What can I do to be saved?

If you are like me, you understand that your salvation is a gift of God's grace and that you can do nothing to earn it. I understand this, I teach this, I love this... but I actually have difficulty living this. More often than not, I end up (consciously or unconsciously) "doing" all that I can to show God that I am worth saving.
From a sermon by Ryan Graham (Pastor of WestLife Church in Calgary), coming to grips with the correct definitions of the vocabulary surrounding our salvation can actually solidify the reality that "I have nothing to do with this". 

Salvation:  the "saving" of a sinner from the righteous judgment of God. When someone appeals to God and seeks forgiveness in Jesus, his sins are forgiven. He is cleansed. His relationship with God is restored, and he is made a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17). All of this is the work of God, not man. Salvation is a free gift (Rom. 6:23). We are saved from damnation. When anyone sins, and we all have (Rom. 3:23; 6:23), he deserves eternal separation from God (Isaiah 59:2). Yet, because of His love and mercy, God became a man (John 1:1,14 ) and bore the sins of the world in His body on the cross (1 Pet. 2:24; 1 John 2:2). We are forgiven when we realize that there is nothing we can do to earn the favor of God and we put our trust in what Jesus did for us on the cross (Eph. 2:8-9; 1 Cor. 15:1-4). Only God saves. The only thing we bring to the cross is our sin. Both God the Father (Isaiah 14:21) and Jesus (John 4:42) are called Savior; that is, deliverer from sin. Remember, it was the Father who sent the Son (1 John 4:10) to be the Savior.

 Is this something I can do?  no



SALVATION DEMANDS EACH OF THE FOLLOWING THINGS IN PROCESS:

Redemption: to free someone from bondage. It often involves the paying of a ransom, a price that makes redemption possible. The Israelite people were redeemed from Egypt. We were redeemed from the power of sin and the curse of the Law (Gal. 3:13) through Jesus (Rom. 3:24; Col. 1:14). We were bought with a price (1 Cor. 6:20; 7:23).
         
 Is this something I can do?  no

Justification: To be justified is to declared legally righteous. It is a divine act where God declares the sinner to be innocent of his sins. It is not that the sinner is now sinless, but that he is "declared" sinless.  The sinner is not made righteous in that his soul is changed or that his soul is infused with God's grace.  Instead, justification is a legal act of imputing the righteousness of Christ to the believer (Rom. 4:11; Phil. 3:9). This justification is based on the shed blood of Jesus, "...having now been justified by His blood..." (Rom. 5:9). When God sees the Christian, He sees him through the sacrifice of Jesus and "sees" him without sin. This declaration of innocence is not without cost for it required the satisfaction of God's Law, "...without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness," (Heb. 9:22). By the sacrifice of Jesus, in the "one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men," (Rom. 5:18, NASB). In justification, the justice of God fell upon Himself--Jesus. We receive mercy--we are not judged according to our sins. And grace is shed upon us--we receive eternal life. This justification is a gift of grace (Rom. 3:24), by faith (Rom. 3:28) because Jesus bore our guilt (Isaiah 53:12).

 Is this something I can do?  no

Propitiation: This means the turning away of wrath by an offering. It is similar to expiation but expiation does not carry the nuances involving wrath. For the Christian the propitiation was the shed blood of Jesus on the cross. It turned away the wrath of God so that He could pass "over the sins previously committed," (Rom. 3:25). It was the Father who sent the Son to be the propitiation (1 John 4:10) for all (1 John 2:2).

 Is this something I can do?  no

Regeneration: The act of God whereby He renews the spiritual condition of a sinner. It is a spiritual change brought about by the work of the Holy Spirit so that the person then possesses new life, eternal life. Regeneration is a change in our moral and spiritual nature where justification is a change in our relationship with God. Also, sanctification is the work of God in us to make us more like Jesus. Regeneration is the beginning of that change. It means to be born again.

  Is this something I can do?  no

Sanctification: To sanctify means to be set apart for a holy use. God has set us apart for the purpose of sanctification not impurity (1 Thess. 4:7), and being such we are called to do good works (Eph. 2:10).
Christians are to sanctify Christ as Lord in their hearts (1 Pet. 3:15). God sanctified Israel as His own special nation (Ezek. 27:28). People can be sanctified (Exodus 19:10,14) and so can a mountain (Exodus 19:23), as can the Sabbath day (Gen. 2:3), and every created thing is sanctified through the word of God and prayer (1 Tim. 4:4-5).
Sanctification is 2 things:

The position in which you are placed by God of purity, righteousness, perfection.

