What does "Salvation" mean, and
Why Do I Need to be "Saved"?
Flesh, Soul, and Spirit
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What are they?
Our physical bodies are flesh and bone. It may seem like this is the most real part of our “self,” but in fact, our bodies grow, change, and eventually deteriorate and die. It is an obviously true fact of life. Our physical bodies are unreliable and our physical life on this earth is relatively short.
Hebrews 4:12:
For the Word of God is living, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Most people at some point, usually in childhood, come to realize that their “self” is unique from others and separate from the physical body. We see through our eyes, and experience through our bodily senses, but our “self” is something that lives within our body. What’s more, all the people on earth consist of our “self” and then everyone else. It is an odd realization to become aware of the “self” that is each one of us separate from everyone else. Each individual sees and hears and experiences life separately and uniquely. The body is dependent on our soul and spirit, and our soul and spirit interact with the physical world through our physical body as long as it lives. Eventually our physical body dies, but the soul and spirit do not die. Our soul and spirit are the real person. Your soul and spirit make up the real you, your real “self.”
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Physical Self and Spiritual Self
Our soul and spirit are closely interrelated,
but they are two separate entities.
The soul is the real you inside of you. It is what makes your physical body alive. It is the person you are, with all your talents and likes and dislikes and personality. Your brain is the mechanism that applies our thoughts to our actions, but the soul is the source of our thoughts. When the soul leaves the body, the body dies. When the body dies, the soul leaves the body.
Your spirit is your incentive for living. Your emotions, sense of right and wrong, and motivations come from your spirit. It is the spirit that gives the soul hope and meaning.
Your spirit leads and advises your soul,
but your soul is the decision-maker.
Every human being is a combination of body, soul and spirit. The body interacts with the physical world. Sometimes its abilities and inabilities hinder our spirit. (The spirit is willing but the body is weak.) Meanwhile, the soul is pulled to make choices for the spirit and the body by many influences, in particular what it receives through the physical senses, and what the spirit instinctively knows. The soul chooses what to accept and reject, what influences to believe and what to dismiss. These choices in turn affect the body and the spirit.
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Earthly World vs. Spiritual World
The earthly world is the physical world you can see, hear, touch, taste and smell. It is made up of all the things we consider real. For the most part, we cannot see or comprehend the spiritual world with our physical senses, which leads us to think it is less real than the physical world. In fact, the spiritual world is more real than the physical. The physical world is temporary and changeable. The spiritual world is eternal.
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,
against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 6:12
Good and evil are spiritual forces. They are real. We see evidence of it every day. Whether we realize it or not, there is a constant spiritual battle taking place all around us: Good vs. Evil.
Make no mistake, there is no middle ground. The unseen forces that shape our physical world are either evil or good.
Good comes from God, Who is the author of all things good.
So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good?
No one is good but One, that is, God.”
Mark 10:18
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Who God Is
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There are a lot of misconceptions about who God is. Some pretend He doesn’t exist. Their loud and angry denial of God actually reveals that their spirit knows God does exist. They are trying to convince themselves and drown out the witness of their own spirit. If they really didn’t believe in God, they wouldn’t bother to argue about it. Others compromise with their spirit and say they do believe in “god” but then qualify who their “god” is. For instance: “My god would only send really bad people to hell.” This doesn’t make sense. If God is real, then He is Who He is. You can’t make Him into what you want Him to be. If you are creating Him out of your own logic and imagination, then He is imaginary.
God is the creator: He created all things Colossians 1:16
God is good: He is the definition of good. Luke 18:19
God is holy: definition of holy: pure, sinless; holiness is the absence of evil Psalms 99:5
God loves us: He wants to be our Father, but will not force Himself on us. Proverbs 9:29; Joshua 24:15; 2 Thessalonians 2:16
God is the perfect Father: He loves, guides, nurtures and corrects, without error, for our ultimate good. James 1:17; Psalms 103:13-14; Hebrews 12:8-11
God is merciful: He understands our weaknesses and always forgives us when we repent. I John 1:9 definition of repent: to be sorry and determined to change; regret; change one’s mind and turn back or away from.
