What Saves Us From Sin?
We are not saved by one thing to the exclusion of all others, for there are
many factors that work out our salvation. Rather than focus on just one passage
that speaks of our being saved, we must learn the truth of what Jesus said:
"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out
of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4). Anything which God declares is necessary
to salvation in certain passages of Scripture must be implied in all other passages
which speak of salvation.
Honest people must recognize that we are governed by "every word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of God." We can't "pick and choose" which commandments
of God to obey. Arraying one Scripture against another is rebelling against
God, for He gave all the Scriptures. As the apostle Paul wrote, "When ye
received from us the word of the message, even the Word of God, ye accepted
it not as the word of men, but, as it is in truth, the Word of God, which also
worketh in you that believe" (I Thessalonians 2:13). In other words, if
you read it in the Scriptures, it is God's truth. And we dare not try to make
one of God's truths contradict another of His truths.
So, what does the Bible teach about it? What saves us? Well, actually, there
are several things. But let us be careful, when we find one of them, to not
deny any of the other things which God names. There are probably thirty or more
things that the Bible says saves us from sin. But let us look at just seven
of them in this article.
We Are Saved By God
"This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; who would
have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth" (I Timothy
2:3,4). Yes, God is our Savior. But by what does He save us? Specifically mentioned
in this text is "knowledge of the truth." So, we are also involved
in the process. God expects us to learn His Word, and mold our lives by it.
Thus, God saves us by instructing us in His Will, and showing how we are to
respond.
Paul wrote, "God, being rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He
loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together
with Christ (by grace have ye been saved)" (Ephesians 2:4,5). So God saves
us by His love and His grace. This is shown in the sending of His Son to die
for us: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have eternal life"
(John 3:16). "But we behold Him who hath been made a little lower than
the angels, even Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory
and honor, that by the grace of God He should taste of death for every man"
(Hebrews 2:9).
We Are Saved By Jesus Christ
The angel announced to Joseph before the birth of Jesus, "Thou shalt call
His name Jesus; for it is He that shall save His people from their sins"
(Matthew 1:21). And again, we read in God's inspired Scriptures: "Though
He was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which He suffered; and having
been made perfect, He became unto all them that obey Him the Author of eternal
salvation" (Hebrews 5:8,9). But through what means does Christ save us?
He Saves Us By His Blood
"Ye were redeemed not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from
your vain manner of life handed down from your fathers; but with precious blood,
as of a lamb without spot, even the blood of Christ" (I Peter 1:18,19).
And again: "But God commendeth His own love toward us, in that, while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by
His blood, shall we be saved from the wrath of God through Him" (Romans
5:8,9). We are also saved by the death of Jesus and His resurrection (Romans
5:10; 4:25). The apostles told the Jewish council, "He is the stone which
was set at nought of you the builders, which was made the Head of the corner.
And in none other is there salvation: for neither is there any other name under
heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must be saved" (Acts 4:11,12).
We Are Saved By The Holy Spirit
The Scripture says, "Ye were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and in the Spirit of our God" (I Corinthians 6:11). Christ saves us with
the gospel (Romans 1:16), and He shows exactly how that gospel was delivered
to us. He said to the apostles, "But the Comforter, even the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring
to your remembrance all that I said unto you" (John 14:26) "Howbeit
when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He shall guide you into all the truth"
(John 16:13).
Jesus explained just how complete the guidance of the apostles really was: "He
that heareth you heareth Me; and he that rejecteth you rejecteth Me; and he
that rejecteth Me rejecteth Him that sent Me" (Luke 10:16) "For the
Holy Spirit shall teach you in that very hour what ye ought to say" (Luke
12:12). Read again, as God explains how the Spirit guided the apostles: "Who
among men knoweth the things of a man, safe the spirit of the man, which is
in him? even so the things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit of God. But
we received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is from God;
that we might know the things that were freely given to us of God. Which things
also we speak, not in words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Spirit
teacheth; combining spiritual things with spiritual words" (I Corinthians
2:11-13). Thus, the Holy Spirit saves us by the words which the apostles delivered.
We Are Saved By Grace
"By grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves,
it is the gift of God; not of works, that no man should glory" (Ephesians
2:8,9). No one can "earn" salvation, no matter what he does nor how
much he does. Like Jesus said, "Even so ye also, when ye shall have done
all the things that are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants; we
have done that which it was our duty to do" (Luke 17:10).
