Blog/Lesson Six What Happens At Salvation?

Did you know that the ONLY time the Bible mentions that all of Heaven rejoices is when you and I receive Christ as our Lord and Savour?

Luk 15:10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

Some secular and atheist teachers have said that the Salvation the Christians claim is only in their intellect; thus saying that it is nothing more than emotional hype and just the imagination of the mind. But the truth is it is a real Supernatural experience that takes place in the spirit of the believer.

The only part our minds have to do with this Salvation experience is: 1) Absorb the Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit will always accompany God’s Word as it is heard or read. 2) Act on that Truth by confessing that we have sinned and ask repentance as the Holy Spirit convicts us and beckons us to come to God. From that point something very real takes place inside of our spirit as we receive (by faith) God’s grace for forgiveness and surrender our past, present and future to Him.

Act 13:37 But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption.

Act 13:38 Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:

Act 13:39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.

Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

Strong’s Concordance: justified+Greek#1344 to render show or regard as just or innocent free be righteous.

Webster’s Dictionary: righteous= morally right; acting in an upright way; virtuous: a righteous person

Our mind will and emotions never get saved; it is our spirit that gets saved. Satan will always tempt our minds with his lies and vain imaginations. This is why Paul said, “I die daily” to fleshly desires, and wrote that we must renew our minds daily on the Lord through prayer and reading God’s Word.

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Eph 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

Eph 4:23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

Eph 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

At Salvation, we become a new person; because God creates in us His Righteousness. Outside of God’s righteousness, our human righteousness or goodness is as filthy rags:

Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Rom 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death,(eternal separation from God) even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. (parentheses are mine.)

1Co 15:34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God:….

1Ti 6:11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.

1Jn 2:28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

1Jn 2:29 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.

At Salvation our spirit is reborn in His righteousness.

To understand what happens at Salvation, we must first realize that we are a three part being. We are spirit, soul and body:

1) Soul which is our mind, will and emotions and is contained within our human brain.

2) Spirit that God created in His image, and is the place He desires to dwell so He can communicate and fellowship with us. God’s guidance and revelation of Scriptures come up from our spirit to our minds in thoughts that sound like our own; but we know we could not have thought such things on our own. (Our understanding will seem like light bulbs going on in our mind, as we think ,”Oh Yes I see now!”) The first time we hear His inter voice is when His Divine Assurance confirms our Salvation; which is the beginning of a personal relationship between us and God. Scholars say our spirit resides about in the center of our body; in the upper stomach area where we feel butterflies at emotional times, or feel grief in sorrow.

3) Body: The spirit and soul will never die but will live forever and are housed in a human body, while on this earth. At the second Coming of Jesus Christ, the dead in Christ (saved ones) will all be changed in a twinkling of an eye and rise from the grave with a new body of flesh and bone like Jesus’s new body on Resurrection Day. (After them the living in Christ will rise.)

I usually get a smile and a nod of the head when I explain it this way to even a child: “The real person; our spirit and soul cannot be seen with our eyes, so God made us a body so we can see each other walking around.” The life that God breathed into Adam and Eve was that living soul/ spirit and is the warm part of our person. When this life leaves the human body, it turns cold and is just a shell. The real person has taken flight; the redeemed in to the presence of God. Sometimes in Scriptures the words soul and spirit are inter changeable due to the interpreters; and sometimes our spirit is called our (spiritual) heart.

The action at Salvation is when we are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, and our spirits are made new.

2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

2Co 5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

2Co 5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

2Co 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.

2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Let us look at the meaning of some of these original Greek words:

Strong’s Concordance: reconciled = Greek # 2644 to change mutually (felt equally by one another.)

An actually change takes place in us, that is felt between us and God. We become a new creation; our spirit is reborn and becomes fresh and new.

Strong’s Concordance: reconciliation = Greek # 2643 exchange (adjustment) restoration to the Divine favor, atonement.

What do we exchange at the time of Salvation? We exchange our sins for the Righteousness of God in Christ when we give God all our sins, hurts and disappointments of life. He will wash them all away by His Spirit, and replace them with His Righteousness. An “adjustment” takes place in our spirit which is the action on God’s part.

The Salvation experience is just the beginning. After we receive Salvation can we sin again? Of course, because we still have free will, but when we make a mistake, the Holy Spirit within will convince us to repent. God is always there to hear our prayer, forgive and restore our joy and peace. As we grow in the Word of God and commune with Him in the secret place of prayer; we are able to resist Satan’s temptations; vain imaginations and lies in our head.

Jas 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Jas 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you….

Can we lose our Salvation? This has been debated across Theologian tables, and is a subject for another lesion. But I can tell you my interpretation of Scripture: “No other person or thing can take you out of His hands, but we ourselves can push Him away by rejection and a time of continuous sin. But He has promised never to leave us; and will be on the outside of our heart always knocking beckoning to come in again and fellowship with us, until we receive Him back again. This just means, once we do receive Him as our Savor and our spirit is born again; He will be either inside or outside of our heart until we are dead, because He doesn’t give up on us.”

The Angels of Heaven rejoice at every soul that comes to God through the cross of Jesus Christ.

Yes Salvation IS real!