This Truth Study will look at aspects of “salvation.” Salvation is also known as “being born-again,” “becoming a new creation in Christ,” or “being justified by faith.” In this study, we will look first at the “why” of salvation. Why does a person need to be “saved?” We will also look at the “how” of salvation. How does salvation occur? How is a person saved? This is not a complete or thorough presentation of biblical salvation, but it will lay the groundwork for your future study and research.
We will begin at the beginning in Genesis 1.
Genesis 1:26-31 (NLT)
26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”27 So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” 29 Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. 30 And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—everything that has life.” And that is what happened. 31 Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!
A breakdown of this passage begins with the word “us” used twice in verse twenty-six. The Amplified Classic Bible expands “us” as follows:
Genesis 1:26 (AMPC)
God said, Let Us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in Our image, after Our likeness, and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the [tame] beasts, and over all of the earth, and over everything that creeps upon the earth.
In this verse, God identifies as a three-part Person. He is God the Father. He is God the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. And He is God the Holy Spirit, Counselor and Friend. As we will see later, humans were also created as three-part beings.
Also in verse twenty-six, humanity was given dominion over the animal kingdom. We were not given dominion over each other, but over birds, fish, livestock, and animals.
Genesis 1:27 (NASB 1995)
God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
In verse twenty-seven we learn that we were created as male and female, and in God’s own image. Humans are the image-bearers of God.
Genesis 1:28 (NASB 1995)
God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
In verse twenty-eight we were told to procreate and multiply. Again, we were given dominion over animals.
Genesis 1:29, 30 (NASB 1995)
29 Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; 30 and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to everything that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so.
In verses twenty-nine and thirty God assigned our food.
Genesis 1:31 (NASB 1995)
God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
And in verse thirty-one God declared that everything He had made was very good. Upon completion, God found His creation to be very good.
More details concerning the creation of humans are given in Genesis 2. In verse seven, the description of the first breath is given.
Genesis 2:7 (AMPC)
Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath or spirit of life, and man became a living being.
At this point it is important to see that, as stated above, we are three-part beings like our Creator. The Apostle Paul explained this in his first letter to the Thessalonians.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 (NASB 1995)
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul prayed that we would be preserved complete – spirit and soul and body. The human spirit is the real person. The spirit is the eternal being that communicates with God, worships God, and recognizes spiritual things. Jesus explained the spiritual nature of God.
John 4:24 (AMPC)
God is a Spirit (a spiritual Being) and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth (reality).
The soul of a person is their mind, will, emotions and personality. Many people think that the soul is the real person, but we were created in the image of God and God is a spirit. Therefore, the part of a person that is spirit is the real, eternal human being that relates to God.
The body is the physical or biological housing for the spirit and the soul. With our bodies we interact with the natural world. Our bodies know the world through the five senses. It is essential to discern between spirit and soul and body in a study of salvation.
Recall that in Genesis 2:7, God breathed life into the first human being, Adam, and imparted to him his spirit. The soul and the body accompanied the living being. As Genesis 2 progresses, we learn more about the first man.
Genesis 2:8, 9 (NASB 1995)
8 The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. 9 Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
God put the man in a garden that was full of trees growing good food. Two trees were mentioned by name: “the tree of life” and “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”
Concerning these trees, God gave Adam a warning.
Genesis 2:15-17 (NASB 1995)
15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. 16 The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”
The Message Bible makes it crystal clear.
Genesis 2:15-17 (MSG)
God took the Man and set him down in the Garden of Eden to work the ground and keep it in order. God commanded the Man, “You can eat from any tree in the garden, except from the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil. Don’t eat from it. The moment you eat from that tree, you’re dead.”
Many have asked why God would create a tree that had fruit that was deadly. Lengthy philosophical discussions could be had on this point. The short answer is that without a choice, there is no free will. God gives and fiercely protects human free will. God has a free will and we, His image bearers, must also have a free will. We are not God’s puppets nor are we robots. We must be able to use our free will and that requires we be allowed to make choices. Hence the tree of life was presented so it could, by free will, be chosen. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil existed so it could, by free will, be rejected.
The rest of Genesis 2 describes the events leading to the creation of the woman.
