Welcome back to part four of our series on how Jesus has conquered your sin. In the previous three parts, we’ve seen what sin is, and how it goes deeper than outward actions. We Laos saw how Jesus changes our spiritual identity through His sacrifice and the indwelling of His Spirit.
Then, last week, we saw how the Holy Spirit convinces us of our righteousness in Christ, confirming the status of our cleansed conscience— and that in Christ our conscience is free from the guilt, shame and condemnation of our old identity, and rightly focused on Jesus Christ.
Now, today, we will be focusing on the most crucial aspect of Jesus conquering sin, the Salvation, and what it means from a practical standpoint of daily life.
The Meaning of Salvation
The word “salvation” gets bantered around a lot among believers, but its full meaning if often ignored. Much like the word “peace” which we’ve studied previously, salvation has a rich meaning in both Hebrew and Greek.
Salvation in Greek is σωτηρία (pronounced sōtēria) and it is a very rich word with a meaning that includes deliverance, preservation, protection, and provision.
Likewise, salvation in Hebrew is יְשׁוּעָה (pronounced yəšhûʿāh), and is as affluent of a word as its Greek counterpart, including within it such things as deliverance, welfare, prosperity, and victory.
Do you typically associate these blessings with salvation itself? If we are being honest, oftentimes we relegate things such as safety, security, and especially protection and prosperity off into the distance. But as we understand the word salvation, we can begin to see that there truly is no such separation in the scriptures.
As we can see, salvation is a very full word with a large scope of meaning. Therefore, when we consider the typical Christian admission of “Jesus has saved me,” we begin to see that this phrase means much more than what we usually think.
It’s easy to become stuck in the mindset of thinking that salvation is only rescuing us from hell after death, but by doing so we rob ourselves of the plethora of blessings that Jesus has made available to us.
Receiving Salvation
Since salvation is so rich, meaningful, and necessary for eternal life, it is also crucial to understand how to receive it. There are many theories and ideas regarding how to receive salvation, involving various works, sacrifices, or flat-out random chance— but what do the scriptures tell us?
Most people instinctively think of John 3:16 when the topic of salvation comes up, but we don’t even need to go that far into the book, John 1:12-13 tells us how to receive salvation:
“ 12But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
This verse tells us a few things, the first of which is that those who believe on His name are given power to become sons of God, and as verse 13 continues, these people are reborn, not of blood, flesh, or the will of mankind, but of God.
So what does it mean to to “believe on His name?” Believing on Jesus’ name doesn’t simply mean to believe that Jesus exists; indeed, there are many who believe that He exists— including evil spirits! (James 2:19)
This belief is also not focused on the Law of Moses or the regulations of the Old Covenant or church tradition. Consider what Jesus said during His conversation with the Pharisees in John 8:23-24:
“ 23And he said to them, You are from beneath; I am from above: you are of this world; I am not of this world.
24I said therefore to you, that you shall die in your sins: for if you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sins.”
Notice some vital details that Jesus mentions here in these verses. Jesus said that you will die in your sins, unless you believe that I am He. He did not say unless you work hard, try your best to keep the Law of Moses you will die in your sins… No, He said if you do not believe that I am He, then you will die in your sins. The truth of Christ is not a truth about works, laws or merit of ourselves, but it is the truth of Jesus, the Savior, the Messiah come down from Heaven to save those who are lost and dying and to give to all who believe on Him eternal life.
Making it Personal
Jesus said unless you believe that I am He, meaning that Jesus is the Messiah, the savior sent from God in Heaven down to earth for the specific purpose of redemption.
Many of us understand this on the grand scale of collective humanity— but what does this mean on a personal level? What does believing that Jesus is the Messiah mean for you?
This is one of the main points that Jesus makes within this same chapter. Jump down to verses 31 and 32 of John chapter 8:
“ 31Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed;
32And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
In verse 31 we see that small little word on… they believed on Him. You see, this is different than believing in Jesus. To believe on Jesus is to make Him your foundation. He is the One supporting you, He is the One upholding you, He is the one you are trusting in for everything— knowing that you are safe and secure on His hands and you are firmly rooted and grounded in Him; that is what it means to believe on Jesus, versus just believing in Him that He exists.
This is one reason why Jesus said in verse 31 that if you continue in My word, then you are my disciple indeed.
Continuing in His word means to hold onto the truth of what He accomplished, to exist in that truth, to live your very life around that truth and to be embraced by that truth. Jesus has worked a complete and finished work for your entire life, and everything you could ever need is supplied by Him as your provider.
When you are feeling unloved, or you are feeling the effects of loneliness, you can rest in the truth of Christ that you are not unloved; the very love of God was demonstrated to you that Christ came into the world, leaving His Heavenly throne and died in your place so you would live through Him (1st John 4:9).
Jesus is Salvation
We can see that salvation is entirely wrapped-up in the person and the work of Jesus Christ, and through Him is how it comes. Salvation is not primarily a grand collective act, but a personal transaction by which all of your sin is laid upon Christ, and all of His righteousness is laid upon you, and you become a new creation— born again by the Spirit and power of God.
Believing on Jesus is the method of entering into salvation and how you receive the salvation of Christ.
I invite you to join me again next week for the final part of our discussion on how Jesus conquered our sin, as we explore how the salvation of Christ frees us completely from sin, through His grace and finished work.
Be blessed.