Foundations of the Faith, Part 4: Salvation

Recap

Foundations of the Faith is a series where we examine the basic concepts of our faith in YHWH as recorded in the Bible. This series is intended to be a summarized overview of the faith, which we hope will guide new disciples in the beginning of their study. Throughout this series, we will address such fundamental issues as:

Who is God and how do we relate to Him?

What is Torah (God’s teachings and commandments)?

What is sin and the penalty of sin?

How can the penalty of our sins be resolved?

What do we do after receiving salvation?

What is Salvation?

Thus YHWH saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. (Exodus 14:30)

ישע (yasha) — To save, deliver, help, rescue, preserve, or defend

Salvation is the noun form of the verb “to be saved”. Literally, to be saved is to be rescued and delivered from anything that poses a danger or threat to us. YHWH saved Israel from oppression, slavery, and genocide in Egypt. YHWH saved Noah from being killed in the global flood. YHWH saved Lot from being destroyed in Sodom. Any time YHWH rescues us from danger, preserves us from death, or defends us from attack we have His Salvation.

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21)

σῴζω (sozo) — To save, deliver, preserve, heal, or make whole

Again, we see the Biblical concept of salvation consistently means to be rescued or delivered from danger or destruction. At the beginning of the gospel books, we’re told Messiah’s purpose was to save us from our sins. And that leads us to…

What are we Saved From?

As children of YHWH, we can experience salvation throughout our lives. Any time YHWH rescues us from danger, preserves our health or our lives, or defends us from harm then we have been saved by His intervention.

Ultimately, what most people think of as “salvation” or “getting saved” is to be saved from our sins (as mentioned in Matthew 1:21). But, what does that mean?

If you remember from Foundations of the Faith, Part 3: Sin, the penalty for sin is death. On the day of YHWH’s judgement He will incinerate the wicked, consuming them in His fire. The wicked will be burned up like chaff, reduced to ashes, and dispersed as smoke.

To receive salvation from our sins is to be rescued from the penalty of death we deserve. If YHWH saves us from the penalty of our sins, He keeps us from being destroyed along with the wicked on His day of judgment. Without YHWH’s salvation, we will not survive judgment; we will not live in the Kingdom of Heaven.

So, salvation from sin is to be delivered from the penalty of destruction for every evil thing we have done in our lifetime.

Who is Messiah

Yah is my strength and my song, and he has become my Yeshua. (Psalm 118:14)

ישועה (Yeshua) — The noun form of “salvation”. Derived from yasha (see above).

Yeshua is a noun meaning salvation; and, it’s also a given name (a shortened form of Joshua).

Messiah’s name is ישועה (Yeshua) in Hebrew; his name is transliterated to Ἰησοῦ (Iésous) in Greek. Most English-speaking people know Messiah’s name as Jesus.

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. (Micah 5:2)

Yeshua is the prophesized Messiah, who was born to deliver the people from sin and restore us to The Father in Heaven. Throughout the Tanakh (Old Testament) we see prophecies of the anointed one of Elohim who will crush the serpent’s head and establish a kingdom of righteousness. The gospel books (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) record Yeshua’s first coming into the world to save us from the penalty of our sin in fulfillment of the prophesies.

Yeshua is the salvation of YHWH who came to deliver us from the penalty of our sins. Although he came into the physical world in a human body, he is the divine son of Elohim. Yeshua has been since the beginning (from ancient days); and, everything that was created was created through him. Yeshua is YHWH come in the flesh to complete the deliverance and restoration of Israel that the prophets foretold.

How Messiah Takes Away the Penalty of Sin

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by Elohim, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:4-5)

Throughout the scriptures, we are told there can be no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood (Leviticus 17:11, Hebrews 9:22). The penalty for sin is death; and, a life must be paid to satisfy the penalty. If someone sins, someone dies. Either the sinner dies for the penalty of his or her violation of Torah, or someone else is sacrificed in the place of the sinner as a substitute. But YHWH cannot simply turn a blind eye to sin and ignore it. For YHWH’s Torah to have any real power, and YHWH’s justice to have any integrity, the penalty of sin must be paid.

