Salvation is both easy and difficult.
In no way do we earn our salvation. It is a gift. The Old
Testament system of sacrifice pointed out the fact that we
weren’t good enough. Every year a sacrifice had to be made
and humanity would never escape its sinfulness.
Because salvation is a free gift and
there is also nothing that we can do to repay that gift.
Once we are saved, we do not act good because of a duty to
be good. Instead we bear fruit for God because our lives
have been changed. For more on this idea see the article
“Bearing Fruit.”
Even though salvation is a free gift,
we must be careful not to boil it down to a onetime thing.
There is power in praying for salvation but this is the
start of a journey with the Lord, not something that can be
done and forgotten about.
The truth is that salvation can be
broken down into very easy steps. The ABC’s of Salvation
and the Romans Road are the two simplest. For more methods
of evangelism or some helpful ideas, visit our sister site
Christian Evangelism.
At the moment of our salvation we are
heaven bound. When we place our trust in Jesus and He
forgives our sins, there are no more requirements to be a
Christian. But God wants us to grow closer to Him and that
is a lifelong journey. Obedience is required after
salvation in order to have the best possible relationship
with God. Just as sin separated us from God before
salvation, our continued sin – even though it has been
forgiven – effects our relationship with God.
A Christian’s life should also be an
abundant life. Just as parents don’t come up with a bunch
of rules to prevent us from having any fun, God’s rules are
in our best interest as well. We seek to follow God because
we love Him, we want the best possible relationship with
Him, and He wants the best life possible for us.
The moment of salvation, the time when
our sins are forgiven through the blood of Jesus, is easy.
Salvation and living the Christian life should be thought of
as a lifetime journey. There will be bumps along the way
but we don’t need to fear them because God is with us on the
journey.
