Welcome again to my blog. Thank you for visiting. We've been discussing in recent weeks the church, God's chosen method of administration for our time before Christ returns, and that all members should be productive believers, born again through faith alone. This is important so the church may advance the Gospel and positively affect its community. However, it is also important for the individual believer. Why is this?
This question is multi-leveled, complicated, but wonderful. As understanding our salvation is transformative. Let's spend the next few blogs discussing it.
Teleios Research has found that knowledge of salvation and eternal security enhances our wellbeing. What are the biblical reasons why? Today’s blog will talk about what happens, as described in the Bible, at the time of our salvation which results in a new and wonderful position for the believer.
We know from scripture that our merciful God chose us (Ephesians 1:4,5,11; Romans 8:29-30), convicted us by his Spirit (John 16:8), and dragged us to Himself (John 6:44) that we might believe in Christ’s forgiveness. All this by grace through the Christ’s sacrifice on the cross to grant us salvation by faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9). Indeed, God is worthy of praise for such a great salvation!
However, it is vital for us to know exactly what happens at salvation as it enhances our wellbeing and confidence, and certainly our praise to God.
At salvation we receive:
- Spiritual baptism - We are regenerated by the Spirit into a new person and our old self dies (Romans 6:2-9). We become identified (the meaning of the word ‘baptism’) with Christ's death and resurrection. This marvelous spiritual truth speaks to the importance of the resurrection because it is the vehicle for our new life in Christ and eternity (Romans 6:9; 10:9-10). Indeed, we are a new person and the old sinful self is gone forever.
- Membership in the church (1 Corinthians 12:13) - The Spirit places each believer in the church universal (the fellowship of all believers under the headship of Christ [Colossians 1:17-18]). We serve others, and God, typically through a local church assembly.
- The Holy Spirit - He is given in part as a down payment to our salvation (Ephesians 1:13-14, 2 Corinthians 1:21) that we cannot lose (Romans 8:28-39; 1 Peter 1:4-5). He maintains us until the day of our redemption when Christ comes again (Ephesians 1:13-14; 2:10).
- Adoption - Each believer is a child of God, adopted into his family. As generally in first world cultures today, when a child was adopted in the ancient Greek and Roman world, it was a legal right that could not be overturned. In other words, the adopted child received all the rights and privileges of a natural-born child; so with a believer as a child of God (Ephesians 1:5).
- Justification - Before we believed we were guilty of sin for which Christ died on the cross to provide his forgiveness and to declare us innocent (Romans 3:24-25). The word for justified in Greek (δικαιος, dikaios) means legally found innocent as in court of law. In other words, there is no double jeopardy: οnce found innocent no one can bring a charge against us (Romans 8:33).
- Possession- We are the possession of Christ and God (Ephesians 1:13-14; 2:10). No one can take us out of their hand (John 10:27-30).
Christ is a fantastic and true Savior! The nature of our salvation is so important we will speak to each of these topics individually and how they might enhance a believer's wellbeing. Come back again next week as we start this exciting journey to discover the nature of our great salvation.
For questions or to view more of our research…
Website http://teleiosresearch.com/
