In order to gain salvation, we need to believe and repent. Those may be confusing concepts to someone who hasn’t grown up in a church. Some may not know what order these are supposed to come in. This is the first devotion in the Believe and Repent series that looks at where belief falls in gaining salvation.
Nuggets
- In short, salvation is the deliverance from the consequences of sin.
- The Creator of the universe wants to have a relationship with man.
- Jesus gave His life to be the Redeemer of mankind.
- The Trinity is Three in One, not separate Beings.
- Jesus came to earth and was born of a virgin.
- Jesus died on the cross in order to pay the price for our sins.
- Jesus rose from the grave to conquer death.
- Jesus will return again to take believers home.
To read devotions in the Believe and Repent series, click the appropriate button below.
Are you like me? Do you think the believing comes before the repenting? That is what I grew up thinking.
I read something lately that makes me wonder if it isn’t more of a chicken-and-egg thing. David J. Stewart wrote, “We are saved by believing, not repenting; but a sinner wouldn’t believe unless they repented, i.e., changed their mind. We don’t repent AND believe … but rather, we repent TO believe.”
Resource
I thought we would take a look at believing and repenting. Now, I am thinking we have to start with salvation. Those are all churchy words, so let’s see if we can put it in easy-to-understand terms to make sure we are all on the same page.
If you are a believer, you can use this devotion to solidify what you truly believe and as preparation for the next time you witness to someone. If you are a non-believer, prayerfully consider the urgings of the Holy Spirit as you read through this.
Salvation
"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!" (Mk. 1: 15 CSB)
In short, salvation is the deliverance from the consequences of sin.
Let’s look at the long definition, too. Salvation is the gift of life through the deliverance from condemnation and sin to acceptance and holiness and changes us from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive.
- Sins are actions by humans that disobey God and break one of His reasonable, holy, and righteous laws and commandments, goes against a purpose He has for us, or follows Satan’s promptings.
- Holiness is the transcendent excellence of His nature that includes elements of purity, dedication, and commitment that lead to being set apart. Purity means possessing God’s moral character, having eliminated the stain of sin.
- Spiritual death is the spiritual separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin. The spiritually alive are those who have ABCDed, so they are no longer separated from God.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Glossary
This deliverance is necessitated by the original sin committed by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, which made everyone sinners.
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The disobedience was bad enough. The consequence was devastating. The relationship between God and man was broken.
The purpose of salvation was that God designed a way in which He can save us from another consequence of sin — going to hell when we die. Jesus said that those who do not believe on Him will “… go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Mt. 25: 46 CSB). Those who put their faith and trust in God will be saved from Satan and death.
To read a related devotion in the Hell Does Have Fury series, click the button below.
You know, it kind of just looks like God just accepted Adam and Eve’s decision to disobey Him and gave up. He did kick them out of the Garden (Gen. 3: 24) but not long before that He provided for them (Gen. 3: 21).
God didn’t unleash His great wrath then (Eph. 5: 6; Rev. 14: 10-11). God’s wrath is the anger He expresses when we break His laws and commandments.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
We shouldn’t get complacent. God has promised that His wrath will be a consequence of the original sin.
Disciples are saved from that wrath. Romans 5: 9 says, “And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation” (NLT).
Sinners are saved from the consequences of sin when they believe in Jesus as our Redeemer and repent from our sins.
Believe
Okay, so if salvation is the end result, how do we get there? What are we supposed to believe?
God Is the Father
“It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me” (Jer. 27: 5 ESV).
The Creator of the universe wants to have a relationship with man.
God is the creator of the universe. This makes Him the One, true God. He is Sovereign God.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
But He doesn’t want to be some ruler high up in a castle with little to no contact with His subjects. He wants to have a relationship with His people. It isn’t just about doing the do’s and not doing the don’ts. Performing/not performing the do’s and don’ts is the outcome of salvation. That relationship was restored because of Jesus.
God Sent His Son
"God needed someone to be the Redeemer of mankind. He found that to be His Son, Jesus. 'He [Jesus] gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds'” (Ti. 2: 14 NLT).
Jesus gave His life to be the Redeemer of mankind.
Jesus is fully God and fully man. We don’t know how Jesus could be 100% God and 10% man. We can just know that He can.
We can know that Jesus will save everyone who asks Him to be our Savior. “For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth'” (Ac. 13: 47 ESV).
Ephesians 2: 8 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (ESV). Unfortunately, not everyone accepts that free gift.
The Trinity
The Trinity is Three in One, not separate Beings.
The Trinity is a hard concept to understand. The Trinity is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, three distinct Persons within one indivisible Divine nature.
The first mention of more than One was all the way back in Genesis 1. The Trinity consists of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It isn’t that they are three different entities. Rather, there are three different forms of the same Being.
Jesus Was Born of a Virgin
Jesus came to earth and was born of a virgin.
Back up. We said that Jesus was 100% God and 100% man. We’ve talked about Him being God’s son, so he is 100% God.
Jesus is also Mary’s son, making Him 100% man. “Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel” (Isa. 7: 14 CSB).
The amazing part is Jesus lived exactly as mankind did in that day and age. He experienced everything we experience. He was tempted by Satan as we are. Yet, He did not sin, as we do.
Jesus Died on the Cross
Jesus died on the cross in order to pay the price for our sins.
Back up again. Remember, we said that our relationship to God was restored by Jesus? Remember, Titus 2: 14 tells us Jesus gave His life for us?
Jesus gave His life for us so that His blood could pay the price for our sins. He did this by dying on the cross. The whole reason Jesus went to the cross was to accomplish redemption’s plan — for us.
The thing is, Jesus did nothing wrong. He did everything right. He did not deserve to die; we did.
Still, Jesus gladly went to the cross and died so that we might live eternally. That happened because the story didn’t end with His death.
Jesus Rose from the Dead
Jesus rose from the grave to conquer death.
Because of God’s great might and power, Jesus rose from the grave. He conquered death and paid the price for our sins.
We talked about this in a previous devotion, so all we are going to say here is Jesus rising from the dead meant that the Plan of Salvation was complete.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Jesus took the consequences for our actions. He changed as our destiny.
Back up one more time. Remember Romans 5: 9: “And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation” (NLT). We won’t pay the consequences of our actions when we ave asked Jesus to be our Savior and Redeemer.
Jesus is the only way through which that salvation can be found. “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn. 14: 6 ESV). We have to do it His way, not on our own.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Jesus Will Return
At some point, Jesus is going to come back to earth and take believers home with Him. We talked about what Revelation says about this in Will We Be Rewarded or Repaid?. It is really important that we wait for Jesus’ return.
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That is what Christians believe in a nutshell. But just believing God is sovereign is not enough. Just believing Jesus paid the price for our sins is not enough. We have to repent, which will be discussed in the next devotion.
Loving Father. As much as he original sin must have hurt You, You did not stop loving Your creation. You still love us to this day, even though many choose not to honor You as Sovereign God. You still love those who have asked Jesus to be their Lord and Savior but continue to give in when faced with temptations. Lord, You designed the plan of salvation. You set it in motion and accomplished it. We wait for the day You send Your Son to call us home. Amen.
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