The Unconditional Love of God and the True Meaning of Salvation
One of the most well known scriptures in the Word of God is John 3:16. This verse reveals a profound truth about God’s love for humanity. “For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world, that He even gave His One and only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him as Saviour shall not perish but have eternal life” (Amplified). This passage highlights the depth of God’s love, which was demonstrated while “we were yet sinners” (Romans 5:8). It shows that God’s love is not conditional upon our actions or worthiness. He didn’t love us because we were lovely. He loved us because He is love (1 John 4:8).
The focus of John 3:16 is not just on avoiding perishing, but on experiencing everlasting life. According to Jesus in John 17:3, eternal life is knowing God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. This is speaking of intimacy. A person who comes to the Lord for forgiveness of sins but doesn’t go on to experience intimacy with God is missing the true point of salvation. While it is very important to avoid hell and its torments, everlasting life begins here on earth in the form of intimacy with the Father and Son (John 3:36).
Overcoming the Barrier of Sin
Sin was just a barrier that blocked our access to God. Without the removal of that barrier, there could be no true fellowship with the Father. Jesus did take the sin of the world upon Himself (John 12:32) and has reconciled us to God (2 Corinthians 5:19). However, if we don’t go past where the barrier used to be, into intimacy with the Father, we are missing the true point of salvation in this life.
Many ministers of the Gospel focus only on the forgiveness of sins and neglect the other benefits of the finished work of the cross, such as deliverance, healing, and prosperity. This leads to believers being tormented by the devil in various aspects of their lives through sickness, disease, and poverty. We often portray God as a mean, angry, and punishing God, leading people to receive Christ out of fear rather than love. This sets a faulty foundation based on fear instead of the love of God.
The New Covenant and Its Benefits
The resurrection of Christ ushered in a new era in the life of a believer. It signalled the passing away of an old covenant that was based on law and works and brought in a new Covenant associated with grace and a divine exchange in which man obtained Christ’s righteousness in exchange for his sins.
This new Covenant is outlined in Hebrews 8:8–13. The key message in this Covenant is that God brought in a “new Covenant” because He had now made the “first obsolete.” In addition, He would put “His laws in our mind and write them on our hearts” and He “would be merciful to our unrighteousness and our sins and lawless deeds, He would remember no more.”
This is the good news. Christ, who knew no sin, was made sin because of our sin, and we, who were neck deep in sin, have been made righteous through faith in Christ. We have become a new creation, and the old sin nature is gone, and everything has become new (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Living in the New Covenant
This new dispensation in my life as a believer means that I have now become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21) and as Christ is, so am I in this world (1 John 4:17). I now have direct access to my Father through Christ and do not need a priest like in the old covenant to take my requests to God. I now have the authority to “command mountains to move away and be cast into the sea” (Mark 11:23). Christ now lives in me, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27). I can do “all things through Him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13) and I am an over-comer (1 John 5:4). I have become rich through Christ who became poor for my sake (2 Corinthians 8:9). By His stripes, I was healed (1 Peter 2:24).
All I need to do as a believer to make these privileges a reality in my life is to have faith that God has already done that for me. I don’t have to fast for these things unless I am trying to get rid of my unbelief so I can access these benefits. Faith becomes my positive response to what God has already done for me. Without that faith, you can wallow in poverty, sickness, or disease, and no amount of anointed oil or water will change your position. You should never put your faith in the anointed oil or water or any medium, but the faith has to be anchored in Christ.
Embracing God’s Grace
All these benefits are coming to you and me as a result of the birth, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. This had nothing to do with your “good works,” which for your own information are like “filthy rags” compared to Christ’s righteousness. No amount of fasting will make you holy and righteous as required by Christ. Righteousness is a “gift from Christ” (Romans 5:17).
Our own performance is inadequate. We still fall short of the glory of God. We make mistakes, and so if we were to depend on our performance, none of us would make it. Jesus didn’t come to die for the perfect people because there are none such people. Instead, He came to die for messed up people like you and I. This happened while we were still enemies with God. If He could love us while we were still enemies, “much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.”
God has never quit loving you because of your mistakes. He still loves you. However, it is important not to abuse the message of God’s grace. There are people who believe that because of God’s grace, they are now free to live as they will. This is ignorance gone on rampage. Sin has consequences. You reap what you sow. Sin opens the door for the enemy, and the devil will have you for breakfast should you live in sin.
Celebrating the Resurrection
As we celebrate His resurrection, we should thank God for paying the ultimate price for our salvation. He paid a debt He didn’t owe, and you and I had a debt we couldn’t pay. Indeed, what a friend we have in Jesus! This should never be taken for granted. Our God is an awesome God who is Love Personified. His resurrection is an announcement to the whole world, including the devil and his clan, that we have been forgiven and sin no longer has power over us. We have been redeemed. We have been acquitted because of Jesus.
Jesus was made sin without sinning, and we have been made righteous through faith in Christ Jesus. How religion has messed up many people’s minds. All religions of the world are focusing on what do I have to do to get closer to God? What do I have to do to be blessed by God? What do I have to do to get to heaven? My Bible tells me that all that is required is faith in Jesus Christ and not works. Christ did everything for me. It is about having an intimate relationship with God and not works. My holiness becomes a byproduct of the intimate relationship I have with God, not the other way round.
Religion teaches you that you are a sinner because you sin, and it is your works that make you righteous. Nothing could be further from the truth. You were made a sinner through Adam, and you have now been made righteous through Christ (Romans 5:17–19). This is why Easter is so special, and so I shall forever be grateful for the cross.