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How complete is our salvation? It strikes me that a lot of Christians do not really understand this and as a result, they do not enjoy the full benefit of what the Christ has provided for us. The basic thought of salvation tends to be that Jesus died for our sins so we do not have to go to hell. Sadly, there tends to be little thought beyond that fact. It is then, in ignorance, that those once counted among the “saved”, become numbered among the “backslidden”. How many people do you know who went to the alter, prayed the “Sinners Prayer” but never really were able to change their lives, or behavior for more than a short time before turning back to old habits and old ways of living? Perhaps they did not fully understand the fullness of their salvation or that it was completely accomplished for them and so they never were able to lay claim to it fully; so let us try to understand it more fully.

Let us start with the notion of salvation itself. I have grown up and currently live in what is known as the “Bible Belt”; some would even say on the very buckle of it in Northwest Georgia. Here we have churches of any variety or denomination practically on every street corner. Most of them have signs in front of them telling us that we must be “saved”. Here, on our little part of the buckle, it is assumed that everyone knows what that means, but I feel that we should be diligent and assume nothing. A man, or woman, may say, “What must I be saved from? I perceive no danger or threat here.” The answer is that we must be forgiven of our sins and saved from the penalty of that sin. “But…” they may ask, “…what is sin?” That answer in its most simple form is this: Sin is a transgression of Gods will. That is it.

Sin has to be neither grand nor subtle to be sin. It doesn’t just have to be a law that was broken after being written in stone, nor does it have to be something done in a secret or sneaky manner. The first example of sin is found in Genesis 3:6, when Eve, then Adam, both eat from a tree knowing that it was against God’s will. It was sin even though it was not written in stone. We see by this example that sin is the transgression of God’s will.

“So what is the penalty for sin?” We read in Romans 6:23 that the wages (or penalty) of sin is death. In short, because we all have sinned, we all shall die. Adam brought sin into the world and with it death, but sin is committed daily by us all. The Christ provided us salvation from this penalty, a way that we need not remain in that death.

Insight to this salvation and into the subtleties of sin are provided to us in Isaiah 53:5. It says “He (The Christ) was wounded for our transgressions…”, but it says so much more. The entire verse reads,

“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: The chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.”

Now that we understand about transgression, let us examine iniquity. What is iniquity? Iniquity is that portion of sin that we pass on to our children. Deuteronomy 5:9 tells us that God is a jealous God and visits the iniquity of our sin on our children even to the third and fourth generation of those that hate Him. Think of it this way: Sin damages us. Iniquity is that damage we pass on to our children; a sort of genetic damage, but on a spiritual level. It becomes the tendency of our children to repeat the same sin and continue to pass that sin to yet another generation.

Have you ever heard anyone speak of a childs poor behavior in reference to a parents past? Perhaps you heard them say something like “There goes Johnny. He’s just like his dad was at that age. You’d think he’d learn because of what happened to his dad, but there he goes doing the very same thing.” This is an example of how iniquity lands on our children and keeps society in a constant downward spiral. We, as Christians, can break this cycle by simply laying claim to that part of salvation that covers iniquity. “… He was bruised for our iniquities;” Blood was shed for our transgression to cover the act of our sin and we need to understand that a bruise is simply bleeding that has remained under the surface of our skin. While he was wounded and bled outwardly to cover the act of our sin, he also bled inwardly to cover the iniquity of our sin so that we need not pass it on to our children.

“The chastisement of our peace was upon Him…” What does this mean to us? When I was a child, and had misbehaved as children tend to do, I remember occasionally hearing my mother say those words that I feared most, “Just wait until your father gets home.” Immediately fear fell on me. My heart raced, I began to sweat, and the hands on the clock began to race around its face. The rest of my day was spent in dread and worry because I knew that when daddy got home I was getting a spanking. Once the spanking was over, however, I didn’t need to worry any more. It was over and done.

As Christians, we know when we have done wrong. We understand when we have sinned. Even though we know we have been forgiven, we still tend to wrestle with worry, fear, doubt, and dread. We see the evidence of things in how they affect us. Worry, fear, doubt, and dread cause us a number of problems. We get high blood pressure, chemical imbalances, anxiety, depression, ulcers, even strokes and heart attacks. The good news, however, is that we need not fear our Father coming home. Why? Because the chastisement of our peace was upon Him. We know by reading the Gospels that if anyone in the history of the world ever took a beating, Jesus took a BEATING. That beating was for you and me. He took it so we didn’t have to take it and worry, fear, doubt, and dread need not have a hold on us because by those stripes, WE ARE HEALED!

So what’s next? As Christians, we need to lay claim to the fullness of our salvation so that we break the yoke of bondage from our children. They need not be bound to our sin nor compound it by repeating it. We need to cast our iniquities into the same blood that saves us. We need to dismiss worry and fear from our hearts, minds, and our lives. Jesus the Christ took our chastisement for us and we need to lay claim to the healing that he provided.

Pray this prayer. “Lord Jesus, I now understand fully the salvation you provided. Forgive me of my sin and wash me in the blood you shed outwardly for me. Take the iniquities from me with the blood you shed inwardly in every bruise you received for me. Give me peace in the knowledge that you took my punishment and heal me of all of my afflictions. Sanctify me Lord that I may walk according to the Fathers will and become the man/woman you would have me be. Amen

If you prayed this prayer, or learned something new about your salvation, please leave me a comment and let me know. Thank You, Bruce.

Bruce Scott is a Christian man residing in North Georgia with his wife and six children. He has been called of God to found The Enochian Church of Jesus the Christ, a church that is founded on all of God’s word. The church will eventually be located in or near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina as God has shown him the need to accomplish this work there.

Copyright Bruce Scott 2007