God is just: He does not just overlook sin. He cannot because He is holy. Justice demands punishment for evil. A judge that does not punish wrong is not just. Psalms 98:9
God hates sin: Sin separates from God. God wants us to have a relationship with Him. But sin cannot enter heaven. It is the opposite of good. It opposes good. James 1:13; Isaiah 5:20; Malachi 2:17
God is Lord of all: He is Lord whether humans accept Him or not. He is Lord because He is God, the creator, the ultimate ruler. I Timothy 6:15; Revelation 19:16; 17:14
God is faithful: He does not change. He is all-powerful. He keeps His promises. John 10:29
God is eternal: He has no beginning and no end. Humans cannot completely comprehend this, because our minds are flesh and think in terms of the flesh. God is Spirit. There is no “time” as we think of time in God’s kingdom. Time on earth is part of His creation. Revelation 21:6; 22:13; Daniel 7:27; I John 2:25
Our relationship to God
Your spiritual being, soul and spirit, are much more real than your physical being. You were made in the image of God. God is not flesh and blood. He is the spiritual embodiment of life, love and everything pure, good and holy. We were created to be like Him.
So God created man in His own image;
in the image of God He created him;
male and female He created them.
Genesis 1:27
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The world God created was perfect.
Then God saw everything that He had made,
and indeed it was very good.
Genesis 1:31a
But the first created man and woman, Adam and Eve, chose self over God. They determined that their logic and reason was equal to or better than God’s. They forgot Who God is and who they were. They embraced pride rather than obedience.
Our soul and spirit were designed to be in a united relationship with God. But He did not create us to be robots. The soul is free to choose to fulfill its designed destiny, or to reject it and attempt to design its own destiny apart from God.
...by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin;
and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned…
Romans 5:12
What Is Sin
Sin is simply rebellion against God.
Because sin entered God’s perfect world, we are separated from God, Who is holy and cannot sin. We inherited a sin nature when we were born, and sin separates from God. Yet we were designed in His image and predestined to be His children, to grow to be like Him, and to live with Him forever. Thus we have a hole in our “hearts”, our soul, that can only be filled with His Spirit uniting us with Him.
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For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Romans 3:23
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Even though humans rejected God, God did not abandon humans to the consequences of sin. He made a way for us to be reborn spiritually as His children.
Spiritual good and evil are real. They do exist and there is no blurred line between them. Sin is evil. God is good. We can choose to obey God and fulfill our designed destiny, or we can choose sin and the natural consequences of sin.
The Law Of Sin and Death
Physical death entered the world with sin. Spiritual death is a choice. God doesn’t want anyone to die spiritually.
Who (God our Savior) desires all men to be saved
and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
I Timothy 2:4
The spiritual penalty for sin (rebellion against God) is spiritual death (eternal separation from God). This debt has to be paid. The physical body experiences a slow progression toward physical death from the moment it is conceived. But the soul and spirit do not physically die. The soul, and consequentially the spirit as well, have earned a spiritual death.
For the wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23
Spiritual death is eternal separation from God, and from everything good, because God is the source of all good. Some joke that they want to go to hell because that’s where their friends are. They imagine hell is where the party is. In fact, hell is the eternal absence of all good: comfort, pleasure, friendship, love, happiness, etc. There is NOTHING good in hell. Good and evil cannot mix. Hell is a place of pure evil. It is a place of unimaginable suffering, pain and torment, that never ends.
When our soul and spirit leave our physical body, God wants to welcome us to an eternal home with Him. But He will not force this on us. He created the human soul with the ability to choose to accept Him or reject Him.
Because we are born with a sin nature, we are naturally sinners. We can “go with the flow” and just live out our lives ignoring God, and die separated from God. Thus not choosing is the same as rejecting God.
There is no middle ground. There is a spiritual debt or penalty for sin that must be paid. We either accept God’s gift to pay the penalty for our sin, or we turn down His gift and choose to pay for it ourselves. The problem is, we can never pay off that debt on our own.
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God’s Plan to Save
Look again at this verse:
The wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23
Our real “self” (soul and spirit) does not die. After we leave our physical body we will spend eternity somewhere. We can be welcomed home to God’s kingdom, or we can spend eternity in hell, separated from everything that is good. Goodness comes from God. There is nothing good in hell. It is a place separated from God. It is a place of eternal suffering and torment.
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Because of the natural spiritual law of sin this is where we are all headed. We have earned (our wages) spiritual death. When humans chose to rebel against God, He could have just written us off and let us get what we deserved. But He is a merciful loving God.
The debt had to be paid, and it is too great for sinful humans to pay off. It’s like trying to pay off a huge credit card debt while still using the credit card. It is like trying to clean a dirty floor with a bucket of dirt.
So God sent Jesus to pay the debt for us.
Think of it this way:
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A criminal stands before a judge. The judge reads the law that requires the penalty of death for the crime. Thus the law requires the criminal be sentenced to death. Then someone stands up and says they are willing to die in the criminal’s place. The judge declares that the penalty is death, but it does not have to be the criminal. There can be a substitute… but the person offering to take the criminal’s place has also committed a crime and is also condemned with a penalty of death. So that person cannot take the criminal’s place. It has to be someone completely innocent of crime.
