The Salvation of God - Yeshua
Then said Yeshua unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his Cross, and follow me.
Matthew 16:24
The Scripture in Matthew 16:24 must have been a shock when the disciples heard it. Death using the Cross was a very cruel and torturous means of punishment instituted by the Romans during the time of Yeshua. This word picture, if made into a poster or campaign for signing on as one of the disciples, would not gain many volunteers. But, it did not leave any doubt that if you became a disciple of Yeshua, it was going to be a time of hardship.
Yeshua continued in Matthew 16:25 and says, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he shall reward every man according to his works.”
WOW! Yeshua has laid it out, if you give up this life, you will have everlasting life. Then he lays out the importance of Salvation. Even if we gain the whole world and give up our Soul, where does that leave you? And every man will be a reward for his works?
Life here and now is of lesser importance and is temporary. But everlasting life with Yeshua is the goal, it is our preferred destination. Now we have instruction and a map for our journey. We need to learn to use our spiritual compass to guide us to our destination. This next Scripture some it up how our compass should work.
Philippians 1:21 “For to me, life is the Messiah, and death is gain.”
Yes, the Messiah is breaking the trail for us to follow. He is our perfect example.
GPS (Gods Perfect Salvation) better than any compass and will help you get around the obstacles in life’s journey.
Salvation is a hot topic!
Let’s take a moment and think about this.
First of all, Yeshua and His disciples were Jewish. During the time of Yeshua and his disciples, the available scriptures were the Old Testament (Referred to by Christians), the Hebrew TaNaKh, which contained the Torah, Prophets, and the Writings.
Yeshua gives a stern warning which He placed great importance on the Old Testament (TaNaKh) in Matthew 5:17-20 "Don't think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a Yod or a Stroke will pass from the Torah, not until everything that must happen have happened. So whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvot (commandments) and teaches others to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness is far greater than that of the Torah-teachers and Pharisees, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven!”
In the New Testament Paul (Sha’ul) wrote Timothy these words:
2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”
The above scriptures should leave little doubt that the Bible from Genesis to Revelation is the Word of God. In the King James Version (KJV), Salvation is used 164 times from Genesis to Revelation. The first time it is used is in Genesis 49:18, “I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.” In this Chapter, Jacob is blessing his children before he dies. Jacob (Israel), between the blessing of Dan then Gad Jacob interjects this statement before continuing the blessings to his children. The route word for Salvation is Yeshua, which later in history is the name of the Messiah. In the English version of the Bible, the Messiah's name is Jesus.
The Bible has two categories of Salvation:
1. National Salvation
2. Personal Salvation
We will focus on personal Salvation and what this entails and how to apply it to our lives. The foundation of Salvation that most everyone is familiar with is found in Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
We see that to be saved (Salvation), it is the gift of God. It is grace (Unmerited favor), and through faith that this gift of Salvation is given to us as a gift from God. Below are the steps we see in this verse that leads to Salvation:
1. Grace (Unmerited favor) is not given to us because who we are (sinners), but who God is in our lives, it is a personal relationship living according to God’s Will, Plan, and Purpose.
2. Faith (This is an act or acts of righteousness) our obedience to God’s Word because we love HIM.
3. Salvation (Not based on works) in short, you cannot buy or work your way into heaven. We must not think that once we believe and just say a prayer, we are saved. Without a full commitment to allow God to work in your life, you will be as lost as you first started. This is like saying you have fire insurance, but you haven’t purchased it yet. Then the house burns down, and then you decide to buy the insurance and expect them to cover your loss. You will be very disappointed.
Yeshua gives an example of this very idea and explains it in Matthew 25:31-40. This shows us by what means we can reach the desired destination of our journey.
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before he shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divided his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? Or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? Or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you since ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren; ye have done it unto me.
Yeshua is showing the motivation and acts of righteousness that are accounted to them as righteousness, which leads to that personal relationship with God that they have received the gift of grace, which is Salvation.
Reading Matthew 25:41-46, the contrast of them who did not demonstrate their faith through obedience, this is not the destination which we desire to arrive.
Then shall he also say unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred. Ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Then shall he answer them, saying, verily I say unto you, since ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
To understand what God's part is and what our role is, we must understand what it is to be genuinely born again, how faith and grace lead us to a righteous life to receive the gift of Salvation. It is our personal relationship of love that we find ourselves born again of the Spirit of God, then by faith and obedience, our righteousness shines to our Father God, and he imparts grace to us unto Salvation. All these things work together to the glory and purposes of God's will for each of us as we undertake this journey to our desired destination. (Hebrews 11:1 KJV) “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
“He also shall be my salvation: for a hypocrite shall not come before him.” (Job 13:16)
“But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy Salvation. I will sing unto the LORD because he hath dealt bountifully with me.” (Psalms 13:5-6)