The word salvation is one we become very familiar with. It can be taken for granted, yet it is core and key to the message of the cross and the way of reconciliation unto God through Christ.
 
As a young person attending church, I don’t recall talking about being saved. I don’t think I even recognised that I needed saving, how arrogant of my young thinking looking back now! I might have even argued that I had no need to be reborn as I was going to church. I perhaps knew things at a head level, but not in my heart.
 
Reverently speaking, God isn’t asking us to know every word of the bible in our heads, He asks us at a heart level to give our lives to Him. It is a transition from reading a set of words, even perhaps analytically, and going beyond that where His word touches us deeply. It was only when I gave my life to God that my head level understanding changed to knowing the truth in my heart. It was only the blood of Christ that could complete this transaction. My heart of stone and self-serving was changed to one flooded with Christ’s love. My heart of sin was forgiven, and by His mercy and grace I was saved.
 
Christ didn’t come to judge us; He knew that we were sinners. God knew us in our sin and yet He gave His Son that we might be saved; taken out of darkness and into eternal light, that we may have a life in Him.
 
According to Wikipedia the word salvation comes from the Latin salva which means ‘to save’ or ‘safe’. It is a state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. It refers to deliverance of the soul from sin and its consequences. This description makes sense at a head level, but what it doesn’t bring is true knowledge of joy and hope that is in new life with Christ.
 
It is only knowing Christ as our Saviour that can reveal the meaning of these things to us beyond the written word, and it is in our relationship with Him that we see the outworking of the transforming power of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life.
 
‘’if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.’’(Romans 10: 9)
 
There can be a wonderful excitement when we are first saved. However, as we go on, daily life can consume our focus and hinder the spiritual growth and deepening joy that God wants for us.
 
When the desire of our heart remains set on Him, we are taken ever deeper into the inner courts of communion as we rejoice in the fullness of our salvation.
 
“Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you, I have called you by name; you are mine” (Isaiah 43:1)
 
Today friends let our heart’s song be one of praise as we walk in the transforming power of the blood of Christ. He is our living hope.