What Does it Mean to be Saved?
Hello and welcome! I am so glad you have clicked to read more about what it means to be saved.
I want to talk about salvation with you in terms of my life story.
I grew up going to Church my whole life. Our family went to church twice on Sundays and once on Wednesday every week. I was saturated from the moment I was born with what it meant to be a Christian. I grew up as the little cute boy who memorized all his Bible Verses and could say all the right things at all the right moments. But my issue wasn’t my head knowledge but rather my issue was what was within me.
Mark 7 quotes Jesus saying, “Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you? Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer. It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.” (NLT)
Woah, there is a lot to unpack in that verse. But for now, I am going to stay focused on why it is so important to salvation. I want to ask you a few questions just to provoke your thoughts and let you think through what I am saying.
Have you ever had to teach a baby to cry?
Do you need to teach a toddler to steal toys or selfishly keep them?
Are young Adults naturally inclined to sexual promiscuities or do they naturally practice sexual purity?
In your opinion do you see adults giving away their time and money generously or do they naturally practice greed and selfishness?
When you turn on social media or the news do you see war or peace, love or hate, division or unity, peace or turmoil, tranquility or chaos?
These questions pull out the main idea of the verse in Mark. We are all born sinners in need of a savior. We are not naturally good but rather we are born with sin in our lives. Sin comes from within us, it is natural, and our body’s predisposition when we give it no other alternative.
So where does that leave me in my story? Well, I grew up knowing about God but I never decided to allow God into my life to save me from my sins. To be honest with you, I didn’t want someone telling me how to live my life. I didn’t want to change the way I was living, and I thought I was enjoying this sin-filled life. But as I turned 18 I realized I was depressed, lost, and shoving more and more sin into a void that I was trying so desperately to fill. No amount of anything was making me feel better.
The turning point in my life was my realization that the void I was trying to fill could only be filled by God. I had tried the proverbial sex, drugs, and rock & roll lifestyle and it only led me into further depression and anxiety. But God offered me love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control which were all of the attributes I was missing in my life.
My friends, God offers us a better way through his son Jesus. We are all sinners, born with natural desires to defile ourselves. But Jesus came from heaven and lived a life free from Sin. His perfect life on this earth allowed him to die on the cross and make a way for us to enter into heaven.
In my life, I realized that I am a sinner, in desperate need of a savior. My sins defiled me and the things of this world only brought me more pain and suffering. It was only until I truly accepted Jesus that I found true peace in my life. My sins separated me from God, pushing me farther away. But Jesus Christ died on the cross having lived a perfect life, taking the sins of the world upon himself.
Yes, salvation secures our ticket to heaven but so much more does salvation offer us a life filled with love, joy, and peace. And if you want to be saved from the sins you are struggling with I want to share some good news with you! God is waiting at the doors of your heart to be let into your life. There is a gift of salvation waiting for you to open it and all it takes is the willingness of your heart.
If today you want to take that next step and follow Jesus it is as simple as ABC.
Admit that you are a sinner
Believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins and rose from the dead
Confess that you need Jesus to save you from the consequences of your sins
The Bible says, “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). If you decide to follow Jesus or not, I encourage you to stick around and continue to read and learn more about what God has in store for you.
Let me pray this over you:
May the Lord bless you and keep you
May the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you
And may the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace
Amen
