“The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
(Romans 10:8-9)

A small red rose speaks volumes. It is understood by both the giver and receiver to be a vivid token of love. 

A symbol of affection encased in a fragrant package of petals, stem and thorns. It is exquisite in its simplicity.

A rose when received, beholds both the visible beauty of the gift and unspoken intention of the giver. Lovers see in the red blossom the passion of the one whom they love. After the gift is received it must be put it on display:  Maybe using a white, porcelain, long-stemmed vase or a simple glass cup. A lover’s joy places the beauty of the gift somewhere prominent, a mantle, table or bathroom countertop. A standing reminder of another’s love.

Does more need to be done for the gift to be truly received? Do you need to know more about the gift for its beauty to be fully apprehended? Do you dissect the blossom to see if it has a stigma, style, anther and filament? Do you research what genus of rose, analyzing the prickle size and density of the stem? Is it necessary to know where it comes from, how it has been bred?

Or is it enough to simply receive it?

I have been in a discussion with a friend who recently asked me, “When it comes to salvation, what must a person believe to fully receive it? What does someone “HAVE TO” believe in order to be considered a brother or sister in Christ? “

I find the answer to this question is more like receiving a gift than it is dissecting a plant. Like the rose, a person only needs to behold the beauty of the gift and see the intention of the giver through the gift.

Salvation is an exchange of love between two parties — it is not a thing to dissect. After salvation, you will want to display the gift, show others, and learn more and more about the gift you now possess. But like a rose, the gift can be completely received before the fullness of what it entails is understood.

When it comes to salvation, what is the gift and how do you behold its beauty? Scripture makes it very plain:

• But to all who did receive him (Jesus), those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12-13)
• And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. (John 3:14)
• Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. (John 5:24)
• I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 John 5:13)

The Son is the gift, God is the giver of the gift, and all who truly love the Giver will receive the gift. What more needs to be known for the gift to be truly received? Only that the Son has been sent to you as a gift, albeit a necessary gift, from the Father out of love. Faith is the response of love on your part; faith is how a person fully and freely receives the gift.

If you try to pay the Giver for the gift, then it is no gift at all. And worse than that, when you think the love that you have been given has to somehow be earned, then that means you actually doubt both the character and intention of the Giver. And that is not a relationship based on love, but fear.

Faith in the Son receives the gift fully. Sounds almost too simple?

There are many who see the Son, understand why he came, but they see no beauty in him. To him, he is not an expression of love from the Father, but a nuisance. This is a heart that has no faith. Demons believe and tremble. They know who the Son is but they don’t love the Son, so they refuse him. Others, like the stubborn Pharisee, see the Son as someone to analyze, and with folded arms and wrinkled brow, demand for him to perform. If he satisfies their wishes they then may decide to pay for his services with a dutiful bend of the knee — paying for another’s love is called prostitution. And God is no whore. He can’t be bought; because love can’t be bought.

Other Pharisees theologically dissect the Son. They don’t see the Father’s beauty in him as much as they see an object to scrutinize, to judge and lord over. A critical heart has no room for love:

“How can you say you are equal to the Father?”

“He has a demon, he is insane, why listen to him?”

“If you are the Son of God, come down off of that cross and save yourself?”

The Son was not seen as a gift but an unwanted invader. Those who are critics often master theology and are experts at the law, but they miss the beauty of the gift. “The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Cor. 4:4)  In their blindness, they are emotionally stubborn, hard-hearted, and enemies to the giver of the gift.

Those who receive the gift welcome the Son with gladness. And when they welcome him, he comes to set up a home in their heart. Then, and only then, will they finally begin to see, understand and appreciate the fullness of who the Christ is, what the atonement means, and how the Trinity is sovereign over all the affairs of men.

“But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.” (1 John 2:27)

True understanding of the gift is a result of abiding with the Son. Until you receive him, you won’t really know him. The heart must first be awakened by love, resulting in active faith, embracing the Son as your own.

Faith in the Son receives the gift fully, completely, utterly. Like a rose, the beauty and fragrance of the Son draws me in and causes me to trust the heart of the Father. As Paul said in Acts 16:31. . .

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.”

What more needs to be added to such exquisite simplicity?