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Question #2: The Definition of Salvation

Isaiah 43:11
I, [even] I, [am] the LORD; and beside me [there is] no saviour.

Who is the author of our salvation? We cannot save ourselves. The Lord is our only Savior.

Romans 10:4
For Christ [is] the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

This part of Romans 10 is talking about being saved. We can't be saved by keeping the 10 commandments, or any of the rest of the law. Those things are over with as far as believers are concerned. Christ Himself is the point now. The point is not to do something to be saved, but to believe on Him.

What is the application of this discussion? -- In other words, what can we practically do about in our own day-to-day lives? Three things:

  1. believe the message to be saved,
  2. keep believing the same message we were saved by, to walk with the Lord, and,
  3. preach it to others so they can be saved and walk with the Lord, too
Romans 10:8
But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, [even] in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;

So what is this message? Is it something we can do with our hands, by reaching out and taking action, or something we can do with our feet by getting somewhere great? No, it's something we do only with our heart and with our mouth, to believe on the Lord and to call on Him. That is the word of faith, which we preach.

Titus 3:3-5
For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, [and] hating one another.
But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

He saved us. We didn't save ourselves. It was when we were full of sin that He saved us according to His mercy.

Romans 5:6-8
For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

It was not because we expressed sorrow for our sins, stopped sinning, or made Him into the Lord of every area our lives, because it was Not by works of righteousness which we have done (Titus 3:5). Titus 3:8 does say to affirm that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works, but it doesn't say that we are saved by those works, it says that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. So those things are good, but it isn't by those things that we're saved.

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