That’s what Jesus is. He is sinless (Hebrews 4:15). He left heaven and came to earth as a human to pay the debt for sin so we could be spiritually free from that debt. He alone was able to pay it, because He is the only human who ever lived on earth but did not sin. He was fully human, tempted to sin in all ways just as we are, yet lived without sinning. He was a human man, but He was also God.
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For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should
not perish but have everlasting life.
John 3:16
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Definition of Savior: the Person Who saves
Definition of salvation: the act of or result of being saved; deliverance from destruction or death; redemption
Definition of redemption: payment of an obligation; the act of buying back.
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Jesus died to pay the penalty for sin. But that was not the end of God’s plan. Remember physical death entered the world because of sin. But Jesus was sinless. Therefore, death could not hold Him.
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But now Christ is risen from the dead,
and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
I Corinthians 15:20
When we believe, when we accept God’s gift of salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have the promise that though our physical bodies may die, we will rise from the dead to live forever with Him. We don’t have to pay the penalty for our sin, because the debt is already paid by Jesus.
Your Choice
We all are sinners and need to be “saved” from the penalty we owe for our sins. This is an important spiritual reality to understand, because if we do not admit we are sinners, then how can we believe that He paid for our sins?
We can call on the name of Jesus, confessing that we are sinners in need of a Savior, and ask Him to save us, believing that He is the Son of God, and that He paid for our sins.
Or
We can dismiss these spiritual realities, reject God’s truth, refuse the gift Jesus offers, and choose to continue to live serving sin.
Who do you serve?
You are a servant, either to God or to sin. When you serve self, pleasure, money, or anything else, you are serving sin. Sin is rebellion against God.
This is a spiritual battle: good vs. evil. You choose the winner in your life. One or the other. It is your choice. You cannot choose for others. They cannot choose for you. You choose who you will serve. Ultimately, Jesus will conquer evil in the world, but you have the choice for your “self”.
Salvation is a Gift
We can do nothing to earn or pay our own way into heaven. We cannot be “good” enough. Sin is sin, and it separates from God.
For by grace you have been saved through faith,
and that not of yourselves;
it is the gift of God, not of works,
lest anyone should boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9
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Definition of faith: firm belief
Definition of grace: undeserved favor or approval; mercy
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Jesus said:
“Most assuredly, I say to you,
he who believes in Me has everlasting life”
John 6:47
Believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He died to take the punishment for your sins, and that He rose again to conquer death.
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.
Romans 10:9
Anyone can call on God to save them.
For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved
Romans 10:13
Confess you are a sinner, ask Jesus to save you, believe He can save you, and you will be “born again.”
What does it mean to be Born Again?
A man named Nicodemus asked Jesus that very question: (John 3:3-6)
Jesus: “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God”
Nicodemus : “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?"
Jesus: “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit”
When you ask Jesus to save you from your sins, you put your faith, (your belief that He is the Savior), in Him. At that moment you are born again spiritually. You were born physically with a physical and spiritual sin nature. You are now “reborn” free from sin. He has bought you back, redeemed you, from sin with His blood.
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Being then made free from sin,
ye became the servants of righteousness.
Romans 6:18
You are no longer a servant of sin, but a servant of God: and more than a servant, for God has adopted you as a child of God.
Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself,
according to the good pleasure of His will.
Ephesians 1:5
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But when the fullness of the time had come,
God sent forth His Son, born of a woman,
born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law,
that we might receive the adoption as sons.
And because you are sons,
God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts,
crying out, “Abba, Father!”
Galatians 4:4-6
When we are saved, we are reborn into the family of God. We are His sons and daughters. We are heirs of the kingdom of God.
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit
that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—
heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,
if indeed we suffer with Him,
that we may also be glorified together.
Romans 8:16-17
How does being saved change my life?
First of all, that hole in your soul is now fulfilled. Occupied by the Spirit of God, your spirit is united with God’s Spirit, as you were created to be. You will know, your spirit will witness, that your life has changed.
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that
we are children of God.
Romans 8:16
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You are reborn, a new creature in Christ, walking down a different road; a road that leads to God rather than destruction. That would be enough, but there is more:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;
old things have passed away;
behold, all things have become new.
II Corinthians 5:17
You are a new creation in Him. You belong to Him. He will give you joy and purpose you never imagined possible. What’s more, He will never give up on you, never abandon you. He will always and forever love you with a perfect love: the love of God.
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life,
nor angels nor principalities nor powers,
nor things present nor things to come,
nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing,
shall be able to separate us from the love of God
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:37-38
And the Lord, He is the One Who goes before you.
