“He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves”

(Col. 1:13).

In this verse from the Bible we learn what salvation is. The Bible is the word of God, so our understanding of salvation needs to come from the Bible and not from other people.

1. Salvation is the work of God alone.

The Bible says in this verse, “He has rescued us.” It is God who saves us from sin, we do not save ourselves. The person who tries to save himself by his good works and by his religious works will always fail. We are sinners before God and we are dead in sin. We are unable to do anything at all to save ourselves. The only way to be saved from our sins is to trust God alone, it is to come to Christ and trust Him alone. When we come to Him and repent of our sins and believe in Him then we are saved. He is the Saviour whom God has sent to bring sinners to salvation, He alone can save us.

The Bible tells us that Christ died on the cross for sinners. He died to pay the penalty for our sin. He shed His blood so that we can be cleansed from our sin and be brought into fellowship with God. He alone is the way of salvation. If we do not come to God through the way that He has made available for us then we will never be saved.

2. Salvation means to be rescued from the kingdom of darkness.

This verse says, “He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness.” The Bible teaches us that when we are born into this world, we are born slaves of sin. We often think that children are perfect little angels who do not have any sin, but actually this is not true. Our children are born with the seed of sin in their hearts, and as they grow up, that seed germinates and begins to produce sinful behaviour in their lives. This is why the Bible says, “Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward and speak lies” (Psalm 58:3).

Those who are parents know that they have to teach their children everything: we have to teach our children how to speak and how to eat and how to dress. But we never have to teach our children how to sin. No parent needs to teach his children how to tell a lie, it is something they do naturally. Our children are born with sin in their hearts. Right from the time we are born, we are born slaves of sin. But when we get saved, God rescues us. He removes us from the kingdom of sin, he takes us out of this slavery. Those who are saved are no longer slaves of sin, they are now servants of God. This is why when they die they will enter not hell but heaven.

Reader, if you are not saved through faith in Christ then you are a slave of sin. You may think that you live a good life and that you are a decent person, but actually you are a slave of sin. Your eternal destiny is hell until you repent of your sin and believe in Christ.

3. Salvation means to be brought into the kingdom of Christ.

This verse from the Bible says, “He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.” When God saves us, He removes us from the power of sin, and then He brings us into His kingdom and makes us His beloved children. The person who is saved through faith in Christ has God as His Father, Christ as His Lord and Saviour, and the Holy Spirit living in him.

When he gets saved, the Father sends the Holy Spirit to come and live in him. The Holy Spirit then begins the work of making the saved person perfect. The Holy Spirit begins to change him from within so that he becomes less and less sinful and more and more holy. This is a work that the Holy Spirit does inside the person throughout his life, so that at the end of his life, that person will be perfect, without any stain or sin or anything like that. Then he will be able to enter heaven.

Reader, if you are not saved, then today Christ is inviting you to come to Him. He says, “Come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). Do you feel the guilt and burden of your sin? Then come to Christ today and repent of your sins and believe in Him. He will remove your burden from you and make you a child of God.

Determine from today to leave your sin and to be delivered from all your sins. Do this today: come to God and tell Him that you are willing to flee from your sin and trust in Christ alone for the forgiveness of yours sins. If you come to Him He will receive you and save you.