Genesis 2:18-25 (NASB 1995)
18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” 19 Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. 22 The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. 23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” 24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
This passage details how God tried to find a companion for Adam, and not being satisfied with the animal kingdom, made another human called woman. They were to become one flesh and procreate. And they were naked but not ashamed of their nakedness.
Understanding the content of Genesis 1 and 2 is important to understanding Genesis 3. And Genesis 3 is important for understanding why salvation is necessary.
Quickly summarizing, God made a man and then He made a woman. He put them in a wonderful garden full of good food and told them to become one flesh and multiply. He gave them free will and the opportunity to exercise free will. And then He saw that it was all very good.
Genesis 3 describes what is commonly known as “the fall” or “the fall of man.” Recall that God made lots of trees and vegetation in the garden. Two trees were singled out for specific names: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 3 explains why humans need to be saved.
Genesis 3:1-7 (Easy-to-Read)
1 The snake was the most clever of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. The snake spoke to the woman and said, “Woman, did God really tell you that you must not eat from any tree in the garden?” 2 The woman answered the snake, “No, we can eat fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But there is one tree we must not eat from. God told us, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden. You must not even touch that tree, or you will die.’” 4 But the snake said to the woman, “You will not die. 5 God knows that if you eat the fruit from that tree you will learn about good and evil, and then you will be like God!” 6 The woman could see that the tree was beautiful and the fruit looked so good to eat. She also liked the idea that it would make her wise. So she took some of the fruit from the tree and ate it. Her husband was there with her, so she gave him some of the fruit, and he ate it. 7 Then it was as if their eyes opened, and they saw things differently. They saw that they were naked. So they got some fig leaves, sewed them together, and wore them for clothes.
A person can learn much about our enemy, Satan, from this passage. Besides being a liar, a murderer, and a thief, he is very cunning and strategic.
Genesis 3:1 (Easy-to-Read)
The snake was the most clever of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. The snake spoke to the woman and said, “Woman, did God really tell you that you must not eat from any tree in the garden?”
Satan approached Eve, not Adam, with his temptation. The caution against eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was given to Adam in Genesis 2:17. Eve was not created until later so she did not hear God’s warning against eating from it herself but must have been warned by Adam. Satan did not directly tempt Adam, who had a clear word from God against eating from the tree. Although the tree is not referred as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil but as a tree in the middle of the garden, God’s warning against eating from it, quoted by Eve, designates this tree as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Then Satan asked a question that accuses God of not allowing them to eat from any tree when God had given them free access to all the trees except one. “Woman, did God really tell you that you must not eat from any tree in the garden?” The very question twisted the truth. God warned against eating from one specific tree, but Satan accused God of forbidding His children from eating from ANY tree. The question made God sound unkind and stingy. Satan always tries to create in people’s minds an unkind and stingy Creator. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Genesis 3:2-5 (Easy-to-Read)
2 The woman answered the snake, “No, we can eat fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But there is one tree we must not eat from. God told us, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden. You must not even touch that tree, or you will die.’” 4 But the snake said to the woman, “You will not die. 5 God knows that if you eat the fruit from that tree you will learn about good and evil, and then you will be like God!”
The woman’s response to Satan was not completely accurate. Verses two and three demonstrate that she embellished the warning from God to include “You must not even touch that tree.”
God did not tell Adam not to touch the tree, but just “do not eat from the tree.”
Satan questioned God’s word and cast doubt on His honesty. “You will not die” was a direct contradiction and challenge to God’s word. The serpent’s statement was designed to erode her confidence in the counsel and instruction of God and Adam.
Satan accused God of telling an outright lie and, again, of being unkind and stingy. “You will not die. God knows that if you eat the fruit from that tree you will learn about good and evil, and then you will be like God!”
Satan is a lying, murdering hater of all that is good. He will twist and warp everything God says to destroy us. Adam and Eve were not going to become like God after eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they were already like God because they were His image-bearers. But they were going to die, just like God said.
What follows is a description of Eve exercising her precious free will and choosing sin. Consider verses six and seven in the New Living Translation.
Genesis 3:6, 7 (NLT)
6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. 7 Then it was as if their eyes opened, and they saw things differently. They saw that they were naked. So they got some fig leaves, sewed them together, and wore them for clothes.
