Why Salvation in Christ?

I have a very good friend whose son and his wife do not follow the Lord. However, she and her husband took their grandsons to Sunday School whenever possible. One week, however, their one grandson announced that he didn’t want to come with them anymore. After questioning, they discovered that a Sunday School teacher continually told him that if he didn’t accept Jesus as his Savior, he would go to hell. Scare tactics.

With that in mind and our recent exercise of preparing and sharing our testimonies of salvation for Community Bible Study, I began to think about why we should be saved, how we can present the Gospel in a positive way.

First of all, hell is very real. Jesus taught about it. But never once did Jesus say, “I came  to save you from Hell.” But He did say, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). According to the note in my Ryrie Study Bible, this was the purpose of our Lord’s coming to earth—to seek and to save the lost.

But we don’t always recognize that we are lost until forced to face the fact.

When I was a small child, just three or four years old, we lived in a neighborhood of “cookie cutter” houses; every other house had a picture window and those in between had two long windows. We lived in the latter.

I had been playing with a friend who lived on the street behind us, which necessitated a walk around the block. I’m not sure who had taken me there to begin with, but apparently I decided it was time for me to go home. I don’t know why, but I decided I could get there all by myself. So, pushing my doll buggy, I made my way up Phyllis’ street, along the end of the block and down my street. When I came to the end of the sidewalk (it was a new neighborhood and the sidewalk ended at undeveloped land), I knew I had gone too far. I remember going back and forth, studying the look-alike houses and trying to decide which one was mine. Finally giving up, I stood at the end of the sidewalk and cried my little heart out. Suddenly my mother was beside me. What a relief! I remember the comfort I felt when her arms went around me.

That was a traumatic experience for this small child, traumatic enough that I remember it all these years later. Oh, the confidence I felt when I started out on my own, convinced I could find my house. But there came a point when I knew my situation was hopeless.

I believe that story parallels spiritual “lostness”. Those without Christ think they can find their way through this life; they believe they can find happiness in this world; and, if they believe in an afterlife, they trust in their own good works to get them into heaven. When do they recognize they are lost and can’t find their way on their own? Being lost is scary enough without adding the threat of hell!

In John chapter 10, we find Jesus describing Himself as the Good Shepherd. Verse 10 records Him as saying, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

Why did Jesus come? To save us from hell? No, that we might have abundant life!

I like the way the Bible Knowledge Commentary expands on that verse:
    “The thief, that is, a false shepherd, cares only about feeding himself, not building up the flock. He steals sheep in order to kill them, thus destroying part of the flock. But Christ has come to benefit the sheep. He gives life which is not constricted but overflowing. The thief takes life; Christ gives it to the full.”

Isn’t it better to see Jesus as the giver of life rather than a mere fire escape? To recognize the prince of this world, Satan, as the taker of life who cares nothing about what’s best for us?

Finally, salvation gives hope. Romans 8:22-24 speaks eloquently of this:
    “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved...”

Adoption as sons and daughters, not of earthly parents but of God Himself! What could compare with that? Or redemption of these bodies, cursed by sin, but one day perfected? How awesome is that?

My conclusion? Salvation means, “I was lost but now I’m found”; it means I have abundant life that cannot be destroyed; it means I have a hope of eternity free from this aging and decaying body. It means I am loved and protected and secure because the Good Shepherd laid down His life for the sheep; the Good Shepherd who knows me and I know Him! The positives of being in relationship with God through Jesus Christ are what we need to emphasize, what we need to dwell on, and what we need to share with others!

In closing, I want to repeat a few more verses from Romans 8:

    “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (31b)

    “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger or sword? (35)

    “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” AMEN! (37-39)

[Scripture quotations are from the English Standard Version (ESV)]

[The photo I chose for this post represents new life]