'SALVATION' PHRASES

INTRODUCTION

Some terms and phrases which are aimed at presenting the gospel of salvation are appropriate and accurate while others are not.

REPENT:

If you have already trusted that Christ died for your sins then you will have already had a mentality that sin was a problem in your life that had to be dealt with. So you will have had to turn to our Lord FROM YOUR SIN. This mental action of turning from your sin is repentance! The Greek word which is translated repent is 'metanoew' which means to change your mind, i.e. direction of thought.

So you have turned to trusting in our Lord and from the mental attitude that you do not need a Saviour from your sin, you have in fact repented and trusted in Christ for the payment of all of your sins - past, present AND future.

Repentance therefore is not an extra step to salvation, it is the ONLY step. Repentance and belief are two sides of the same coin - of the same step. You cannot drive "north" toward the Cross and salvation without turning from driving "south" toward an attitude that you can deal all or in part by yourself with your sin problem.

ASK FORGIVENESS FOR YOUR SINS:

If you have trusted that Christ died for all of your sins, (and He did - I John 2:2), then to ask for forgiveness for all of your sins after they have already been forgiven is at the very least redundant.

God has already forgiven you of your sins, past, present and future, the moment that you trusted in what His Son did on the cross for you. (Jn 3:15-18) So now you ask God to forgive you of your sins again? So what should He do? Forgive you twice?

Note that asking forgiveness for one's sins is not the same as confessing them as it commands believers to do in I John 1:9.

The Greek word 'homologew' literally means to state the same thing i.e. to name your sins to God, not to ask forgiveness for them.

The Apostle John's letter entitled "First John" was specifically written to believers, (cp 1 Jn 2:1); and this 9th verse of chapter one caps off the all-important command to believers to confess their sins to God on a moment to moment basis in order to be in fellowship with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ, (cp 1 Jn 1:3-4).

MAKE JESUS THE LORD OF YOUR LIFE:

Once you have expressed in your mind faith in Christ, i.e. that you have trusted and relied on His work on the cross to pay the penalty for all of your sins, then Jesus Christ automatically becomes the Lord of your life, (Eph 2:1-22).

You may not always act like He is the Lord of your life but that is yet another matter of spiritual maturity and Divine discipline......a matter between you and the Lord and one which is beyond the scope of this study.

RECEIVE CHRIST:

The context of the passages in Scripture which speak of receiving Christ define receiving as believing.

Compare John 1:12:

Yet to all who received Him (JESUS CHRIST), to those who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God.

(The second phrase of this verse clearly defines belief as the only requirement for receiving Christ).