“Christian-ese” Series: Salvation

              Easter week is an appropriate time to talk and think about the next part of this series to decode “Christian-ese” for the non—Christians and seekers. Salvation is one of the first ideas that evangelists bring about when they are trying to, well, evangelize, but sometimes they don’t have the best grasp on how to communicate that, and they wind up just brow beating people with scriptures, telling them they are evil and condemned to Hell.

              To start with salvation, it may be useful to explain why we need it in the first place. We as human beings have a moral covenant with God, in that we have His moral law written on our hearts (Romans 2:15) and are expected to follow that moral law. When we break that moral law, we commit sin, and the consequence of that sin is death (Romans 3:23, Genesis 3). It may sound harsh, but God is described as all good, all just, and all holy, and he cannot tolerate sin, because if we enter into His holiness as sinful beings, we would be annihilated by His holiness just because of who God is. All of humanity has sinned at some point in their life, telling a white lie to our parents or friends, to stiffing friends on a bill, looking at members of the opposite sex with lustful intent, hating people in our hearts (which is murder according to Jesus), so we are all condemned to death under God’s moral law and perfect justice.

              Pretty grim outlook right? There is hope for humanity! It is found in the gift of salvation offered to us through Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament, people had to cleanse themselves of their sin by giving a sin offering, which involved the killing of an unblemished animal, typically a lamb. Jesus came down as God made flesh, a perfect man, and offered himself as a sacrifice for humanity, so that we might be cleansed of our sins, free to enter into fellowship with God once again, as God had with man in the garden of Eden (Genesis 2).

              Salvation gives us hope for tomorrow, knowing that we have an eternal tomorrow. For when we go from this earth, we will find ourselves in the presence of the Father, and eventually God will make a new Heaven and Earth for us to dwell with Him, when his plan for this world is done (Revelation 21). I hope this has helped to explain, or at least started to explain, the concept of Salvation to you. Let me know what you think and what topic I should go for next. God bless and have a good rest of your day!