Salvation: The Glorious Rescue

There’s nothing more precious, more foundational, to our Christian walk than the doctrine of salvation. It's the story that changes everything, from the beginning of time to the end. Salvation is the reason we breathe, the reason we have hope. But have we truly taken the time to grasp how incredible this gift is, and how it works in our lives?

First, we need to remember where it all started. Think back to the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve lived in perfect peace with God. Everything was good. The world was pure, and their relationship with God was unbroken. In fact, the word “good” in Genesis 1:31—tôv—it’s not just “nice” or “pleasant.” It’s complete, whole, perfect. The Garden was the best of everything, full of perfect beauty, full of perfect joy, and full of perfect love. But all of that changed when Adam and Eve chose to rebel against God’s command. In that single moment, everything broke—relationship with God, the harmony of creation, the very fabric of life itself.

Sin entered the world. That’s what we call “the fall.” The Greek word for sin—hamartia—means to miss the mark, like an archer whose arrow flies off-course and never reaches its target. In this case, humanity missed the mark of God’s perfect design. But what was the penalty of this? It wasn’t just a slap on the wrist. It was death. It was the breaking of life, of relationship, and of purpose. As Paul says in Romans 6:23, the wages of sin is death. But it’s not just the death of the body we’re talking about here. It’s death in the deepest sense—the separation from God, the one we were created to know and be known by.

That’s the weight of it. That’s what salvation rescues us from. It’s the breaking of God’s creation—the breaking of what was good, what was perfect. Humanity was doomed to live in the consequences of that choice unless someone, somehow, could do something about it. And that, my friend, is where Jesus steps in.

When we talk about Jesus, we’re talking about a name that means “God saves.” The Greek name Iēsous comes from Yehoshua, the Hebrew name that literally means "Yahweh saves." God’s entire rescue plan, all of salvation history, is wrapped up in this one name. Jesus came into the world not as just another man, not just another good teacher, but as God Himself in human form. He came to do what we could never do—live a perfect life and offer His life as the perfect sacrifice for sin.

When Jesus died on the cross, He wasn’t just dying as a martyr or for a good cause. He was dying in your place and mine. The cross was the ultimate act of love, the ultimate act of justice. He took on the full penalty of sin—your sin, my sin, all sin. He, the sinless Son of God, took the curse of death upon Himself so that you and I wouldn’t have to. And when He rose again, He conquered the grave, He conquered sin, He conquered everything that would try to hold us down. That’s what salvation is—rescue. It’s freedom from the grip of sin and the promise of eternal life.

But it’s not automatic, is it? Salvation doesn’t just happen to everyone. It’s a gift, but like any gift, it has to be received. The Apostle Paul makes this clear in Ephesians 2:8-9: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, so that no one can boast." It’s a gift. Grace. God’s unmerited favor, His gift of salvation that no amount of good works could ever earn. And faith—our belief in the work of Jesus—is what makes that gift ours.

But that’s just the beginning. Salvation doesn’t stop with the moment we place our faith in Jesus. It starts there, but it keeps unfolding in a process we call sanctification. Sanctification is a big word, but it just means becoming more like Jesus. It’s the ongoing work of God in our lives after we’ve been saved—shaping us, molding us, refining us. It’s the act of being made holy, of being set apart for God’s purposes.

You see, when you’re saved, your position before God changes. You’re justified. It’s a legal term that means God has declared you righteous in His sight, not because of anything you did, but because of what Jesus did for you. That’s called positional sanctification. In God’s eyes, you are now holy, righteous, perfect—because He sees you through the finished work of Jesus. But as we all know, just because our position is set doesn’t mean we’re perfect yet. Our daily lives, our thoughts, our words, our actions—those still need work. This is where the Holy Spirit comes in.

Sanctification isn’t something we can do on our own. It’s the Holy Spirit working in us, helping us to become more like Jesus. It’s like when you put a piece of wood on a lathe, and it begins to spin and the wood chips fly off, little by little, until the piece of wood is smooth and finished. God is the one doing the work of shaping us, but we have to be willing to cooperate. We have to let the Holy Spirit do His work. It’s not about striving or trying harder—it’s about surrendering and allowing God to refine us from the inside out.

But it’s not just about trying to be “good.” It’s about being transformed from the inside out. In Romans 12:2, Paul tells us not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. That word “transformed”—metamorphoo—is the same word we use for metamorphosis, like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. This is what happens when the Holy Spirit takes hold of our hearts and minds: we begin to change, to be renewed, to be conformed to the image of Jesus. The old ways, the old habits, the old sinful nature—they begin to lose their grip on us.

And how do we know this is happening? We begin to see the fruit. You’ve probably heard of the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These aren’t just traits we work on; they are the evidence of the Holy Spirit at work in us. As we walk with God, the fruit of the Spirit becomes more and more evident in our lives. We begin to love people more, we have more peace, we become more patient, and, believe me, that’s a work of God because it sure doesn’t come from me naturally!

But sanctification doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a journey. It’s a process. Every day, as we seek God, as we read His Word, as we pray, as we live in community with other believers, God continues to shape us. He continues to refine us. And yes, there will be moments when we stumble, moments when we fall short. But that’s why salvation is not just a past event. It’s a present reality. We’re being saved, sanctified, day by day, and ultimately, one day, we’ll be glorified.

Glorification is the final step. One day, when Jesus returns, we will be completely transformed—our bodies will be perfected, free from sin and death, and we will live in perfect fellowship with God forever. That’s the goal, the finish line. But we’re not there yet. For now, we keep walking the path of sanctification, trusting that God is doing His work in us.

And what does this mean for us? It means that our salvation is secure, and our sanctification is certain. God has started a work in us, and He will finish it (Philippians 1:6). We don’t have to strive in our own strength. We can rest in His grace, knowing that He is the one who is making us more like Jesus. And one day, when we stand before Him, we’ll be able to say, “I am saved. I am sanctified. And I will be glorified.”

That’s the heartbeat of salvation and sanctification. It’s about grace. It’s about transformation. It’s about the journey of becoming more like Jesus and waiting for that glorious day when we see Him face to face.