The Gospel of Salvation

The Gospel of Salvation

Paul wrote about salvation by faith especially in the beginning and in the end of this letter. Because this letter is about gospel and as Paul described gospel is the good news about salvation. By the fulfillment of perfect redemption by Jesus Christ, the blessing of salvation were given not only to Israelites but also Gentiles. So whoever believes in Christ will be saved. Than what did Paul teach about salvation in this letter? What do we have to learn about it in the Epistle to the Romans?

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
- Romans 1:16

The Slaves of Sins

Paul used many words to describe the salvation of Christ. And “Slave” is one of the keywords in the description about salvation. Paul represented unsaved people “the slaves of the sin”. Because we were once reigned by sins and were in bondage of sin and death. So we were under the yoke of sins as the slaves, living our lives following the unrighteousness. The only way to be freed from this captivity was our death, but by God’s grace, Jesus Christ died for us and He fulfilled the promise of salvation.

“We know that our old selfwas crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.”
- Romans 6:6

Freedom from the Dominion of Sins

Freedom from the dominion of sins by Christ’s death and resurrection will be given to all people who believes in Christ. So God will sees us as people who died on the cross with Christ. We are slaves of sin no more, but the slaves of righteousness. When Paul explained about the people who were saved, he used the word “slave” even though we were “freed” from sins. Because the slaves of righteousness is under God’s dominion which means that we have true and perfect freedom under God. The true freedom comes from the obedience to the Lord and His commandments. So this freedom is not something that comes from freewheelingness but the obedience to God and His perfect dominion. So being the slaves of righteousness means that we are God’s property and that we are under his reign.

Temporal Binding of Our Earthly Fresh

By the salvation of Jesus Christ, we were saved to become the slaves of righteousness. So we are now under the rule of grace of God instead of sins and death. But while we live in this world with our worldly fresh, we still sins and even if we wished to do good, we often do unrighteousness. Because this earthly body that we have right now is still under the law. But even if we are trapped in this body, the fundamental part is completely different from the slaves of sin. So the temporal binding of sins and death will not take us apart from the eternal life that God promised us.

“For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.”
- Romans 7:22-23

How the Sins and Death Entered this World

Than how did the sin and death enter this world even though God created this world perfect? The beginning of the reign of sins and death is in the beginning of Genesis, when Adam sinned. By the sin that was committed by just one man, the sin entered the whole world. And death entered this world as the curse for the sin. Death was the judgement from God upon sinners. But by grace God also promised Adam and Eve the salvation from the dominion of death. One man’s sin brought sins into the world but God brought salvation to world by one Man’s death. And we were put under the dominion of life by the salvation and the redemption of Christ.

“Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned–”
- Romans 5:12

The Slaves of Righteousness

Paul described the people who were saved as the slaves of righteousness, but he also explained about them as the children of God. Theses two words “slaves” and “children” might sound paradoxical but both words represent the men with true freedom. And the word “the children of God” represents grace and salvation. Being under the dominion of eternal life is the true freedom and the salvation from the dominion of death. The true freedom is our hope in our earthly lives. Because the sufferings and hard times that we go through in our lives is temporal.

“But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.”
- Romans 6:17-18