Salvation in Plain Language
Righteousness
Righteousness means being free from sin. The Bible distinguishes between two kinds of righteousness: the righteousness man seeks to establish and the righteousness God gives. Paul writes, "Brothers, my heart's desire and my prayer to God is for Israel, that they may be saved. For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they didn't subject themselves to the righteousness of God." (Romans 10:1–3). Paul explains that he prays for them because they have not yet attained salvation. They are not lacking zeal toward God; indeed, they are very zealous. However, this demonstrates clearly that merely having zeal toward God is insufficient to obtain salvation.
Paul states that the Israelites sought to establish their own righteousness rather than submitting to the righteousness of God. Here, we must understand that the "righteousness of God" refers to the righteousness given by God, not the righteousness of God Himself. God offers this righteousness to them; indeed, righteousness—as previously defined—means being free from sin. God desires for them to be considered righteous, or cleansed of sin. However, they did not accept the righteousness that God offered. Instead, they attempted to follow the Law to establish their own righteousness in hopes of gaining God's acceptance. This type of self-righteousness is merely external and does not truly make one free from sin in God's eyes.
An example of the righteousness built by the Israelites can be seen in the prayer of the Pharisee. "Two men went up into the temple to pray; one was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed to himself like this: 'God, I thank you, that I am not like the rest of men, extortioners, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get.' But the tax collector, standing far away, wouldn't even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted." (Luke 18:10-14).
In the example given above by Christ, the Pharisee presents the righteousness he has built before God. However, he does not receive forgiveness of sins from God; indeed, Christ indicates that the Pharisee remains in his sin. Without forgiveness of sins, there can be no true righteousness. In contrast, the tax collector did not present his own righteousness but instead sought mercy through God's compassion. Therefore, it is said that he went home justified. When sin is forgiven, one attains righteousness. Thus, righteousness cannot be achieved through self-righteousness or pride, but only through humility and God's mercy.
Paul writes, "God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21). How does God make us righteous? Through the exchange of places with Christ. Christ takes our place of sinfulness and gives us His place of righteousness. We must believe this truth. Again Paul says, "And this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.(Romans 3:22-24). It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. (1 Corinthians 1:30).
"What then will we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it.Why not? Because their pursuit was not by faith, but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone," (Romans 9:30-32).
If Abraham was indeed justified by works, he had something to boast about, but not before God.For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” (Romans 4:2-3, Galatians 3:6).
"Now the wages of the worker are not credited as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness." (Romans 4:4-5).
And David speaks likewise of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are they whose lawless acts are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.”(Romans 4:6-8).
For if righteousness comes through the law, Christ died for nothing. (Galatians 2:21).
Holiness
Holiness refers to the state of being free from defilement or corruption. There are two kinds of holiness: the holiness God gives and the holiness humans achieve through their own efforts. The holiness provided by God is made possible through Jesus Christ. Paul writes regarding this, saying, "To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours" (1 Corinthians 1:2).
Paul mentions the believers in Corinth as having been sanctified (purified) in Christ, yet it must be noted that their conduct was not yet perfect. He wrote to them: "Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual, but as worldly—as infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for solid food. In fact, you are still not ready, for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and dissension among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking in the way of man?" (1 Corinthians 3:1-3).
The members of the church are human beings, and their humanity is evident through pride, conflict, and differences among them. Furthermore, this passage notes that there were some within the Corinthian congregation who had taken their father's wife: "It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is intolerable even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife. And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been stricken with grief and have removed from your fellowship the man who did this?" (1 Corinthians 5:1–2). It also states that although not all members committed this sin, they failed to show sorrow or indignation, remaining arrogant instead. Therefore, the Corinthian church was considered an unclean congregation.
If so, would the members of the church of Corinth be excluded from the Rapture? Paul writes: "Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed." (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). Because Paul says that "we all will be changed" when the final trumpet sounds, it is clear that the members of the church of Corinth are also included in this transformation.
Why do the members of the Corinthian church live such corrupt lives? The reason is that they are still children in Christ (1 Corinthians 3:1). Although they were born into the Spirit, they have not yet matured; therefore, their spiritual condition resembles that of a child. When a baby is born, even though it is fully human, it lacks the capacity to act as an adult. Everyone mistakenly believes that being born into the Spirit makes one an immediate spiritual adult capable of maintaining spiritual purity. However, no one is born as an adult in the Spirit; everyone is born as a child in the Spirit. Even though they may be physically mature, they remain spiritually immature. Just as a child cannot manage their own cleanliness and tends to put everything on the ground into their mouth, every spiritual child puts whatever they encounter into their mouths. Therefore, spiritual children fail to recognize that consuming alcohol, smoking cigarettes, using other substances, or engaging in similar activities constitutes corruption; consequently, they continue to indulge in these behaviors.
Although the members of the church of Corinth are not clean in their behavior, they are made pure and righteous before God through Jesus Christ. This purity is not based on their actions but on their position, which comes from Christ. Every true believer stands righteous and pure before God because of Jesus Christ. Therefore, Paul writes: "Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ Himself, who is the head. From Him the whole body, fitted and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love through the work of each individual part." (Ephesians 4:15-16). Thus, each true believer, one who has received the Spirit of Christ and been born again spiritually, will be in the Rapture.
