Renew Your Mind: Salvation through Christ

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will" (Romans 12:2, NIV).

The Introduction of Sin

A common misconception many people have about Christians is that we, as believers in Christ, believe we have our lives together and are thus better than everyone else. That, however, could not be further from the truth. The underlying message of the gospel is that we, as humans, are chained by sin, and this keeps us separate from God (Isaiah 59:2). The bible describes sin as transgression against the law of God (1 John 3:4) and rebellion against God (Deuteronomy 9:7). Satan brought sin to mankind through his tempting of Adam and Eve in believing that, through partaking in the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would be like God. Genesis 3 describes Adam and Eve's rebellion against God. Since that time, sin has been passed down from generation to generation, and, unfortunately, the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). This being said, the cost we pay for our sin is death, not always physical, but spiritual.

But Why Jesus?

So, when we sin, we put a barrier between us and God, and we die spiritually. This, however, is where the most famous bible scripture comes in, John 3:16. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16, NIV). So, the question now is, why would God send Jesus? Who in their right mind would send their son away like this?

Jesus, however, tells us in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Throughout scripture, we see two essential qualities of God. He is both a righteous judge and a loving father. In the Old Testament you can see the importance of the Israelites' sacrifices. There were different types of sacrifices made, but the most important ones were sin offerings and trespass offerings, as the purpose of these offerings was to atone for sin and cleanse from defilement. Ultimately, these Old Testament sacrifices point towards Jesus as being the ultimate sacrifice, being able to atone for all of our sins because he was perfect, sinless, and without fault. God, as the righteous judge, had to unleash his judgment and wrath. Therefore, Jesus stepped in, in place of us. He is the reason we are able to have a relationship with God. We can only get to God through Jesus because Jesus, and Jesus alone, was able to atone for all our sins.

How can I be saved?

Being Christian is really a lot simpler than people may believe. The bible tells us in Romans 10:9, "If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (NIV). It is truly the "believing in your heart" part because the bible also tells us "now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see" (Hebrews 11:1, NIV). You have to be sure about something you do not see. That is faith. To many non-believers, this may seem foolish or stupid, but when you experience his presence, it can truly change your life. When you have Christ in your life, he transforms your life by renewing your mind (Romans 12:2).

The first step is just to believe, and then the next step is to walk in faith and grow to know and love him more. This can be for anyone, no matter who you are, what you've done, or what you've been through. The bible tells us, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23, NIV). So, no one is better than anyone else. Christians do not have their whole life together and are not perfect. We just have Jesus in our lives, and he transforms the way we think and live. We all need Jesus in our lives to make us new, though. It is only your choice to make whether you will accept him or not.