Salvation is both easy and difficult. In no way do we earn
our salvation. It is a gift. The Old Testament system of
sacrifice pointed out the fact that we weren’t good enough.
Every year a sacrifice had to be made and humanity would
never escape its sinfulness.
Because salvation is a
free gift and there is also nothing that we can do to repay
that gift. Once we are saved, we do not act good because of
a duty to be good. Instead we bear fruit for God because our
lives have been changed. For more on this idea see the
article “Bearing Fruit.”
Even though salvation is a
free gift, we must be careful not to boil it down to a
onetime thing. There is power in praying for salvation but
this is the start of a journey with the Lord, not something
that can be done and forgotten about.
The truth is
that salvation can be broken down into very easy steps. The
ABC’s of Salvation and the Romans Road are the two simplest.
For more methods of evangelism or some helpful ideas, visit
our sister site Christian Evangelism.
At the moment
of our salvation we are heaven bound. When we place our
trust in Jesus and He forgives our sins, there are no more
requirements to be a Christian. But God wants us to grow
closer to Him and that is a lifelong journey. Obedience is
required after salvation in order to have the best possible
relationship with God. Just as sin separated us from God
before salvation, our continued sin – even though it has
been forgiven – effects our relationship with God.
A
Christian’s life should also be an abundant life. Just as
parents don’t come up with a bunch of rules to prevent us
from having any fun, God’s rules are in our best interest as
well. We seek to follow God because we love Him, we want the
best possible relationship with Him, and He wants the best
life possible for us.
The moment of salvation, the
time when our sins are forgiven through the blood of Jesus,
is easy. Salvation and living the Christian life should be
thought of as a lifetime journey. There will be bumps along
the way but we don’t need to fear them because God is with
us on the journey.
