Salvation -- What Happens When a Person Believes in Christ?
We have discussed that salvation is a free gift from God through a simple act of faith in Jesus Christ as Savior. But what actually happens at that single point in time, a moment of faith when the person's eternal destiny is forever changed? How does such a simple act of faith in Jesus Christ result in eternal salvation? And what actual changes occur in the new believer?
It is important to first understand that mankind is hopeless to save itself, therefore God must save each one of us individually, but He requires us to accept or reject what He provides. God demands perfect righteousness, not some form of relative righteousness, and no matter how good someone might appear to be it is never good enough to meet God's perfect standards. Therefore salvation is accepting what Christ has done for us. First, Jesus Christ removed the sin issue as a barrier to salvation since He paid in full the penalty due for all sins of mankind. Secondly, Jesus Christ made it possible to claim His own righteousness as the basis of a relationship with God, which is rejecting our own inadequate righteousness and instead claiming the perfect righteousness of Christ. Romans 3:10 says "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one." And 2 Corinthians 5:21 says "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." Therefore, accepting the salvation work of Jesus Christ is accepting two issues, namely that He paid the penalty for our sins, and also that He provides us with His own righteousness in place of our own works.
God only provides salvation through faith because He cannot allow imperfect mankind into a relationship with Him based on the merit of the person. The nicest, least sinful, and most charitable person who ever lived could never attain perfection on their own apart from Christ. Therefore, God developed a plan, and sent Jesus Christ the God-Man to save us. John 3:16 says "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son." Salvation is a grace gift bought and paid for by Jesus Christ. This payment occurred on the cross when He was judged for every sin ever committed, past or future. And this removal of the sin issue in turn allowed God to offer mankind salvation by accepting the righteousness of Jesus Christ instead of our own relative and inadequate righteousness. To say anything must be added insults the salvation work of Jesus Christ, declaring it to be inadequate; therefore it cannot be added to, earned, or purchased by us, only received. God's requirement for accepting the free gift is one simple act of faith, which is essentially reaching out and taking hold of the gift God is handing to each unbeliever. Faith is the only positive act which everyone can do equally. If God made salvation contingent on mental capacity to think or ability to perform works, some would have an unfair advantage over others. Faith makes everyone equal when it comes to receiving salvation. That is the fairness of God, and it is also the only procedure which aligns with His perfect righteousness.
At the moment of faith in Jesus Christ, God sets into motion a series of changes in the person and in their eternal status. The Holy Spirit is the one who makes all the changes, enabling salvation to be effective in the person. The individual cannot feel these changes, but they are very real. Some may have an emotional response knowing they are now eternally saved, but that is an individual response, not a result of the internal changes. And those changes lock in the eternal status as being permanently saved regardless of what happens after that moment of salvation. While all these changes are simultaneous, it helps us to understand them if they are viewed separately and in sequence.
Among the changes which occur at salvation is restoration of the human spirit. Each person is born with a soul but no human spirit, which Adam and Eve had at creation but lost when they sinned in the Garden of Eden. This loss of the human spirit is the definition of spiritual death, and this status of spiritual death was subsequently handed down to all their descendants, who are born without a human spirit. The exception is Jesus Christ who was born spiritually alive, and this issue will be discussed in a later chapter. Salvation makes the new believer spiritually alive, meaning the human spirit is regained. This restoration of the human spirit makes the person a spiritual being, now capable of knowing and interacting with God. It is that human spirit which allows us to understand spiritual information, which is why unbelievers cannot understand such things since they lack a human spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:14 says: "The person without the spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness..." God the Holy Spirit is the one who restores the human spirit at the moment of salvation, since He is the member of the Trinity involved in making all salvation changes a reality at that moment of faith in Christ.
Another primary change which occurs at the moment of salvation is that we now share the righteousness of Jesus Christ, giving us a perfect righteousness in God's eyes even though it is not our own. "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21) Of course, all believers continue to sin personally, but God still views each believer as being covered by the righteousness of Jesus Christ the Savior for eternity. So we see a major change occurs at the moment of salvation whereby God declares us to be righteous in association with Jesus Christ. From that point on, no matter how much we sin or fail God looks at us and sees the righteousness of Jesus Christ in us. Therefore God no longer views us as lost sinners but as sharing the righteousness of Christ because we have accepted by faith what He did for us on the cross. When God looks at an unbeliever He sees unrighteousness and spiritual death. It is amazing to understand that God can look at us as believers who remain sinful and imperfect and see perfect righteousness in us. But it is not our own perfect righteousness God sees, but rather the perfection of Jesus Christ which is shared with all believers. God stamps us "made perfect in Christ" as a result of salvation, and then deals with our continued sins as having been taken out of the way by Christ, allowing us to request forgiveness to put them behind us so we can move on with our spiritual life inside the family of God. God deals with believers on the basis of His love because we are viewed as righteous, but God deals with unbelievers on the basis of His righteousness because they remain unrighteous. In eternity that perfection of Christ in believers will become a reality in our new resurrection bodies and we will be truly sinless and perfect righteousness forever.
