Incarnation

The biblical meaning of incarnation is that Jesus Christ was fully God and fully man. This is significant when considering Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. God is a righteous judge, and in order for the penalty of the law to be fulfilled, a perfect sacrifice was required. Jesus is God. Therefore, He is the One who established the law, and through His human flesh, He took on the sins of humanity and bore the penalty of the law. Jesus was the perfect living sacrifice for our sins, and through His death, He became the mediator between God and us. Through Jesus Christ, we are considered righteous, holy, and children of God, which allows us to enter into a relationship with God.

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." -John 1:14

From the very beginning, God created us with free will because a genuine relationship cannot exist without choice. Adam and Eve freely chose to disobey God, and through that decision sin entered the world and separated humanity from Him. Even though God is perfectly loving, He is also a righteous Judge who upholds His law. He will not ignore justice or act contrary to His own nature. Instead, He made a way for justice to be fulfilled through Jesus Christ. Jesus did not have His life taken from Him against His will. He willingly laid it down for us. As John 10:17 and 18 says, "No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself." Even in the Garden of Gethsemane, knowing the suffering that was before Him, Jesus chose to submit to the Father's will. His sacrifice shows that God's plan of salvation was never based on force but on willing obedience and love. 

God will not force His way into anyone's life or override the free will He has given us because He is a righteous Judge who remains faithful to His own design. He invites every person into a relationship with Him, but He allows each of us to choose whether we will turn toward Him through faith and repentance. God desires a genuine relationship built on love, and genuine love cannot be forced. He wants us to choose Him freely, just as Jesus freely chose to lay down His life for us. 

The purpose of redemption is to set captives free by paying a price. Jesus Christ redeemed us from the penalty and curse of the law, the power of sin, Satan, the evil world, and the bondage of our own sinful nature through His death on the cross. His sacrifice was the price paid to release us from slavery, captivity, and death. Before Christ redeemed us, we were powerless to break the chains of sin and were subject to the consequences of disobedience. Through His death, Jesus fulfilled the law, paid our debt, and made a way for us to be saved by grace through faith. Because of His redemption, we have forgiveness, freedom from sin, and the power and authority to stand against the enemy. We are free in the name of Jesus. Without Christ’s redemption, we would remain separated from God and bound by sin. Through Him, we are restored into relationship with God and given the gift of salvation.

"My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing to You,
And my soul, which You have redeemed." -Psalm 71:23

Salvation is both a moment of receiving God’s gift of grace and an ongoing journey of transformation. The word salvation comes from the Greek words soteria and sozo, meaning rescue, healing, preservation, deliverance, and wholeness. Through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we are reconciled to God, forgiven of sin, and given the promise of eternal life. However, salvation is not only about what happens when we first believe; it is also the continual work of God transforming our lives. While some areas may experience immediate change, many areas require ongoing surrender, renewal, and growth. As we hear God’s Word, believe His truth, and apply it to our lives, we experience freedom from sin, healing from past wounds, and transformation that aligns us with His purpose. Romans 10:9 reminds us that salvation comes through confessing Jesus as Lord and believing in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead. 

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. " -Ephesians 2:8-9

Justification is God’s legal declaration that we are righteous and made right with Him through grace, not by our works. Because God is holy and righteous, we could never achieve the righteousness required to have a relationship with Him on our own. In His grace, God provided what was necessary through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. On the cross, Jesus took our sin upon Himself, and we received His righteousness. Through His sacrifice, justice was satisfied because God, as a righteous judge, could not overlook sin. We are justified by faith alone, trusting that Jesus bore our sins and credited His righteousness to us. We cannot earn righteousness through our works; it is a gift of God’s grace received through faith in Jesus Christ.

" For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." -Romans 3:23-24

We are formally adopted into the family of God, signifying that we have a new position as children of God. Through adoption, God becomes our Father, and we become His children. Adoption occurs when we, by faith, confess and believe that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior and receive salvation. Adoption requires nothing from us other than faith in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:5 states, “having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,” and John 1:12 states, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” Once we are adopted, we receive a new identity. Our identity becomes that of a “child of God.”

"...to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” -Galatians 4:5-6

Regeneration is the work of the Holy Spirit through which a person is made a new creation in Jesus Christ. It is the cleansing that raises us from spiritual death to new life and gives us a new heart that is alive in the Spirit. Regeneration is necessary to enter into a relationship with God and become citizens of His kingdom. Without it, we would remain spiritually dead in our sin and unable to stand in God’s presence. Through regeneration, God transforms our nature, making us alive in Christ and equipping us to live in the reality of His kingdom. 

"...not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit..." -Titus 3:5

Sanctification is the process by which a person is set apart and made holy. It begins at salvation, when someone places their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. By believing that Jesus died for their sins and choosing to follow Him, they are adopted into the family of God and become His child. They are declared holy and righteous in Christ, and their identity is no longer rooted in this world but in the kingdom of heaven. Sanctification is also an ongoing process in which God continues to purify a believer’s heart and set them apart from sin and the ways of this world. As believers daily take up their cross and follow Christ, God reveals and removes sin from their hearts (e.g., bitterness, unforgiveness, greed) and replaces the lies behind those sins with His truth. As a result, they grow in the fruit of the Spirit (e.g., love, joy, peace), which produces a life that reflects God’s holiness and righteousness. Ultimately, sanctification is completed when believers enter eternity and are fully freed from the presence of sin.

"Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." 

-1 Thessalonians 5:23 

Repentance is the sincere choice to turn away from sin and turn toward God. It begins with a change in the heart and mind through the work of the Holy Spirit. As He changes our thoughts about sin, our desires begin to change, and our actions follow. Although Jesus died to free us from the penalty of sin, we still live in a fallen world and will continue to struggle with it. Repentance does not earn or keep our salvation, because salvation is a gift received through faith in Jesus Christ. Instead, repentance is part of becoming more like Christ. As we submit to God's will and follow the Holy Spirit's conviction, He transforms us. Repentance realigns us with God's will and draws us closer to Him. Repentance is a gift because it turns us away from destruction and back to the God who loves us. He offers repentance because He desires our freedom from sin and wants us to experience the life He created us to live.

"If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." -2 Chronicles 7:14

Acts 19:2–6 states, “ ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ he asked them. “ ‘No,’ they replied, ‘we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.’ “ ‘Then what baptism did you experience?’ he asked. “They replied, ‘The baptism of John.’ “Paul said, ‘John’s baptism called for repentance from sin. But John himself told the people to believe in the one who would come later, meaning Jesus.’ “As soon as they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied.”

This passage demonstrates the importance of both salvation and the ongoing filling of the Holy Spirit. The individuals in Acts 19 had believed and received John’s baptism of repentance, but they did not experience the fullness of the Holy Spirit until Paul prayed for them. God desires for us to receive the gift of salvation, and He also invites us to receive the power of the Holy Spirit so that we can become effective witnesses of Jesus Christ and confidently walk in the purpose He has for our lives. To experience this fullness, we must first receive salvation through faith in Jesus and then continually seek the filling of the Holy Spirit through prayer, surrender, and dependence on God.