All the trees in the garden were beautiful, and all the fruit looked delicious. She already had wisdom because she had spent time with God, but she did not have the specific knowledge of good and evil. She ate the fruit and Adam, apparently right there watching her, also ate. In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul expounds upon what really went down.
1 Timothy 2:14 (NLT)
And it was not Adam who was deceived by Satan. The woman was deceived, and sin was the result.
2 Corinthians 11:3 (NLT)
But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent.
Adam was not deceived like Eve was. Adam just knowingly violated God’s command.
They both immediately received the knowledge of good and evil. Verse seven does not say they died physically but rather that their eyes were opened. They did not immediately die physically but they saw things differently. They saw they were naked. They covered their nakedness with garments made of fig leaves.
God did not lie or mislead them about death accompanying eating fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. It was not the physical death of their bodies God warned them of. They died spiritually and they died to innocence and fellowship with God. Their spirits, once alive to God, did the dying. This is key to understanding the need for salvation and God’s glorious plan of salvation. Spiritual death was now lodged in Adam and Eve, and they would pass it down to their offspring. They were no longer alive to God, nor would their children be alive to God. They were spiritually dead and all the generations of people after them would also be spiritually dead.
In the next verses we will see God’s reaction to the deception and willful sin, and a glimpse of His solution.
Genesis 3:8-13 (Easy-to-Read)
8 During the cool part of the day, the Lord God was walking in the garden. The man and the woman heard him, and they hid among the trees in the garden. 9 The Lord God called to the man and said, “Where are you?” 10 The man said, “I heard you walking in the garden, and I was afraid. I was naked, so I hid.” 11 God said to the man, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat fruit from that special tree? I told you not to eat from that tree!” 12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me gave me fruit from that tree. So I ate it.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What have you done?” She said, “The snake tricked me, so I ate the fruit.”
God is omniscient, or all-knowing, so He did not have to question Adam about what he had been up to. God already knew what had happened. But Adam, instead of taking the question from his Creator as an opportunity to humble himself and admit his wrongdoing, blamed the woman. She also refused to humble herself and admit her wrongdoing but instead blamed the serpent.
The next verses are the first mention of Jesus, although not by name, and the plan of salvation.
Genesis 3:14, 15 (Easy-to-Read)
14 So the Lord God said to the snake, “You did this very bad thing, so bad things will happen to you. It will be worse for you than for any other animal. You must crawl on your belly and at dust all the days of your life. 15 I will make you and the woman enemies to each other. Your children and her children will be enemies. You will bite her child’s foot, but he will crush your head.”
Genesis 3:14, 15 (AMPC)
14 And the Lord God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, you are cursed above all [domestic] animals and above every [wild] living thing of the field; upon your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust [and what it contains] all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her Offspring; He will bruise and tread your head underfoot, and you will lie in wait and bruise His heel.
In verse fifteen, God explained to the devil that the woman’s “Offspring” would destroy him – walk all over him and crush him. The Amplified Classic Bible capitalizes “Offspring” to designate deity, implying that the “Offspring” is the Lord Jesus Christ. Satan was told that at some point he would strike or bruise the “Offspring’s” heel, but the “Offspring” will crush him completely. As we will see, this played out about four thousand years later in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The next verses, sixteen through nineteen, describe the difficulties that came upon Adam and Eve and the difficulties of living on the earth as consequences of their sin. A curse comes upon them and the earth. In salvation, Jesus redeems humanity and reverses this curse.
Genesis 3:21-24 (Easy-to-Read)
21 The Lord God used animal skins and made some clothes for the man and his wife. Then he put the clothes on them. 22 The Lord God said, “Look, the man has become like us—he knows about good and evil. And now the man might take the fruit from the tree of life. If the man eats that fruit, he will live forever.” 23 So the Lord God forced the man out of the Garden of Eden to work the ground he was made from. 24 God forced the man to leave the garden. Then he put Cherub angels and a sword of fire at the entrance to the garden to protect it. The sword flashed around and around, guarding the way to the tree of life.
Because Adam and Eve now need covering for their nakedness, God slayed animals and used their skins for clothing. This is the first mention of animal sacrifice for sin. They were also sent out of the Garden so that they would not eat fruit from the tree of life and live forever in spiritual death.
