UNDERSTANDING SALVATION
written by Joy Conte
When you come to Jesus and accept Him as Lord and Savior, it is essential that you understand the sacrifice He made to bring Man back to fellowship with the Father. We must understand that now you are a new creation in Christ and ought not to return to your old life as it was. Understand that He set an example for us on how to overcome and walk in the ways of God. He was tempted like us, He overcame by the Word of God, and The Holy Spirit led him.
Let’s start from Genesis 1. Understand that we were created and made in the image of God. We are not from anything else; we are made in the Father’s Image. God made us male and female; there was no other gender created. Man was perfect, but God gave them a will and instruction on how to live. The Father would come down in the cool of each day to fellowship with them. They had everything, but there was one thing they could not have, and the devil brought them temptation. We will learn how the devil twisted the Word of God and tempted them to disobey God. What are the temptations?
1. Lust of the eyes
2. Wanted to be like God
3. Planted doubt in their minds about God, questioning God’s Love for them?
God gave them everything except what belonged to Him.
Genesis 1
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1 NKJV
“So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:27-28 NKJV
Genesis 3
The Temptation and Fall of Man
“Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:1-5 NKJV
The deceiver, by appealing to her desires, the lust of the eyes, and her position was not enough for her to be satisfied with what God gave them; they wanted to be like one of the Godheads, knowing evil. 3. Her husband, who also knew the truth and gave into what the deceiver offered them.
Man lost his relationship with God because he doubted God’s Word. Then from doubt leads to disobedience and then the covering of the Spirit left, then finally His fall, then fear, then blame, God loves to fellowship with man, and when God came down to fellowship, and he found them naked, and in fear, the covering was a strip from the.
God wanted them to see where they now have fallen to:
“Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” Genesis 3:9-13 NKJV
God also cursed the ground because, from it, Man was made, and God made them clothing to cover themselves. Then they were driven out of the garden lest they continue to eat from God’s Tree and live forever in their sin. The Tree was not wrong, but disobeying God is what separated man from God. Then God planned to redeem them and restore their relationship with them. The man could still hear the voice of God in his fallen state.
REDEMPTION
The Plan to restore God’s relationship with Man
John 1
The Eternal Word in the Flesh
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” John 1:1-5 NKJV
The True Light
“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.” John 1:6-9 NKJV
Jesus, the second Adam, did not fail.
“He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 1:10-13 NKJV
Jesus the (Word), Becomes Flesh, to show us how to work with God.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ” And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” John 1:14-18 NKJV
The Lamb of God
“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.” And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.” John 1:29-34 NKJV
Satan Tempts Jesus; however, He was filled with the Holy Spirit
“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” Matthew 4:1-3 NKJV
First Temptation;
Jesus was tempted after 40 days of fasting, for what the eyes saw, but Jesus spoke the Word to rebuke the evil one.
“But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:4 NKJV
Second Temptation
“Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ” Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’” Matthew 4:5-7 NKJV
Third temptation;
“Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.” Matthew 4:8-11 NKJV
That is why the scripture says resist the devil, and he will flee from you. God will have His angels minister to you, especially when you find yourself resisting evil. We learn that Jesus did not use his own Words to resist Satan. He used the written Word and set an example for us; this is how we walk in victory. Jesus lived an example of how we should live for three and a half years. However, in the end, He was betrayed by His disciples and faced death alone, for even the Father did not respond to his cry, He was tempted not to go to the cross, but He wanted to do His Father’s will.
Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection
And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed after three days rise again.
“From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.” Matthew 16:21 NKJV
Jesus Dies on the Cross
“Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, “This Man is calling for Elijah!” Matthew 27:45-47 NKJV
SALVATION
God’s plan was to restore His relationship with Man, so he sent Jesus.
How did you get here?
Gen 1. We were lost because Adam gave up his power to the devil.
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” Romans 3:23-24 NKJV
We needed to get back to the father. Jesus was the second Adam that took away spiritual separation from God.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23 NKJV
Jesus is the only way to God. There is no other God but Him.
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6 NKJV
Salvation cannot be earned. God’s grace saves us once we accept Jesus Christ. All you have to do is believe you are a sinner, that Christ died for your sins, and ask His forgiveness.
Then turn from your sins—that’s called repentance. Jesus Christ knows you and loves you. What matters to Him is the attitude of your heart, your honesty. We suggest praying the following prayer to accept Christ as your Savior:
How do you know you are saved?
This is how you know that you are saved; by faith in God, confessing with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believing in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you are saved. It’s a faith walk; once you accept him, you are sealed with the Holy Spirit.
“But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:8-13 NKJV
“In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” Ephesians 1:13-14 NKJV
We are confident of our salvation.
“Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus,”Hebrews 10:19 NKJV
The Cost of salvation!
The Blood of Jesus is enough, and He will not die again! Be careful not to trample the son of God under your feet and disrespect His blood by grieving the Holy Spirit the way you live your life. Fear God!
“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” I John 1:7 NKJV
We know that Christ, raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
“Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?” Hebrews 10:29 NKJV
