Simple, Unconditional, Gift of Salvation

1. Bare, basic, unadorned, unembellished
2. Not limited or constricted, without conditions, free of restrictions
3. Freely given, without return, without price or cost, no strings attached
4. The saving or deliverance of a person from sorrow, sin or evil

How often have we heard that the Salvation which comes from God is Simple, Unconditional, and a Gift? Just turn the TV Box on at almost any time during the week (at least in the Western World), and we can hear some very interesting Evangelists proclaiming how simple the unconditional gift of salvation from God is. They will even turn your $100.00 gift into $1,000.00 with no strings attached. Just give your money to “us”. (Not ta Biblia, them)??? So, let’s get on with it and see what we can learn.

As we can see at 4 above, a very straightforward, even simple, definition of Salvation is “The saving or deliverance of a person from sorrow, sin or evil”. Sorrow is anything that causes our life to be reduced to despair, anguish, depression and/or grave danger. Sin is regarded in Judaism and Christianity as the deliberate and purposeful violation of the will, laws, and rule of God. Evil is doing anything morally wrong or that is contrary to any goodness as recorded in the Bible, and we have sinned. What can be simpler than that? Salvation is the process whereby a person (or humankind in general), is removed from the acts and influence of sin and evil, by the Will and Work of the Godhead, to become one with the creator of all things, that is God Himself, revealed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Next, we come to Unconditional, and here we run into a few problems. If “Unconditional” means “Not limited or constricted, without conditions, free of restrictions” then it means that Salvation has no rules or guidelines placed upon its acceptance. It means that we can “do what we want to do, be what we want to be, yeah” and God will have to accept us graciously and mercifully into His kingdom.

Is this what God through our Lord Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, and through the Apostolic writers, says to us? Let’s look at the story of the malefactors (one who has committed a crime) on their crosses with Jesus crucified between them.

In Luke 23:38 we read “ And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Luk 23:39 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.
Luk 23:40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?
Luk 23:41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.
Luk 23:42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
Luk 23:43 And Jesus said unto him, “Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.”

(Because the original text was written without punctuation, some translators like to write this previous saying of Jesus as “Verily I say unto thee today, thou shalt be with me in paradise.” I’m not going to argue either way. I’m not a translator. But I like to believe that the first version of this verse is possibly more correct).

In Luke 23:38 above we read that the notice written above Jesus as he was nailed to the cross proclaimed Him as King of the Jews. In other words, “This is your Messiah, the Anointed One!” The Religious rulers wanted this changed to say, “He said, I am the king of the Jews.” Pilates terse response was “What I have written, I have written.” (See John 19:19-22).

Next in verse 39 above, we read that one of the malefactors calls Jesus to save Himself as well as the two sinners crucified with Him. There is no remorse, no contrition, and no sorrow in this man. Just a selfish desire to get out of the predicament he finds himself in by his own actions. He wants unconditional salvation!

But the other sinner berates his fellow sufferer, pointing out that they have been justly accused and condemned. It’s a confession of sinfulness, and repentance. (See 1 John 1:9; Matthew 4:12-17; Luke 13:1-5) Then the sinner appeals to Jesus as “Lord”, thus showing faith in Him, and appeals to Jesus for eternal salvation. “Remember me” is his plea. To my mind this sinner turned believer is treating the Old Covenant promises regarding the Messiah as a gracious Gift from God, one that only the Messiah can give. (See Isaiah 53:11) And Jesus’ response? Most definitely will you be with Me in paradise! Jesus accepts this repentant believer into His Kingdom.

(Some people would say that the Blood of Jesus had not been shed to cleanse this man of his sins, nor had he been baptised, but it is debatable how soon after this transaction the spear was plunged into Jesus’ heart, and anyway, the malefactors sins were covered by the yearly sacrifices made by the High Priest on the holy day of Yom Kippur. This was the Mosaic ceremony set aside each year when the whole of the Jewish population came before God in faith to repent of their past sins in the previous year).

Then Jesus’ died and His blood was shed for the sins of the whole world, past, present, and future. If I can be assured nearly 2,000 years after the event that the Blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanses us (including me) from ALL sin, then we can be sure that the confessing, repentant, believing malefactor was certainly cleansed by the holy and glorious Blood of Jesus the Messiah! He had to be, to fulfil Jesus’ promise of being in Paradise with Him!

Salvation from Sin and Peace with God is very simple but has never been unconditional. Even during the Old Covenant days, there had to be confession, repentance and shedding of blood to pay for sin. Read your Bible from Genesis 1 to Deuteronomy 34 and see for yourself. TAKE YOUR TIME and trust the Holy Spirit to lead you into the truth (John 14:25-27) that God does have the ability to save us, He does have the desire bring us to repentance and faith and salvation, and it is His Will that those who respond to Him in obedience shall surely enter the Kingdom of God and His Christ.

© 2022 Jeffrey M Pearce.