Soul salvation is one of the fundamental concepts in Christianity. It represents the main goal towards which the whole life of a Christian is directed, both spiritual and physical.
Man is a sinful creature. Even at the dawn of his existence, he put his desire above the will of God, thereby violating the natural order of things in the universe. Since then, a person fell into the power of the Devil and could not help but sin.
The Son of God, incarnated as a man, accepting suffering and death, having risen from the dead, broke this "chain" that bound man, gave him the opportunity to save his soul - but precisely the opportunity.
Salvation and the Church
It is important to remember that a person is not able to be saved on his own - only Jesus Christ can save him. For this to become possible, a person must reunite with Him, become a member of his Divine Body. This is the Church, therefore, salvation is impossible outside the Church.
The reunification of man with God takes place in the holy Sacraments. The first of these is Baptism, "the birth of water and the Holy Spirit." A person is freed from original sin and gets the opportunity not to sin. True, no one has yet been able to take full advantage of this opportunity: all Christians sin from time to time, falling away from the Church. The broken unity is restored in the sacrament of Repentance (confession). Another sacrament, obligatory for all Christians, without which salvation is impossible is the Eucharist (communion), in which a person receives the Body and Blood of Christ, Divine grace.
Faith and deeds
By itself, membership in the Church and participation in the sacraments is not a guarantee of salvation. Even the sacrament - the central sacrament of the Church - will be condemned if a person approaches it in an inappropriate state. The main requirement is faith.
From the point of view of Christianity, faith in God is not just an acknowledgment of the fact of His existence. The faith of a Christian is also complete trust in God, the understanding that God does nothing to harm a person, even making him suffer. Humility comes close to faith. People far from the Church often equate humility with passivity and even weakness. In fact, Christian humility is always active. It presupposes a willingness to always and in everything to follow the Will of God, no matter how difficult it may be, and this requires great spiritual strength.
The Gospel says, "Faith apart from works is dead." This means that faith must be embodied in the Christian life. How to achieve this, the Savior himself answered very simply and clearly: "If you want to be saved, keep the commandments."
The commandments that a Christian must obey are set forth in Scripture, the reading of which is mandatory. Not everything in the Bible is understandable to a modern person, but other spiritual literature comes to the rescue, as well as the advice of a confessor - a priest who has become a spiritual mentor for a Christian.
It is important to remember that any commandment involves a very broad interpretation. For example, the commandment "Thou shalt not kill" implies not only a criminal act: if a person constantly harasses his loved ones with scandals, he also slowly kills them. Even the smallest sin interferes with the salvation of the soul, and therefore must be realized by a Christian, must become the subject of sincere repentance.
Life leads to the salvation of the soul only when it is based on love. The simplest and at the same time the most difficult commandments are love for God and love for one's neighbor, but it is on them that the observance of all other commandments and the possibility of salvation are based.
