The Doctrine of Salvation

Introduction

"Born Again" is a Scriptural term used to refer to the process of God adding a second nature to those that repent of sin and place their faith in Jesus Christ, believing that Christ along can save them from their sin and a hell bound destiny of their soul. According to the Scriptures, the second nature that God gives is His nature or the new nature, making the believer a new creature in Christ. The Scriptures also state that through this process we become temples of the Holy Spirit for the purpose to glorify God in the actions of the believer, who is empowered by the Holy Spirit. The Scriptural evidence is as follows:

1.) John 3:1-15 – Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Him by night, and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?" Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. "Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not understand these things? "Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak that which we know, and bear witness of that which we have seen; and you do not receive our witness. "If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how shall you believe if I tell you heavenly things? "And no one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven, even the Son of Man. "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whoever believes may in Him have eternal life. (NAS)

2.) 2 Peter 1:3-7 – For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge; and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness; and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. (NAS)

3.) 1 Corinthians 6:16-20 – Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a harlot is one body with her? For He says, "The two will become one flesh." But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. (NAS)

Understanding the sin problem

The Scriptures states in Genesis 2:15-17: “Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die.” (NAS) In Genesis chapter 3 Adam and Eve disobeyed God and man's nature became corrupt with sin. Another way of saying this is man’s nature became sinful and the end result is, man now must face death, not only physical death, but spiritual death as well. How do we know this? The Scriptures state the following in Romans 5:12-14: “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned-- for until the Law sin was in the world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.” (NAS)

Because of the fall of man’s nature, God, because of His holiness, separated Himself from man’s sin. The Scriptures in Romans 3:10-18 describes man in the following condition:

As it is written,

     "There is none righteous, not even one;

      There is none who understands,

      There is none who seeks for God;

      All have turned aside, together they have become useless;

      There is none who does good,

      There is not even one. "

     "Their throat is an open grave,

      With their tongues they keep deceiving,"

     "The poison of asps is under their lips";

     "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness";

      "Their feet are swift to shed blood,

       Destruction and misery are in their paths,

       And the path of peace have they not known. "

      "There is no fear of God before their eyes." (NAS)

It is because of this sin condition that God through His grace, motivated by His love, made provision for the salvation of man. Another way of saying this is, God made a way for man to be in right standing with Him. For the Scriptures state in 1 Corinthians 1:30-31: “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, that, just as it is written, Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (NAS)

In the end, the penalty of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. This is what the Scriptures teach in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (NAS)

Understanding the salvation process

The Scriptures teach that man cannot save himself and that salvation is of the Lord alone. Psalms 3:8 says, “Salvation belongs to the LORD; Thy blessing be upon Thy people!” (NAS) As you search through the Scriptures the final conclusion is that God alone is the only one that can make a way for man to be reunited with his God and creator. The following is a series of Scriptures that will give you additional information in your search for spiritual truth on the subject of the salvation of man.

1.) 1 Timothy 2:1-7 “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony borne at the proper time. And for this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.” (NAS)

2.) Acts 4:12 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.” (NAS)

3.) Ephesians 2:4-10 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.” (NAS)

4.) John 3:13-16 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whoever believes may in Him have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” (NAS)

5.) John 11:1-44 “Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. And it was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. The sisters therefore sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick. But when Jesus heard it, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified by it. Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. When therefore He heard that he was sick, He stayed then two days longer in the place where He was. Then after this He said to the disciples, Let us go to Judea again. The disciples said to Him, Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?" Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. "But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him." This He said, and after that He said to them, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, that I may awaken him out of sleep. The disciples therefore said to Him, Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover. Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of literal sleep. Then Jesus therefore said to them plainly, Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him. " Thomas therefore, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”

“So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off; and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother. Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him; but Mary still sat in the house. Martha therefore said to Jesus, Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You. Jesus said to her, Your brother shall rise again. Martha said to Him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?  She said to Him, "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world. And when she had said this, she went away, and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, The Teacher is here, and is calling for you. And when she heard it, she arose quickly, and was coming to Him.”

“Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met Him. The Jews then who were with her in the house, and consoling her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her, also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit, and was troubled, and said, Where have you laid him? They said to Him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. And so the Jews were saying, Behold how He loved him! But some of them said, Could not this man, who opened the eyes of him who was blind, have kept this man also from dying?”

“Jesus therefore again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, Remove the stone. Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days. Jesus said to her, Did I not say to you, if you believe, you will see the glory of God? And so they removed the stone. And Jesus raised His eyes, and said, Father, I thank Thee that Thou heardest Me. And I knew that Thou hearest Me always; but because of the people standing around I said it, that they may believe that Thou didst send Me. And when He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. He who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings; and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, Unbind him, and let him go.” (NAS)