So Great A Salvation Part 2

So Great A Salvation

 Part 2 - God’s side of Salvation

29 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. 34 Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household. Acts 16:29-34 New King James Version (NKJV)

Regeneration

Regeneration is the new birth, being born again, becoming a new creation. A regenerated person does not receive a new spirit or personality, but the Holy Spirit recreates the moral basis of our character, setting it free to act according to God’s will giving the desire and ability to seek and follow God. It involves:

• Being born again (John 3:3-6)
• Washing by rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5)
• Becoming a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17)
• Becoming a new person created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness - being renewed in the image of the creator. (Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10)
• Made truly alive (Ephesians 2:5)

Justification

Justification is a change of our status before God. As it is an act by which the sinner is acquitted and declared righteous in God’s sight (declared free from the penalty of sin). Remission of sin and its penalty equals forgiveness. The basis of this justification is in Romans 3:26, where Jesus Christ is said to be both Just and the one who justifies.

Because God is holy, sin must be dealt with, He cannot arbitrarily forgive sin. The judgment and penalty of sin, which is death, was poured out on Jesus Christ who is our substitute. He takes our sin instead of us. Therefore justice has been done, because God is just. By faith in Christ we are declared righteous as a free gift, and Christian Disciples are therefore justified.

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