What do the Scriptures Mean by Saved

God's aim for every person is restoration into the wholeness of his kingdom. Understanding the scriptural word "saved" greatly assists in this process.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:01

Okay, so we're in 2 Timothy in chapter 2, and the way God has set this up in the genuine ministry work is not by just appointing pastors. It's as the word gets into someone and they get filled with it, they they release it. They talk about people to people about it because they're excited about it. So here's what it says in the scriptures. It's exactly that. This word of God, the grace of Christ, gets in them and they get a good case of it, so to speak, and they become infectious, if I could say it that way. So they reach out to others because they don't want them to miss out on the riches of Christ. So here's what Paul told Timothy. He said, chapter 2, verse 1, you therefore, my son, be strong, which literally means be and strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Get a good case of this grace that's in Christ Jesus, Timothy. And says, the things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, the same entrust to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also. So as you get a good case of this grace of Christ, Timothy, teach others who want the same and teach them the same message so that they get full of it and they reach others. And this is genuinely how the ministry is supposed to work. Not going through a school and carrying a title, and now you're supposed to teach people or pastor people. God can work with those situations, but how he's dictated in his word is that you come into reality in Christ and get a good case of it, and then you can't help but share it with others. You're like a soda pan that's been shaken up. It's gonna explode one way or another. But God wants his people to know what his word says. So this is the arrangement he's set up that one would reach others, who would reach others, who would reach others, and this continues. This is God's arrangement. So praise God for that. So this is happening in Uganda. It is happening in another pastor's conference in the end in Kenya in the end of January, going into the beginning of February. So these pastors, this is the uh second wave for the pastors in Kenya. This was like the ninth wave in Uganda. But what happens is these pastors hear about it that are in Uganda and they come to this pastor's conference to get educated as to what the gospel is, and then they go back and they're required uh to go through three of these blocks of two, this time three weeks, but usually two-week blocks, and then they they graduate and then they understand the gospel essentially, and they just do what they need to do with it. The way God set it up. It's not like joining a church, because once you get born again, you've joined the church. That's the church. So these these pastors have done that, and they've they're getting the gospel to the point they want others to have these same riches in Christ. So praise God that the word is moving. And uh, it looks like in India the same thing is going to be happening, but we'll find out here probably within a month or two or what's going to happen. But anyway, please pray. If it comes to your heart, it would be awesome if you teamwork with us praying for the situation. And by the way, these teachings with the pastors in Uganda have been being uploaded to YouTube. They're available to anyone, they're made public. But anyone can see what's going on if they want to. And if you want the link to that, just let me know. I will send it to you, okay? So let's talk about a subject in Christianity that is really very lightly understood many times at best. It's salvation. See, sometimes we think we understand something, and you go to the scriptures and it corrects your head. You ever done that? Everybody's like, yeah, yeah, many times, right? Yeah, that's what the scriptures do. They they educate and they reprove and correct. Salvation, the word literally means to deliver. If you think we use the same the word in the same way in English today, say, like someone is trapped in a burning car, right? They can't get out. Their seatbelt's stuck, they can't get out. You see them and you you unjam the door, you unhook the seatbelt, and you're able to get them out of the car. What just happened? You saved them. What, in technical terms, just happened. You delivered them from destruction or harm and put them in a safe place where that destruction or harm does not threaten them any longer. And that's salvation. God arranged for the savior of the world. That the world would be saved. This is rescued from destructions and harms, okay, and put in a place where those destructions no longer hold power over you. And this is essentially what salvation means. Now, it's branched from there into meaning wholeness or soundness in every way. And this is like textbook theologian definitions, by the way. It branches into wholeness or deliverance in every way. It talks about lands, uh L-A-N-D-S, lands being saved, kingdoms being saved, you know, of course, individuals we know being saved. Uh, there's many things. It talks about uh that woman with the issue of blood, we might look at it, but it says Jesus said to her, daughter, your faith has saved you. Most translations say made you whole, but if you look at it, it's the same word as saved. What happened? Well, she went from a destructive situation to being rescued from that, and now she's in a place