8 - Number of Salvation, 888 - Number of Jesus

We could find many references in internet saying the gematria value of Jesus is 888. But, let's see how plainly from the scripture we could arrive to that.

Peter associated the number 8 to salvation two times in his letters. He was writing about the number of people who got saved during great floods. Just 8 of the entire human population got saved thereby associating 8 with Salvation. I Peter 3:20 says "When once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water." Again, he emphasized the number 8 in II Pet 2:5 saying 8 persons including Noah associating 8 with salvation in the context of judgement.

From Matthew 1:21, we can read the name Jesus means "for He shall save His people from their sins". One who SAVES. Let's see the examples from old testament,

When God made his covenant with Abraham, He gave them a rule for circumcision in Genesis 17:12 - "And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you". Why circumcision on 8th day? Because, 8 represents salvation based on covenant and Isaac foreshadows Christ because Abraham was asked to sacrifice Isaac which symbolizes God, the Father will sacrifice His son, Jesus on cross. Isaac as a pre type of Jesus Christ was the first one to be circumcised on the 8th day as per scriptures - Gen 21:4. It is interesting to note that the covenant was given after Ishmael was born (13 years later) and before Isaac was born as per Gen 17:25 quotes "And Ishmael his son  was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.". This proves that the identified one is Isaac because he was the one who has been circumcised on the 8th day as per the rule of God.

When giving Mosaic law, God told Moses to offer the firstborn animals to be given to Him on 8th day. Exodus 22:30 and Leviticus 22:27. Next important association is David who is the main prefigure of Jesus Christ was the 8th son of Jesse. Clearly indicated in I Samuel 17:12-14. In revelation, if you count the number of times the phrase "To him that overcomes" is given for all the 7 churches. But, towards the end chapter  at Rev 21:8, the phrase is present again making the total as 8. I feel this indicates "One who endures till the end shall be Saved" as per Matthew 24:13.

Let's see some non biblical stuff. There are 8 directions, 8 bits in a byte, 8 legs of spider and octopus and 8 is the atomic number of Oxygen that gives life and adds with 2 molecules of Hydrogen to give Water (H20) without which life cannot survive. The eighth teeth is called wisdom teeth.

Number 7 represents perfection or completion. So, after 7, after completion of this life, we will go to 8 and if we tilt 8 by 90 degrees, we get symbol of infinity. This symbolizes that eternal life is infinity.

Finally, Satan also tries to copy the number "And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." as in 2 Cor 11:14, Antichrist would be the 8th king as per Rev 17:11 but his number would be 666 as per Rev 13:18.

So, 8 represents Salvation, but if we make a triple concatenation for trinity, it will be 888 and represents our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. May all Glory, Honor and Praise to the Jesus Christ, the unblemished passover lamb who took away the sin of the world.

Grace, Faith and Works

The popular verse in Ephesians 2:8,9 says, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast." Many people have difficulty in understanding this and those who understand have difficulty in accepting this.

Yes, the plain truth is none of our good works qualify us for heaven. Salvation belongs to the Lord and we can get that only by having faith in finished works of Lord Jesus Christ. Only by having faith on the sacrifice that He had done in cross on behalf of us.

What is Grace by the way? Grace can be defined as unmerited, undeserved favor which cannot be gained by doing any good work. God's immeasurable love towards fallen human race make Him send His only begotten son Jesus Christ to this world to die for us. To pay what is expected as ransom. The blood of the pure lamb as atoning sacrifice. It is not required for God to go to that extent to redeem us. But, the love pushed God and this is GRACE.

Depending on our good works for our salvation is like rejecting God's solution and bringing up our own offering. It is simply like Cain's offering. Are we smarter than God Almighty? Our good works won't qualify in front of God's just eyes. They are like filthy rags. But, Salvation just comes by believing and accepting what our Lord and Savior had done for us on cross. This will simply come by faith. This is what mentioned in Romans 4:5 as "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." So, there is nothing for man to boast with respect to Salvation because it is created by God Himself.

Grace is freely available for everyone. To get the grace, one need to put his/her faith on Jesus, believe that he has paid the price for his sins and accept Him as his/her only Savior. Grace is like a huge river and faith is like the container. If we have a huge drum, we will receive that much water and if we have a small cup, we receive only that much. The grace will make us grow in every aspect of our life.

So, a question might come. Is it sufficient to have faith in finished work of Jesus alone? and Shouldn't good works required? The next verse answers that, Ephesians 2:10 says "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." If someone calls him a believer and don't do any good work, he is not a believer at all. Because, scriptures also say in James 2: 17, "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone."

So, in a nutshell, Salvation by faith through grace is like a starting point in Christian journey and continuing in good works till the end is like completion. Without the starting point, there is no end. Whatever good things we do, still we cannot boast. Because, if Jesus didn't love us first, we wouldn't have loved God or others and whatever we do, we will still be incomplete.

May all Honor, Glory and Praises be to our God, the Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.