In Hebrews 5:9, we read, “And being made perfect; he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;”
In Hebrews 6:1, we read, “Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God,”
In Romans 10:9-13, we read, “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” ”
Salvation in the Bible is not just speaking about eternal life; it also refers to salvation here and now from whatever life might throw at us. We see this exemplified in Matthew 6:25-34 and Deut 28:1-14, where it says those who are children of Yehovah (those who are saved) can know for sure their heavenly Father will save them in this life and grant them eternal life when they die. This shows us how the Biblical concept of salvation is more thought of as completeness and wholeness in your emotions, physical life, and spiritual life.
At the beginning of a new week, none of us knows what lies ahead in the coming days. But what we do know is that whatever life throws at us, we can’t face it on our own. We will need completeness and wholeness in our emotions, physical bodies, relationships, and spiritual life. To put it another way, whatever life throws at us this week, we need salvation.
So how do we acquire this salvation we so desperately need for the week ahead?
The Bible says in Hebrews 6:1 it all starts with the cross, but it does not end with the cross. It begins with the cross because we first need to repent from living in sin, so we go from breaking the law of God and begin obeying His law, the law of Moses. A part of obeying the law of Moses is to give an atoning sacrifice for our past sins. We sacrifice by faith in the cross and what Jesus did for us when He died for our sins. (book of Hebrews.) After making this sacrifice, Hebrews 6:1 says we are not to stay at the cross; we must be taken forward to maturity. How do we proceed beyond the cross to maturity?
In Hebrews 5:9, the Greek word used here for obey is hupakouó which means to observe what is spoken, acting under another’s authority. According to Hebr 5:9, Jesus is only our salvation if we actively choose to obey Him in a way that is seen and evident to all those around. Hebrews 5:9 says we move beyond the elementary teachings of the cross to maturity by obeying the teachings of Yeshua. When we follow what He taught us to do, we are saved, just as Paul says in Romans 10:9-13.
The Greek word Paul uses for mouth in Romans 10:9 is stomati. Stomati refers to the spoken word, but it can also be translated as a witness. We know from Hebrews 5:9 Jesus is our source of salvation only as long as we obey His teachings, and we know from the story of the seven sons of Sceva the dangers of word magic. This tells us Romans 10:9 refers to what we actively do and not what we say with our mouth.
Another way of translating Rom 10:9 would then be: If you declare with your life, Jesus is Lord.
How do we declare with our lives “Jesus is Lord”? By choosing to obey Him and what He taught us to do. (Hebr 5:9) What did He teach us to do? Matthew 23:2-4, 7:21-23, He told us to obey the law of Moses. So by obeying the written law of Moses, Jesus becomes the source of your salvation, and you are declaring to the world Jesus is your Lord.
When Paul says, and believe in your heart Yehovah raised him from the dead, the word Paul uses for belief is the active verb pisteous. So what Paul is trying to tell us here is this; if we follow Moses’s law, we should do so knowing full well our Lord lives and rewards for our obedience and punishes us for our disobedience. (Deut 28) This is what sets Christianity apart from all other faiths; our God is the God of the living and not of the dead. But because He is the God of the living, there are consequences to our obedience or a lack of compliance with His law.
So according to Paul, if we obey the law of Moses as Jesus taught us to do, we will be saved.
In verses 10 and 11, Paul goes on to make the distinction between justification and salvation. Here he says if we decide to obey Moses’s law because Jesus lives, we are justified. So if we write the law on our minds, it serves as our justification. (Jer 31:33) If we act on what we believe and actively choose to obey the law of Moses, we will be saved. So having the law of Moses written on our minds justifies us, acting on the law and obeying it saves us according to Paul. He then promises us those who follow the law of Moses will never be ashamed. What does this mean? It means what Jesus says in Matthew 6:25-34 if you follow the law, Yehovah will reward your obedience and meet your needs. (Deut 28:1-14)
When Paul says, in verse 12, there is no difference between Jew and Gentile, he is not referring to Jews as in a person born in Israel or from a Jewish mother and someone who is not Jewish. To Paul, a Jew was in the right relationship with Yehovah, and a Gentile was a heathen who did not obey Yehovah and did not know the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Paul says in verse 12 that there is no difference between saved or unsaved because we all have the same God. And if you (in verse 13) call upon the name of our God, Yehovah, He will save you even if you are a Jew or a Gentile.
This shows us how, according to Paul, Yehovah has greater authority than Yeshua. (John 14:28)
We do not know what this week has in store for us, but we know this one thing for sure; if we call upon the name of our God Yehovah He will save us. So, whatever happens, this week, call upon Yehovah your God and watch Him deliver you.
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