where that no longer threatens her. That's being saved. Well, let's look at how this word works in Scripture. In John, we looked at this verse in John 3 last week. I'm going to springboard off of that since we were already there. John 3, and this word saved is used in verse 17. John 3, 17, where it says, For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. So when you're looking at this subject of being saved, if someone says, Oh, yesterday I was saved, or I was in a revival with Billy Graham years ago, and I was saved. What do they mean? Well, they've been rescued from harm or destruction and placed in a category that those things no longer hold authority over them. And this is what being saved means. Okay, boil down what are we saved from when we are saved. Well, to see this, look at Matthew chapter 1. This is so crystal clear. Matthew chapter 1. This is, by the way, if you're if you do a study of a word in the scriptures, the first place that it's used usually gives you great insight. In most cases, I found that to be true. So we're looking at the word saved or salvation. Matthew 1, verse 21 is the first place in the New Testament this word shows up. So let's read it. Verse 21. This is is the angel talking to Joseph, the uh espoused husband of Mary, says, She will bring forth a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save, he shall save his people from what? Their sins. Salvation in the scriptures is always salvation from sins. Well, what does that mean? Well, sins is to describe sins, it's everything that is not according to the kingdom of God's way. So it's not soundness of mind, it's not physical wholeness, it's it's not uh it's uh you're saved from fears and anxieties, defeats, inferiorities. The salvation that the scriptures speak of is from sins. So that our salvation takes us out of the category of what sins produce, which is every destruction in the world, and puts us in a category where those things no longer have authority over us. Like, wait a minute, God, this is something you're going to have to teach me because I've been looking at this word and this subject for I think 30 years now, plus, and I keep learning new insights. Because what are we saved from? Everything that's not God's kingdom's way. Well, what does that mean? All the effects of sin are all around us all the time. It's everything from ill health to unsound roads to trees dying to the it goes on and on. Salvation is be coming into uh in comparison to like the the paradise that's described in Genesis chapters 1 and 2. See, Adam and the woman were placed in the Garden of Eden. The word Eden means delight. That garden was arranged that everything was there to delight man. The taste, the look of the fruit, right? The taste, look of vegetables, trees for the visual and eating purposes. It just goes on and on. Everything in that garden was for man's delight. Everything that's contrary to that is because of sin that's entered into the world. So God has saved us from everything related to sin. And this is why when you get to like, well, look at uh Matthew 9. We talked about this a little bit, but uh Matthew 9, this woman with the issue of blood, verses, well, we could just look at yeah, we'll start in verse 20. See, it says Matthew 9, verse 20, and a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years came up behind him. Him refers to the Lord Jesus Christ, and touched the hem of his garment. For she was saying to herself, not necessarily to others, she was saying to herself, if I can but touch the hem of his garment, I shall get well, I shall be healed. Verse 22. Jesus turning and seeing her, said, Daughter, take courage. Your faith has made you well. Those words, made you well, are saved you. Well, how was she saved? Well, she was sick, she had this hemorrhage as a result of sin that entered in the world through Adam's disobedience. The salvation she received is she received the deliverance from that destruction, and now she's at a place where that destruction is no longer holding authority over her. This is a great example of salvation. So God has saved us through Jesus Christ. So in our salvation, well, look at another one. In John 11, the subject of health comes up a lot among God's people. But in John 11, our salvation includes deliverance from ill health. Now, there's a record here about this man Lazarus, uh, Lazarus, who who was a friend of Jesus', and his close followers interacted with with Lazarus also. Well, Lazarus fell sick. So in this record, you see it's in chapter 11 and verse 12. Well, we've got to pick it up in verse 11, where it says, This he said, and after that he said to them, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, which is another way of saying died. But I but I go so that I may awaken him out of sleep. And the disciples then said to him, Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover. They're thinking he's just fallen asleep, which helps recover from sickness, right? Uh when you when you sleep more, when you're sick, usually helps you recover from the sickness. And that's what the disciples thought he was talking about. So then verse 13 says, Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought he was speaking of literal sleep. So when you go back to verse 12, it says, The disciples then said to him, Lord, if he has yeah, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover. He will, that's the word be saved. He will be saved. If he's sleeping, he will receive restoration from that sickness. That's why many have translated