Genesis 3 describes the how Adam and Eve, as living spirits alive to God, died spiritually. God had warned them that eating from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil would cause them to die. The sin they committed did not result in natural or physical death of their bodies. They lived almost one thousand years in their physical bodies. The death they died was spiritual. And they passed spiritual death to their offspring.
In Romans, Paul explains the problem – and God’s astounding solution.
Romans 5: 12, 18, 19 (NLT)
12 When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned… 18 Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. 19 Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.
Romans 5:12, 18, 19 (AMPC)
12 Therefore, as sin came into the world through one man, and death as the result of sin, so death spread to all men, [no one being able to stop it or to escape its power] because all men sinned… 18 Well then, as one man’s trespass [one man’s false step and falling away led] to condemnation for all men, so one Man’s act of righteousness [leads] to acquittal and right standing with God and life for all men. 19 For just as by one man’s disobedience (failing to hear, heedlessness, and carelessness) the many were constituted sinners, so by one Man’s obedience the many will be constituted righteous (made acceptable to God, brought into right standing with Him).
Adam’s sin and spiritual death were passed down through the generations, and it was bad, really bad. Consider the passage in Genesis 6 describing the generations after Adam and Eve.
Genesis 6:5, 6 (AMPC)
5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination and intention of all human thinking was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved at heart.
This is one of the saddest passages in the Bible. Even knowing how He would redeem humanity and having the plan in place (Gen. 3:15), God was so grieved at the level of sin in the earth, He literally regretted He had made man.
The psalmist made this observation.
Psalms 14:1-3 (AMPC)
1 The [empty-headed] fool has said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable deeds; there is none that does good or right. 2 The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any who understood, dealt wisely, and sought after God, inquiring for and of Him and requiring Him [of vital necessity]. 3 They are all gone aside, they have all together become filthy; there is none that does good or right, no, not one.
The Apostle Paul quoted this passage in his letter to the Romans.
Romans 3:10 -18 (NIV)
10 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” 13 “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The poison of vipers is on their lips.”14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 ruin and misery mark their ways,17 and the way of peace they do not know.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
This is the result of spiritual death. This is what happens when people are dead to God and alive to sin.
The record of scripture is clear: humanity needed a savior. And God had prepared One.
Since Adam died spiritually and passed spiritual death to his offspring, salvation is necessary to bring about a spiritual rebirth. The purpose of salvation is to restore life to human spirits and fellowship between living human spirits and the God Who created them. This was Jesus Christ’s mission upon the earth and He succeeded spectacularly.
Genesis 1 – 3 describes why salvation is necessary. The New Testament will explain how salvation is accomplished.
John 3:1-9 (Easy-to-Read)
1 There was a man named Nicodemus, one of the Pharisees. He was an important Jewish leader. 2 One night he came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a teacher sent from God. No one can do these miraculous signs that you do unless they have God’s help.” 3 Jesus answered, “I assure you, everyone must be born again. Anyone who is not born again cannot be in God’s kingdom.” 4 Nicodemus said, “How can a man who is already old be born again? Can he go back into his mother’s womb and be born a second time?” 5 Jesus answered, “Believe me when I say that everyone must be born from water and the Spirit. Anyone who is not born from water and the Spirit cannot enter God’s kingdom. 6 The only life people get from their human parents is physical. But the new life that the Spirit gives a person is spiritual. 7 Don’t be surprised that I told you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it wants to. You hear it, but you don’t know where it is coming from or where it is going. It is the same with everyone who is born from the Spirit.” 9 Nicodemus asked, “How is all this possible?”
This is a wonderful passage of scripture that can be studied from many different angles. However, for the purpose of a Truth Study about salvation we will focus on Jesus’s phrase “born again.” We saw from Genesis 3 and Romans 5 that Adam and Eve died spiritually, and they passed that spiritual death down from generation to generation and to all of humanity. It is possible that the best way to describe salvation is “you must be born again.” The passage above explains very specifically that we must be born of water – physical birth – and we must be born again spiritually. We are literally reborn in our spirits by the power of Holy Spirit. We must be made alive again in spirit. God is spirit and we must be living spirits to know and fellowship with Him. This is inescapable. A person must be born again to be saved and enter God’s kingdom.
