Salvation: What Christ Did vs. What Religion Prescribed
Ditch the checklist! Salvation, what Christ did, is sōzō—wholeness via the Gospel & metanoia. Trust it, live it, be free.
© 2025 Gospel Reclaimed - All Rights Reserved
Undoing the Lie of Separation and Remembering We’ve Always Belonged
What if everything you’ve been told about sin and separation misses the heart of the Gospel? Let’s unravel the lie that keeps us from knowing we’ve always belonged to God.
We’ve been taught that the Fall happened when Adam and Eve bit into the forbidden fruit. That fateful crunch, they say, broke everything.
But what if the real fall happened before the bite? What if the serpent didn’t cause the fall but simply confirmed a lie Adam had already believed?
Scripture suggests this might be true.
Genesis opens like a divine symphony—“And God saw that it was good… good… very good.” Then, the record scratches: “It is not good that man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18).
Did God slip up? Of course not. God is good and only does good. This “not good” isn’t a divine mistake—it’s a mirror reflecting Adam’s heart. Job 31:33 offers a clue: “If I have concealed my transgressions as Adam, by hiding my guilt in my heart…”
Before the fruit, Adam was hiding—not behind a tree, but in his heart. He felt incomplete, disconnected, as if he lacked something essential (Genesis 2:20). When God named this “not good,” He was revealing Adam’s growing belief in separation from his divine source.
Adam’s inner struggle is clear: “no helper was found” (Genesis 2:20) hints at incompleteness; “at last” (Genesis 2:23) betrays longing. The serpent exploited this, whispering, “You’ll become like God” (Genesis 3:5). But they already were—made in His image, alive with His breath.
When Adam believed the lie of separation, he didn’t lose God; he lost sight of Him. Like a fish convinced it’s not in water, Adam’s belief didn’t change reality—it broke his heart. He lived as if he were alone, blind to the union he had with God.
The idea that sin “separates us from God” is often treated as Gospel truth. But is it?
Isaiah 59:2 says, “Your sins have separated you from your God.” Yet, God had already promised, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6). While Israel felt God’s absence, His presence never wavered.
Habakkuk 1:13 is another favorite: “You who are of purer eyes than to see evil…” But Habakkuk immediately questions this, noting God does look at evil (Habakkuk 1:14). If you want clarity, look at Jesus—God in the flesh. He ate with sinners, touched them, healed them. God didn’t flee sin; He invaded it.
Alienation is real, but only in our minds: “You were alienated and hostile in your minds” (Colossians 1:21). Sin blinds us to the truth of our union with God, but it doesn’t break it.
“He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”
On the cross, Jesus cried, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). Did God abandon His Son?
No. Jesus was quoting Psalm 22, a song His audience knew well. Like singing, “Country roads, take me home,” and trusting others to hear, “to the place I belong,” (Yes, now you know—I’m a country music fan through and through.) Jesus invoked a psalm that moves from despair to triumph: “He has not hidden His face from him, but has heard, when he cried to Him” (Psalm 22:24).
Jesus stepped into humanity’s loneliness, voicing our illusion of separation. Yet He never believed the lie. Moments later, He said, “Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46), entrusting Himself to the Father who was always there.
This challenges the idea that God turned away from Jesus in disgust. How could the God “in Christ reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19) reject His Son at the moment of ultimate love? The Cross isn’t divine wrath—it’s divine embrace.
Union with God is unbreakable, but belonging is deeper. It’s when your soul exhales, when you know you’re not just with God but of Him—like a spark from His flame.
Belonging is the ache behind every longing for home. It’s not a puzzle piece fitting in; it’s breath within breath, your life carried in His. Jesus said, “Abide in Me, and I in you” (John 15:4), revealing an eternal embrace we’ve always known, even when we’ve forgotten.
Belonging isn’t earned—it’s remembered. From the beginning, you were of Him: “In Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).
If we start the Gospel with separation, everything is damage control. But if we start with unbreakable union, everything becomes a reawakening to what’s true.
This truth changes how you see God, yourself, and your place in His story. You’re not a stranger trying to earn a seat at the table—you’re a beloved child, forever at home in His heart.
Take Action: This week, reflect on a moment you felt distant from God. Write down one truth from Scripture (e.g., Acts 17:28 or Colossians 1:17) to remind yourself you’ve always belonged. Let it sink in: you are held, seen, and known.
Knowing this doesn’t just change your theology. It changes everything.
❤️ Romans 8:38–39
“Nothing can separate us from the love of God.”
🔗 John 14:20
“In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.”
🕊️ 1 Corinthians 6:17
“But the one who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.”
🌿 Galatians 2:20
“It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me…”
🌞 Colossians 3:3
“For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
🌍 John 17:21–23
“That they may all be one, just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be in Us…”
🌬️ Isaiah 46:4
“I have made you, and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”
🌌 Jeremiah 23:24
“Do I not fill heaven and earth?” declares the Lord.
Jesus stepped into humanity’s loneliness, voicing our illusion of separation. Yet He never believed the lie.
Alienation is real, but only in our minds: “You were alienated and hostile in your minds” (Colossians 1:21). Sin blinds us to the truth of our union with God, but it doesn’t break it.
If you want clarity, look at Jesus—God in the flesh. He ate with sinners, touched them, healed them. God didn’t flee sin; He invaded it.
Ditch the checklist! Salvation, what Christ did, is sōzō—wholeness via the Gospel & metanoia. Trust it, live it, be free.
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© 2025 Gospel Reclaimed - All Rights Reserved