Salvation is in Jesus Christ

The message was brought by Eddie Foster.

II Timothy 2:8 Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel: 9 Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound. 10 Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

The gospel is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ; it’s the good news.  If we call on Jesus and repent of our sins we will be saved.  The dictionary says salvation is deliverance from destruction, great calamity, or danger.  A person comes to the aid of a drowning man, that man has been saved from destruction. When we get saved we have been saved from destruction.

When we look at it spiritually, there are some ways in which salvation is not found.  We cannot do our own thing.  Salvation is through Jesus Christ. You’ll never work it out through right living or doing good deeds.  Now a saved person will live right and do good deeds but they mean nothing outside of Jesus. Romans 10:3 says For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.  We must submit to God through Jesus Christ.   God will not look to see if good deeds outweigh bad deeds and let anyone into heaven if they do.  Salvation is not found in baptism. A waterhole won’t wash away sin. A person is baptized because he/she has been saved. Church membership doesn’t save. A saved person should join a Bible believing local church but that doesn’t save.  In baseball, a person can hit a ball out of the park. That’s considered a home run. When running bases, the batter can tag them all but if he misses first base, he’ll be counted out. In thinking of being saved, salvation is first base. 

Salvation is made possible through the efforts of someone else.  A relative or friend may have prayed for you. But salvation is only possible through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God demanded a blood sacrifice. Why?  Life is in the blood. Jesus was willing to die; his blood saves. Our sins are under the blood.

How do you receive salvation? Since it’s only in Jesus Christ we can only be saved by accepting him as Savior. We trust a pilot to get us to our destination. We trust a surgeon with our body. We don’t tell them how to do their job. We just trust them. We trust Jesus in the same way. He’s the only one who can save us.