* The only reason why the notion of "salvation" exists in the Bible, is because God made a promise, a very long time ago. The whole idea of "a salvation" was originated by God. He promised to save, long before the name of Jesus Christ was mentioned in the Bible. God gave "salvation" the function of Christ and named "It" Jesus.
Allow me to put the notion of salvation into human terms for the sake of illustrating. Say you are in desperate need of financial assistance and you have absolutely no clue as to who to turn to for help. As far as you are concerned, no one knows of your troubles, and you are a bit ashamed to tell anyone about them. You try to hide it and get by, day after day, by any means possible. Seems like the more you try to resolve your issue, the worse things end up getting. You see no hope in trying anymore, the desire of striving forward gets swallowed up by the ever deepening hole you're in. You feel deserted and alone, you've lost all hope.
All of a sudden, you hear someone is knocking at your door. You answer it, and there, outside your door is a complete stranger standing staring at you. The stranger takes the initiative to speak first, and out of the blue makes you a promise, before you or him have a chance to introduce yourselves. He promises you 1 million dollars, a new car and house, and he tells you that he will personally deliver these gifts to you first thing tomorrow morning, and then just leaves.
You don't know the guy. You've never seen him or heard of him before. He just showed-up at your door, made you a promise and left. You didn't ask for any of the gifts he promised you. He just showed-up and promised to give you everything you needed and then some.
My question to you is this:
(Q:) Who or what does it depend on, for you to receive the gift of 1 million dollars, the new car and the new house, that you never asked for, but was promised to you???
(A:) Psalm 62:7 My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.**
* These are the promises God made to us, but that we never asked for:
Jeremiah 31:34 No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’because they will all know me, from the least ofthem to the greatest,” declares the Lord.“For I will forgive their wickedness and will remembertheir sins no more.”
Hebrews8:10-12 10 This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel afterthat time, declares the Lord. I will *put my laws in their minds andwrite them on their hearts. *I will *be their God, andthey will be my people. 11 No longer will theyteach their neighbor, or sayto one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because *they will all know me, fromthe least of them to the greatest. 12 For I will forgive theirwickedness andwill remember their sins no more.”
Isaiah 42:16 I will* lead the *blind *by ways they have not known,along unfamiliar paths *I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.
* The following Bible text explains where God want's to take us to in knowledge of His Truth, but religion does NOT:
Hebrews 6:1-3 6 Therefore let us move beyond *the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to *maturity, not laying again thefoundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2 instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And God permitting, we will do so.
* The following Bible texts describe the joy that comes from being moved/taken beyond the fundamentals of elementary religion.
Psalm23:1-3 1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2 He makes me *lie down in green pastures, *he leads me besidequiet waters, 3 He refreshes *my soul. *He guides *me along the right paths *for hisname’s sake.(because He PROMISED)**
* This is how **"Being in Christ" begins. Not with you, but with God, because He loved you. Being in Christ is an offer. You either accept or you don't, it's based on God's gift of "free will" to you. You choose how you'll exercise that right/gift. Your are free.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that hegave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall notperish but have eternal life.
1 John 4:10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
* The following is God's claim to OWNERSHIP, invention & giver of salvation.
Matthew11:27-29 27 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 “Come to me, all you who are wearyand burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will *find rest *for your souls.
* God made it all happen. God deserves all the credit and praise!
Romans 8:30-39 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory. 31 What shall wesay about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us,who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand,pleading for us. 35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For yoursake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) 37 No, despite all these things,overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. 38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us * from* God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
*There is so much more to this, but letters do an injustice to God's marvelous work of Love. God bless you all. We are eternally saved, eternally blessed... eyes on Christ Jesus the author of our salvation.