It is also the process by which the Holy Spirit actually makes us, in experience, that righteous, pure, perfect. It is to become more like Christ in all that we do, think, and desire. True sanctification is impossible apart from the atoning work of Christ on the cross because only after our sins are forgiven can we begin to lead a holy life.

  Is this something I can do?  no 

Lordship: surrendering to the authority, power and dominion of a lord. Salvation involves a turning in the heart from sin and, as a part of faith, a submissive commitment to obey Jesus Christ as Lord. Lordship has implications for evangelism, assurance, and the pursuit of holiness. The grace of God in salvation not only forgives, but transforms, and a lack of obedience or transformation in a person's life is warrant to doubt that they have been born again. 

 Is this something I can do? ahhh, yes!  Finally, I get to be part of this!  
But wait, for some strange reason, this is the part many Christians really, really never get to.



Awesome truth? Salvation is a gift of God's grace. Live it forward with Christ as Lord.
dave


Dave Brotherton was a youth pastor from 1984-2006 and now teaches youth ministry at Ambrose University College in Calgary. Dave is also the National Youth Guy for the Alliance churches in Canada, the director of Legacy Youth Conference, and a junior high volunteer in his church. Dave is married to Lisa and they share 2 of the greatest kids in the world. Fishing, camping, and cheering on the Leafs are some of his favorite things. This summer, Dave is transitioning to lead the ministry of Sauble Christian Fellowship, Sauble Beach, ON.
twitter: @oldbrotherdave

What is Success?

My friend Eric Porteous, Central Regional Director for Life Teen (a Catholic youth ministry movement), recently wrote this blog that I would like to share with you.  The original post appears here.

A few years ago, I was in a meeting with my pastor to discuss youth ministry. He was very happy with the direction we were headed and all we had accomplished, but he could sense some frustration in my voice and body language:

“Eric, I sense some frustration coming from you? What’s the matter?” he asked me.

“Well, I mean . . . things are going great. There’s no doubt about that, and I know we’ve improved a lot over the years, but I just don’t get why we don’t have more teens coming,” I responded.

Then he paused, looked at me and said something I’ll never forget:

“Eric, Jesus walked the Earth and only 33% of the world is Christian. How can you expect to do any better? God isn’t calling you to be successful. He’s calling you to be faithful.”

Boom. That was it. My pastor had just given me a spiritual roundhouse kick to my face, and it was the wake up call I needed.

For a long time I had focused so much on the numbers and all the things I was doing in ministry that I neglected to see all the ways God had been moving. To be honest, I had gained a Saviour Complex.

I thought that I was the only hope for the teens that came in my door.

I thought that if the teens did not come to my nights on a regular basis then their soul would be in jeopardy.

I thought that I had to say “yes” to everything and keep adding more and more events to reach as many teenagers as possible.

My ministry had become about me, and while my motivation may have been pure, there was one BIG problem: I’m not the Saviour.

Now that may not come as a shock to all of you, but I think it’s something many us in youth ministry struggle with. We put the weight of the teens’ salvation on our shoulders, when clearly we were not designed to hold that weight. Salvation comes from Jesus Christ, and maybe we just need to remind ourselves of that when it comes to ministry.

You know why?

You know those teens that come in your door? They can find Jesus in other places too.

You know those teens that refuse to come to your night? Their souls can still be saved.

You know what happens if you say “no” to adding one more event on your schedule? Teens can still get to heaven.

Why?

Because Jesus is the Savior, and “…for God, all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).

As Youth Ministers we have a vital role to play, and God has called us all to this ministry for very specific reasons. This great responsibility requires that we work as hard as possible, but we need to change the way we look at success. Success is not about the number of teens that come, the number of events that we do, or the number of hours we spend in our office.

In ministry being successful is about being faithful.

Clayton Imoo is husband to Gail and father to sons Sean Isaiah and Jacob Isaac and daughter Kayla Marie.  He has served as the Director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver for the past ten years, helping parishes develop their own youth and young adult ministries.  When not doing ministry, Clay enjoys spending time with his family, playing music, playing sports, playing naptime, and writing blogs on topics such as family, faith, and the Vancouver Canucks.  Learn more about him at http://www.claytonimoo.com or follow him @claytonimoo