To some people the mention of salvation brings on uneasy or negative reactions.
If we are willing to allow the Scriptures to guide us and not let our feelings rule we should be able to understand our salvation and share it with others.
Are we sharing our Salvation?
What is salvation?
If we google the word salvation we get a couple of different definitions, salvation is preservation or deliverance from harm, ruin, or loss. The theological version, or what us Christians believe is salvation is our deliverance from sin and it’s consequences and this is brought about by faith in Christ. I am sure most of us have heard someone say “we are here to bring you to salvation by the way of repentance” or “repent and your sins will be forgiven”.
A lot of people believe that salvation is being saved from yourself or the devil but thats not quite right. We have all sinned against God and are therefore under the judgement of God.
Salvation is found in Jesus and Jesus only, He is God in the flesh and died for all our sins and rose from the dead, the Bible tells is this in John 1:1-14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
1 Corinthians 15:1-4 tells us of the resurrection of Christ.
Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.
When we trust in what Christ has done and not what we do or want, then the righteousness of Christ is given to us, just as our sins were given to Jesus. It is the best trade ever made Jesus gets our sin and we get Jesus’ righteousness.
John 10:27-28 says
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.
This is a gracious undeserved gift of God, Salvation is our repaired relationship with God.
How do we share our salvation?
So, now we know what salvation is, what are we doing with it? Are we keeping it to ourselves? Are we ashamed of it? Do we think if we talk to people about our salvation they will think we are crazy Christians?
We need to share our salvation testimony, we need to do this now more than ever! But how do we do it?
We need to think about where we are now compared to where we were before we knew Jesus, and how we came to meet Jesus.
The hard part of this is telling people our salvation testimony in plain language in less than a minute. We don’t want our prospective new Christian friend to get board with a long story, we have all seen the signs. They are looking around uncomfortably or playing with their phone pretending to listen.
Let me tell you the short version of my story. I always knew there was a God but grew up in a non believing home, so I chose to ignore God for many many years doing things my way. This stupid choice led me to drugs, alcohol and a totally Godless life of misery and depression even though I held senior management positions in multinational companies and got paid a stack of money. I lost the lot.
I had to make a change and decided that church couldn’t hurt. I was lucky enough to have a few people speak into my life and share their salvation testimony with me. But the big change came when I met my now wife Amanda, and while we have struggled at times with our own demons we are now extremely happy and devoted to each other and God.
So I ask you, what are you doing with your salvation? Are you sharing it or are you keeping it to yourself?
I will leave you with Matthew 28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”