In meditation 22 we read that God loves us and wants to forgive our rebellion against him and the wrongdoings that rebellion has caused. Likewise, he wants to save us from his righteous anger.
However, the question is: Am I ‘automatically’ saved and forgiven because of Christ’s substitutive punishment, or is there anything I need to do?
2,000 years ago in the Greek town of Philippi, someone asked that same question to the apostle Paul and his co-worker Silas: “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30).
Their reply was: “Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).
The apostle Paul reminds the Christians in Rome of God’s saving love for them, saying: “God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God's anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us” (Romans 3:25).
The apostle Peter points to Jesus Christ when he explains: “He is the one all the prophets (of the Old Testament) testified about, saying that everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven...” (Acts 10:43)
Furthermore, the apostle Paul urges his fellow-Jews in Pisidian Antioch (modern Turkey) to give ear to his crucial message: “Brothers, listen! In this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins. Everyone who believes in him is freed from all guilt and declared right with God...” (Acts 13:38-39)
When the apostle Paul gave an account of his ministry to the church leaders of Ephesus (also in modern Turkey), he said: “I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus” (Acts 20:21).
So according to the Old Testament prophets and Jesus’ apostles, salvation is a gift from God. Yet even so, I am not ‘automatically’ saved from God’s righteous anger and forgiven because of Christ’s substitutive punishment. I need to respond personally to God’s saving love for me.
From the biblical texts mentioned above, we can understand that we are made right with God and have received forgiveness:
- when we turn to God in repentance;
- when we have faith in Jesus Christ;
- when we believe that God sent his Son to take the punishment for our sins and satisfy God's anger against me;
- when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us.
But what is repentance and what does it mean to have faith in Jesus Christ?
Let us think about that in the upcoming meditations.
All Bible verses are quoted from the ‘New Living Translation’ except Acts 20:21 (‘New International Version’).
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