The Benefits of Salvation

When you trust in Christ as your Savior, you will receive salvation. In addition to the eternal benefit of salvation, which is everlasting life with Christ in heaven, there are other benefits of salvation that you can experience on this earth. In Romans 5:1–11, the apostle Paul discusses eight benefits of salvation that you can experience right now.

1. Peace with God (Romans 5:1)

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

When you receive salvation, you will have a peace in God no matter what troubles or what difficulties come your way. This peace that you receive is a peace that the Messiah gives. The Greek word that Paul uses here for “peace” means a tranquility of the soul. Before you receive salvation, you are running from God, and you are guilty of disobeying the commands of God. The moment that you are justified by faith, God turns His wrath from you and sees His Son’s blood that was shed for the sins of the world instead. As a result, you do not need to be afraid of what will come your way since your eternal destiny rests in God’s hands. You do not need to be afraid of what accusations people may make of your salvation because you have peace with God.

The Greek word that Paul uses for “peace” is the same word that Jesus used in John 15:27 when He was talking about the roles of the Holy Spirit. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” The moment you trust in Christ, you will have peace with God.

2. Access to God (Romans 5:2a)

Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand,

The moment that you receive salvation, you are given access to God. This means that you can come to Him in prayer and know that since you have access to Him, He will hear you and will answer your prayers. While God will answer your prayers, it is important to remember that He answers them according to His perfect, heavenly wisdom and not according to your imperfect, earthly wisdom.

When you receive salvation, Jesus becomes your great High Priest. In Hebrews 4:14, the author says, “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

In the Old Testament, the children of Israel could not go directly to God. They needed a priest to go between them and God. This was the old covenant. However, when Jesus came into the world, He came to make a new covenant. When He defeated the grave, He abolished the old covenant and brought the new covenant. This is what gave us direct access to God since we have Jesus as our great high priest.

3. Hope in God (Romans 5:2b)

and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

In the world today, there are a multitude of things that can make you lose hope. Whether it is viruses, natural disasters, or any of the other negative things that have happened in 2020, it can be easy to feel like there is no hope and things will not get better. While it can look like things on this earth are not going well, and they definitely are not, this is a great reminder that when you get to Heaven everything will be perfect and complete — what a day of rejoicing it will be. As Paul says in his letter to Titus in chapter 2 and verse 13, it is important to be “waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”

This hope that believers have is in the return of Jesus Christ when He will come and take His church out of this world and bring it home to Heaven. When you receive salvation, you receive a hope that Jesus will come again for you.

The world around you is looking for a hope today. People put their hope in anything that appears to offer hope. The next political candidate. The next boyfriend/girlfriend. The next job. The next drink of alcohol. While all these might provide a temporary hope, that is all it is. Temporary. It will not last. These things are not going to give you the eternal hope that you are looking for by trying these things. It is only when you call upon Jesus and accept His give of salvation that you can receive an eternal hope. When you have hope in God, you will believe in Romans 8:28 that all things will work out for the good of those who love Him and you will know that nothing will be able to separate you from the love of God as is seen in Romans 8:39.

4. Triumph through God (Romans 5:3–4)

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,

As a Christian, you will have many trials that will come into your life. Once you accept Christ, Satan will immediately be opposed to what you did and will work to send as many trials and temptations into your life as he can. This does not surprise Jesus. In John 16:33, He told His disciples this, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” Jesus warns that this will happen. It is not a surprise in Him. However, since He has overcome the world, you can have triumph through God.

It is interesting to note that from these verses endurance, character, and hope — three very good things to have — only come because of sufferings. You can see in John 15:1–2 that Jesus said “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” God uses these trials to prune the believer. As a result of this pruning, the believer will bear more fruit and will then have a better witness for God.

5. Love of God (Romans 5:5a)

and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts

God loves you. He always has and He always will. This is something that is important to remember as you go through your life. There is nothing that you can do to make God stop loving you. There is nothing that you can do to make God love you more.

God’s love is why He sent His Son into the world. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Romans 5:8 shows how God demonstrated His love. “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Jesus died for your sins before you were even born. Before you ever called out to Him, God sent His Son to earth for your sins. This is where God shows His love.

You. Yes, you. God loves you and wants to save you.

6. The Holy Spirit from God (Romans 5:5b-8)

through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person — though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die — but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

In these verses, we see that the Holy Spirit is given to every believer. The Holy Spirit makes the love of God real in the lives of believers and teaches them what God has said. This is what Jesus said in John 14:26. “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

When you become a Christian, you receive the Holy Spirit in your life to help you live a godly life while on earth. Jesus says this in John 16:8 when He is talking about the ministry of the Helper — the Holy Spirit. “And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.”

How many people do you know who would die for you? While there might be someone or perhaps a few people in the world who would die for you, there are probably not that many. However, this is exactly what Jesus did. He died for all the sins that you would commit in your whole life.

7. Deliverance by God (Romans 5:9–10)

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

Before salvation, you are an enemy of God. The wrath of God is on you. This wrath was what the prophets prophesied all throughout the Old Testament and what Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24:21. “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.”

Paul says that the believers will be saved from this tribulation. Believers will not have to experience all that will happen on the earth because the Tribulation will be after Jesus returns and takes all believers who are living on earth to heaven. You are saved from this wrath not because you were worthy of it, but because of the grace of God.

You were delivered from the penalty of sin when Jesus died on the cross. You are delivered from the power of sin today when the Holy Spirit lives inside of you. You will be delivered from the presence of sin one day when you join Jesus in heaven.

8. Joy with God (Romans 5:11)

More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Having joy with God means no matter where you are and no matter what circumstances you are going through, you can rejoice and be glad in God and in the salvation He has given you. David expressed this in Psalm 32 when he says, “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the LORD. Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!” David is showing that receiving salvation from God is a joyful thing. He rejoiced in it and was glad.

The world needs more joy. Be a source of joy. When people see you living a joyful life even in the midst of a pandemic, a device election time, and all the other negative things 2020 has brought, you can be a witness for Christ and bring glory to Him.

I hope and pray that you have received salvation and are living in Christ. However, since this is a decision between you and God, I do not know for sure that you have received this gift.

In order to receive these benefits of salvation, you must “confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” as Romans 10:28–29 says. When you do this and trust Christ as Savior, the Bible says that you will be saved and have eternal life because you have called on the name of Lord and He saved you.

If you are not a Christian, today would be a great day to become a Christian. If you are a Christian, be a faithful witness for Christ as you live in a way that honors Him while you enjoy these benefits of salvation.