Perhaps no other subject could be more important to the person seeking a relationship wilt God than the way of salvation. In our world there are literally thousands of religions with hundreds of opinions on the topic of salvation.
Many choose to approach and present this subject in fear and bondage. I recently listened to a teaching tape from some real smart doctor of theology that began with the statement, "If you don't believe in the trinity, you cannot be saved." He then did something even more devilish than his opening statement."
He went on to role-play and present all the arguments he knew of why Jesus was God's only begotten son our lard and savior. He then continued to teach his congregation the Bible, and the truth regarding Jesus Christ with brilliant clarity and accuracy.
Afterwards he took questions from his congregation and asked them to prove the trinity to him. No one could. Every statement they made, he accurately showed from the scriptures where they were wrong and backed everyone of them down. No one was able to give scripture to prove the trinity.
After this, he then showed his congregation how to respond to this type of reasoning. This man was very deceptive and evil in how he prepared his congregation to refuse the truth of the Word under the "guise of standing on the truth."
And just think! He had a PHD after his name and the people bought it: hook, line and sinker.
Luke 1:57-80 57Now Elisabeth's full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son. 58And her neighbors and her cousins heard how the Lord had showed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her. 59And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father.60And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John. 61And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name. 62And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called. 63And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marveled all. 64And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God.65And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judea. 66And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him.67And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, 68Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, 69And hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; 70As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: 71That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; 72To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; 73The oath which he swore to our father Abraham, 74That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, 75In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life. 76And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; 77To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, 78Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, 79To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. 80And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel.
Now, the words saved in verse 71, and salvation in verses 69 and 77 all come from the Greek word soteria. In verse 71 the word is in the accusative. In verses 69 and 77, it's in the genitive. However, it is the same basic word in Greek, soteria.
Strong's writes that soteria means: "deliverance, preservation, safety, and salvation. Deliverance from the molestation of enemies."
He goes on to say that salvation is the present possession of all true Christians; and that there is a future salvation, the sum of benefits and blessings, which the Christians, redeemed from all earthly ills, will enjoy after the visible return of Christ from heaven in the consummated and eternal kingdom of God.
E. W. Bullinger writes that soteria also means "to make whole," or "health."
The Hebrew word for salvation means: "a safe place.
Luke 1:68-69 68Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, 69And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;
Verse 69 is the first occurrence of this word soteria in the New Testament. Here we see that God is responsible for raising up a horn of salvation.
The word horn in the Hebrew language, signifies strength, and it is a metaphor taken from beasts that fight with their horns: And by raising up the might of Israel is meant that the kingdom of Israel was defended, and the enemies of it laid on the ground, even then when the strength of Israel seemed to be utterly gone.
Verse 71 tells us we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; we can see, then, that salvation is: "a state of being protected, placed in a safe place, defended and delivered from our enemies."; we can see, then, that salvation is: "a state of being protected, placed in a safe place, defended and delivered from our enemies."
I Corinthians sheds further light on this subject.
I Corinthians 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
Here we see one of our greatest enemies is death. If a person needs salvation then, one must ask what we need to be saved from.
Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Here we see that all men have sinned and because of sin, death was able to enter into the world and spread upon all.
Sin opened the door for death to come in. So the two basic threats we need to be saved from, or delivered from, are sin and death.
Colossians 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;Ephesians 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Sin and death placed us in a real dilemma The psalmists of old addressed this.
NIV Psalm 49:1-2 1For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm. Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all who live in this world, 2both low and high, rich and poor alike:
The psalmist wants ALL people, rich and poor, high and low alike to know. No one is excluded. This psalm is written for everyone.
NIV Psalm 49:3-9 3My mouth will speak words of wisdom; the utterance from my heart will give understanding. 4I will turn my ear to a proverb; with the harp I will expound my riddle: 5Why should I fear when evil days come, when wicked deceivers surround me -6those who trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches? 7No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him - 8the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough - 9that he should live on forever and not see decay.
Who has enough money that they could go to the God and buy eternal life? The psalmist tells us that mankind in and of himself lacks a way to live forever. Death awaits all.
NIV Psalm 49:10 For all can see that wise men die; the foolish and the senseless alike perish and leave their wealth to others.
It makes no difference: the PHD or the janitor-all will die.
NIV Psalm 49:11-15 11Their tombs will remain their houses forever, their dwellings for endless generations, though they had named lands after themselves. 12But man, despite his riches, does not endure; he is like the beasts that perish. 13This is the fate of those who trust in themselves, and of their followers, who approve their sayings. Selah 14Like sheep they are destined for the grave, and death will feed on them. The upright will rule over them in the morning; their forms will decay in the grave, far from their princely mansions. 15But God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me to himself. Selah
Here the psalmist informs us that what mankind cannot do, God is able to perform. Only God, through the resurrection, can redeem mankind.
NIV Psalm 49:16-20 16Do not be overawed when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases; 17for he will take nothing with him when he dies, his splendor will not descend with him. 18Though while he lived he counted himself blessed - and men praise you when you prosper - 19he will join the generation of his fathers, who will never see the light of life. 20A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish.
Ever since the fall of mankind recorded in Genesis 3, man has been plagued with the problem of sin and death.
Mankind has made great strides to address the problem of sin and death. Hospitals, prisons, education, multitudes of clinics, research, and entire foundations are devoted to research and development.
And, as great as man is in all his wisdom and brilliance, he will never be able to remedy the problem of sin and death.
To be continued …ÿ