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 (Salvation)
The Effects of Salvation

The Effects of Salvation

Justification

By the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are justified. To "justify" means to declare someone righteous, or to acquit. Its meaning is opposite that of "condemn".

We are sinners who deserve to be condemned. But if we are baptized into Christ through faith, Christ's righteousness becomes ours. We become justified freely based on the merit of Christ's saving work. "Since, therefore, we are now justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God" (Romans 5:9). We are spared from the condemnation of God's law.

When we fail and sin in our Christian walk, Christ is there to speak on our behalf. "If anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins..." (1 John 2:1,2 NIV). Thanks be to God for the continuing mediation of Christ!

Reconciliation

Sinners live in constant guilt and fear because as lawbreakers they are under God's wrath. But through our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our mediator, we may come to God with confidence. "Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation" (Colossians ,22). Having reconciled us to himself, God pours out his love, peace, joy, and comfort into our lives.

Those who have peace with God also live at peace with others. They can love others instead of hate. They can forgive others instead of retaliate. In the church, believers from different ethnic and social backgrounds can unite as one body through the blood of Christ. The reconciliation of Christ makes peace and harmony a reality.

Regeneration

Regeneration means being born again, or receiving a new life. This new life is the eternal life for those who believe in the Lord Jesus. It is also a transformation in our day-to-day lives. "Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come" (2 Corinthians ).

Regeneration is possible because of the gospel of salvation. "You have been born anew, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God" (1 Peter ). God through Christ and his promise gives his life to us, the believers.

Regeneration is through the baptism of water and the Holy Spirit. The Lord told Nicodemus, "truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). Through baptism, God raises us from spiritual death. He gives us his Holy Spirit to create a new being within us. Therefore, we who have been baptized may live a renewed life--a life pleasing to the Lord.

Adoption

While we were in sin, we were strangers to God's household. But through our belief in Christ, God adopts us as his children and makes us a part of his household, the church. "So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God" (Ephesians ).

Not only does God forgive us, he calls us his own. He also gives us the Holy Spirit as evidence of the adoption, for "it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God" (Romans ).

As children of the heavenly Father, we may receive grace, peace, and a place in his kingdom. We are entitled to the heavenly inheritance, which is given to all who put their faith in Christ. When Christ comes again, God will also transform our bodies into spiritual beings like the glorious body of the resurrected Christ.

Sanctification

Sanctification is the setting apart of believers to conform to God's perfect nature. God calls believers out of darkness into light through the blood of Christ and gives us a new identity as citizens of heaven. He frees us from a sinful and meaningless lifestyle and enables us to be the light of this world through good deeds.

In addition to giving us a new identity, by his grace God continues to purify us with his word and his Holy Spirit throughout our lives. "God chose you from the beginning to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth" (2 Thessalonians ). If we always examine our thought, speech, conduct, and goals with God's Word and seek the fullness of the Holy Spirit, God will keep us blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:16­23).

Glorification

With the power of God, we will receive glory at the coming of Christ. "Beloved, we are God's children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is" (1 John 3:2).

When our lowly bodies become like the glorious body of Christ, salvation will be fully realized. "Our commonwealth is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power which enables him even to subject all things to himself" (Philippians 3:20,21).

 

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Publisher: True Jesus Church
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