"Our Common Salvation"

Jude /Verse 3

“Our Common Salvation”

Have you ever given thought to those three words, “Our Common Salvation”?  Those three words jumped off the page this morning, and I’ve read the book of Jude more than once.   But today the Spirit that lives in me asked this question do you understand those three words?   To understand it will require that we look to Scripture, for it is only there that this will be revealed, and the question is; what do we who follow Jesus have in common?  I found four things in common, but there are many, many more, and none have to do with religion, they all have to do with acknowledging a common need, to know the Father, and to enter into fellowship with Him.

1.     The first thing that comes to mind is that we are all in the same boat, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" (Romans 3:23)

I do understand that in our enlightened society we have taken the word “sin” from our vocabulary, but God, who does not change has spoken these words: "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:" (Romans 5:12)

2.     The need to repent; “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:5)

Repenting is also a word that no longer is used in our culture, but Jesus said without repentance you will perish.

3.     The need to acknowledge and agree with what God has spoken about us; “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  (Romans 5:8 ESV)

“Because, 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.  (Romans 10:9)

In John 3:16, Jesus made sure that we understood this salvation is for all, that the Father so loved you that before creation He set in motion a plan to redeem you from the control of sin.  And that whosoever would accept the blood sacrifice of His Son, my Lord Jesus Christ, would be made right with the Father.

4.     And fourth, that it is all-inclusive; “For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” (Romans 10:10 ESV)

“For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13 ESV)

You have been invited into a personal relationship with God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; all has been supplied for you to accept the invitation, both the grace and the faith that is needed, look and see what Ephesians 2:8-9 said on the subject of our common Salvation.  “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
What is common about our salvation is that God so loved you and me that He gave, but the gift He gave came at a price no one but God could pay; God stepped out of being worshipped, your Creator Jesus Christ and became our “Common Salvation”. 
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice