If you haven't already heard, at Stay Lit we want to provide more than just Christian Apparel. Our aim is to help you grow in your relationship with Christ by providing resources and insightful blog post that make you want to know God more!
Following on from our first Bible Study all about forgiveness, we have chosen a topic that goes hand in hand, salvation.
Today's Tip:
Before opening the Bible, studying God's Word and seeking answers from God take time to pray and ask for guidance. Spiritual things are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14), which means in order for us to understand spiritual things, we need the Holy Spirit to guide us. It's not about our interpretation or personal opinion, we are seeking God's truth so the best thing to do is ask Him to help us with that.
What is salvation and why is it important?
Before we dive into what salvation is, we need to understand why we need it! Below are some questions for you to answer using the Bible as a guide for your responses. The following Bible texts listed are for guidance, feel free to find more verses to help you get an even better understanding. Write as much as you can and prayerfully allow God to
1. Why do I need salvation?
Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23
Humans are sinful beings. The Bible says that we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God, not only that, if we were to just continue in our sinful state with no alternative we would at some point die with no hope and no future.
2. What was God's response to our sin?
John 3:16, 2 Corinthians 5:21
As soon as there was sin, there was a Saviour. God took Jesus, His only begotten Son and sent Him to this Earth as a baby, on a mission to die for the human race. Jesus, perfect in every way, took on our sin, the sins of the world and died a horrific, criminals death in our place! (Read all about it in Matthew 27)
3. What must I do to be saved?
Ephesians 2:8-9
Salvation is a free gift! It cannot be earned, bought or stolen. Many people think that by doing nice things, by doing good deeds, by trying to do the right thing they can earn heaven but Isaiah 64:6 reminds us that our righteousness, us trying to be perfect in order to earn God’s salvation is like filthy rags, it’s impossible! That is why we needed Jesus to die for us! No matter how hard we try, we aren’t able to earn salvation!
4. So if there's nothing I can do to be saved, how can salvation become mine? How can I experience salvation?
Romans 10:9,10 & 13, Ephesians 2:8-9
The simple answer is believe. In order to experience the salvation that God gives you must:
Have faith and believe that Jesus is your saviour
Believe that He can save you
Believe that Jesus' death on the cross can cover all of your sins no matter how bad
Acknowledge Jesus as your Lord and Saviour
Simply ask Him to forgive and save you
5. What does that look like in my life?
Salvation goes hand in hand with forgiveness. So if you haven’t already gone through that Bible Study we recommend you do!
Here are four simple steps to salvation
Believe - John 3:16
Repent - Acts 3:19
Confess - 1 John 1:9
Submit - James 4:7
Additional Information: If I ask God to save me once am I saved forever?
There is a misconception in the Christian community that if God saves you once, you're always saved. However in the Bible we see that it is possible to be "unsaved", or to undo the repentance process you have experienced.
2 Peter 2:20-22 explains that if we, after experiencing the salvation Christ gives us, then go back to our old ways and fall into sin again, it’s even worse than before. Like a freshly washed pig diving straight back into the mud, we too are ‘prone to wander’. Even after knowing better we can find ourselves back in sin again, adding to the mess we left behind or even making a new one. Hebrews 6:4-6 puts it this way, if we have already tasted and experienced salvation but choose to reject God we are crucifying Jesus all over again!
So what now then?
Every day with Jesus has to be a conscious choice. We can choose each day to walk with God or walk away from Him. To be connected to God or to disconnect from Him.
So the concept of being saved should really be thought of as being constantly connected to Christ. A branch with no roots can never survive, it needs to be constantly connected to the source, the vine (John 15:1-5).
Every time we sin we separate ourselves from God (Isaiah 59:2) and we lose that connected status to God. However the good news is that God’s invitation still stands (1 John 1:9). God has always left the door open for us to come back with our truly repentant hearts and ask Him to forgive us and cleanse us once again so we can experience the salvation He offers.
Reflect: Ask yourself these three questions
What you learnt about God and His character?
What you learnt about yourself?
What action(s) do you feel God is calling you to take in your life after going through this study? (Home, Work, Spiritual, Physical, Mental, Emotional - try to think of all the aspects of your life God may be calling you to do something in just one, or in multiple.)
We hope this Bible study has deepened your understanding of what salvation really is. What other Bible verses did you find that helped you to understand salvation better?
Drop them in the comments below.