Notice that carefully. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of
God" (Romans 3:23). And even if we were to do everything we are supposed
to do, God does not "owe" you anything! If we are saved, it must be
by the grace of God.
We Are Saved By Faith
We are "saved by grace through faith." The grace is God's part. Faith
is our part. God says, "And without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing
unto Him; for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is
a rewarder of them that seek after Him" (Hebrews 11:6). Jesus said it this
way: "Except ye believe that I am He, ye shall die in your sins" (John
8:24). In John 3:16, we read: "For God so loved the world, that He gave
His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but
have eternal life." And Jesus promised, "He that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned" (Mark
16:16).
The apostle Paul echoed this theme through all the book of Romans, as he wrote
of our being justified by faith (Romans 5:1,2,8-10). But faith that saves is
not "faith only." It is "Faith which works by love" (Galatians
5:6). In fact, the Lord's Word informs us, "What doth it profit, my brethren,
if a man say he hath faith, but have not works? can that faith save him? ...Even
so faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself...Ye see that by works a man
is justified, and not by faith only" (James 2:14,17,24). Yes, we are saved
by faith. But we are not saved by faith only.
We Are Saved By Repentance
We have all "sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).
So Jesus said, "I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all in
like manner perish" (Luke 13:3). On the day of Pentecost, people were convicted
of their sins and asked, "What shall we do?" God's answer was: "Repent
ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission
of your sins" (Acts 2:38). To repent simply means "to change one's
minds and then change one's actions by turning from sin to God. But in the Scriptures,
it carries with it the intention to do an about-face and live differently.
The apostle Paul, preaching in Athens, told those Gentiles, "The times
of ignorance therefore God overlooked; but now He commands men that they should
all everywhere repent" (Acts 17:30). You see, when one learns that God
loves him and wants him to live here so that he can live with God forever, he
naturally repents. As Paul put it, "Godly sorrow worketh repentance unto
salvation" (II Corinthians 7:10). And Peter, preaching to the Jews in Jerusalem,
said: "Repent ye therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted
out" (Acts 3:19). That is why Jesus said, "Except ye repent, ye shall
perish." If we were saved by "faith only" than repentance would
not be a factor in our salvation.
We Are Saved By Baptism
Jesus made it clear in the Great Commission, when He told the apostles: "Go
ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be
condemned" (Mark 16:15,16). That seems very clear to me. Yet people will
argue with it and say that baptism has nothing to do with salvation! The problem
is really very simple: they don't really believe the Lord Jesus! When God, by
the mouth of Peter, told people "Repent ye and be baptized" (Acts
2:38), we then read, "They then that received his word were baptized"
(Acts 2:41). You see, when they accepted God's Word, they were baptized. The
same thing is true today. When anyone hears the gospel of Christ, and believes,
he will be baptized, because he wants to be saved.
Saul of Tarsus, on the road to Damascus to persecute Christians, was stopped
by the Lord Jesus Christ. When Saul asked what to do, the Lord answered, "Enter
into the city and it will be told thee what thou must do" (Acts 9:6). Saul
then spent three days and nights praying. Jesus then sent a disciple named Ananias
to Saul to tell him, "And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized,
and wash away thy sins, calling on His name" (Acts 22:16). It was evident
that Saul had believed, for he had called Jesus "Lord" and then spent
three days praying. But he wasn't saved yet, for he still had sins that needed
to be "washed away."
Some boldly declare, "Baptism cannot save anyone." But the apostle
Peter wrote of the salvation of Noah in the ark, "God waited patiently
in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people,
eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that
now saves you also -- not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of
a good conscience toward God" (I Peter 3:20,21). That forever answers the
argument that baptism doesn't save. The Bible says that it does.
The Bible says, "Are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ
Jesus were baptized into His death?" (Romans 6:3). How important is it
to be "in Christ"? Listen again to what the Bible says, "God...hath
blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ"
(Ephesians 1:3).
We are not saved by just one thing. God saves us, Christ saves, the Holy Spirit
saves, grace saves, faith saves, repentance saves and baptism saves. We are
not saved by one of these to the exclusion of the others. It takes all of them
to accomplish our salvation.
By Clem Thurman via Gospel Minutes, Vol. 57, No. 28, July 11, 2008
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