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How Salvation Works
Salvation is a process, not a one time event. Here is what I mean by that. The salvation process begins when we are born of the spirit, becoming a new spiritual person, which has never existed before. (2 Cor. 5:17) We are born of the spirit and become this new creature by confessing Jesus as Lord of all but the conforming of our soul (mind, will, emotions) to the mind of Christ (Rom. 8:29, 12:2) is not complete until we stand before the judgment seat of Christ and confess every single unconfessed sin (Rom. 14:10) (2 Cor. 5:10). This is the final step of salvation before personally assuming the full statue and authority of a son of God in heaven. We already have that full authority here on earth. (1 Jo. 4:17) Salvation is mentioned 43 times in the new testament. I would suggest that the reader study those verses first before continuing to read what I have to say here. As with so many other truths in the New testament, one must have acquired a basic knowledge of the tri-fold nature of mankind (spirit, body and soul) before being able to better understand how salvation works. Again I say, salvation begins when a believer confesses Jesus Christ as Lord of all. (Rom. 10:9) We then become born of the spirit. (Jhn 3:3-7) We also receive a new heart, which replaces the old stony heart in our soul. (Ez. 36:26) This new heart has a longing for the things of God and is the beachhead of the soul. It is the very essence of who we are here on earth. It is our unique core personality. The new heart has an affinity for the things of God. The old stony heart seeks nothing but the temporal things of this wicked world. (Jer. 17:9) From this beachhead of the new heart, we believers can go forth and possess the other thoughts of our mind, allowing them to be conformed to the mind of Christ. (Rom. 8:29, 12:2) This is how we believers work out our own salvation. (Phl. 2:12) A believer's plumb line to keep this new heart on the straight and narrow is the word of God. (Heb.4:12) As we conquer more and more of our "thought life" (strongholds, ungodly personalities, demon oppression and just "plain-down stinking thinking") bringing these into submission to Christ, then we become more and more functional as believers. However, the battle for the salvation of our own soul will not see complete victory until we stand before the judgment seat of Christ.Perhaps I am straying from the broader subject of salvation somewhat by talking about the heart, but I believe it to be necessary. Admittedly, there are nuances to the subject of salvation which it would take a book to cover but I believe that understanding the heart's role in salvation is one of the most important nuances. You see, this new heart is what continually activates the salvation (restoration) process in the rest of the soul. It does this by maintaining communications with our new born spirit and also through the anointing of The Holy Spirit, who becomes our tutor. (Jhn. 16:13) Now, here is one big question which is sure to come up about what I have said, concerning salvation. How did the process of salvation work for Old Testament believers? Obviously, some old testament believers also had enlightened hearts. Enoch walked with God. (Gen. 5:24) Noah was a righteous man. (Gen. 6:9) Abraham was a friend of God. (Isa. 41:8). David was a man after God's own heart, just to name a few and there are many more. (1 Ki. 14:8) Doesn't their walk with God indicate an enlightened heart which would conflict with what I just said? I just said that the salvation process begins with being born of the spirit, and receiving a new heart. Yet, how could old testament believers receive the new heart, necessary for the salvation process to begin prior to being able to be born of the spirit? Jesus had not yet come, died and been resurrected, so how could that happen? I believe that there is a simple answer to that question. They didn't receive the new heart. Instead, the old heart was circumcised, because they chose to believe God. (Deu. 10:16, 30:6) (Jer. 4:4) To further corroborate what I have just said, in the New Testament there is not a single scripture telling us that we need to have our hearts circumcised as there is in the Old Testament. In fact the following scripture indicates that circumcision of the heart is not needed. (Gal. 6:15) Why is it not needed? It's not needed because we have a new heart. The following New Testament scripture does mention the circumcision of Christ working in the entirety of a believer's soul (body of sin) but in the context of sin being dealt with, by the Spirit of Christ in our spirit, and not from just the circumcision of our heart. Our new heart is completely Holy. Again, it doesn't need to be circumcised. (Col. 2:11) Why do we need this salvation in the first place? The bible says that we can either choose to confess Christ as Lord of all and receive the free gift of salvation(Rom. 10:9) (Eph. 2:8) or we can refuse to believe that message and stand before God one day and be judged by our own good works (Rev. 20:12-15). Since sin is anything that is not of faith (Rom. 14:23), just one sin is the same as being guilty of all. (Jas. 2:10) Simply put, this means no one will be found "not guilty". The bible goes on to say, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God". (Rom. 3:23) The bottom line is this. We either except God's free gift of salvation through believing on Jesus Christ or spend an eternity in hell. There is no other way.
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