He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you;
do not fear nor be dismayed.
Deuteronomy 31:8
You have been bought back with the precious blood of Jesus.
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You have been saved from sin and ultimate, eternal destruction.
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You have been adopted into God’s family. The hole in your heart has been filled.
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As a child of God, you will want to live to please your heavenly Father. This is what you were created to do and to be: United in spirit with Him. Fulfilling the destiny you were created for.
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Even Jesus said:
"I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father Who sent Me."
John 5:30b
The concept of serving God bothers some people. They do not realize that they are already servants, slaves really, to sin. In the spiritual battle of good vs. evil, they are already serving on the side of evil.
Serving God is not a burden. It is a privilege. It is an honor. It is what your spirit craves. Your soul may choose to reject God, and may deny and ignore and demand that your spirit accept that choice and be quiet, but while you pursue happiness on the outside, you know that there is no real happiness on the inside.
Truth is truth, whether you accept it or not.
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Either you are a servant and slave of sin, manipulated and lied to,
or
you are a child of God, serving your Father out of mutual love.
There is only one way to be saved:
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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
Serving God and Growing Your Faith
When you accept Jesus as your Savior, you do so with a tiny “mustard seed” of faith. (A mustard seed is the tiniest seed on earth, about the size of a speck of dust.) Not to worry. As the father of the sick child cried out to Jesus, “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” (Mark 9:24)
We are born again, not as mature Christians (Christ followers), but as spiritual babies.
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As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word,
that you may grow thereby.
I Peter 2:2
Since God, in His mercy, saved you, you will want to grow into the person you were meant to be when He created you. You do this by growing your faith, and you do that by studying His Word and spending time with Him. He is with you. You can talk to Him. When you called on Him to save you, you spoke directly to Him. To pray is just to talk to God. The Father loves you. He wants to commune with you. Talk to Him. Ask Him for help. Ask Him to help you grow in Him. He will.
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Spend time reading His Word. This is His book, His letter so to speak, to you His child.
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Spend time with other Christians. None of us are perfect, but as imperfect followers of Jesus we can help and encourage each other in our walk with Him. Find a church that teaches the Word of God.
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As you do these things, you will grow in spiritual understanding.
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We are bombarded with a whirlwind of “information” every day. It is difficult, sometimes almost impossible, to sort out what is truth and what is illusion or outright lies.
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I hope this explanation will help you to step back from the chaos of the world and understand the real truth. Spiritually evil forces in the world are very strong. They appeal to the flesh. They masquerade as good. They deceive by twisting the truth, and tempt people to create a convenient god in their own image that they can manipulate according to their own will.
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But God is God. He is loving and merciful, but is also holy and just. He is the creator of all, and His wisdom and knowledge is greater than we mere humans can comprehend. You were created to be one with Him, but you must make the choice.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
If anyone hears My voice and opens the door,
I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
Revelation 3:20
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The above only briefly explains the basics of salvation and spiritual life. For more information see "Salvation" section.
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Term definitions:
holy: pure, sinless; holiness is the absence of evil
repent: to be sorry and determined to change; regret; change one’s mind and turn back or away from.
sin: rebellion against God
Savior: the Person Who saves
salvation: the act of or result of being saved; deliverance from destruction; redemption
redemption: payment of an obligation; bought back
faith: firm belief
grace: undeserved favor or approval; mercy
born again: to be born spiritually into the family of God
Christian: a follower of Jesus Christ
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Scriptures Cited
Hebrews 4:12
Ephesians 6:12
Mark 10:18
Colossians 1:16
Luke 18:19
Psalms 99:5
Proverbs 9:29
Joshua 24:15
2 Thessalonians 2:16
James 1:13
Psalms 103:13-14
Hebrews 12:8-11
I John 1:9
Psalms 98:9
James 1:13
Isaiah 5:20
Malachi 2:17
I Timothy 6:15
Revelation 19:16
Revelation 17:14
John 10:29
Revelation 21:6
Revelation 22:13
Daniel 7:27
I John 2:25
Genesis 1:27, 31
Romans 5:12
Romans 3:23
I Timothy 2:4
Romans 6:23
Hebrews 4:15
John 3:16
I Corinthians 15:20
Ephesians 2:8-9
John 6:47
Romans 10:9
Romans 10:13
John 3:3-6
Romans 6:8
Ephesians 1:5
Galatians 14:4-6
Romans 8:16-17
II Corinthians 5:17
Romans 8:37-38
Deuteronomy 31:8
John 5:30
John 14:6
I Peter 2:2
Philippians 4:7
Revelation 3:20
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4/14/24