Dr.Barclay with Something to Think About - SAVED

 SAVED

One of the basic themes of the Bible is the concept of being saved. People often ask “Are you saved?”, “Have you been saved?” or remind you that “It’s important that you be saved.” Of course, being saved implies that just, actually being saved from something. The Bible gives many examples of something being saved. For humans, for example, it’s “our lives” (Genesis 47:25) or another example is “Israel” 2 (Exodus 14:30). It talks about being “…saved from my enemies…” (2 Samuel 22:4) or how God “…Himself saved you from all your adversities and your tribulations…” (1 Samuel 10:19).

These are all specific examples, however, and although it’s nice to realize that help is there for our problems on this planet, such help is not what is really inferred with the question, “Are you saved?”  So, what then is the “something” we are being saved from? Also, how does this relate to God’s mercy and grace which we now hear about most of the time.

If God’s attributes are all love and mercy, what is there really to be saved from? Certainly not from these attributes of God because they should be what we strive to obtain. The problem is that we no longer talk about sin and the relation of this to the other attributes of God which we also no longer like to think about. The Bible states that: “…all have sinned…” (Romans 3:23) and as result of this “…the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23). To put it another way: “The labour of the righteous leads to life, the wages of the wicked is sin” (Proverbs 10:16). So, does being saved mean that we can avoid death? No, because “…it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgement,” (Hebrews 9:27).

Really, in essence, one cannot even be saved from the judgement of God if the above statement is true. What then is that something we are to be saved from? It’s something we no longer talk much about. It’s really the wrath of God; not a temper-tantrum type of behaviour but a fairness and holiness that cannot tolerate sin. And since we have all sinned, we are all in the same situation: headed for death. Not the physical death mentioned before, but a spiritual separation from God. The death referred to by Satan in Genesis when he said in reference to the forbidden fruit: “You will not surely die” (Genesis 3:4), although God had said that they would.

This holiness of God prevents us from retiring into His presence after our physical death. And if we cannot enter into His presence, then we are forever separated from Him and will experience a spiritual death as well as His wrath which is reserved for those who have been convicted of sin.  There is only one way to prevent this separation and that is to accept His gift of grace embodied in the death of Jesus and His resurrection. Such acceptance is a guarantee of being saved from the separation and wrath that sin commits us to.

“Are you saved?” A simple question and an easy answer, but one with eternal ramifications if not responded to correctly. Only one way is possible and that is why the comment “Jesus Saves” has such significance because only His sacrifice has made it possible for us to avoid the penalty of sin and the wrath of God

You can be saved, by Jesus, from eternal separation and for eternal life with Him.

It’s certainly something to think about.