Back to the Basics- Simple Salvation

June 2, 2023

Salvation was made so easy. There was never anything you or I could ever do to make us right with God again. We were all sinners, bound to sin and its power. We, ourselves, could never make ourselves free. Read Romans 3:9-20, TPT, “So, are we to conclude then that we Jews are superior to all others? Certainly not! For we have already proven that both Jews and gentiles are all under the bondage of sin. And the Scriptures agree, for it is written:

There is no one who always does what is right, no, not even one! There is no one with true spiritual insight, and there is no one who seeks after God alone. All have deliberately wandered from God’s ways. All have become depraved and unfit. Kindness has disappeared from them all, not even one is good. Their words release a stench, like the smell of death—foul and filthy! Deceitful lies roll off their tongues.The venom of a viper drips from their lips. Bitter profanity flows from their mouths,

only meant to cut and harm. They are infatuated with violence and murder. They release ruin and misery wherever they go. They never experience the path of peace. They shut their eyes to the awe-inspiring God!

Now, we realize that everything the law says is addressed to those who are under its authority. This is for two reasons: So that every excuse will be silenced, with no boasting of innocence. And so that the entire world will be held accountable to God’s standards. For by the merit of observing the law no one earns the status of being declared righteous before God, for it is the law that fully exposes and unmasks the reality of sin.” Not even one person was above or free from sin. Not Jew nor gentile. We all were equally bound to it. We were corrupted with the seed of sin from our birth. Like I said there was not anything we could do to rid ourselves of this disease of sin in us. But then Jesus! The one and only Savior, did all that was needed to liberate us and cleanse us from sin! Jesus through HIS faithfulness to the will of God stood in our place and made us right with God. Then simply all we must do is place our faith in the faithfulness of Jesus.

Let us read this passage of scripture to help us understand our simple salvation through Jesus. Romans 3:21-30, TPT, “But now, independently of the law, the righteousness of God is tangible and brought to light through Jesus, the Anointed One. This is the righteousness that the Scriptures prophesied would come. It is God’s righteousness made visible through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. And now all who believe in him receive that gift. For there is really no difference between us, for we all have sinned and are in need of the glory of God. Yet through his powerful declaration of acquittal, God freely gives away his righteousness. His gift of love and favor now cascades over us, all because Jesus, the Anointed One, has liberated us from the guilt, punishment, and power of sin! Jesus’ God-given destiny was to be the sacrifice to take away sins, and now he is our mercy seat because of his death on the cross. We come to him for mercy, for God has made a provision for us to be forgiven by faith in the sacred blood of Jesus. This is the perfect demonstration of God’s justice, because until now, he had been so patient—holding back his justice out of his tolerance for us. So he covered over the sins of those who lived prior to Jesus’ sacrifice. And when the season of tolerance came to an end, there was only one possible way for God to give away his righteousness and still be true to both his justice and his mercy—to offer up his own Son. So now, because we stand on the faithfulness of Jesus, God declares us righteous in his eyes! Where, then, is there room for boasting? Do our works bring God’s acceptance? Not at all! It was not our works of keeping the law but our faith in his finished work that makes us right with God. So our conclusion is this: God’s wonderful declaration that we are righteous in his eyes can only come when we put our faith in Christ, and not in keeping the law. After all, is God the God of the Jews only, or is he equally the God for all of humanity? Of course, he’s the God of all people! Since there is only one God, he will treat us all the same—he eliminates our guilt and makes us right with him by faith no matter who we are.” Because we stand on the faithfulness of Jesus, that is why God declares us righteous. We become right with God only one way- putting our faith in the finished (already done, already complete) work of Jesus Christ. Our faith alone would be useless without Jesus. We cannot believe our way out of sin. We cannot simply depend on our ability to have faith. Without Jesus there would be nothing for our faith to latch onto. Faith is nothing unless there is something to believe in. That is why Jesus is the only way we can be made right with God. We had to have Him to place our faith in and receive what He did.

Let’s not get in our own way trying to do and be good enough to be right with God. We can never do that. Even our own faith is nothing if it were not for Jesus. It’s Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. We will never be able to say the right things, or have the right motives in our hearts, or do the good deeds that can save us and cleanse us from sin. We simply must look at the faithfulness of Jesus, see what He accomplished and place our faith in that. And as soon as we do that, in that moment God sees us through the lens of Jesus, and sees us as righteous. And there will never be a day where we do the right or the wrong thing that could do or undo our righteousness through Jesus.

When I say “simple salvation”, I am saying it is simple for us to receive salvation ONLY because Jesus did the not-so simple part. Jesus did the hardest, most difficult, most yielded thing to ever be done in all the history of creation! He literally became sin. All of the sin of the world for all of the generations for all of time came upon Him. He was brutally beat beyond anything we could comprehend. He died, and spent time in the belly of hell, the darkest place possible. He was tormented in our place for three days and nights. He was the deadest of dead until the Spirit of Almighty God sparked within Him and raised Him back to life. That is the hardest thing to ever be done. And it took great faith to walk that out. He did it so we did not have to. He did it to make it simple for us because His love for us is so great. He wanted to make sure it was easy to receive so it was too hard to pass up. He wanted an eternity to be with us. So simply receive salvation. No works, no ability from you. Just believe what He did.

I like to close each teaching with an invitation to salvation for anyone that has not yet welcomed Jesus into their life. Maybe you’ve read this and felt a pull on your heart. Maybe you’re in a place where you just need a solution. If so, this was meant for you and if you’re ready for the “moreness” of God, then believe in your heart and say out loud the following prayer: “Jesus, I repent for my sins, please forgive me for living a life apart from You. I believe that you are the Son of God and that you died on the cross for my sins and were raised to life again. I confess you as Lord over my life. Take my life and do something with it. And I ask you to fill me with your Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ Name amen.”

It’s as simple as that. Welcome to the family! That is solely the most important decision you will ever make. If you prayed that prayer, please send us an email and let us know. We would love to help get you connected to a Life-filled church in your area and help you get started on your journey of “moreness” with God. Click the chat button at the bottom of each page and send us a message!