Ephesians 2 : 8 - 8

Salvation describes the deliverance by God for those who believe in him. It is the saving of the soul from sin (and its consequences) through Gods will and grace. Though it takes different forms in every religion, the principle is still the same, often emphasising the necessity of both good works, repentance, and asceticism, as well as divine intervention (in this case the action being the grace of God). If assuming that Christ is the full truth, then the only way to gain access to God after death is through the salvation given by the Christian God. Jesus himself has indicated that a person must hear the word, believe it, repent of past sins, and be willing to confess faith before others, be baptized into Christ for the remission of sins, and then continue to live a faithful life throughout this physical life if we are to go to heaven.

The book of Ephesians is one of Paul’s many New Testament letters, or epistles, to the Christian church still in its infancy. At the time of its writing, Paul is in Rome, imprisoned for championing the purposes of Christ and growing the church. We see numerous occurrences where Paul, being a man of little concern for the status quo, is either imprisoned or fleeing capture by Jewish or Roman officials for usurping the latter (Acts 19: 23-41). The date of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is dated 60-61A.D., depending on differing research. While this is certainly one of his epistles known as the “prison letters”, Ephesians was penned prior to Paul’s first roman

Though Jesus was sinless and undeserving of death, he offered himself as a sacrifice in atonement for all sin (Invitation to World Religions, pg.418). Paul was always emphatic in maintaining that salvation cannot be earned by “works”, whether humans’ effort to obey the commandments in the Torah or excellent work in general. Instead, he taught that the salvation made possible by Christ’s sacrifice is a gift, the ultimate expression of God’s love and grace. Salvation is given to those who respond to God’s grace in faith, the conviction that God has acted through Jesus Christ to amend for human sin. Although Paul was very clear in teaching that salvation depends on God’s grace and the individual’s turning to God in faith, he did not dismiss the importance of works (Invitation to World Religions, pg.419). For Paul, faith does more than bringing salvation; it unites the believers with Christ in a “newness of life”. He believed that the spirit lives in believers and brings them into union with God. As a divine presence within, the spirit encourages the growth of spiritual virtues, the greatest which is love and makes all Christians one in the church often called “the body of Christ”.

While the Bible clearly shows, God alone can forgive sins, and Christ is the one Mediator between God and man, God uses men to bring about his reconciliation. Confession of sins is a ministry of reconciliation. The confession of serious or mortal sins to a priest forces your conscience to recognize your sins. Examining your conscience is necessary if you are to advance in holiness and become more faithful to Christ. It is known as the sacrament of confession, since the confession of sins to a priest is an essential element of this sacrament. It is also a "confession" of acknowledgement and praise of the holiness of God and His mercy and pardon towards sinful

Living religious traditions are integrated meaning systems which provide adherents with comprehensive and distinctive answers to the enduring questions of human existence. Religious traditions are ultimately shaped and reformed by the actions of the individuals who practices the faith. In a contemporary Christian environment, prominent practices to have a significant contribution to Christianity as a living religious tradition are Baptism and the works of Pope John XXIII. The significant practice of Baptism, as a central element of Christianity, is an initiation of adherents to a “discipleship” with Christ as well as a reinforcement of the community’s relationship with God. Furthermore, the development and expression of the Christian tradition

He communicates justification is by grace through faith as a qualified change in a person's conversion. Besides, he accentuates the real change that takes place in a person’s heart and life as a soul become new creatures in Christ. “I will make you a raw heart and place a young spirit in you; I will take away from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 336:26 NIV) Salvation is not a static act of God is showing towards the past; Wesley understands salvation as a revitalizing procedure. It begins with justification and new birth and stays as the Christian matures in

In his book, Getting the Gospel Right, Dr. Olson states and I quote that “any sinner can be saved by grace only through explicit repentance faith in the finished work of Christ alone.” This is a very powerful statement and one that brings questions and in many cases confusion as to what is the truth of salvation. In this book the author poses diverse views of salvation truth particularly those of Calvinism and Arminianism, and how they agree in some ways and differ in others from his doctrinal view of salvation in mediate theology. In mediate theology, Christ is the only way to salvation though his saving death and resurrection. Through saving faith a believer inherits a new birth and a right standing with God. When the believer comes to trust in Christ for salvation he receives the

Another way to think about this is how Wesley wrote in his sermon The Scripture Way of Salvation. On our journey to sanctification, he states, what keeps us going on the journey are the means of grace, whether they be for ourselves or done for others. His basic point was that once we are brought into awareness of the grace and our need to repent and turn from our sin, the means provide the nourishment our souls need to grow in grace. How else could one grow in grace than by means of grace?

Next, McMinn (2007) acknowledges the Christian Theology perspective on confession. According to the author (2007), there are two kinds of relations to confession and Christian Theology, which are confession and the sacrament of penance and confession and Scripture. McMinn (2007) points out that the Christian church has constantly been engrossed in confession, but the way of confession has altered during the past two millennia (p 221). According to the author (2007), numerous Spiritual leaders, such as Saint Augustine and Saint Patrick writing of their confessions of faith and sin have severed as a partial foundation for scholasticism, which is a crusade that attempted to examine faith academically (211-212). As scholasticism grew thought out time it birth the doctrine and sacrament

After a Christian had sinned that person had the opportunity to be redeemed for their sin. Redemption is actually very clear and easy to define. When a Christian sinned and wanted God's forgiveness they had to go before God, by praying to him, and ask him to cleanse them and forgive them of their sin. When God hears the person asking for forgiveness, God will answer their cry to him and cleanse them. When God cleanses a person it is almost like the sin was never committed in the first place. When God sent his son Jesus into the world he told Jesus that he would

The relationship that Paul seems to think best describes the union between the church and Christ in the book of Ephesians is marriage (Harris, 2014). He compares this by sharing that man is head of the woman, just as Christ is head of the church. Also, Paul tells us that we are to conduct ourselves with high moral standards. In fact, we should have an order in our life and be respectful the same in our homes as we are in God’s house. The author of the book of Ephesians goes on to remind the men that they must love their wives and always honor them just as Christ does with the church. However, we must also take into consideration each relationship that we are involved in to make sure that we apply God’s love to each one.

“But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints.” Ephesians 5:3 (NKJV). One of my favorite traffic signs appears in particular section near the busy LA theater district. It reads: "Don't Even THINK of Parking Here". Not only does the sign dissuade one from parking in the wrong spot, but also proves that the LA Transit Dept has a sense of humor. This would have served as an inventive way of paraphrasing Ephesians 5:3. "Don't even think of engaging in sexual immorality." The NIV renders the beginning of this verse: "But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality or any kind of impurity, or of greed."

The Lord Jesus Christ has granted us grace and by faith we work towards a divine fate.

The book Steps to Christ discusses our relationship with God. The author Ellen White describes thirteen steps we must take to enable us to have a loving and committed relationship with our Heavenly Father. In this essay I discuss each of the thirteen steps.

The genre of Ephesians 2:1-10 is an Epistle. The Epistles were letters teaching specific churches or groups of people; often inspired by God. They are split into two categories: Pauline Epistles, written by Paul and traditionally Paul was the first word of the book in Greek, and General Epistles, often referred to as the Catholic epistles and were written to the universal Church. The Pauline Epistles consist of: Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. The General Epistles consist of: Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2 and 3 John, and Jude. The interpretive principles of this genre are that it is meant to be read as a whole and in one sitting in order to get the main idea of the passage, one must view the paragraphs as the main unit of thought in the passage, one must know the structure to understand the letter, and one must do background reading to fully comprehend the main concept and the history and culture of the setting.