Salvation is the preservation or deliverance from harm, ruin, or loss. It is the deliverance from sin and its consequences, believed by Christians to be brought about by faith in Christ. According to Faithward, Salvation is God’s grace. It is the gift of freedom from our sins that Jesus made possible by taking the punishment for our sins on the cross. Through this gift, John 1:9 promises that “If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Experiencing salvation means that the Lord has forgiven our sins and that we are again devoted and ready to live a Christian life. If you haven’t experienced salvation in your life, here are some real salvation stories that may inspire you:
Cris Concorde
“I grew up in the Buddhist church, at least culturally. My son had Christian preschool and kindergarten teachers and kept asking a LOT of questions about God. So we started going to his kinder teacher’s church. Nine months later I decided to follow Christ at the age of 37”
Jennifer Wyatt Boartfield
“Walked away as a teen due to bad company I was keeping, and the fact I had questions that weren’t being answered. Was told to stop asking questions and just take it on faith. At 16, I didn’t know what faith was.”
Matt Steen
“I was a cadet at the Air Force Academy. Met some friends who genuinely loved me because they took their faith seriously. The rest is history.”
Josh Givens
“My dad (who’s been in pastoral ministry for over 40 years) led me to Jesus when I was five years old. I came home from church asking questions about the lesson and Heaven, eternity, etc. Always stayed in the church throughout my teens and college years, but strayed here and there in poor relationships. Majored in Communications with a track in broadcast journalism and courses in marketing/PR/advertising, thinking I would build a nice journalism career for myself one day. Little did I know God would be leading me into ministry. I’ll forever be thankful for my amazing youth pastor in high school and for the worship leader, I served with during college. Proud to have launched a church revitalization nonprofit organization with my dad in 2018 where I now serve as full-time Communications Director, in addition to continuing to work as Comms Director for the small local church where he serves as lead pastor in Mobile, AL. There’s nothing like ministry life.”
John Finkelde
“At 19 as a burnt-out hippie, I hitchhiked from Perth to Melbourne (Australia, 3000kms}, then got on a plane to Auckland NZ. Seriously searching for God and meaning, my life was a hot mess
Within one week of landing in NZ and not knowing one person I miraculously meet a Maori guy going to a local Bible college. He invited me to church, I went twice and then surrendered my life to Christ. The transformation was immediate … peace, joy, forgiveness…. radical shift. Within 6 months I was in Bible college and as they say, the rest is history.
Emily-Weston
“Grew up in a loving Christian household. At age 5 in a Wednesday night preschool Sunday School class, I asked Jesus into my heart. 23 years later and I am still happily serving him and thankful for all the things He has done in me, through me, and has kept me from! God is so good”
Henry Brown
“I was raised in the church. In 3rd Grade our Bible study teacher told us we were old enough to join the church, so we should tell the pastor that we wanted to be baptized at the end of the service. Even as a pre-Christian 3rd Grader, I knew church membership was for people who had placed their faith in Jesus, and I wasn’t there yet. I hated church because of the hypocrisy of the people in my grade, so I tried to miss as much as possible which wasn’t often. Sophomore year of high school, I had these two 20-something single adult men as my Bible study leaders. I can’t tell you a thing they taught me, but I know every time I was absent, they were at my house during the week to tell me things weren’t the same without me. Our youth pastor hired a college student to be his intern the summer after 10th grade. I couldn’t stand him. I even missed the fun, non-spiritual stuff to avoid him. However, at the end of summer, there was a back-to-school retreat that, for some explainable reason, I really wanted to attend. I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior at the end of the first worship time. My decision counselor was the intern I hated. (God has a sense of humor as we became friends a d stayed close until his death.)
As it turns out, the intern lived with one of my Bible study leaders. He shared with the intern about me and he joined them in praying for me.”
Conclusion
We all have a story to tell. At some point in our lives, we struggled and questioned God’s existence. Non-believers ask, how can we believe in something we don’t see or in something that does nothing in our lives? Many have failed to recognize God’s presence in our daily lives. When we have doubts and struggles and feel hope that things will be better. That feeling of hope is what we call salvation. It is believing that things will be better and knowing that the Lord is always by your side.