this word salvation as restoration. You know what restoration is, right? Like this table that, you know, it has a couple dings in it. If someone was to restore this table, they would bring it back to its pristine state. As if it was brand new. That's what restoration is. That's exactly what salvation is, to bring someone back to their pristine state. Now, to look at this subject a little more closely, you can go to Romans chapter 9. Romans chapter 9. When Adam disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden, God told him, Oh, sorry, it's chapter 10 of Romans, chapter 10, when God told him, If you eat from this tree of which I told you not to eat, in that day or in that very time you are going to die. And what happened was Adam died in that moment that he ate. Adam had, uh, sorry, I've got to explain this a little bit. I know a lot of you know this because you know we've gone through, you know, class that we go through this information, but Adam had two kinds of life according to the scriptures. He had soul life. Soul life is defined in Genesis 2.7 as breath life. As long as somebody's breathing, their soul is alive. When they take their, as we say, their last breath, they're called a dead soul in the scriptures, the soul that has no more life. So Adam had soul life and he had spirit life. And how we know that is in the moment he ate from that tree, he died. But he lived for hundreds of years after that with soul life, with breath life, because he had many sons and daughters. That's recorded in chapter 5 of Genesis, the first three verses. He had soul life and he continued for years after. Well, then what kind of life did he lose when he disobeyed? Spirit life. Another way we know that when Jesus Christ came, he says, I've come to bring you the Holy Spirit as a gift. What Adam lost for mankind, Jesus Christ regained for mankind. And one of those is spirit life. It's a way to describe what we regained through Jesus Christ from what we lost through Adam. Okay, Romans 10. There are three aspects of salvation I want you to want you to see from these scriptures, because it when then when you read or think about or hear about being saved or salvation, it's incorporating either all or one or some of the three types of salvation. We as when we come into Christ, we come into three types of salvation. Okay, three types. It's all the same salvation, but there's different aspects of the same salvation. Okay, watch. Here's one Romans 10 in verse 9. That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be what? Wow, okay. If you believe on Jesus Christ, you confess him with your mouth, right, and believe in him as Lord, you are saved. What is that? Restored. Restored in what way? Well, look at chapter 5 in verse 10. It tells you, right in the greater context here, this is one place, we are restored in our being joined to God. We were disjoined through Adam's disobedience. Now we're rejoined through Christ's obedience. Now watch. Romans chapter 5, verse 10. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his son. So how are we reconciled to God? Right. Romans 5, 10, very clearly, we were reconnected, reconciled to God by the death of his son. By the death of his son, when we believe that he died and rose again, we are saved. In what way are we taken from destruction and harm into the wholeness of God? Where those destructions no longer threaten us? We now have the Spirit of God. See, okay. I just want to make sure you get this. Look at Acts chapter 2. This is what Peter said. In the first sermon given in the body of Christ, Acts chapter 2, Peter said these words. So he's speaking at in the temple here to all the people that were in the temple. There were thousands of people. That temple was huge, right? There were thousands of people present. And he's giving this message, and he says to them in Acts 2.38, Peter said to them, Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Means immersed into his name for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the what? Whoa. See, repent. Change your mind to his lordship. Quit being Lord over your own life and accept his lordship over you, right? And you are going to receive forgiveness of sins, and you'll receive this gift of the Holy Spirit. You were body and soul only. You believe on Jesus Christ. You're now body, soul, and spirit. You are made whole. You are saved. Right. That's one aspect of being saved. Okay? There's three. Let's look at the third one in 1 Peter chapter 1. So we are literally taken from the category of sin, saved into this category of the wholeness and soundness of God, where sin no longer has authority over us. Now we can bow down to its mastery, but we don't have to anymore. We've been delivered from its authority. So 1 Peter chapter 1, let's well, let's pick this up in verse 3. You really get the flow of the context, starting in verse 3. 1 Peter chapter 1 and verses 3 to 5 says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope. So now when I read born again, I'm realizing, oh, that's into the salvation of God, the wholeness of God being delivered from sin. To a living hope. And this is what the subject is the living hope in these next verses, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Verse 4, to an inheritance imperishable and undefiled, which will not fade away, and it is reserved in heaven for you. Okay. This inheritance is reserved in heaven for everyone who's believed on Jesus Christ and been born again and received that aspect of the salvation. Look, yeah, what Larry?