How Messiah took the penalty of our sins is: He sacrificed himself in our place so that by his death our sins can be forgiven. It is just as the prophet Isaiah foretold, that one would be stricken to carry the guilt of our sin so that we can be restored through his suffering and death.

Atonement Prior to Yeshua’s Sacrifice

Before Yeshua came into the world to save mankind, YHWH prescribed the sacrifice of animals for atonement of sin. We were told that when we obeyed YHWH and performed these sacrifices, our sins would be atoned and forgiven. But, what does that mean?

…And the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin which he has committed, and he shall be forgiven. (Leviticus 4:35)

כָּפַר (kaphar) — To make atonement, to cover, pacify, pardon

The atonement received by the sacrifices given in the Torah/Law provided a covering for our sins to pacify YHWH’s punishment. Through obedience to YHWH’s commandments, we performed His required sacrifices and He in turn spared us the punishment for sin that we deserved. However, having our sins covered did not actually take them away. We were still corrupt with sin, we still had an inclination to continue sinning, and we still actually committed sin even after making atonement. Our continuance in sin required another atonement. And another atonement. And another…

The Difference Between Covenant Sacrifices

For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. (Hebrews 10:4)

ἀφαιρεῖν (aphairein) — To take away, cut off, or remove

Through the sacrifices given in the Torah, we received atonement but were not made perfect. Our sin was covered so that we could have a relationship with YHWH and not be destroyed on the spot; but, we still carried the guilt of sin and an uncleanness that keeps us from fully coming into YHWH’s presence. We were still left in a state where we are unfit to eat of the Tree of Life and live forever with YHWH.

That is the one shortcoming of the covenant given through Moses. Through that covenant, we received the instructions and commandments of YHWH that teach us His will and His ways. But, the covenant did not make provision to fully perfect us by the cutting away and removal of our sin. And, that is why a new covenant was necessary to completely resolve sin once and for all.

You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. (1 John 3:5)

Yeshua/Jesus came to take away sin. That is, Messiah came to do the one thing our obedience to Torah/The Law could not do: perfect us rather than merely cover us. Through Yeshua’s sacrifice, the penalty of our sin in not only covered or temporarily pacified, it is fully removed; and, we are purified so we can eat of the Tree of Life and live forever in the coming Kingdom of Heaven.

Yeshua is the only perfect sacrifice for sin. Yeshua was born in a human body, grew up in a corrupted world, and faced every temptation mankind has ever faced. Yet, Yeshua never gave in to temptation and committed sin; he never violated any portion of Torah (“The Law”). Therefore, Yeshua has no personal sins to pay for. This spiritual perfection makes Yeshua suitable to stand in our place as a substitutionary sacrifice, as he does not require atonement for himself and is not deserving of death.

Yeshua willingly accepted death, which he did not deserve, to pay the penalty for our sins so that we can survive God’s judgement. It was the penalty of our sins that he died for, since he had no penalty of his own to pay.

Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:12)

How do we Receive Messiah’s Salvation?

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. (John 3:16-18)

John 3:16 is the most quoted verse of the Bible. This verse is held out as the pinnacle proof-text of the gospel message. But, what does it mean?

1. The Father in heaven gave His only Son as the sacrifice to take away our sins. Yeshua’s sacrifice was done by the Father’s will to make a way for mankind to be redeemed.

2. That whoever believes.

πιστεύω (pisteuo) — To believe in, have faith in, be persuaded of, entrust one’s well-being to, commit to trust

3. Should not perish.

ἀπόλλυμι (apollumi) — To destroy, die, perish, abolish, lose, ruin

4. But receive eternal life.

ζωὴν αἰώνιον (zoen aionion) — Eternal life, life that never ends

5. Whoever believes in Yeshua will not be condemned on the Day of Judgement.

6. Anyone who rejects Yeshua is already condemned. Such a person has a sin-penalty to pay but has refused his or her only means of salvation. The individual who rejects Yeshua’s sacrifice must then die for his or her own sins on Judgement Day.

What Does it Really Mean to Believe?

Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?” And then will I declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” (Matthew 7:21-23)

Since our salvation from the death-penalty of sin depends on our belief in Yeshua, we must understand what it means to “believe”.

Let’s begin with what “belief” is not. Believing does not mean having academic knowledge that YHWH is real, Yeshua is real, the Bible is true, etc. Remember, the adversary and the demonic spirits all know these things to be true, but they have no salvation. Just knowing these facts to be true doesn’t save anyone from sin.

So, what is “belief”? To truly believe anything, one must be genuinely and wholeheartedly convinced it is so. Belief will extend to action. If we believe something is true, we will respond by acting as if it is true.

For example: One might academically understand that commercial airplanes are statistically safe, with a low likelihood of crashing. But, if someone is not wholeheartedly convinced of it then he or she won’t be willing to get on the plane. If one has any doubts of the airplane’s safety, he or she will not have confidence to ride in it.

The chief priests and scribes who served Herod are a great example of academic knowledge versus true belief. Everyone in Jerusalem heard Messiah was born and sojourners had come to worship him. When questioned by Herod, the priests correctly cited prophecy and affirmed Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. So, the priests heard Messiah was born, they knew the prophecies, but they did not act on any of this knowledge; they did not go to Bethlehem to see Messiah or respond to him in any way. The priests mentioned in this portion of scripture had knowledge without belief (Matthew 2:1-6).

James said faith without works is dead (James 2:14-26). And a dead faith cannot save anyone. James went on to say we are justified by the works that we do when we act in accordance with the instructions and commandments of God. This directly parallels what Messiah said in Matthew 7:21-23 (cited above), that if we are workers of Lawlessness then we have no relationship with Yeshua. To be a “worker of Lawlessness” is to live a lifestyle of violating Torah (breaking The Law) with no intent to ever change.

So, real faith that leads to salvation and eternal life is this: We must wholeheartedly believe Yeshua to the extent we will obey his instructions and do what he requires. And, what Yeshua consistently taught is to turn away from breaking Torah/The Law (repentance of sin) and begin living a fruitful life of obedience to Torah/Law and service to The Father.

RED ALERT!!! WORKS-BASED SALVATION!!! AHHHHH!!!

Most people in “the church” are indoctrinated to have a very volatile, irrational, response once they hear someone say our works are directly related to our saving-faith. So let me be abundantly clear: I am not teaching “works-based salvation” or “earning our salvation”.

We obtain salvation from the penalty of our sins solely by faith in Yeshua/Jesus.

However, if we truly believe Yeshua then we will respond to that belief by actually obeying him.

Someone who truly believes will respond to that belief by changing from living a lifestyle of Lawlessness to living a lifestyle of Lawfulness.

Therefore, our obedience of Torah/The Law is evidence we truly have believed and responded to God.

If we say we believe Yeshua but then go on living a lifestyle of Lawlessness, with no intent to ever change, then we are fooling ourselves. Such a person has never known Yeshua and has no relationship with him at all.

Remember Jeremiah 31:31-34 and Hebrews 8:8-12: The promise of the new covenant involves God forgiving our sin then writing His Torah/Law on our hearts (which is accomplished by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit). If we are in the New Covenant then we will have it on our hearts and minds to obey Torah/The Law, and the Spirit of God will both instruct and empower us to carry out His Torah.

If anyone believes he or she has come into the covenant, yet he or she rejects Torah/The Law and has no desire to obey…what covenant has that person joined? How can anyone think he or she has saving-faith in Yeshua if he or she has no desire for Torah, no intent to repent, and no evidence of change in his or her life at all? One who lives a life of Lawlessness must re-evaluate his or her “faith” before the Day of Judgment, lest he or she hear the words, “I never knew you; depart from me, you worker of lawlessness.”

Join the discussion on Facebook