Salvation is a big topic in the church – arguably the biggest. We have a lot to say about who is saved, how to be saved, and why you should want to be saved. When we do talk about something else, we still label it as a “salvation issue” or not. Yet for all that, there’s still a question we seem to take for granted.
What does it even mean to be saved?
We think we know: it’s something about sins being forgiven and an eternity in hell being avoided. That’s true enough, but it leaves sufficient murkiness to cause (often contentious) debates on all sorts of issues – among believers, no less! At what point is one saved? Under what conditions – if any? Once you’ve been saved, are you always saved?
To truly understand salvation, we must go back to its “founder” and “source”: Jesus Christ (cf. Heb. 2:10, 5:9 ESV). The name Jesus literally means “God saves”, and the angel announcing His birth said why: “for he will save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). That short description is packed with meaning.
Sin has always been our problem. Instead of trusting God to tell us good and evil, we wanted to decide ourselves – separating us from God, breaking our relationships, cursing the whole world, and causing all of our suffering and death (cf. Gen. 3:8-24). Now, God immediately set in motion a plan to rescue – to save – us from that, working through Abraham’s descendants, the nation of Israel, and finally the line of King David. Yet because people sin, the plan often looked perilously close to failing. Then Jesus came.
Jesus came to save us from our sins. From the eternal separation from God our sins would cause, yes: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (Jn. 3:16-17). Yet when the storm-tossed disciples cried out, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing,” they weren’t asking Him to take them to heaven after they drowned (Matt. 8:25). Neither was Peter as he sank midway through his walk on the water (cf. Matt. 14:30). Salvation meant something much more immediate. Jesus said His healing ministry was “to save life” – reversing how sin’s consequences of disease and disability sought to destroy it (Lk. 6:9). When Zacchaeus decided to give generously to the poor and to make right four times over anyone he wronged, the compassion and teaching of Jesus changed his life and saved his relationships right away. “Today salvation has come to this house,” Jesus declared (Lk. 19:9).
That’s what it means to be saved by Jesus. The wrong we’ve done that would separate us from God is forgiven and the way we live right now changes as we trust and follow our Savior. We still face storms, endure illness, and make sacrifices – but relying on Jesus, our lives and relationships are transformed. Then when Jesus comes again, He finishes the job, raising the dead and bringing us into God’s presence to live forever.
Don’t miss a single opportunity to experience how wonderful the gift of our salvation really is through our lesson series “Saved”!