RSS

Salvation–Saved from What?

Jesus was once asked: “What must I do to be saved?” The reply he gave was disconcerting to the man looking for salvation. He was told to sell all he had and give it to the poor an come and follow Jesus. The man walked away. Is he lost forever? Must I sell all my goods and give them to the poor to obtain salvation? Is this how I am saved? What did Jesus mean? I believe what he had in mind was the rich young ruler was too dependent upon his wealth to really trust in Jesus.

Paul claimed in order to be saved a man must confess Jesus as Lord and believe that Jesus was both crucified for our sins and raised from the dead (Romans 10:9-10). This is the theology, and the practice can be found in Luke 23:42 where the thief on the cross rebuked his fellow thief and asked Jesus to remember him when he came into his Kingdom. The thief was no theologian by any stretch of the imagination, but he didn’t see Jesus’ death as the end, or at least this was what he implied. The point is, Jesus accepted that acknowledgment and told him he would be with him in paradise.

So, What is Salvation? What must we be saved from? To Whom does salvation apply? How can we be saved? What occurs when we are saved? It is my hope that the following blogs will answer these and perhaps other pertinent questions one may have about the salvation offered to us by God.

THE PROBLEM:

.

THE SOLUTION:

.

SOME HARD QUESTIONS:

.

PERSONAL Testimony:

 

2 responses to “Salvation–Saved from What?”

  1. Vlad

    December 2, 2010 at 01:29

    I realized that Adam and satan/devil is the same entity. The question that I have is how “prince of this world” influenced his dominion before Jesus became a new prince? Since Adam died, did he continue to live as a free spirit? Or Eph2:2 means that Adams spirit is a teaching or simply fleshly desires?
    Another question: what do you think evil spirits are?
    Last one: Jude 1:9?

    Thank you.

     

  2. Eddie

    December 2, 2010 at 08:10

    Vlad,

    It is my understanding that Adam continued to “live” as a disembodied spirit after his death. He would no longer be able to participate in this world’s activities unless he literally “possessed” a person, like he did Judas in order to betray the Lord. This is not to say he was unable to “influence” people whether kings or common folk. I believe he was able to do this, but remember he is not omnipresent–he is not as powerful as people tend to make him out to be. He had great authority and continued to rule the human race until sometime after the death and resurrection of Jesus. He knew he had only a little time left when Jesus rose from the dead. He had thought the crucifixion was his victory over God, but we all know how that turned out.

    By the time Jesus destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple (the sign that he was in the heavens–i.e. on the Messianic Throne according to Matthew 24), Satan/Adam was dead in every sense of the word. Revelation 20 shows him being chained and cast into the “bottomless pit.” This is another way of saying he is dead–chained in blackness of darkness where there is no thought or activity of any kind. Jesus rules now and will bring everything to the climax that is needed for God’s plan to work for all.

    Every human inherited Adam’s nature. Consequently Adam had been able to influence us through the world and the world through us. The world and the flesh are like two burning logs in a fire. As long as the two are united or placed together, the fire will “live” or continue to burn. If one log is removed the other will die out very quickly. Our flesh breaths “life” into this world’s system, and this world’s system breaths life into our flesh–the nature we inherited from Adam. This shows that not only was Adam able to influence the flesh for evil purposes, but anyone who has any power could influence the flesh for evil–viz a man like Hitler, or even world leaders in any nation today; they all appeal to the flesh to accomplish their wills.

    Concerning demons or evil spirits, I do not have a hard fast opinion. Some Scriptures seem to indicate they are separate entities that inhabit or influence men. This could be true or perhaps I simply cannot see the truth because the influence of error still holds my mind captive on this issue. Other Scriptures seem to say these “evil” spirits are nothing more than something gone wrong in our spirits–like schizophrenia. This problem is best explained physically rather than by possession of an evil spirit (a separate entity).

    Notice that I may be opinionated, but I don’t have all the answers. I keep asking God, and he keeps opening things up to me. He will do it for you too. Simply ask him and be patient. Sometimes it took years for the response to finally come, because I had to go through certain circumstances before the thing would become clear. If you ask, you can expect a response from him. It may be immediate, but prepare for the answer than can come only with years of living. :-)

    Lord bless, my friend,

    Eddie

     

Leave a comment