“It is by grace you have
been saved through faith” (Ephesians 2:8).
What does it mean to be
saved? What does a person mean when he
says, “I am saved?” When we read the
Bible, we find that to be saved means three things.
1. The person who is saved has been forgiven all
his sins through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The Bible tells us that we
are all sinners in the sight of God and therefore we are all guilty before
Him. It says, “There is no one
righteous, not even one…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
(Romans 3:10; 23). This means that we
all deserve to be punished for our sins.
God is holy and just and He hates sin.
The Bible tells us that when we, the people whom He created, sin against
Him, then he must punish us. He cannot
just forget about our sin, He must deal with it.
But the person who is saved
has been forgiven all his sins. He is no
longer guilty before God; he is now righteous.
The reason why he has been
forgiven is because he has trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ for his
salvation. The Bible tells us that when
the Lord Jesus died on the cross of Calvary, He died for our sins. It tells us that on the cross, the Lord Jesus
paid the penalty for our sins and purchased our salvation by His death.
This means that all who come
to Christ and trust Him alone for their salvation are saved from their sins
through His death. It means that they
have been forgiven all their sins and have been made righteous through faith in
Christ.
If you are not saved, then
you are still in your sins and you are guilty before God. You may appear to be a very good person and a
very religious person, but if you are not saved then you are a sinner in the
sight of God and you will never enter heaven as you are. You need the forgiveness of your sins.
2. The person who is saved has been born again
by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Bible tells us that not
only are we guilty before God, but also that we are spiritually dead. The Bible says about those who are not saved
that they are “dead
in trespasses and sins,” and
that they live lives of sin because they are sinners by nature (Ephesians
2:1-3). This is your condition today if
you are not saved. Physically you are
alive and you may be in good health and it may be that you enjoy a good
life-style, but spiritually you are dead.
This means that you have no spiritual life in you and you have no real
interest in the things of God.
You may be a religious
person, but the things of the kingdom of God are not central in your life. Your religion is just a Sunday religion, it
is not your life.
But the person who is saved
has been given spiritual life by God the Holy Spirit. He is no longer dead in his sins, he has been
made alive. He is now a spiritual
person. He cares only about the things
of God and his greatest interest now is the kingdom of God and its progress
here on earth. Although he lives in the
world he is not of the world. He does
not care for the things of this world.
Rather he is interested in the things of God and the people of God.
3. The person who is saved is guaranteed a place
in heaven in eternity.
Salvation is a mighty work
of God in the soul of a person. God
removes that person’s sin and guilt and makes him a member of His family. God removes him
from the kingdom of Satan
and brings him into His own kingdom. He
is no longer a slave of sin, he is now a child of God. The Holy Spirit of God comes to live in him
and to make him perfectly like Christ.
This is why the person who
is saved is guaranteed a place in heaven.
It is because salvation is the work of God: God calls him, God forgives
him through the death of Christ, God removes him from the power of Satan and
God brings him into His kingdom. He is
saved by the power and the work of God, not by his own power and work.
Reader, are you saved? The question is a very serious one because
Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he
is born again” (John 3:3). If you are
not saved, then you will not enter heaven, no matter who you are. Come to Christ today and ask Him to save
you. He is a gracious Saviour and He is
inviting you. If you are not saved, do
not delay, come today to Him and ask Him for salvation.