In case you didn't know, salvation is what you have available to you right here and now as a born-again person. The word salvation in the New Testament comes from the Greek word soteria, which means healing, safety, deliverance, protection, soundness and includes with it the ministry of angels.

Getting born again and becoming an heir of salvation are like joining a club. When you make a decision to join a club and have gone through the procedure of becoming a member, you are then entitled to use the club's facilities and enjoy all the available benefits of membership.

Pay Attention!
Why do people neglect their salvation? Of course one answer is that they don't know about it. Why don't they know about it? They haven't read the Book. Why haven't they read the Book?

Well, some of them are no doubt too lazy. But others have read it, or at least they've heard sermons about it. However, they still don't know who they are in Christ and what's available to them now that they're in that position. Why don't they know? They don't pay attention!

As a matter of fact, they don't pay at all. They don't pay the price that's necessary to benefit from what's available to them as members of Club Soteria. They're not willing to pay the fee, which in this case is attention to the Word of God. They don't exchange what they have for what God has.

You see, healing is available. Safety is available. Protection is available. Soundness is available. The ministry of angels is available. But none of these things is of any benefit to you until you pay for it. All the things included in soteria are available to the heirs of salvation, but the heirs have not been willing to pay for them.

And what do we have to pay? What is the medium of exchange? Attention. The Bible says:

"Attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings."

"Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee."

"Turn not to the right hand nor to the left…."
(Prov. 4:20,25,27)

What you attend to is what you will become. Desires are created by what you attend to. Whatever measure of attention a person pays to something, that's the amount of that something he will receive in his life. Why? Because the Bible says you will reap what you sow (Gal. 6:7). And with whatever measure you measure out, it will be measured back to you (Luke 6:38).

Therefore, if I paid more attention to the things of darkness than to the things of light, what kind of mentality have I created in myself? A darkness mentality. And I'll have it because I paid for it. I paid for darkness and, therefore, I received darkness. I will reap what I sowed by paying attention to the things of the kingdom of darkness.

The medium of exchange - the coin, or the currency, I used to purchase a darkness mentality - was attention. I've now paid for the trouble in my life by paying attention to the words of the devil.

But if I pay attention to the Word of God, I will receive all the benefits of salvation that are promised to me as an heir of salvation. You see, all we have to do to receive the benefits of our membership in Club Soteria is give heed, or pay attention, to the things that we have heard from the Word of God. And we must be careful not to neglect those benefits or let them slip out of our consciousness.

This so-great salvation is available to us because Jesus paid the price for it. We don't have to buy it, because Jesus has already bought it with His blood. With His blood He purchased healing. With His blood He purchased soundness. With His blood He purchased deliverance and protection and safety.

The management of the club has already purchased the equipment I need to use. All I need to do is join the club and start exercising my rights and privileges as a member.

Every person who has been born again is a member of Club Soteria. All the benefits that are included in salvation are available to every member, but too few members are using those benefits.

They haven't paid sufficient attention to what's available to them. They neglect to use their salvation, because they haven't attended to the Word of God enough to know what the benefits of their salvation really are.

Club Member's Benefit Package
The benefits of salvation or soteria are described in Psalm 103. Like the writer of Hebrews, the psalmist tells us not to forget, or neglect, the benefits of our membership in Club Soteria:

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all they diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's. The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.
(Ps. 103:2-6)

Benefit No. 1: Forgiveness
The first benefit of salvation is forgiveness, not just for some of our sins but for all of them. "Who forgiveth all thine iniquities" (v. 3).

As a member of Club Soteria, I receive forgiveness for all my iniquities. Before I got born again and became a member of the club, I walked around piling sin on top of sin, and I didn't have any detergent with which to wash them off. The best I could do was to cover my sins and hide them from sight temporarily.

In the Old Testament, the blood sacrifices of bulls and goats didn't take away sins; they just covered them up for a year (Heb. 10:1-4). But with His blood Jesus bought deliverance from sin once and for all (Heb. 10:10).

And now because I am an heir of salvation and a member of Club Soteria, my transgressions have been removed from me as far as the east is from the west (Ps. 103:12).

Benefit No. 2: Healing
The second benefit of membership in Club Soteria is healing. "The Lord healeth all thy diseases" (Ps. 103:3). As an heir of salvation, I don't have to automatically accept the bad report when I go to the doctor and the doctor tells me I have an incurable disease.

It may be true that outside of Club Soteria, for people who are not members, there is no cure for that disease. But I'm a member of the club. Healing is a benefit I have a right to receive as a member.

And therefore, when sickness and disease show up to trouble me, I recall to mind the benefits of my so great salvation and say to my angels, "Ministering spirits, healing belongs to me. Go forth and bring my healing to me in accordance with the Word of God, which says He healeth all thy diseases."

Benefit No. 3: Redeemed From Destruction
Thirdly, my life is redeemed from destruction as a result of my membership in Club Soteria. In these days of danger and violence, that's a benefit I can't afford to neglect. Because I am an heir of salvation, my life has been redeemed from airplane crashes and from car crashes.

My life has been redeemed from stray bullets. My life has been redeemed from contagious diseases. My life has been redeemed from rape, from muggings, from robbery and murder and kidnapping. My life has been redeemed from natural disasters.

Protection is one of the benefits included in soteria. And as long as I don't forget about it, as long as I don't neglect it, I have the right to claim it any time I'm threatened with any type of destruction. Instead of being fearful and troubled, I just need to recall to mind that the ministry of angels is available to me.

"For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone" (Ps. 91:11-12).

Whenever I'm in danger, I just need to recall that according to the Word of God, angels are waiting to carry me to safety.

Benefit No. 4: Lovingkindness and Tender Mercy
As a member of Club Soteria, I also wear the crown of God's lovingkindness and tender mercies (Ps. 103:4). As a member of the club, I receive things I don't deserve, things I haven't even asked for and didn't even know I could have.

Because I am an heir of salvation, God's mercy outlasts my sin. I have access to His grace, to undeserved favor, to His lovingkindness.

Child of God, no one can be kind the way God can be kind. No one can show tenderness and mercy the way God can show tenderness and mercy. God is love, and His lovingkindness and tender mercies are available to me even when I'm at my most unlovable.

Benefit No. 5: My Youth Is Renewed Like the Eagle's
The fifth benefit of salvation is described in verse 5 of Psalm 103: "Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's."

God satisfies us with good things for a reason - so our youth can be renewed like an eagle's. The renewal of your youth is based on how you choose to use those good things that God has satisfied your mouth with. Words come from your mouth, and if you go around talking about how old you're getting, you'll talk yourself right into a river of wrinkles.

Don't do that. Let the Word of God satisfy your mouth. Let the Word of God come out of your mouth, and each birthday say, "Hallelujah, my youth is renewed like the eagle's!"

Benefit No. 6: Escape From Oppression
And finally, the sixth benefit of salvation is escape from oppression. "The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed" (Ps. 103:6).

If you're being troubled by depression and your spirit is being oppressed, you need to pay special attention to this benefit of salvation. These days we can't escape oppression if we neglect our salvation and forget our benefits. But if we are diligent to attend to God's Word and claim by faith the benefits of our membership in Club Soteria, God will free us from all our oppressions and depressions.

Just the First Step
If we're to overcome trouble in our lives and live in the victory Jesus bought for us at Calvary, we have to put down roots deep in the Word of God so we never forget the benefits of our soteria.

Source: How to Trouble Your Trouble by Creflo A. Dollar, Jr.
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers