Religion ISU Essay

How is Salvation
Achieved By God?

By: Erian Kedrein Rylie S. De Guzman

Teacher: Mr. Paul
Date: February 2, 2017
Class: HRE 4M1
 All humans are prone to sin. It is a flaw in our human nature that

makes people do evil. It is attractive and humans resist reason to do it. No

one has ever lived without doing sin once in their entire life besides Jesus.

God has expected us to obey his will but ever since the original sin was

known to mankind, people are born sinners so they are separated from God.

Our sins demand that man must face Gods judgement and be condemned to

eternal death. In order to be saved from sin and face His punishment,

Salvation is needed. The purpose of our lives is for eventual union with God

and every desire we have is a reflection of it. God was merciful and kind

enough to give a chance to be in union with Him again by giving His gift of

eternal life to us. The Bible has stated that one must accept that a Heaven

and Hell exists to be saved. The problem is that God is perfect and no one

can be perfect like Him to be in union with Him. Nonetheless, the world He

has created also comes with methods and laws that could help humanity

become as much perfect as they can be like Him. He also shown His love

through His Son Jesus Christ by letting Him take the punishment so that we

may be saved. In addition, we are taught about virtues in the Bible that help

us learn about morality and righteousness and we are also given the

Sacrament of Reconciliation where we receive Gods forgiveness. God has

already made salvation possible with the opportunities he has left us and as

long as we follow them and accept them, we are able to achieve Salvation.
 From the story of the Adam and Eve, the original sin was known to

mankind ever since Adam and Eve ate the fruit from tree of knowledge which

God warned them to not eat its fruit from it. God demands punishment for

our state of original sin. Man has fallen from grace and doomed for death as

consequences. However, God still loves us and lets us reunite with Him again

by Salvation through His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus took the punishment that

was meant for us by sacrificing his perfect sinless life. His blood was shed to

give us the Salvation that we needed. In return, our acceptance of His

sacrifice is needed. God has paid the debt that we owed to Him since

Salvation is only possible through Him and we cannot earn it by ourselves.

He has granted a Saviour who has given us a hand to be in peace with God

again and be saved from damnation. An example of the Salvation that God

offers is when His Son Jesus released the people in Egypt from slavery as

shown in the Bible. It is also shown in the Bible that many people have put

their faith in Jesus because they believe in Him as the Redeemer who has

taken the punishment and release us from death. Salvation takes many steps

to achieve and accepting Jesus sacrifice and His free gift can help people

closer to union with God.

Accepting Christ as our personal Savior may seem easy but faith alone

will not guarantee our safety. Salvation requires humans to do good works

because they will be judged by what they have done even with faith or not.

People also continue to do sin because evil is acknowledged by everyone and

sin makes them do the wrong things so we need to give the proper respond

to Christs sacrifice to accept the gift of eternal life. From Jesus mercy, He

has offered us forgiveness for our sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation

where people confess their sins that they have committed against God and

our neighbors. It lets us start over again with our relationship with God and

have a clean slate. To celebrate this sacrament, there are four steps needed

to do to participate. The first step is contrition, where the person prepares

their conscience for forgiveness and remembers the mistakes that they have

done against God. They realize what they have done wrong that they confess

their actions for penitence. The second step is confession, where the person

admits their sins to a priest. It is required that he or she must admit all

mortal sins but all venial sins are not necessary because they can be

forgiven through prayer and good works. The third step is satisfaction that

includes two parts which is the penance and prayer of sorrow. The person is

asked to make amends for their wrong doing such as apologizing to the

person they have hurt and then the priest asks the person to make a prayer

of sorrow that may include a personal prayer. The fourth and last step is

absolution, where the priest prays the prayer of absolution and frees the

person from sins. The sacrament is done and Gods grace is received

afterwards. However, people are still vulnerable to sin even after the

sacrament so Reconciliation is an important part of our life that must be

participated in every now and then to reach Salvation.

 Salvation means to be reunited with God again and it is the purpose of

peoples lives. However, to be in union with Him again and means to be

perfect like Him and no one can be perfect like Him so it might seem

impossible to do. The only thing we can do is to try to be as perfect as we

can be that is close to His perfection. To do this, we are ought to learn moral

virtues that define good behaviour. Developing a Christ-like character

through virtue is a way to live a moral life that leads to union with God. There

a number of virtues that are practiced but there are three theological virtues

that aim at Salvation which are hope, faith, and charity. Hope is an

expectation that one will be reunited with God. It is also the desire of one to

be in union with Him again and it encourages them to believe in Him. Faith is

trust in God that is based on observation and rationality. It allows a person to

believe in and grasp the truths made by God that cannot be arrived on a

natural reason. Charity is a virtue that can help a person learn to love God

and their neighbours. It associates with faith because no can learn how to

love others without Gods sake. Practicing all these virtues can help develop

a good character in ourselves which is needed to be closer to God for

Salvation.

Humans may turn away from God sometimes or go against His will that

they be condemned forever at the end of their lives but Salvation is always

achievable for anyone because God is merciful and patient to let mankind be

given the free gift of eternal life and reunion with Him. We only need to
follow the instructions that He has left us to be saved from His own

judgement. Salvation is attained by believing in Jesus as the Redeemer and

accepting His sacrifice by paying the debt we owe to God, participating in

the Sacrament of Reconciliation to receive Gods forgiveness through His

Son, and developing a good behaviour and Christ-like character for reunion

with God with the help of practicing good virtues.

 Works Cited

http://www.catholicscomehome.org/your-

questions/church--teachings/salvation/

http://www.redeemer.com/learn/skeptics_welcome/who_is

_jesus/

http://ewtn.com/library/BISHOPS/GUIDEPEN.HTM

http://reconciliationeducation.weebly.com/the-four-

steps.html

http://catholicism.about.com/od/beliefsteachings/f/FAQ_Th

eo_Virtue.htm

http://rediscover.archspm.org/meaning/what-is-virtue-

why-is-it-important-in-the-christian-life/

Mr. Pauls Notes