Salvation
Seek Truth
For some reason, in some way, you’ve come to ZA Magazine, ZA stands for zatei aletheia, a Greek phrase which means “seek truth.” ZA Magazine believes that the truth to be sought after is contained in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Messiah, the Savior of the world. We that contribute to ZA base our lives on this truth.
Because of that, we think that there should be a page somewhere on the ZA site dedicated to explaining the story of Jesus so that you may come to know Him as we do and have a real relationship with the one and only true God.
Not-So-Good People
Many of us believe ourselves to be good people. We think that because we are nice to people and we listen to others and we don’t yell at our friends/family/co-workers/etc. too much then we must be pretty good. But by what standard so we base this on? The Bible offers the truth, an assessment of humanity based on God’s standards:
Romans 3:10
None is righteous, no, not one.
Righteous means “good, without error, perfect, sinless, pure.” Basically, no one is good! We may all do good things, but that doesn’t make us good.
Sin
See, the Bible talks about sin, which describes the bad things that we as humans do that are opposite what God does. God is perfect and only does things that are righteous (good, without error), but we’re always messing up. The Bible says:
Romans 3:23
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
We have all done wrong and none can compare to God’s perfection.
Why Sin is Important
What we don’t realize about sin is that it keeps us from having a relationship with God like He wants to have with us. Think about this – the same one that made the mountains, the stars, the galaxies, and everything everywhere also made humans and actually cares about them more than any other creation. So much so that He would do anything to have a relationship with us. BUT, sin prevents that from happening.
Why?
Because God is perfect and in His perfection He cannot be near us because our imperfection would act as a corruption to Him. God likes being perfect and doesn’t want anything to take that away from Him! Think about it like this:
Let’s say God wears white pants to reflect His spotless perfection and we, as humans, wear our dirty rags as clothes because our clothes are reflecting our evil deeds and filthy actions. If God tried to be near us and perhaps give us a hug or something, it would be impossible for Him to keep the dirt and grime off of Him because it would transfer from us to Him with one simple touch.
God would need some kind of way to take us and change us to be pure like Him. This means of changing us had to be different than sacrificing animals and performing other ritual duties that were done in the Old Testament to try to bring man closer to God and make man perfect. These sacrifices were nice because they were what God created, but they didn’t work to take away all of the people’s sins. They only covered the wrongs done, not erased.
A New Substitute
In the Old Testament, the blood shed from bulls and goats was used to take away sin. Now, that may sound weird, but it all comes from the belief that “the life of the flesh is in the blood” (Leviticus 17:11), and that in order for something to live, something had to die. Why does something have to die for another thing to live, you ask? Because the penalty “of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23) When someone does something that is wrong and against God’s holiness, they have committed a crime against the Lord which must be punished.
BUT, the punishment for sin has not been poured out on each of us, as it rightfully should be. Instead, a new sacrifice occurred in which there was a perfect substitute that would remove all sin for all times.
Jesus
Yes, Jesus of Nazareth. When Jesus walked up to the spot where the famous John the Baptist was speaking, John immediately said of the one he saw (whom he had never seen before!):
John 1:29
Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
And that is what Jesus was and what He did. Jesus was God’s only son who was perfect and without sin, living with His Father in Heaven. But in order to save man from sins and bring them to God, Jesus was sent to Earth to live the same life that each of us lives, except He lived it without error. Because of that perfection, He was rightfully able to take away sins and become the perfect sacrifice, a sacrifice that would not just cover over wrong-doings but erase them from ever existing!
Jesus’ life and death is really a collection of prophecies fulfilled that were spoken and written hundreds to thousands of years before Jesus was born on the Earth. These prophecies realized confirm Jesus’ true position as Son of God and Savior or Messiah of the world.
Jesus Died and He Rose Again
Jesus was crucified on a cross in Jerusalem for all to see, and was then placed in a tomb for days, until He rose from the dead and was seen around Jerusalem for 40 days following His resurrection. As I said, His death was the perfect sacrifice, and His resurrection declares His everlasting victory over death, sin, and Hell (Hell is where those that do not accept Jesus’ sacrifice spend their life after death).
Matthew 10:28
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
How Can You Be Saved From Sin?
The Bible says that:
Romans 10:9-11
9 If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believe in him will not be put to shame.”
If you first realize your unrighteousness and believe that Jesus’ death and resurrection can save you from your sins, then all you need to do is ask God to save you. Ask Jesus to save you, forgive you of sins, and give you a relationship with Him. The Bible states that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13). Call upon Jesus and ask Him to change you!
Christian Life
There’s a lot more to the Christian life, like how to develop and maintain your relationship with Jesus Christ, the Father, and the Holy Spirit (that is God’s spirit), but that is what the rest of ZA Magazine is for – growing in your walk with Jesus and constantly seeking the truth of Him and His love!
Feel free to contact any of the ZA staff if you wish to know more about salvation.
