What Does It Mean To Be Saved?
Being saved means first of all being saved from death, because that is
the destiny of all men. Everyone dies once. There is no
avoiding it, but if you're saved, you have God's promise, he will raise
you from death, just like he raised Jesus from death.
The other aspect of being saved is saving you from yourself, your self
destructive thinking and actions. Saving you from a miserable
life, where you not only make yourself miserable but hurt others as
well.
So, there's benefits now, and huge benefit later.
So, let's see how this works. First, God loves you and God wants
to save everyone, if they let him. His character and loving nature are
revealed in Jesus. Jesus is God in the flesh. God
literally, coming down in bodily form to personally teach us how to
live fruitful lives, and to explain the Kingdom of God; the kingdom he
was going to establish for all those who believe in him and trust
him.
God is the ultimate loving parent. Our parents weren't perfect, and
their love wasn't perfect, but God's is. He doesn't need anything
from us. He made us so that we could live our lives. That
is what gives him joy, to see his children happy and not hurting each
other.
We however, are rebellious. To one extent or another, we want to
do things our own way, we think we know best, and God has become
irrelevant in many peoples lives; we haven't retained the knowledge of
God that's been passed down. For many God has been replaced by
science, and we are amazed at the world, rather than with the one
who made it. Unfortunately, with that comes a lot of grief.
As much as we don't adhere to behaviour which is consistent with our
design, an objective morality, we suffer, and we make others
suffer. Lying, manipulation, cheating, theft, war, hording,
materialism, paedophilia, killing, drugs, pornography, and the list
goes on. All these things go against God's design and are
destructive to us and society as a whole. It's falling short,
failing, it's sin, it's destructive.
Some people want to live destructive lives some don't. We
choose. The problem is, those that choose to live destructive
lives, destroy not only themselves but also the lives of others.
But there's another aspect. Some people want to live "good"
lives, but they just can't seem to help themselves.
So, we need saving, from ourselves.
How did this all start? Per the book of Genesis we did live in
paradise, but we disobeyed God (we're still disobeying God). We
can get into all sorts of arguments about why the solution to that was
to kick us out of paradise, and as a result we suffer death (we would
have lived forever in paradise), but in my opinion it is the way it is
because it couldn't not have been any other way. Meaning, God created
beings with free will, and somehow that free will had to be tested and
also directed into making good choices rather than poor choices.
That's all that thousands of years of human existence has been, us
learning how to control ourselves. Learning bad choices have bad
consequences. Coming to maturity.
When we were ready, God came to, once and for all, show us that he
loves us, to teach us, and to reconcile us to him. It goes like
this:
1. Believe that Jesus was God in the flesh, who came to teach us and
save us from ourselves, and those who continue to rebel against God.
2. Repent (turn away from your old thinking patterns and behaviours and go in a new direction.
3. Accept Jesus as Lord (him and his teachings as your ultimate authority over your life)
4. Be baptized (a ceremonial washing away of our sins, but also a
spiritual death and rebirth, symbolizing the fact that we crucify our
old life, and live a new life through Jesus; we are born again
spiritually)
5. Receive the Holy Spirit. In this process the power of God, the
Holy Spirit, comes to live in us, to guide us. Also, the Holy
Spirit is our mark of ownership, that we belong to God, so that in the
final sorting, at the end of the world, we are saved from destruction.
This is very personal. Jesus didn't die for someone else, it
isn't someone else who needs saving. It's you. Because of your
sin, your rebellion. Say you're sorry, and you are
forgiven.
It all start with faith in Jesus. Belief that Jesus was sent by God,
and though we killed him, he forgives us for it, and forgives all our
sins, if we ask him to, if we accept that forgiveness. In other
words, if the Son forgives you, then his Father also forgives
you. Forgives you for what? For falling short, for failing,
for hurting others, for rebelling, for disconnecting from God, for
crucifying God when he came to Earth.
Jesus said, if you don't believe me, believe on the account of the
miracles I do in the name of the one who sent me. This is a major
hurdle for people. Although the Bible records dozens of miracles
done by Jesus and his Apostles, people don't believe in miracles, they
believe in science, and so they don't accept that the New Testament
could be true, that miracles actually happened. But Jesus and his
Apostles testify to these things, to the existence of God. Jesus
showed the existence of God through his miracles.
If you want help, if you want a better life, God is there to help you.
People who are saved belong to the Kingdom of God. The group of
people who are being transformed by God, and want to live according to
God's guidance for our lives. The ultimate direction is "love
God" and "Love one another". So, the Kingdom is a group that's
still in the world, yet called to be different from the people in the
world. It's like an Alcoholics Anonymous for Sinners. Just
like Alcoholics first have to admit they have a problem, in order to
get help, sinners also have to admit they have a problem and need a
support group. The difference is that everyone is a sinner, but
not all will admit it. So, this Kingdom is a Spiritual kingdom,
but the day is coming when Jesus will physically rule here on Earth,
and it will be the physical kingdom/government of God. All
governments will be replaced, and those that want to have nothing to do
with it, will be destroyed, so they don't ruin it for everyone else.
You can learn this, and more, by reading a New Testament. The
more you read, they more you will understand. If you still have
trouble understanding it, there is your local church and plenty of
online resources to help you understand, and being you to a saving
faith in Jesus.
I’ve read different versions of the Bible. I have more than one
version in my house, but I prefer the NIV (New International
Version). Lots of people like the KJV or NKJV (King James
Version) though I don’t like the old English language in the KJV;
that’s not how people talk any more. You don’t want a Jahova’s
Witness Bible, or a Mourmon Bible (trust me on that for now). See
my discussion about the Bible here: https://www.vesware.com/MiscTopics/WhatIsTheBibleCanItBeTrusted.html to help you get started.