SPEAKER_00 20:52

Salvation, the initial salvation. Oh, sure.

SPEAKER_03 20:59

Right from the dead. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. This all rests upon it. It all rests upon his death and resurrection, every aspect of salvation. It all rests upon that foundation. So then verse five. Now watch this. This is where our word salvation is. We talking about us receiving this inheritance who are protected by the power of God. Wow, what does that mean to your life? Protected by the power of God. Okay, that's a sidebar that's worth traveling down, but we're gonna look at this other one first. So protected by the power of God through faith. Now look, for a salvation ready to be revealed at the last time. We've entered salvation through the new birth by believing on Jesus Christ. Okay, then there's a salvation that's ready to come at the last time. What is salvation? Deliverance, right? Being rescued from despair and destructions and put in a category where those have no more authority over us. Saints, a salvation to come is where we are no longer plagued by, infected by the sin that's in the world. That moment of time of Christ's return is going to be a salvation where we no longer experience sin out from us or uh unto us in any way. The salvation to come. It's the wholeness of God completely manifested. We look forward to that day. Anybody who has this knowledge of Christ's return and what's going to take place on that day and forward, we seriously look forward to that day because we no longer will be affected by any of these destructions in this world. Praise God for that. Well, so we looked at the salvation of the new birth, where we come into this deliverance from the destructions, right? Of the old man and what came through sin. Then we looked at the salvation that's ready to be revealed at the last time. We are in an ongoing salvation right now, and that is recorded in a few places, but in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 is one of these. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. So this is one of the nine letters, uh these letters penned by Paul as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ to make known what we've entered into through the new birth. The new birth is a doorway into something so fantastic we've only begun to realize what it is. Because it says we've only are partaking in a token of our inheritance right now. When Christ returns, we're going to see the full package, as we've seen a little bit already. But right now we're only experiencing a token and understanding a portion of the token. And that brings us to meetings like this, or to read our Bibles, or to pray to our Heavenly Father, that little portion of a token which we understand. Think about the whole package coming with Christ's return. It's going to be so fantastic, it's beyond our imaginations. The salvation we're in right now is an ongoing deliverance from the destructions of this world. That happens through the renewing of the mind as we grow in an understanding of what the word says and hold to that as our compass in life, then it causes more and more of salvation, deliverance unto wholeness. So, first, well, first of all, you got to see this letter is written to saints. It's in verse 2 of 1 Corinthians 1. This letter is written to the church of God, which is at Corinth. So if it's the church of God of the body of Christ that was then, then much that's in this letter is also regarding the church of God today that's in Christ, born again. Okay? Then it goes on to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus called saints. Well, those that are sanctified in Christ Jesus and called saints back then have similarities with those that are sanctified by Christ Jesus and called saints today. So we're looking for these similarities. We're going to read one in verse 18. Verse 18 of this chapter says, For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. That message of the cross, what? That was 2,000 years ago. Haven't things been updated? You know, an unbeliever might say, there's no need for update of truth. Truth is pure and perfect the way it is. It doesn't need updates and revisions like man's words. So this message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. That message of the cross is the power of God unto our salvation as it's an ongoing process, being saved. As we understand, grow in an understanding of and adherence to this message of the gospel, the the specifically the message of the cross, it is causing deliverance after deliverance into the wholeness of God. And this is why those that have learned the gospel and adhere to it, you look back at the trail of your life and you will start seeing, oh, I used to have this fear and that fear, and those are gone. Okay, I still have these other fears. Well, those are going bye-bye also. Because the salvation we are in continues to deliver us from those things into the wholeness of God. What are those things related to? Sins. Jesus Christ, the first use of salvation or the word saved, Jesus Christ, his name shall be Jesus because he will save his people from their sins. Every aspect of our salvation, the new birth to ongoing renewed mind salvation today, to the salvation to come, all rests upon Jesus Christ being the Savior of the world and coming to deliver mankind from sins. Every aspect of salvation. And we're we're right now we're just giving the outline of it. There's many layers to this, but we will continue to learn of our deliverance through the Savior Jesus Christ as days move closer to Christ's return, as we search out what we've been delivered from and what we've been delivered into through the Savior Jesus Christ. So yeah. Does anybody have anything to bring up tied into this? Yeah, yeah, thank you. Thank you for saying that. Thank you, Father.

SPEAKER_04 28:10

I would add the word. The word itself does its own work. Oh, when they receive it, they receive it for us in truth, the word of God, which does its work, which performs its work in you who believe. I just want to emphasize that the word that you have open in your lap, the Father, his word is laced in that. And the power of his word seeps into our person as we absorb it, whether we're aware of it or not. And that word does that work of purging. It can be rough, fall on our face. We won't always catch on to every deep spiritual concept. But we have confidence in that God's word doesn't fail. And when it stirs, go with the stirring, right? And try not to get hung up on the hard pot.

SPEAKER_03 29:33

So what I'm hearing and what you're saying, and uh Correct us if it's not right on target, but you said it's not uh however you put it, but it's not out of morality. It's not what I heard with that is it's not out of okay, as I try to better myself, then I will see more deliverance in my life. But it's you're saying it's the word that does that work. It's the same concept, but that Romans 116, where it says the gospel is the power of God, and then it says unto salvation. That's it, but that's what you're saying, right?

SPEAKER_01 30:06

That's why you're sitting there. But it's the power of God unto salvation, it's the gospel that is. Absolutely. Not a morality. I just wanted to emphasize that, right?

SPEAKER_04 30:16

I'm just gonna try to go through that on a learning curve, right? The father's already taken all that into account.

SPEAKER_03 30:24

Oh, Daniel, since you brought that up, let's look at Ephesians. Here to close this out because what Daniel brought up is so important to really that your hearts grasp it. It's not out of morality, it's not out of anything we do, it's all out of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and the written form of Christ is the Word. It's the Word, it's the gospel.

