Cross Referencing Series Pt. 4 - Salvation

As always, we begin in the concordance of our bible. Once we find our word, we will pick our first verse to cross reference. Our first verse is going to be Isaiah 51:6, which says, "Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail." This verse is so powerful. It's saying that no matter what happens to your surroundings, there is nothing that will stop God from saving those that follow Him. All He wants is for His children to know and love Him, and He will do everything in His power to save you even if the earth is crumbling around you, because He loves you. The cross reference for this verse leads us to many verses, but we will just be doing two (feel free to do more on your own). The verses we'll be using are Psalms 37:40 and Isaiah 12:2. Psalms 37:40 says, "The Lord helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him." This verse is telling us that God protects us from evil, and that no matter what harm comes our way, he will help us get through it. Isaiah 12:2 says, "Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.” This verse speaks about how we should trust in God, because he keeps us safe. Now, since this verse still has the word "salvation" in it, it's not completely exhausted. So we go to the cross reference for Isaiah 12:2, which will lead to multiple verses, but we'll be doing just one. The verse will be Isaiah 26:4, it says, "Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal." This verse is reiterating that God is the one thing you will always be able to rely on.

The second verse about salvation is Ephesians 1:13, which says, "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit." This verse is saying that because you believe in the Lord, you are saved. Notice how this verse doesn't say anything about how you are as a person, God says that all you have to do is believe in Him. This shows that it is never too late to come to Jesus. This verse's cross reference then leads us to many verses, but we will be looking at two in particular, John 14:16 and Ephesians 4:21. John 14:16 says, "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever." In this verse, Jesus is telling his disciples that He has told God about them, and that there will be a place for them in heaven. Ephesians 4:21 says, "when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus." This is restating that Jesus is the real truth; He is the one you can always rely on.

All in all, Jesus saved us so that we will be protected from sin. This doesn't mean that just because of Jesus' sacrifice we are now incapable of sinning. Sinning is inevitable and all humans do it. This just means that we don't have to pretend to be faultless. How are we supposed to grow and mature when we're trying to fool God into thinking that we're already perfect? As many of the verses from today said, God is probably the only person or thing that you will always be able to trust. He will never deceive you. God doesn't want to see you acting like someone you're not; all he wants is for you to know Him and love Him. And when you develop a real relationship with God, you'll see your own behavior improve, just because you want to do what Jesus would do, not because you're scared of what will happen if you don't.

Happy Super Bowl Sunday, everyone! Stay tuned for next week's article which will be the last part of our cross referencing series!