Salvation Summaries

I am going through each book in the New Testament (again) and writing bullet point comments about how a person becomes a Christian and how a Christian should live.  The following notes are from 2 Corinthians.

Summary

To become a Christian, you need to have “godly sorrow” for your sins, as this brings about repentance that leads to salvation.  Faith in Jesus is also required.

Salvation is something God offers to us and it’s because of His grace rather than our merit. God wants to reconcile us to Himself – to restore the type of friendly relationship He once had with Adam and Eve. This could only be accomplished by having Jesus, who was and is sinless, take the sins of the world upon Himself and die in our place.  When a person puts their faith  in Jesus, God no longer counts their sins against them, and views them as righteous.

There are several spiritual changes that take place at the moment you become saved. You are anointed by God, receive His seal of ownership (thus, you now belong to Him) and His Holy Spirit.  You become a “new creation.”   Several verses in this book indicate that a saved person has assurance of eternal life.

Contrary to what most new and supposed Christians are told today, you are to test or examine yourself to determine if you are a Christian.  If you pass the test, you are; if you fail, you are not.

As a Christian, you are to no longer live for yourself, but for the Lord. You are to have a sincere and pure devotion for and to Him as you seek to please Him. You are to pray for others, comfort others, give cheerfully to those in need, and not be “yoked” (married) with an unbeliever.

How a person is saved (and other verses relating to salvation)

• Every person in New Testament times and since then is saved under God’s new covenant with man rather than the old covenant. The old covenant condemned man, and has faded away. The new covenant brings righteousness and life (2 Cor 3:6).
• God saves people because of His grace. He wanted to reconcile (this means to restore friendly relations between two or more people) us to Himself so that we could have a relationship with Him again (unbelievers are hostile to God; they are an enemy of His). He achieved this through Christ. Christ, who was sinless and perfect, took our sins upon Him and died in our place.  Because of this, God no longer counts our sins against us when we put our faith in Christ and seek to follow Him (2 Cor 5:18). It is only by Jesus Christ that you can become righteous in God’s sight (2 Cor 5:21).
• Godly sorrow (over one’s sins) brings repentance that leads to salvation (2 Cor 7:10)

Characteristics of a Christian

• Anointed by God, has God’s seal of ownership and His Holy Spirit as a deposit guaranteeing what is to come (2 Cor 1:21).
• Has faith in the Lord (2 Cor 1:23).
• In Christ and a new creation (2 Cor 5:17)
• Belongs to Christ (2 Cor 10:7)
• Someone who is “being saved” (2 Cor 2:15).  Unbelievers are those who are “perishing.”
• Has assurance of eternal life:
  • We know that the One who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus (2 Cor 4:14)
  • We know if the earthly tent that we live in is destroyed, we have…an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands (2 Cor 5:1)
  • God has given us the Spirit as a deposit guaranteeing what is to come (2 Cor 5:5)

How a Christian should live

• Comfort others, for Christians have received comfort from God (2 Cor 1:4)
• Pray for others, for prayer can help them (2 Cor 1:11).
  • For prayer to work, God must first hear our prayer and then decide whether to answer it and how to answer it.  If He chooses to answer it, He works in a supernatural way to bring about what we ask (or should have asked).
• By faith, not by sight (2 Cor 5:7).
• Seek to grow in his or her faith (2 Cor 10:15)
• Please the Lord (2 Cor 5:9).  You should have a sincere and pure devotion to Him (2 Cor 11:3)
• No longer live for yourself but for Him who died for you and rose again (2 Cor 5:15)
• Do not be yoked (married) to an unbeliever, for unbelievers are wicked in God’s sight and have darkness within them.  Christians are righteous in God’s sight and have the light of life within them (2 Cor 6:14)
• Remember that Christ will judge the good and bad things that Christians do.  This is not to determine their salvation, but for rewards they may receive in heaven (2 Cor 5:10).
• Cheerfully give to believers in need, for God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor 9:7-12).  Giving shows obedience to the Lord (2 Cor 9:13)

Who God is

• He has a will; there are things He desires.  It was God’s will that Paul became an apostle of Jesus (2 Cor 1:1).
• He is our Father; Jesus is our Lord (2 Cor 1:2). What does Lord mean?
• He is compassionate toward His people.  He comforts them in times of trouble (2 Cor 1:3-4).
• He is gracious (2 Cor 1:13)
• He is faithful (2 Cor 1:18)
• He has the power to raise people from the dead (2 Cor 1:9)
• He anoints, sets His seal of ownership on, and put His Holy Spirit within the heart of a person when He makes them a Christian (2 Cor 1:21). This is something man cannot do (and thus, man cannot save himself).

Who Jesus is

• He “opens doors” for Christians to pursue certain things that are in accordance with His will (2 Cor 2:12)

Satan

• Masquerades as an angel of light (2 Cor 11:13)
• Schemes to deceive others (2 Cor 2:11).  He is active in this world even though most don’t realize it.
• The “god of this age” who blinds the minds of unbelievers so that they can’t see the light of the gospel of Christ (2 Cor 4:4).