SPEAKER_02 30:49

That was communicated in Rome in 1 Corinthians 1.18. Yeah, yes, it was. That's right. So I mean, not I mean, and whatever you're gonna add here, but that was communicated, what you're saying, and what you're saying. The word of the cross is the power of God to us who are being saved. It's the right the word of the cross. That's true.

SPEAKER_04 31:07

It was right there, finished words, right? Not to interfere, but there's a temptation for all of us when we hear that. Somehow there's an impetus upon us to somehow apply that word of the cross with some sort of you know outward manifestation, and the word doesn't communicate that way. So a lot of times there can be a the adversary of the devil will come in and attempt to slander you and slander the credibility of the word because you're not seeing that outward manifestation when you apply. Sorry, that word of the cross. Please go ahead.

SPEAKER_03 31:38

So, what what you're hearing out of these two brothers is the mouth of God. Because listen, put the both these together. So Larry is emphasizing that it's by the power of the word, right? Which was in what what Dan what Daniel originally said. But Daniel's saying, look, it's not what I'm trying to say is it's not out of any good works you do, out of any morality that you do. Now, it's interesting that this, all this teaming together, we're gonna go to Ephesians chapter two. Now, watch these verses in light of what these two brothers said. Watch this. Starts in verse 8 of Ephesians 2. For by grace you are saved through faith, and that what? Not of yourselves. It is the gift. A gift is something that's given to you, not something that you earn or deserve. It's a gift. Okay, next verse, night, verse 9. Not as a result of works, to reemphasize the point in different words, so that no one may boast. Boast in what? The Lord? No, boast in your own works. There's no room in our salvation for boasting whatsoever, whether it's the new birth to our growth day by day, to the salvation to come. There's no room for our boasting in what we've done to acquire it. Now, the reason is look at the next verse, verse 10. Watch this. This is how the apostle Paul, working hand in hand with the Father, communicates this. For, which is an explanation word, for, because we are his workmanship, not our own, created in Christ Jesus, and it should read, upon good works. His works are what produced our salvation, not ours. But then it says, which God prepared beforehand, so that we would walk in them, in his good works, so that again, in this process of growth, there's no room for boasting in ourselves, like these two brothers have made clear. There's no room. Oh, like you're missing them up.

SPEAKER_04 33:39

Absolutely, right? But I throw it up there, because the flip side of boasting is condemnation, right? Because you've got to fall short. There's also another one. When you walk by the spirit, you don't fulfill the desires of the flesh. Absolutely. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:52

Yeah. You're walking in by the spirit, which is it in the context, it's called the date. The spirit of life in Christ Jesus. It's the life in Christ Jesus that we walk according to. Yeah, that's why I love that concept. It's communicating caution, but we don't have our own lives. We were given a new life, a different life. Yes, we came into this as human beings with a gender and a name and so on, but you received a new life. It's I like the concept of God life. You received his life or Kart's life. Yeah, it's different than this life, you know, it's why we're being educated to it. Right. So it's spirit life. It's because it's everything else's car life, right?

SPEAKER_03 34:40

Exactly. Yeah. Well, praise God for the power of his word, but it's useless if it never gets heard. Right? It's useless if we don't know it. That's why Jesus sent the apostles out as educators. He says in Mark 16, verse 15, preach the gospel. The Lord said to his apostles, preach the gospel to all creation. Why preach the gospel? The word preach means to just say what that gospel says. It's to parrot it. Just say what the gospel says so that everybody gets to hear it, because it is unto their salvation, unto their restoration. Just get the message out. Educate the people, he says. Educate them. So this is what genuine ministry work is founded on is on educating the saints as to what, well, first the ones that are ain'ts. They're not ain't saints yet, they're ain'ts. Then they get born again. Now they become saints. Then to get educated as to what we've entered through Christ, that doorway. Fantastic. So, well, good. I guess it's time to wrap this up. So praise God for the power of his word. And I'm I'm thankful to him that we get to feel and experience that power. It's not a promise of, oh, one day you'll experience the power when Christ returns. Oh no. It's moment to moment, day to day that he's arranged, and it's by the power of this word, which is Christ in the written form. So, Father, thank you for your word and the power of it. You are the beyond description, beyond articulation, fantastic. Father, you are so wonderful, so giving, so loving, so kind that you have restored us to wholeness. And when we were so undeserving, we were enemies of you as we read. And yet you restored us to wholeness anyway. Thanks, Father, for your great love that's behind everything that you do and giving us the privilege of experiencing it more and more, even this side of Christ's return. So thanks, Father, for all you've done and all you continue to do. And we praise you that you are the mastermind behind all of creation and all of eternity. Thanks for letting us in through Christ. Amen.