John 14:6 (AMP)
Jesus said to him, “I am the [only] Way [to God] and the [real] Truth and the [real] Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
Salvation is exclusively through the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit of Jesus causing you to be born again. We are separated from and dead to God before we are born again. Just being a “good person” won’t save you. Just doing “good works” won’t save you. Your old dead spirit that was passed down to you from our first parents, must be born again. The problem is not what you do or don’t do, it is who and what you are before you are born again.
The Apostle Peter described the new birth as follows:
1 Peter 1:3, 4 (NLT)
3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, 4 and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.
The Amplified Bible expands the description.
1 Peter 1:3, 4 (AMP)
3 Blessed [gratefully praised and adored] be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant and boundless mercy has caused us to be born again [that is, to be reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose] to an ever-living hope and confident assurance through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 [born anew] into an inheritance which is imperishable [beyond the reach of change] and undefiled and unfading, reserved in heaven for you,
Peter includes the necessity of Jesus’s resurrection from the dead as he explains the way of salvation. If Jesus had not be raised from the dead, there would be no new birth.
Consider the Apostle Paul’s explanation of salvation to the Corinthians.
2 Corinthians 5:17, 18 (NASB 1995)
17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,
2 Corinthians 5:17, 18 (AMP)
18 Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life]. 18 But all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ [making us acceptable to Him] and gave us the ministry of reconciliation [so that by our example we might bring others to Him],
If Genesis 6:5,6 are some of the saddest words in scripture, 2 Corinthians 5:17, 18 are some of the most victorious and joyful words in scripture. When a person is born again, they literally receive a new, live-to-God spirit.
The English word “new” in “new creature” is the Greek word “kainos” (Strongs Concordance G2537). Kainos has meanings that include fresh, unused, unworn and of a new kind, unprecedented, novel, uncommon and unheard of. The “new creation” is a newly enlivened human spirit that is of a new kind and unprecedented. In other words, there is nothing else like in all the universe. By the power of the Holy Spirit (which is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead), God creates a brand new, unheard of, living human spirit. The human who is born again receives an “alive to God” spirit and all fellowship with God, Who is a Spirit, is restored. Hallelujah!
Beloved, this is why a person cannot just do good works to restore fellowship with God. This is why other world religions do not restore fellowship with God. As stated earlier from John 14:6, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. We must be born again and receive a new Holy Spirit-breathed spirit to know God and become His child. We must be made new creatures by the power of Holy Spirit.
The “why” of salvation is that we received spiritual death from Adam and Eve. The “how” of salvation is that we are born again and become new creations. And “how” are we born again? By simply asking in faith for new life in Christ, we are born again.
The following passages of scripture record Jesus teaching us how to receive from God.
John 16:24 (NASB 1995)
Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.
Matthew 7:7, 8 (NASB 1995)
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
Revelation 3:20 (AMPC)
Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears and listens to and heeds My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will eat with him, and he [will eat] with Me.
James encourages us to simply ask in faith.
James 1:5, 6 (Easy-to-Read)
5 Do any of you need wisdom? Ask God for it. He is generous and enjoys giving to everyone. So he will give you wisdom. 6 But when you ask God, you must believe. Don’t doubt him. Whoever doubts is like a wave in the sea that is blown up and down by the wind.
This verse is specifically talking about asking for wisdom, however the wisest request anyone can make of God is to cause them to be born again. We are born again by humbly asking God to cause us to be born again. Then we believe that He does just that.
When a person hears the gospel of Jesus Christ preached, faith to be saved comes (see Truth Study on Faith). The Apostle Paul told the Romans how to be born again or “saved” in Romans 10.
Romans 10:9, 10 (NLT)
9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.
Paul told the Ephesians that we are saved by grace through faith.
Ephesians 2:8, 9 (NLT)
8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
The Bible uses the words “saved” and “salvation” to describe the born-again experience. Paul cautions us that it cannot be earned. Salvation or being made a new creation is a gift given by a gracious God. We are saved and restored to fellowship with God not because we are good but because He is good.
Recall His words to Satan in Genesis 3.
