Salvation

The goal of every Christian is to be saved from the death penalty of sin through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and to receive the gift of eternal life in God's family and Kingdom. This goal and the process by which it is attained is called salvation.

God created mankind in His image and likeness, but the creative process is not complete until human beings are perfected spiritually—until godly character has been formed in them and they actually enter the family of God.

The process begins with God's calling. No one can come to Christ unless the Father draws him. God's calling opens the mind to understand, grasp and become convicted by the truth.

If a person responds to that calling in belief and action, God grants repentance. Repentance includes recognition of sin, godly sorrow over past wrongdoing, and a determined change of direction from disobedience toward obedience to God.

After repentance and sincere faith in Jesus Christ, the individual may be baptized by immersion for the forgiveness of sins. Baptism pictures Christ's death, burial and resurrection and also symbolizes the death of the old sinful way of life and the beginning of a new Spirit-led life.

Following baptism, the convert receives the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands. The Spirit is essential to salvation because it begets the Christian as a son of God, strengthens him, helps him overcome and changes the direction of the mind from carnal to spiritual.

The Holy Spirit is also described as the seed and guarantee of eternal life. If retained and nurtured, it will ultimately result in the transformation from mortality to immortality at the resurrection.

The sacrifice of Jesus Christ stands at the center of the entire process. His death reconciles mankind to God and pays the penalty for sin, while His resurrected life makes continuing spiritual growth and ultimate salvation possible.

Salvation is entirely a gift of grace and cannot be earned. Nevertheless, the lesson distinguishes between earning salvation and meeting the conditions God places upon the process. Faith, repentance, obedience and endurance are necessary responses to God's free gift.

Faith involves confidence that God exists, that His promises are certain, that Christ's death pays the penalty for sin and that Christ's resurrection makes eternal life possible.

Obedience also has a necessary role. Continual unrepented sin disqualifies a person from God's Kingdom. Salvation is not earned by law-keeping, yet Christ instructed those seeking life to keep God's commandments.

Works do not purchase salvation, but they do affect reward. The parable of the talents illustrates that responsibilities in God's Kingdom will vary according to how faithfully individuals have used what God has given them.

Finally, the lesson emphasizes that today is not the only day of salvation. God is presently calling a relative few, but every human being will ultimately receive an opportunity for eternal life. God's desire is that all come to repentance rather than perish.

Salvation therefore remains a lifelong process requiring endurance. It is completely achieved only when the faithful Christian is changed from mortal to immortal and born as a spirit being into the family of God.