Note: All Scripture quotations found in this article are from the text of the Authorized King James Version of the Bible.
For one to understand salvation you have to understand four major points.
1. The Bible says that man is born a sinner and that all are sinners.
Ecclesiastes 7:20 "For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not."
Romans 3:10 "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:"
Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"
Psalms 51:5 "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me."
Psalms 58:3 "The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies."
2. Because of sin all men are subject unto death. Man is also spiritually dead.
Romans 5:12 "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:"
Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
3. After death is judgment. One will either go to heaven or hell.
Revelation 20:11 "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
Hebrews 9:27 "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:"
Romans 14:12 "So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God."
4. No man can earn or work his way to heaven. Salvation is by faith alone in Jesus Christ.
Romans 4:5 "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."
Galatians 2:16 "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."
Galatians 3:11 "But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith."
Ephesians 2:4 "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved
6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast."
2 Corinthians 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."
Titus 3:5 "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;"
There are nine other Biblical words connected with salvation.
1. Propitiation - Jesus Christ is the propitiation for our sins.
Romans 3:25 "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;"
1 John 2:2 "And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world."
1 John 4:10 "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."
2. Substitution - Jesus was made sin for us on the cross.
2 Corinthians 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."
3. Regeneration
Titus 3:5 "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;"
4. Sanctification
1 Thessalonians 5:23 "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
1 Corinthians 1:30 "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:"
1 Peter 1:2 "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied."
5. Justification - We are justified by faith
Romans 4:25 "Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification."
Romans 5:1 "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:"
6. Imputation
Romans 4:8 "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin."
7. Reconciliation
2 Corinthians 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;
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.
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."
8. Redemption - We are redeemed by the Blood
Ephesians 1:7 "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;"
Colossians 1:14 "In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:"
9. Glorification
Romans 8:17 "And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together."
The lost are spiritually dead, enemies of God, alienated from God and their master is the devil.
Romans 5:10 "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life."
Ephesians 4:18 "Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:"
Luke 19:10 "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."
Ephesians 2:2 "Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others."
John 8:44 "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."
Sin entered into the world when Adam and Eve sinned by eating of the fruit of the tree in beginning. When they did this they became spiritually dead and was subject unto physical death. Like we said before, ever since then man has been born with a sinful nature according to Romans 5:12.
Genesis 2:17 "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."
There are many benefits of salvation, such as the believer receives eternal life according to Romans 6:23. When we are saved, we are translated into the kingdom of Christ according to Colossians 1:13. We receive the Holy Spirit and are sealed with it. The believer's flesh will not be glorified until the Rapture. Therefore we have to battle with our flesh until our flesh is saved.
Galatians 5:16 "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would."
Also, when we are saved we are made a child of God and are in the family of God.
Galatians 3:26 "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus."
Ephesians 2:19 "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;"
In conclusion, the gospel is this...
1 Corinthians 15:3 "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:"
Jesus Christ was the sacrifice for our sins. He bore our sins on the cross, was buried and rose again on the third day by the power of God. Salvation is by the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ alone.
Romans 5:9 "Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him."
