Salvation

Imagine that you’re in a little boat on a stormy sea. Suddenly you find yourself overboard, sinking quickly into the cold, murky water. You cry out in desperation, “Help, save me!” Then a hand reaches out of nowhere and rescues you. You have been, quite literally, saved! In fact, this is exactly the term that Peter used when he, having walked briefly on the Sea of Galilee, began to sink. According to Matthew 14.30, Peter cried out, “Lord, save me!” To be saved from physical danger or natural disaster would be an incredible life experience. Even greater is our opportunity to be saved from eternal spiritual death.

Our need for salvation is a constant theme in Scripture. Jesus, in John 3.17, said, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” But what is salvation, and how can we know if we’re truly saved in God’s sight?

A helpful synonym for salvation is the word ‘deliverance. ‘ When we’re saved, we’ve been delivered from a lost condition to a position of safety. Before we were saved, we were ‘children of wrath,’ as Ephesians 2.3 puts it. This means that, because of our sin, we were under God’s righteous anger and judgment. But Romans 5.9 says, “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!” Through faith in Jesus Christ, we’ve been delivered from a position of God’s disfavour to a position of His favour and blessing, right here, right now. Salvation isn’t just a truth for the future. It applies to our present position as God’s children.

However, salvation does change our future destination as well. Those who aren’t saved have nothing but eternal judgment in hell waiting for them. But when we’re saved, we’re delivered from a future in hell to a future in heaven with God. Second Thessalonians 2.10 warns about a future without Jesus Christ, saying, “They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” By contrast, in 2 Timothy 4.18 Paul expressed his confident faith that the Lord would deliver him ‘to his heavenly kingdom.” Those who are saved have been delivered from a future in hell to a glorious future in heaven.

So what does it take to be saved? The good news is this,  the work has already been done. Jesus died in your place on the cross. You need only receive Jesus into your heart by faith and you can be certain that you’re saved. Ephesians 2.8 tells us, “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith,  and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Why not accept Jesus’ free gift of salvation right now, and thank Him for delivering you from wrath and judgment to a position of favour and to a future of heaven?