(What Does it Mean to be Saved - Part 1 | Part 2)
Just what does it mean to be saved? A cartoon shows an old-fashioned revival meeting at which the emcee is introducing the evening's speaker. "And now Brother Jones is going to share with us how he was saved...from a herd of rhinoceroses." Maybe this isn't the funniest joke you've ever heard but it has one important quality...lt doesn't leave us questioning what this speaker means by being saved.
Because the answer to this question is so important, let's examine what the Bible means when it speaks of salvation or of being saved. When we say we are saved, what were we save us from?
First of all, we are saved from the eternal damnation of hell. The Bible is sparse in its description of the afterlife – a place of torment and fire.
The Scripture: Luke 16:19-23
"There was a rich man who lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat that which fell from the rich man's table. The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side."
1. Where did the rich man go when he died?
2. What was his condition?
The rich man begged Abraham to relieve his agony, but Abraham refused, pointing out why it was impossible.
The Scripture: Luke 16:26
"Between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us."
3. What did Abraham tell the rich man?
Next, the rich man begged Abraham to send Lazarus to his family to warn them. Abraham again refused, saying they had Moses and the prophets. The rich man said they did not listen to them.
The Scripture: Luke 16:30-31
[The rich man said]"'But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.' [Abraham] said to him, `If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead."
4. What was Abraham's response when the rich man asked him to send Lazarus to his family?
Why do we need to be saved in the first place? Jesus' name reflects the answer to this question.
Before Jesus was born, an angel appeared to Joseph and gave him this explanation:
The Scripture: Matthew 1:21, 25
"What is conceived in [Mary] is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you are to call him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins....And [Joseph] gave him the name Jesus."
5. What did the angel tell Joseph to call the baby?
6. What does Jesus mean?
Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, which means, "The Lord saves." This is interesting information, but why do we need to be saved from our sins?
Let's go back to the beginning. Ever since Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden, God and His arch-enemy Satan have waged a war for people's souls. When the first couple sinned, they "sold" themselves and the earth to atan. In a very real sense, it was as though they passed on a defective gene to all their offspring. Man was forever tainted with sin.
Many people think they have never sinned. When you ask them about themselves, they will tell you, "I'm a good person." They believe they've never done anything really bad, so they don't need to be saved. Scripture strongly contradicts them.
The Scripture: Romans 3:23
"All have sinned."
7. What does this scripture tell us?
Why does this matter so much? Again we go to scripture for the answer.
The Scripture: Romans 6:23
"For the wages of sin is death."
8. What wages does sin pay?
This is a poetic way of telling us that death is the destiny of all of us unless we are somehow saved. In this context the Bible is speaking of spiritual death. Because it is so important that we understand what being saved--salvation--is, scripture writers used several different terms to describe it.
One term frequently used in Scripture as a synonym for salvation is redeemed or redemption. Redemption is deliverance from some evil by payment of a price. It is a term that is fairly common in our colloquial language. If you have ever pawned something and then paid to get it back, you have redeemed it.
Because of Adam and Eve's sin, it became necessary for someone to redeem us. Scripture tells us:
The Scripture: Ephesians. 1:7
"In him (Jesus) we have redemption through his blood."
9. How are we redeemed?
We could not be redeemed through keeping God's law, because no one is capable of fully or perfectly obeying the law.
The Scripture: Hebrews 9:22
"The law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness."
10. How do we obtain forgiveness (redemption)?
But because we have all sinned, the shedding of our blood at best could only pay for our own sins. God had another solution.
The Scripture: Galatians 4:5
"God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under law."
11. What was God's solution?
The Scripture: 1 Peter 1:18
"It was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect."
12. By what were we redeemed?
13. How is Christ described in this verse?
Because Jesus lived a sinless life, He could redeem us. Many older translations of the Bible use the term remission as a synonym for salvation. However, the newer editions use the synonym, forgiveness of sins as another way to describe salvation.
In announcing the coming of Jesus, John the Baptist urged his listeners to be baptized.
The Scripture: Mark 1:4
“And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”
14. What did John preach?
When John was born, his father prophesied over him.
The Scripture: Luke 1:76-77
"You, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins."
15. What would John be called?
16. Why?
On one of His last appearances to His disciples before His death and resurrection, Jesus described what was about to happen.
The Scripture: Luke 24:45-47
"The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."
17. What would be preached in Jesus' name?
Fortunately, for most of us salvation was not to be just for the Jews but for the Gentiles as well. Many of us know the story of Cornelius, a devout, God-fearing centurion, who after having a vision sent for Peter. At the same time Peter also had a vision. His was about eating "unclean" food, food the Jews were not allowed to eat. Peter traveled to Cornelius' house and after hearing Cornelius' story realized that God accepted all people who feared him and did what was right - both Jew and Gentile - those from every nation.
When Peter told Cornelius and those with him what Jesus had done, the gift of the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message and they spoke in tongues and praised God. After seeing this happen, Peter ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.
The apostles, hearing that Peter had preached the word of God to the Gentiles were highly critical of him. But after Peter shared his vision and what had happened at Cornelius' house, they had a change of heart.
The Scripture: Acts 11:18
"When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, 'So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life’."
18. What did they say?
Many of the older translations of the Bible used the term remission. However, the newer translations use the term forgiveness.
In the next section of this study, we look at another synonym for salvation, and we will learn how to be saved and how to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
(What Does it Mean to be Saved - Part 1 | Part 2)
The Answers
- To hell
- Torment
- That there was a chasm between them that was impossible to cross
- That they would not listen even to someone who rose from the dead
- Jesus
- He will save His people from their sins.
- That everyone has sinned
- Death
- Through Christ's blood
- By the shedding of blood
- He sent His Son to redeem those under the law.
- By the precious blood of Christ
- As a lamb without blemish or defect
- A baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins
- A prophet of the Most High
- Because he would go before the Lord to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins
- Repentance and forgiveness of sins
- "God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life."
All scripture quotations in this publication are from the Holy Bible, New International version
(unless otherwise indicated)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, New International Bible Society
© 2006 by JoAnne Sekowsky