“According to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord”  (Eph. 3:11). There has never been a time when God did not plan to redeem us. The scheme of redemption is a carefully orchestrated plan set about by God to offer mankind a way to be saved. This plan originated in the mind of the Father because He loved us.

            “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love”  (Eph. 1:3,4). The Father is the writer of the script of the plan of salvation. Does the Father love us? Certainly so! Our salvation was His plan.

            The Father’s plan of salvation was accomplished by Jesus (Eph. 3:11).  “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.”  (Eph. 1:7). Christ’s death on the cross was the fulfillment of God’s plan to offer salvation. Because He died for us when we were yet sinners (Rom. 5:8), we can be saved from God’s wrath through Him (Titus 2:14). 

            Before Jesus left the earth to return to His Father, He promised His apostles that He would send the Holy Spirit to bring to their remembrance the things that He had said and done (Jn. 16:5-15). The Holy Spirit guided the apostles and prophets to reveal what Christ has done in saving God’s people  (Eph. 3:3-5). The word of God is the “Sword of the Spirit” (Eph. 6:17). The Holy Spirit directs us through the word as to how to be saved. One cannot learn how to be saved by listening to his conscience or to his feelings or moods. If we want salvation from our sins, the only place to turn is the New Testament.

            Disciples must act upon God’s gracious offer of salvation. Christ saves only those who obey Him (Heb. 5:9). It is up to us to respond to the gospel and accept the free gift of salvation. To do this, we must accept Christ as our Savior and trust in Him as our only hope of salvation. This process involves faith, repentance, and water baptism in His name (Jn. 3:16;  Rom. 3:23; 6:23;  Acts 2:38;  Mk. 16:16;  Rom. 6:3,4;  2 Cor. 5:17). 

            Salvation, when its reality is accepted by the one who has been saved, brings with it joy unspeakable. When David prayed his penitential prayer before God following his sins of adultery and murder, he asked that God restore the joy of salvation to him (Ps. 51:12,13). In order for this joy to be present in our lives, we must trust in the God who has promised salvation to us and accept His deliverance.

            The good news of salvation is that if we have accepted it through our faith in Christ, then we are delivered! But to go forward, we must realize that it is free, real, and that we do not deserve it. When we realize this, our life will be characterized by appreciation to God, and we will no longer worry about the eternal condition of our soul.

            When we are saved, Christ comes to live in us. The work that Christ did during His earthly tenure, He did in His physical body. Subsequent to His departure from the world, He began to work through His spiritual body, the church. When Saul of Tarsus met Jesus on the road to Damascus, he was asked by the Lord, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” Saul had never persecuted the Lord personally, but by his attacks on the church, he was actually warring against the Son of God. Why? Because Christ lives in His people. “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live;  yet not I, but Christ lives in me...” (Gal. 2:20). Because of this, faithfulness to Christ necessitates that we make our hands, hands through which Christ works; our eyes, eyes through which Christ sees; our feet, feet through which Christ walks; in essence, we must “...glorify God in our bodies...” (1 Cor. 6:20). 

            As faithful Christians, we are guaranteed the victory (1 Cor. 15:54-57), and we can and should know for sure that eternal life awaits us when we die.  Because of Jesus, at the end of earthly life, there is “...an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you” (1 Pet 1:3-4).  Because of what Christ has done for us, we should be totally dedicated to Him.

Bryan Dunaway

Grace and Peace Ministries

www.gandpministries.org