Saved to What?

     The Gospel is good news, and not just good news but THE good news! That God himself has come to earth to save us from our sin and rightly deserved punishment is mind-blowing! Ask just about any random person and they can tell you what God saves us 'from', namely our sin. The Bible teaches that every man, woman, and child is born inherently sinful and in desperate need of forgiveness. We are natural enemies of God from our birth!

"All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one,

to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."

(Isaiah 53:6)

     I feel we should ask then, knowing what we've been saved 'from', what have we been saved 'to'? This might seem like an odd question, and it kind of is, but it is still something we need to answer. You see, God did not free us from sin that we might be a law unto ourselves. He did not wipe out the stain of our pasts that we might write a new story of sin done in freedom. The truth that few people want to talk about is that humans were designed to be servants. That fact is in our very core and we will be slaves to something, either to sin or to God.

“Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.”

(Romans 6:16-18)

     Ultimately the question for today is this: are you willing to accept Jesus Christ as your 'Lord' and Savior? The two are inexorably linked. His ability to save is a part of His right as our King. Only when He is our Sovereign does he have the authority to be our Savior. God is the uncontested ruler of all that is, was, and will be. When Jesus came to earth and died He was paying -literally paying the price- for our salvation. It's not that God simply wipes the slate clean or sweeps our sin under the rug, that would make Him unjust. When Jesus died on the cross He bore the price of our sin, all of our sins, from the beginning of time till the end of days. He is both the only one who could pay our price and the only one with the authority to accept the payment.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

(John 3:16-18)

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

(1 Peter 1:3-5)

     The phrase “Lord Jesus Christ” is used over eighty times in the new testament! The apostles were quite clear in their understanding of Christ's authority. As Christians we're not meant to simply “get saved”; as others have said, salvation is not merely “fire insurance”. Our salvation is the beginning, after which comes our sanctification. God begins the process of transforming us into the image of His son. We will only hinder that process if we refuse to acknowledge the fact the Jesus has rightful rule over our lives. After all, why should I follow Him if He is not my leader? Why should I model myself on Him if He is not my example? Why should I obey if He is not King? Acknowledging your sin and your need for a savior is an important step, but it cannot stand alone.

     I do think that this situation, of knowing Christ as savior but not as Lord, is not the exclusive territory of the unsaved. I'm sure there are many young Christians who are the victims of incomplete or inaccurate teaching. Men and women who have been brought to the place of repentance but not discipled, not taught what the Lord expects of them. Others still may be resisting, still working through their naturally proud hearts and not at that point of total submission. That being said the most common place to find this belief is the more modern “easy believe-ism” groups that speak much of the love of God but little of His judgment. The same people who invite you to simply pray a prayer and then pronounce you saved will often fail to lead you to a place of deep understanding. Salvation is more than merely agreeing with God, though that is part of it. It is more than simply admitting you are bad person in need of Grace, though that's important as well. We need to fall to our knees and admit that we simply cannot do this alone, we are incapable of getting through this life alone and we desperately need God to save us. We cannot breath or take a step without Him, we know we cannot save ourselves, why would we then think we can get along without Him every day?

"And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, "so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; "for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring.”

(Act 17:26-28)