Also at the moment of salvation the new believer becomes a "fellow heir" with Jesus Christ and shares in many wonderful things which Christ earned as a result of His salvation work on the cross. Romans 8:15 says: "Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ..." The righteousness of Jesus Christ is not the only thing He shares with us as His "fellow heir." He also shares his priesthood, giving us the right to act on our own behalf and interface directly with God the Father. He shares His status of rulership, and we will rule with Him as members of His royal court during the Millennium. He essentially shares with His Church Age believers all He possesses, which is why the Church is called the "Bride of Christ." (2 Corinthians 11:2)
Another change at the moment of salvation is the believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and also by extension the entire Trinity. Father, Son and Holy Spirit indwell every believer, as 1 John 4:13 says: "This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us." At the moment of salvation the Holy Spirit not only indwells us as believers but also becomes the source of empowerment for our spiritual life. And the Holy Spirit also gives each new believer at least one spiritual gift, one which will become evident over time as the believer grows spiritually.
Each new believer is also provided with a guardian angel. That angel is always present, and watches over the person in many ways. That protection has limits, and we must not test those limits or fail to act rationally or wisely, but this protection is something which makes our lives less subject to the whims of chance and accidents of everyday life. Unbelievers live by chance and at the whims of fate, but believers live by faith and have protection inside God's plan, therefore fate does not apply to believers. And our personal guardian angel plays an important role in that regard.
Additionally, when we believe in Jesus Christ for salvation our name becomes permanent in the Book of Life, a registry of those with eternal salvation. The names of those who have accepted God's salvation will be in the Book of Life at the end of human history, and the names of those who did not accept God's salvation will not be found. Once again this shows that our salvation is permanent and therefore cannot be lost.
We also become a child of God with all the rights and blessings of being part of His family, including the opportunity to communicate with God and have prayers heard and answered. Romans 8:14 says: "For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship." God treats believers as part of His family. Unbelievers are not, so they do not share anything God has, nor can they pray or have any form of fellowship or interaction with God.
As a person is maturing humanly they come to a point of accountability to God for their decision regarding salvation. Children and certain people with low mental function are not accountable for a salvation decision, so are automatically saved if they die before they become accountable, or sometimes are unable to become accountable. However, once that accountability is reached the person has a critical decision to make, to believe in Jesus Christ as Savior or to reject salvation. That one primary decision is why all people are put on earth. The opportunity is not shut down at that point if rejected, but if the person dies afterward they are responsible for the decisions made to that point. But the overall issue is that humans are required to make decisions, first to believe in God or reject Him, and then to believe in Jesus Christ as Savior or reject Him. As the main reason we are put on the earth it defines and answers the humanly unanswerable question "Why are we here?" It is an answer only understood by faith as taught from the Word of God.
Therefore, at the moment of salvation we become something completely different, set apart, and new. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" The believer is made whole with the revival of the human spirit, and becomes an entirely different creature than the unbeliever. God now looks at the believer and sees His own righteousness shared with him by Jesus Christ, and never again looks at the believer as being lost in sin no matter how much the believer might fail afterward. God deals with believers on the basis of His love, but deals with unbelievers on the basis of His righteousness. We become part of the family of God, and God takes responsibility for caring for us as His child. Jesus Christ shares what He has earned with us, making us His fellow heirs. And spiritual growth after salvation brings those shared items to a more complete fulfillment. Believers have the power of the Holy Spirit, a spiritual gift, a guardian angel, and other spiritual provisions to make our spiritual life more impactful. Our life becomes part of a plan, has meaning and purpose, and is no longer based on chance and fate. From the moment of salvation we are forever changed and a member of God's eternal family, and those changes cannot be undone or lost. We are freed from the fear of death if we choose to understand what we have received, which is a spiritual inheritance of incalculable eternal value.