Essay on Salvation

Essay topic: My traditional understanding of salvation DUE MONDAY

Salvation starts with an understanding of God. Let's use an analogy: God is like a bucket of white paint: pure, clean, unblemished white paint. God cannot let even a drop of green paint into his bucket or it will cease to be white and become very very pale green. In other words, God is perfect. He cannot let what is not perfect (sin, green paint) into his presence or he ceases to be perfect and thus to be God. But if there was a way to change this green, to make it go way, then the paint would be white and thus able to join God. Death is this cleaning agent. It wipes the slate clean so that one can work from a white canvas (or start from white paint). The problem is that once a person dies, and their sin is equalized out (since death=price of sin), then they no longer have life to spend connecting to God. But, if someone else could pay that price, then you would have a new life to spend in communion with God. The problem is that everyone has their own death to pay and you can't die twice. You would need someone to die that didn't need to die themselves. Since Jesus had no green, he could already be with God. When he died he was able to pay the price of for sin, for EVERYONE. If you give you "bill" of sin to Jesus, he will pay it for you, but he can't do that until you choose to give it to him.