Saved = Rescued
What does it mean to be "saved"? What do we need to be saved from?
The Bible makes it clear that man (referring to mankind) is a sinner both by birth and by personal action. Because God is holy and just, man in his sinful condition is unfit to enter heaven and is condemned to spend eternity in hell. Hell is a real place of fire and torment, forever separated from God. But the Bible tells us that God loved the world and took action to rescue mankind, to "save" us, so that we could be forgiven of our sin, pardoned from the judgment and punishment we would have faced, and one day live with God in heaven. Have you been rescued? Jesus Christ, God’s Son, came into the world for the express purpose of paying the price of our salvation. Jesus is fully God and fully man. This fact made Him uniquely able to rescue us. He suffered a cruel death on a cross. Though his accusers at the time had their reasons for inflicting this upon him, the Bible explains that He had committed no sins Himself. He died to pay for our sin, the sins of the whole world. Then on the third day, He rose back to life. |
Can we know that Jesus' payment applies to us? Can we be sure we are going to heaven? Some think heaven is gained by church membership or baptism or by doing good deeds during our life. This thinking denies plain Bible truth. Note what the following verses say...