The Jewish
Scriptures glories in calling God Savior (Isa.
45:15, 21; Ps. 24:5; 27:1, 9; 62:2; 65:5, 79:7;
Micah 7:7; Hab. 3:18; Isa. 12:2; 17:10; 62:11).
The word “salvation” in the Old
Testament has the idea of God delivering His people
from circumstances in which they are powerless to
rescue themselves and in which they are doomed to
destruction without God’s help. Sometimes the
context is physical deliverance from enemies, and at
other times it is the rescue from sin and its
consequences. "Deliver me from
bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation;
Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your
righteousness" (Psalm 51:14).
There are also verses that
speak of eschatological deliverance in the day when
this present age comes to an end, and the wrath of
God breaks in upon the world (Isa. 25:9, 45:17,
46:13, 49:6, 52:10). The message is clear, “The Lord
God reigns” (52:7).
God rescues His people from
situations in which nothing but God can rescue them.
Salvation is God’s power to deliver and
protect in this life and in the age to come.
In the New Testament God is
also called Savior (Lk. 1:47).
“My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.”
He desires that all men be saved (1 Tim. 2:3,
4:10; Titus 2:10; 3:4; Jude 25).
The LORD God is the Savior God
who sent His Son Jesus Christ to demonstrate His
love and grace to a lost world (Matt. 1:21; Heb.
7:25; Lk 2:11; John 4:42; Acts 5:31; 13:23; Phil.
3:20; Titus 2:13, 3:6; II Peter 3:18). The apostle
John gives us an excellent summary, "We have seen
and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be
the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that
Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he
in God" (1 John 4:14-15).
The essential truth is Jesus
Christ delivers us from that which we cannot rescue
ourselves – sin and its eternal consequences.
To be a Christian and “be saved” is the same
thing. The Bible makes it abundantly clear there is
only one Savior. "And there is salvation in no one
else; for there is no other name under heaven that
has been given among men by which we must be saved”
(Acts 4:12). Every individual the
world over is in the need of salvation from sin.
"For the wages of sin is death, but the free
gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord" (Romans 6:23).
That is why the Father sent the
Son to step in between the wrath of God against sin
and all who trust in the atoning death of Jesus
Christ for their sins. Jesus
Christ took the blow of God’s wrath upon Himself and
died for the sinner. His death
paid the full penalty for our sin.
Moreover, God has credited to
the account of the believer the full righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
believer in Jesus Christ is now seen as being
perfectly acceptable before God in Christ.
"He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our
behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of
God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).
We have now been made “accepted in the Beloved”
(Eph. 1:6). God has fully
delivered us once and for all from the penalty of
sin. It has been dealt with in
full.
But that is not the only thing
Jesus has done for us. The
salvation He gives also delivers us from the power
of sin. The power of sin to
enslave us has been broken. Christ through the
presence of the Holy Spirit now lives in the
believer, and He gives us the power and
determination to live a holy life.
The power of sin has now been broken.
It is still true, however, "If we say that we
have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the
truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8). Sin will always be
with the Christian so long as we are in this life on
the earth. However, we do not
live defeated lives (Gal. 5:16). One day Jesus
Christ will remove the presence of sin from the
believer forever. He will save us
even from the presence of sin because the day is
coming when He will take us from this world into
heaven to be with Him forever. We
shall be like Him throughout eternity (1 Jn. 3:2).
Saved by grace through faith
from the penalty, the power and the presence of sin
will be our song to God our Savior.
Selah!
Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006
Anyone is free to use this material and distribute it, but it may not be sold under any circumstances whatsoever without the author's written consent.
Unless otherwise noted "Scripture quotations taken from the NASB."
"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE" © Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://www.bible.org/. All rights reserved.
Wil is a graduate of William Carey University, B. A.; New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Th. M.; and Azusa Pacific University, M. A. He has pastored in Panama, Ecuador and the U. S, and served for over 20 years as missionary in Ecuador and Honduras. He had a daily expository Bible teaching ministry head in over 100 countries from 1972-2005. He continues to seek opportunities to be personally involved in world missions. Wil and his wife Ann have three grown daughters. He currently serves as a Baptist pastor and teaches seminary extension courses in Ecuador.
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