The New Testament teaches us that God took on human form in Jesus (John 1:1-14; Philippians 2:5-7). He taught the world a way of life — which He perfectly modeled — marked by faithfulness to God and sacrificial love (Matthew 5-7). On the cross, Jesus gave Himself for the sins of the world (Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 10:45; Luke 9:22; John 10:14-18). And since Jesus was raised from the dead, He has inaugurated a new countercultural Kingdom and way of living that we can join in by the power of the Holy Spirit within us (Luke 24:1-8; 1 Corinthians 15; Romans 8:11). Because of the reality of this good news in our lives, we are invited by Jesus to a life of discipleship to Him in three foundational ways: being with Jesus, becoming like Jesus, and doing what Jesus Did.


Be With Jesus

When Jesus calls disciples, He first calls them to Himself (Mark 3:13-14) — to be with Him. This is the first call of a disciple, to be with their rabbi. As disciples of Jesus, we are “with” Him through prayer, taking in His teachings, and cultivating a life of “abiding” in Christ (John 15:1-8). For more about cultivating intimacy with God, read this post. Or, watch or listen to our teaching series “Everyday Mystic,” which explores living in union with Christ and cultivating a daily, hourly, minute-by-minute relationship with God.

Become Like Jesus
Followers of Jesus aim to consistently become more like Him (1 John 2:6). This is the promise and long road of sanctification (or Christlikeness) that we enter into as disciples of Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:17-18; 2 Peter 1:2-9). Growing in grace, love, peace, joy, truthfulness — these and more develop in us as followers of Jesus (Galatians 5:22). For more on this, we encourage you to watch or listen to our teaching series, “Becoming Like Jesus.”

Do What Jesus Did
Even now, Jesus is on a mission for the renewal of the world. He has promised that He is making all things new (Revelation 21:5). It is our responsibility as followers of Jesus to do what He did and to thus carry on His mission as His body, the Church (1 Corinthians 12:12-14). For more on doing what Jesus did, watch or listen to our teaching series, “The Character of Christ.”

SAVIOR

The Name of Jesus has impacted lives around the world for more than 2,000 years. He is a universal Savior, promising “whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Jesus is an exclusive Savior. “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name in heaven given to men by which we must be saved” Acts 4:12. Contrary to what contemporary culture tells us, there are not multiple paths to God. There is only one—Jesus Christ

Jesus’ death and resurrection ensures His followers an endless list of promises from God’s Word. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, His promises are for us, including peace today and hope of eternity with Him.
Very Precious Promises

The Bible is our ultimate authority. And in God’s word are many great and precious promises. Because Jesus is our Savior, Scripture tells us that:

• we are forgiven (Acts 2:38)
• our guilt is gone (Romans 8:1)
• we have peace with God (Romans 5:1)
• God’s wrath is satisfied (1 John 2:2)
• we have been justified (Romans 5:1)
• Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us (Romans 4:24)
• we are “new creations” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
• we have eternal life (John 3:16)
• we have been adopted by God (John 1:12)
• the Holy Spirit lives in us (Romans 8:11)
• Jesus is our advocate (1 John 2:1)
• nothing can separate us from God’s love (Romans 8:38-39)
• death has no more sting (1 Corinthians 15:54)
• we have an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade (1 Peter 1:4)

What an awesome list of promises from God’s Word—and this is only a partial list! Because Christ died for us, all of these are ours when we accept Him as Savior.

The Tenses of Salvation
As we consider Christ’s death on the cross, I think it’s important to look at the three “tenses” of salvation.

• Past: First, we have been saved. We have been justified or made righteous in God’s eyes.
• Present: Second, we are being saved. We are in the process of being sanctified or made more like Christ through the Holy Spirit.
• Future: And we will be saved. When Christ returns, we will be glorified or made like Him. We have an eternal inheritance.

Anything else?

Four other things are important to consider about Jesus as our Savior:

• He is a universal Savior. John 3:16 tells us that “whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” All who come to Him with repentant hearts, sorry for their sins, and believe that He is who He says He is, will receive His salvation.
• Jesus Christ is an exclusive Savior. We read in Acts 4:12 that “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name in heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” Contrary to what contemporary culture tells us, there are not multiple paths to God. There is only one: Jesus Christ.
• He is a comprehensive Savior. Romans 8:29-30 make it clear that our salvation, predestined from before the foundation of the world includes not only justification and forgiveness of sins but also God’s commitment to reform us into the very image of His Son and that one day, when that process is complete, we will be glorified.
• And He is an all-powerful Savior. Nothing can separate us from God’s love. Christ’s work on the cross sealed our salvation forever. As Romans 8:38–39 tells us, For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Jesus is our Savior. Nothing can separate us from His great work on the cross, from His love. That truth, that promise is at the core of who we are at Casper Alliance Church and as part of The Christian and Missionary Alliance.