Genesis 3:14, 15 (AMPC)
14 And the Lord God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, you are cursed above all [domestic] animals and above every [wild] living thing of the field; upon your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust [and what it contains] all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her Offspring; He will bruise and tread your head underfoot, and you will lie in wait and bruise His heel.
The Godhead, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit planned for our salvation and executed the plan over thousands of years. The plan was always to destroy the work and efforts of the devil to kill, steal from, and destroy humans (see John 10:10 below) and recreate humans as living spirits and restore fellowship with God.
1 John 3:8 (NIV)
The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.
Jesus Christ came to the earth as the God-Man (He was 100% God and 100% human) and as the Offspring of Eve to crush Satan’s head and remove all his influence from the earth. Jesus was set on a course of destroying the devil’s work and reversing the curse that entered the earth with the first sin.
Acts 10:38 (NASB 1995)
You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
John 10:10 (NKJV)
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Satan is the thief and he comes to steal, kill, and destroy everything and everybody. Destruction is what he does. Jesus came to restore our lives and our fellowship with His Father. He came to make us alive to our Heavenly Father and provide abundant life.
Colossians 2 explains how our salvation is accomplished as follows.
Colossians 2:13-15 (NASB 1995)
13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.
Colossians 2:13-15 (MSG)
When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive—right along with Christ! Think of it! All sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ’s cross. He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets.
In His earthly life and ministry, Jesus demolished everything Satan was doing in the people He encountered. Along with making us alive to God He forgave our sins. As our sins were forgiven, we were brought to life, spiritually. Jesus Christ crushed Satan’s head (Gen. 3:15). In His death, Jesus demolished every trace of any curse on humanity and the earth. Colossians says Jesus “stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets.” This fulfilled the statement God made to Satan in the garden – “you will bruise His heel but He will crush your head.”
This is how Paul explained the how of salvation to the Ephesians.
Ephesians 2:1-7 (NIV)
1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Paul plainly states that we were dead in sin – not our physical bodies – but our real being, our spirits. We were under the influence and followed Satan and demonic spirits (recall Gen. 6:5,6; Ps. 14:1-3; Rom. 3:10-18). Our spirits were dead and our souls and our bodies were heavily influenced by the darkness. Receiving the forgiveness of sins and being born again are different sides of the same coin. They are experienced by a person when that person reaches out to God and asks in faith for forgiveness of sins and the new birth.
Asking, in faith, to be forgiven of sin and to be born again is also called “justification by faith.” We are “justified” and put into right relationship with God in the new birth.
Romans 5:1, 2 (NKJV)
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Romans 5:1,2 (NLT)
1 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.
Notice that the New Living Translation uses the phrase “we have been made right in God’s sight by faith” while the New King James Bible uses the actual phrase “justified by faith.” Some have said that the word “justified” can be interpreted “it’s just as if I’d never sinned!”
In the salvation experience, our spirits are reborn to a new life in God. We become new creations in Christ. We receive forgiveness of sins and are justified or made right before God.
Another way to describe salvation is to use the word “redemption.” Jesus redeems us or “buys us back” from spiritual death and sin. There are other terms, as well, to describe what our Lord Jesus Christ has done in this “great salvation” (Heb. 2:3). The Apostle Paul told the Colossians that Jesus “reconciled” all things back to God (Col. 1:20). As stated at the beginning of this Truth Study, a complete study on salvation is not possible. It will take all eternity for us to come to a full knowledge of what Jesus accomplished in His life on earth, His death, His resurrection, and His life now seated at the right hand of God in Heaven. Consider it your mission to research, learn, and gain as much knowledge of salvation as you can.
If you have never asked God to forgive your sins and cause you to be born again and make your spirit alive to Him, you can right now.
Matthew 7:11 (NASB 1995)
…if you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!
You can pray the following:
“Dear God, I ask you to forgive me of my sins. I invite Jesus into my heart. Please cause me to be born again by Holy Spirit’s power. I believe in my heart that you raised Jesus from the dead and I now confess with my mouth that He is my Lord. Please fill me with Your Holy Spirit. Take my life God, I surrender to You.”
Continue you study the Bible and find friends that love Jesus. Ask God to lead you to the church that He has prepared for you. God bless you richly.