Salvation Through Christ -Part 3 – What We Give Up
These are notes from my own Bible study on what Salvation Through Christ means, what is required of us to receive that salvation – basically What We Give Up, and in return What We Get. Because it got so long, I turned it into a series.
In Part 1 we looked up the meaning of the word salvation and discovered that the Root of Salvation is the Savior. I also made a comment that there is a Civil War Between God and Satan and that we are born into it. Part 2 back tracked a little and explained in detail what I meant by that.
Today is Part 3 – What We Give Up.
Just like in life, if it’s worth getting, we have to give something in exchange. Sometimes we weigh the costs of what we have to give to get that ‘thing’ – be it a new car, new house, relationship, new clothes, etc. Sometimes the ‘giving to get’ is a no-brainer.
But what about our salvation? What do we give up? Here’s a look at what scripture has to say.
Salvation Through Christ – What We Give Up
God is gracious – He wants us to have eternal life with Him. And He has paid the price for us to be there. He sent His Son to do that for us.
Romans 6:23 says: The wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
Blood has to be shed.
You see, where the Old Testament sacrificial system required annual sacrifices to atone for the sins of the people, the New Testament shows us that the final sacrifice was Christ. God sent His Son to pay the price once and for all.
We talked in Part 1 that Christ is the root of salvation.
But, if the price has been paid and the gift of salvation is free– what do we have to do to receive that eternal life? Excellent question!
5 Key Words
There are 5 key words that we need to look at when we study salvation requirements.
Confess. Believe. Repent. Regeneration. Holy Scriptures.
Let’s look at each word separately. First, we are going to start with some foundation scripture.
Our Foundation Scripture
Romans 10: 9-10 says it very clearly. This will be our foundation scripture, and then we will look at other verses to back it up.
9 That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (emphasis added)
First, we will look at confess and believe, as they are both in the verses listed above. They really go hand-in-hand. You can’t do one without the other, as verse 10 explains so perfectly.
1. Confess
Confess that Jesus is the Son of God. Say it with your mouth. Out loud.
This is the first word from Romans 10:9.
Here’s the definition:
Strong’s Greek 3670 homologeó: (a) I promise, agree, (b) I confess, (c) I publicly declare, (d) a Hebraism, I praise, celebrate.[/color-box]
That is the same word in Romans 9 above, and verses below…
1 John 1:9
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 john 4:15
15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
By contrast:
Matthew 10:32-33
32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.”
Luke 12:8-9
8 “Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God. 9 But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.”
Call and Calls – very similar in meaning to ‘confess’
Now Let’s look at the next two verses in our foundation scripture – Romans 10::11-13.
Here the words call and calls are used.
Romans 10:11-13 …Call
Romans 10:11-13
11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (emphasis added)
Because this is the New Testament, we need to look at the Greek definition of ‘call’:
Strong’s Greek 1941 epikaleó: (a) I call (name) by a supplementary (additional, alternative) name, (b) mid: I call upon, appeal to, address.
Verses 11 and 13 are quoting from Joel 2:32, so let’s take a look at that verse:
Joel 2:32 …Call
32 And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the Lord has said, among the remnant whom the Lord calls. (emphasis added)
And just to be clear, let’s look at the Hebrew definition of ‘calls’
Strong’s Hebrew 7121 qara: to call, proclaim, read.
Acts 2:21 also quotes Joel 2:32 and uses the same Greek word 1941 as in Romans
21 ‘And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ (emphasis added)
2. Believe
Believe in your heart. It’s not just saying it to say it (for example: perhaps someone is insistent that you do this – and so you just ‘give in to shut them up’.
Belief in your heart means you are persuaded or you make a decision to have faith in what doesn’t make sense to your intellectual understanding.
The Lord persuades us to have faith or confidence in what is trustworthy, because to our human, intellect, it doesn’t make sense. As humans, we tend to want to see it (see the evidence) before we decide to believe it.
The Bible gives us an example of that too, but first let’s look at the definition of Believe, some scripture about believing as a requirement of salvation.
There are 3 definitions to look at that are all conntected:
NT Greek 4100 pisteuó: I believe, have faith in, trust in.
Pisteuo is derived from the Greek word pistis, which means…
Greek 4102 pistis: faith, belief, trust, confidence; fidelity, faithfulness.
And pisteuo is derived from the Greek word peitho, which means…
Greek 3982 peitho: to persuade, to have confidence or be persuaded of what is trustworthy.
Do you see that ‘believe’ is another way of saying ‘faith’ or having confidence or trust that it is real? Even though we can’t see gravity, we can be confident it is there. The air we breathe is another example. You can’t see it, but you can trust that it is there.
