"Salvation = The Savior"
While salvation involves countless gifts of grace and their expression in heart, life, and behavior, the essence of the blessing involves the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Salvation is the Savior, present in our redeemed spirits. The matter is personal in the most elemental sense. A person is saved if he or she has trusted Christ and is inhabited by His Spirit. "God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba Father" (Galatians 4:6). God made humanity for this "hope of glory, which is Christ in you" (Colossians 1:27). The entrance of sin into humanity, however, precluded the presence of God within us. "Your iniquities have separated between you and your God" (Isaiah 59:2). The entrance of the Holy Spirit into our hearts at the time of the new birth redeems us into being "a habitation of God through the Spirit" (Ephesians 2:22). Again, this is salvation in its essence, namely, the Savior dwelling within us as the Life of our lives. "We… live through Him" (I John 4:9).
We live from salvation because we live from the active presence of the Savior in our hearts. Indeed, "the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ" far outweigh our abilities to bear by our own efforts (Philippians 1:11). "Without Me, ye can do nothing" (John 15:5). The quality of character, disposition, attitude, and action to which God calls us requires the indwelling presence of Christ and the infusion of His capabilities. "Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might" (Ephesians 6:10). We play a vital role in the matter as we trust and submit ourselves to God. "Yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the death, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God" (Romans 6:13). The Christian life involves many conscious decisions to believe the truth of God as revealed in His Word, and to acknowledge that we belong to Him for His glory. Godly attitudes, words, and actions proceed from such response. However, we never forget that "the fruits of righteousness" are in fact fruits. The Lord Jesus Himself is the root whereby the traits of His Person are borne upon those who "look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith" (Colossians 2:7; Hebrews 12:2).
We live from salvation because we live from the Savior. The free gift of His presence in the hearts of those who believe constitutes the assurance of eternal life, and the appropriation of such life as the power whereby we fulfill the will of God. Understanding this Biblical truth in ever greater measure results in loving devotion to God and living to His glory as Christ is revealed in us as the Savior who not only provides "so great salvation," but who is our salvation (Hebrews 12:3).
"The Lord is my strength and my song, and He is become my salvation."
(Exodus 15:2)
"He also shall be my salvation."
(Job 13:16)
"The Lord is my light and salvation."
(Psalm 27:1)
"Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation."
(Psalm 35:3)
Weekly Memory Verse
God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba Father.
(Galatians 4:6)
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