This does not imply that holiness is unnecessary; on the contrary, it is essential. However, without maturity, no amount of instruction can lead to true purification. To understand this, consider physical growth: the human body progresses through various stages from newborn to infant, child, teenager, young adult, and finally elder. A newborn baby is clean not by its own ability but through parental care; similarly, a newly born spiritual person is made pure solely by God's grace.
Like physical infants and children who tend to put everything in sight into their mouths, spiritual infants are prone to following fleshly desires and indulging in corrupt practices such as consuming things they should avoid. Teenagers, however, begin to pay greater attention to purity. Just as adolescents reach a stage of peak cleanliness, so too does a spiritual teenager reach a point where they increasingly care about spiritual purity. At this stage, one may say the individual has attained the spiritual equivalent of adolescence.
Therefore, it is necessary for those who remain spiritual children to grow and mature in the faith.
Many self-proclaimed Christians believe they have been born again spiritually. However, merely receiving baptism, attending church services, participating in worship, studying Scripture, avoiding sin, or making offerings does not necessarily mean one has experienced the second birth. These things are actions that humans can perform on their own. If such actions alone were enough for a spiritual rebirth, then Jesus Christ would have no need to come into this world.
Second Birth
To understand the second birth, one must first comprehend the first birth. As the Lord Jesus stated, "what is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:6). Physical birth involves emerging from a mother's womb, yet it possesses no inherent spiritual function; in fact, an infant has no awareness or capacity to comprehend the concept of being born. Similarly, the spiritual birth is brought about solely through Christ, independent of any human effort. However, today, what people refer to as the "second birth" often depends entirely on human actions. When someone overcomes bad habits to adopt good ones, or when they strive diligently in God's ways, they frequently claim that a person has been born again. Yet, striving in God's ways and changing one's behavior are not equivalent to being born again; the second birth is never achieved through human effort.
So, how then can one be born again? When a human is born into this world, they are born as children of Adam. That child is a sinner, a child of the devil, and an "old man." Although that child may be loved by his parents and regarded as beautiful and lovable, since it is a child of the devil and a sinner, it was destined for hell. Thus, being born as a sinner, a child of the devil, and one destined for hell does not occur because of personal actions, but rather results from the bad inheritance received from Adam. There is no way to change or remove this condition on one's own. Knowing this situation, God showed mercy to humanity and sent His beloved Son, Jesus, into this world. God placed all people—sinners and children of the devil—into Christ (1 Corinthians 1:30). Then He nailed those sinners and children of the devil to the cross and buried them in the tomb. This act is called baptism. Paul wrote, "Or aren’t you aware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life." (Romans 6:3-4).
When a person is crucified with Christ on the cross and then buried, only to rise again in Him unto a new life, this is called being born again. In this process, the old man dies and the individual is reborn as a new creation. It is impossible for one to be spiritually reborn through human effort; God has accomplished this through Christ alone. One cannot experience or feel this spiritual birth directly but can only know it by faith, ie. believing it. When you were physically born, did you feel what was happening? You may not have even known that you had been born until after the fact. Could you now re-experience your physical birth? How could you possibly know that your mother gave birth to you without evidence? In modern times, we may understand our physical origin through DNA, yet we cannot physically "feel" it. The same is true regarding our spiritual birth. Just as one could only learn about their physical birth by believing their mother's account, so too do you know that God has spiritually reborn you through Christ over two thousand years ago solely by His Word. Therefore, Peter wrote: "For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God." (1 Peter 1:23).
We can only know that God has spiritually reborn us through Christ by His Word, a Word more enduring than heaven and earth. Consequently, the seed of our faith is incorruptible, unlike corruptible seed. This means we must believe what the Word declares. Many people today claim to be born again, yet their regeneration is not due to God's work or the explanation given in His Word; rather, it stems from human efforts, which are corruptible and temporary. Therefore, such faith fades away quickly, and while many may experience a rebirth, their spiritual life does not endure. Some even report being born again multiple times.
Those who do not understand God's work often needlessly attempt to be born again through prayer, fasting, confession of sin, or speaking in tongues, mistakenly believing that these practices will bring forth a second birth. However, such actions occur only after one has already been born again. People erroneously believe that being born again is something that can be physically felt, manifested by speaking another language, or experienced emotionally. Some even place trust in dreams wherein a person wearing a white robe declares, "You will enter the kingdom of heaven." Consequently, not everyone who claims to be born again is truly so. Because they lack genuine rebirth, when a preacher speaks effectively and stirs their hearts for a moment, they may temporarily abandon bad habits but soon revert to their old ways. Although emotionally stirred by preaching, they do not know whether they have been truly saved. In contrast, those who are genuinely born again possess the assurance that they will enter heaven and live in God's kingdom; they eagerly desire to hear and read the Word of God. This article has been written in the hope that that you may be freed from false teachings. Though incomplete, I hope it proves helpful. Since this matter is vital to your eternal life, I sincerely encourage you to seek and inquire further.
REF726