Salvation Comes to Everyone Who Believes
ICS Daily Devotions

Romans 1:16-17 (NKJV) For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

The gospel reveals a key attribute of God: righteousness. Righteousness is the character or quality of being right or just, without prejudice or partiality. To address the sin issue that separated us from Him, God intentionally established the unconditional Abrahamic Covenant. This demonstrated His righteousness despite mankind’s rebellion and sin. God was just in His dealings because He didn’t forcibly reclaim the authority to rule the earth after Adam and Eve had handed it over to Satan when they sinned. If God had done that, He would have abused His authority and supreme position. Therefore, He chose not to because He will not act contrary to His character of being just, righteous, and holy. Instead, He had a plan to defeat Satan and redeem mankind in a just and righteous way, as revealed in the gospel.

Salvation encompasses the ideas of deliverance, safety, preservation, healing, and soundness. It includes salvation for the spirit, deliverance from Satan’s bondage, the bondage of sin, and spiritual death, and healing for the physical body.

Those who are not children of God belong to the kingdom of darkness. The sin nature controls their lives, and they are susceptible to demonic influence depending on the extent to which they have opened themselves to the spiritual realm. They will not be able to break free from bondage until they receive Jesus Christ and enter the kingdom of light. In contrast, Christians are liberated from the power and oppression of the devil. We have the authority in the name of Jesus, are seated with Christ in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 2:6), and have the devil under our feet as Christ is the head of the church.

Romans 10:9-10 (NKJV) that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

However, we are free moral agents who have been given the right to choose by God. Therefore, we need to confess with our mouths because it releases the authority of our lives to Jesus, the one in whom we profess our faith. By accepting Him as our Saviour, we have chosen to believe that Jesus took our sins on the cross, was tortured, took the curse of the law for us, died, was buried, and resurrected from the dead. We receive salvation by believing in our hearts and confessing with our mouths. Jesus has become our Lord, and we have given Him the authority to reign in our lives. We have moved from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light.

When you receive Jesus, you receive the position of righteousness, which causes you to become God’s righteousness in Christ and places you in a right relationship with God.

Sermon Series: Righteousness: Religion or Reality