Once a person believes in the Lord Jesus as described above, he immediately obtains the following ten items:
1. “Forgiveness of sins” (Acts 10:43; 26:18).
Once we believe, God forgives all our sins, solving our problems with Him.
2. “Washed” (1 Cor. 6:11).
Once we believe, we are forgiven of our sins and even washed of them. Forgiveness spares us from the record of sin; washing eliminates the trace of sin. After being washed, our condition is as if we had never sinned or been contaminated by sins.
3. “Sanctified” (Acts 26:18; 1 Cor. 6:11).
Once we believe, God forgives our sins and washes us. Then He sanctifies us to Himself.
4. “Justified” (Gal. 2:16; see also 3:8; Rom. 3:28; 1 Cor. 6:11).
Once we believe, God not only sanctifies us but also justifies us, declaring that we are righteous.
5. “Reconciled to God” (Rom. 5:10).
Once we believe, God forgives us and washes us from our sins thereby solving the problems that existed between us and Him. In so doing, He sanctifies and justifies us. Hence, the moment we believe, we are reconciled to God and are at peace with God.
6. “Begotten...of God” (John 1:12-13; 1 John 5:1).
Forgiveness, washing, sanctification, justification, and reconciliation solve the problems between us and God outwardly. However, we not only have outward problems with God, we also have inward problems related to our life and nature. Hence, once we believe, God regenerates us within. We are regenerated when we believe; that is, we are born of God.
7. “Eternal life”; “Passed out of death into life” (John 6:47; 5:24).
The life we receive when we are regenerated is the life of God. God’s life is eternal; therefore, it is called eternal life. Once we believe, we experience regeneration and obtain eternal life. When we receive eternal life, we in fact pass out of death into life.
8. “The Holy Spirit” (Eph. 1:13).
Once we believe, we are regenerated and obtain the life of God, and God gives us the Holy Spirit to dwell in us.
9. “Freedom” (Gal. 5:1; see also John 8:36).
Once we believe, all our inward and outward problems are resolved, and we obtain God’s life and the Holy Spirit. We also obtain full liberation and freedom and are no longer bound and fettered.
10. “Saved” (Eph. 2:8; Acts 16:31; Luke 7:50).
Once we believe, we are saved, completely saved. Salvation includes a broad spectrum of things. The items listed above are given by God to us as our salvation. We obtain a complete salvation with all its riches the moment we believe. We do not need to gain anything more after believing; we only need to experience more of what we have gained.
These items are only briefly discussed here. Beginning in chapter 6, we will study each item separately, except for the eighth item, the Holy Spirit, which we discussed in chapter 4.