The Gift Of Salvation Series

We read in Psalm 91:16,“With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.” (AFV)

As we come to the last study on Psalm 91, we will meditate on the last part of verse 16 which says, ‘and show him My salvation’. All of us who have come to this day at the end of this year 2020 can most assuredly say that it is only by the grace of God that we are alive and well. This was a year when many people irrespective of their age, were infected with the virus which took the lives of numerous people globally. If we are healthy and are able to listen to the word of God, we must truly be grateful to the Lord for His grace and favor bestowed on us. Our being alive today can be perceived in two ways, we should be glad that we are alive or we should say thank God that we have been saved or protected from the pangs of death.

The word salvation is a word that is of great significance in the bible. By meditating on this word, and understanding it in its fullness, I hope and pray that there will be a sense of peace, joy and security that will fill our hearts and minds.

The reason Jesus came as declared at His birth

Before Jesus was born into this world, these were the words that were conveyed to His mother Mary, by the angel Gabriel.

We read in Matthew 1:21, “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (ESV)

The reason Jesus came into the world was to save His people from their sins. Salvation as defined by the bible as the way in which our sins are removed from us, so that we can be free from its clutches. As human beings, oftentimes, we realize that under several circumstances we wrong God and also those around us in many ways. Everyone wants to get rid of these wrongs that seem to be dominant inside of us. In order to do so, some people will try to restrain their bodies by fasting, going on pilgrimages or performing some other rigorous rituals, hoping that these would help them eliminate the sins in their lives. There are those who also realize that it is these sins have landed them in many troublesome situations. Also we may have heard people caution someone that they should not pass on their sin and curses to their children. The reason for such advice is because the consequences of sinful decisions and actions are often passed on from one generation to the other. When such is the case, human beings are trying all kind of sacrifices and good deeds to be delivered from their sins, but there is no way that any human can find a way to achieve this by their own effort or good works.

The master who forgave willingly

In this parable that Jesus mentioned in Matthew 18, He spoke about a king who took account and wanted those servants who owed him money to pay it back to him.

We read in Matthew 18:23-25,“So God's kingdom is like a king who decided to collect the money his servants owed him. The king began to collect his money. One servant owed him several thousand pounds of silver. He was not able to pay the money to his master, the king.” (ERV)

On being called to give account for their loans, there was one servant to whom the king had loaned a very large sum of money. The time had come for the money to be paid back to the king, but the servant was in no position to do so.

If we had to stand before God and give account for all the sins we have done, there is no way we can stand justified before Him in any way, or compensate for all the wrongs we have done. Just like that servant who owed this huge sum of money, all of us because of our sins are indebted to God big time, and there is no way we can repay God with our own effort. There are those who think that if they chose certain days of the year and abstain from certain foods they could appease God and clear themselves of their sins. Sadly, this will go on year after year as these abstinence will not in any way give us deliverance from our sins or clear our conscience.

We also read in Matthew 18:27,The master felt sorry for him. So he told the servant he did not have to pay. He let him go free. (ERV)

The man begged His master for mercy and the master of this servant did three things for him. He felt compassion for him, forgave him of all the debt he owed and freed him to go. To say it simply, the king took the loan on himself and set his servant free.