Pastor Eric Hill, Antioch Baptist Church
Salvation is everything Jesus purchased for us through the atonement. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (Rom. 1:16). The Greek word Sozo means to save and it’s an all-inclusive word that summarizes everything that Christ provided for us through His death, burial, and resurrection. It’s forgiveness of sins, healing, deliverance, and prosperity. Salvation is a package deal. When the Scripture says that the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation, it’s not just
Pastor Eric Hill
talking about how to be born again and have your sins forgiven. It means that the Gospel—the grace of God—is the power of God unto healing, unto deliverance, unto prosperity—unto everything that comes to us as a result of being born again. It’s talking about our relationship with God. It’s how we relate to God based on grace (what Jesus did) instead of performance (what we do). Satan tries to get us to earn the things of God, to make ourselves our savior, to put our faith in what we’ve done instead of faith in Christ as our only means of receiving from God. Instead of coming right out and telling people that God doesn’t heal (prosper, deliver) today, Satan deceives them into thinking that they must do something in order to earn God’s provision. Instead of relating to and receiving from God based on His grace, goodness, and mercy, they try to earn God’s gift through human effort. Most people believe that God moves in their lives proportional to their performance. This is what Paul was preaching against. Paul came along and talked about God’s goodness and grace. It’s the goodness of God that leads us to repentance (Rom. 2:4). It’s the Gospel that has power in it. Since most people relate to God based on fear instead of love, no doubt the immediate response of those Paul was writing to would have been, “But you can’t do this! People have to know how ungodly they are.
For the complete column, see this week’s edition of the Centralia Fireside Guard
