Lord and were gloriously saved. They acknowledged the Giver and received the gift of life, eternal life. It’s so simple yet so profound.

The Blind See

Jesus heard that they had put him out, and finding him, He said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" He answered, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?" Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you." And he said, "Lord, I believe." And he worshiped Him. And Jesus said, "For judgment, I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind." Those of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and said to Him, "We are not blind too, are we?" Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, 'We see,' your sin remains.          John 9:35-41

John 9 is the account of a man who is blind from birth and is given his sight supernaturally. But there is so much more to the story. The account concludes in the above passage with Jesus finding the healed man after hearing about the ex-communication and getting the man to recognize Him as the Son of Man, another term for Messiah. The man’s confession of faith, “Lord, I believe,” resulted in the man worshipping Jesus, and then Jesus spoke of the relationship between blindness and sin. He said to the Pharisees, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.” Jesus had referred earlier in Matthew 15:14, “Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit”. Jesus was teaching that the unconverted sin nature causes man to be blind, blind to the sin condition that has plagued the human race since Adam.

 

Not only is the god of this world, the devil, blinding the minds of all unbelievers to be against Jesus and the Gospel but there is also a hardening of the heart that burdens all unconverted Jews during the new covenant age, resulting in a veil over their hearts (2 Corinthians 3:14-16). Whenever the Jew recognizes Jesus as the Messiah, the veil is lifted, and therefore, his blindness is resolved in Christ. This warfare is centered on man not seeing “the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). When the Light begins to shine in their hearts, meaning the enlightenment of God illuminates the minds of those who seek him with sincerity of heart, then there is a new understanding of the God who leads one to salvation. A great example of this process is seen in the salvation of the apostle Paul in Acts 9:3-6 when a light shone, and he was able to hear the Lord speaking directly to his heart in the midst of his blindness. 

The Gift is Free 

Paul teaches that “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” in Romans 6:23. Eternal life, the free gift is found “in Christ Jesus our Lord”. Paul uses this terminology, “in Christ” or “in Him” as a means of emphasis that the believer’s connection to Jesus is not religious, but rather all about relationship and an exchange of life. What is the evidence of that life? It is in the relationship of believers among themselves (1 John 3:14). See Bishop Stephen Neil’s comment: 

“In the fellowship of those who are bound together by personal loyalty to Jesus Christ, the relationship of love reaches an intimacy and intensity unknown elsewhere. Friendship between the friends of Jesus of Nazareth is unlike any other friendship, and this ought to be the normal experience within the Church. Where it is experienced, especially across the barriers of race, nationality and language, it is one of the most convincing evidences of the continuing activity of Jesus among men.”

This means that being “in Christ” has supernatural implications as the believer shares in the life of Christ and with each other.

This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.         1 John 1:5-10 

The moment of salvation in a believer’s life can be characterized as enlightenment, a realization that Jesus is the Messiah, God incarnate, and has paid the price for his sin. He begins to see things clearly. He finds it might be the avenue into a higher quality of life, where the sin condition has been resolved in Christ. This opens the door to walking in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, having been cleansed from all sin. Seeing sin from the right perspective provides direction to the victorious life. Human failure is only a temporary blip in an otherwise fruitful life in the Holy Spirit.

There is so much more to the free gift. In Romans 5:15-17, “But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand, the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand, the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” This gift is not only free but much more, abounding to many. This gift solves the transgression problem and becomes the gift of righteousness, resulting in the believer “reigning in life through the One, Jesus Christ”. In 2 Corinthians 9:15, Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!