by Angela Moreno

The older I get, the more I realize how wrong I’ve been in several areas of my life. When we are teenagers, we think we know everything and no one else knows anything. As we age, we learn that we aren’t nearly as smart as we think we are and we still have a lot to learn.

As I sat in church a couple of weeks ago, I realized how wrong I had been about my salvation for so many years. I grew up in churches that put the fear of God in you. We had to dress a certain way, act a certain way, and sing songs solemnly from a hymnal. The preacher taught about sin and how we should do good to earn the acceptance of God. I was so afraid of making God mad that I didn’t dwell on His love for me. He wasn’t my Father; God was an all-knowing being in the sky who was always watching what I was doing. I often left church thinking I would never measure up.

And then I learned about true salvation- the kind that the Bible teaches about.

I’ve learned that there are two kinds of salvation:

1. Religious salvation- This kind of salvation says that we must confess our sins and do good works to stay in God’s good graces. We confess that Jesus is Lord but we must continually confess when we sin to stay in God’s favor. We have rules to follow so we can stay on the straight and narrow. The continue to be saved we must earn our way into Heaven. We can “unearn” our salvation if we choose to continually sin and not earn our way.
2. Biblical salvation– This kind of salvation says we confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead and we will be saved (Romans 10:9).

Big difference isn’t it? Religious salvation magnifies sin. We are focused on sin and doing good works. Biblical salvation lets us know that everything is already done for us; we just have to accept Jesus’ gift. We are focused on Jesus.

We are saved according to Biblical salvation not religious salvation. We don’t have to do anything to earn our salvation; we get our salvation by accepting Jesus. That’s it.

Of course we will have to come to terms with sin, but you are completely a new person when you accept Jesus. The old person, the sinner, no longer exists. The new person no longer wants to sin because Jesus has taken up residency in our hearts and guides our every move.

This doesn’t mean that we will never be tempted. Even Jesus was tempted by sin. We always have a choice to make. If we do slip-up, God put a plan in place for that also. He gave us the Holy Spirit to pick us up, guide us, and set us back on the right path.

Because Jesus is in our hearts, we will want to do good works on His behalf– not to earn our salvation but because our new self desires to. The Apostle Paul talked about faith and works in Ephesians 2:6-7: Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Review what you believe about salvation. Are you focusing on sin and trying to follow rules so you won’t fall out of God’s good graces? Are you trying to earn your salvation through good works? If so stop.

You have earned your salvation by accepting Jesus and confessing His resurrection. Let Him fully into your heart. Sin will be an after thought once you are truly focused on Jesus and let Him guide your life.

You are freer than you could ever imagine! You are one with the Father and His Son!