The word ‘pisteuo’ is used in Acts 16:31, Romans 10:9 and 1 Corinthians 15:2
Acts 16:31
31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
Romans 10:9
9 That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (emphasis added)
1 Corinthians 15:1-2
1 Moreover, brethren, I (Paul, the writer) declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. (emphasis added)
It is interesting to note here the last phrase – unless you believed in vain. That word vain means ‘without cause’.
Think of it this way: meaning they didn’t really believe, they were pretending they believed, or were just going along with the crowd or something along these lines.
Look at our foundation scripture again. Confess with your mouth and Believe in your heart.
Romans 10:9-10
9 That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (emphasis added)
Now look at 1 Corinthians 15:2 (above) again. I think this verse explains in greater detail that believing is a heart issue. …Unless you believed in vain…unless you truly didn’t believe.
Believing is the second requirement for Salvation. Believing is when we decide to give up our intellectual understanding (waiting for the evidence) and choose to have faith and trust what doesn’t make sense.
Believing is not about intellectual understanding. In fact, for the very analytical, logical thinkers, this can be the hardest step.
But God is good!! He created us and knows how we think, and provided for the intellectual thinkers in His Word. In John 20:24-31 below, pay particular attention to verses 25, 27 and 29-31.
John 20:24- 29
24 Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.25 The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” 26 And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” 27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” 28 And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. (emphasis added)
So, let me ask you – What is the condition of your heart? Are you one of those intellectual thinkers that has to see the evidence before you will believe? Give up needing to see the evidence, and believe in (have faith in) what you can’t see.
3. Repent
Repent of your sins. You change your mind. Think of it like this: you turn away from the way you were going and turn to go another way. Here’s the definition for you:
Greek 3340 metanoeó: to change one’s mind or purpose.
Mark 1:14-15
14 Now after John (the Baptist) was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
Matthew 4:17
17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Acts 3:19
19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. (Peter said this, see v12)
4. Regeneration
Regeneration or Born Again. This is a spiritual rebirth, a new beginning. Through this regeneration we give up our old life and our old ways of doing things, and choose to let God have our new, washed clean, lives.
The word ‘regeneration’ is only used twice, but the concept of a spiritual rebirth is woven throughout the scriptures. Below is the definition and a few examples.
Greek 3824 paliggenesia: a new birth, regeneration, renewal.
John 3:3-8
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (emphasis added)
Titus 3:5
5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. (emphasis added)
1Peter 1:23
23 Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever… (emphasis added)
5. Holy Scriptures
The Holy Scriptures are able to make you wise for salvation (2 Timothy3:15) as well as instruction, give you strength and comfort as you live out your new life. But searching the scriptures alone, without coming to Christ will not give you eternal life (John 5:39-40)
2 Timothy3:15
15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
John 5:39-40
39 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. 40 But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.
We give up our worldly ‘wisdom’ for the wise counsel of the scriptures.
Field Manual for this Civil War
Remember the military metaphor I used in the first post of this series? We are born into a civil war between God and Satan. Sometimes, we are on the front lines, in heavy battle.
Other times we are the support troops, bringing up the rear – giving aid and comfort and encouragement to those in the fight. But make no mistake, if you are a Christian you are in a war.
The good news is that wherever we are at in this civil war, the Bible is our field manual for living a Christian life!
Honestly, I have found that for every circumstance that we have in this world, the Bible has an answer. Sometimes, it is much like –or exactly like – what I already know and have been taught from a young age. But there are other times that the scriptural counsel is different that the worldly counsel I get.
That’s when I have to make a choice – follow the world or follow God. I choose God. It always works out better.
~~~
We just looked at the requirements for salvation. In each one of these, we have to ‘give up’ something in order to receive salvation through Christ. And in the first post we found that salvation means:
(Noun form) Greek 4991 sótéria: welfare, prosperity, deliverance, preservation, salvation, safety.
This is Part 3 in the series Salvation Through Christ – What We Give Up. If you missed the first two posts, you can go here and here.
Next time, we will look at Part 4 – What We Get.
Please let me know your thoughts!
More in the series —
Salvation Through Christ Part 1 – The Savior is the Root
Salvation Through Christ Part 2 – The Civil War Between God & Satan
Salvation Through Christ Part 4 – What You Get
Pam is an experienced, professional, freelance B2B copywriter, consultant and trainer. She blends her love of studying God’s Word and interests in natural beauty, health and home alternatives and communication skills to bring you resources to improve your everyday life. You can also find her at
[…] recommend you take the opportunity to do so. Here are the links for you: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3. […]