WE WANT ALL TO BE SAVED…

What Does “Saved” Mean?

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.   God desires the salvation of all men.

1.    1 Timothy 2:3-4

 

For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

 

2.    It was for this purpose that God sent His Son Jesus Christ into the world (John 3:17).

 

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

 

B.   Jesus wanted all men to be saved.  Therefore, He sent His disciples out with a message that would accomplish His desire (Mark 16:15-16).

 

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.  He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned.

 

C.   One of Paul’s deep longings was for the nation of Israel to accept the Christ, obey the gospel, and be saved (Rom. 10:1)

 

Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.

 

D.   If salvation is the desire of the Father, and of the Son, and of apostles like Paul, shouldn’t it be our desire as well?  Absolutely.  We want all to be saved.

 

E.   But, what does “saved” mean?

1.    Many in the world do not really know what we mean when we tell them we want them to be saved.

2.    Question:  How would you describe to someone what is means to be saved?

 

I.             TO BE SAVED MEANS THAT YOU ARE NO LONGER LOST

 

A.   The Bible tells us that men cannot find their way all by themselves

1.    Jeremiah 10:23

 

O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself:  it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.

 

2.    Romans 3:10-12a

 

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:  there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.  They are all gone out of the way…

 

B.   Those who are not saved often do not realize they are lost.

1.    Oh, they know their way around the world.

2.    They, however, do not know the way to the world to come.

3.    They wander in this life having no clue whatsoever about the state of their soul in the hereafter.

C.   When a person is saved, he is found.

1.    The prodigal was lost, but came to himself and returned to his father.  His father’s words were:  “For this my son…was lost, and is found” (Luke 15:24).

2.    When children are lost, search teams go out searching for them.

a.    The child wanders aimlessly.

The child becomes cold and hungry.

The child is fearful for his life.

The child grows very weak.

The child is subject to the elements and to predators.

He wonders:  “Where is home?”  “Where is mom and dad?”

b.    Then, someone on the search teams finds the child. 

1)    He is no longer lost.

2)    He is no longer wandering.

3)    He is no longer fearful.

4)    He knows exactly where he is going when he is put in that car.

3.    Some people know they are lost.  When they are found, they rejoice.

Others do not realize they are lost.  However, when they are found, they, too, rejoice because they come to understand just how lost they really were.

 

II.           TO BE SAVED MEANS THAT YOU EXPERIENCE THE FULNESS OF GOD’S LOVE

 

A.   There is a God who exists beyond the sight of the human eye.  Three times, the Bible refers to God as being invisible (Col. 1:15; 1 Tim. 1:17; Heb. 11:27).

 

Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever.  Amen.

 

B.   This invisible God has not left Himself without witness (Ps. 19:1).

 

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

 

C.   This God created man on the sixth day of Creation (Gen. 1:26-27). 

1.    He placed him in a pristine garden (Gen. 2:8).

2.    He longed to be in holy fellowship with man.

3.    But, man forsook the terms of God’s covenant (Gen. 2:16-17; 3:6).

4.    Man’s sin, however, did not negate God’s love for man.

 

D.   Instead of responding in wrath and vengeance, God responded in love by providing the perfect sacrifice for sin, Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:8-10).

 

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.  For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled by the death of his Son; much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

 

1.    We were loved while we were sinners.

2.    Christ died by shedding His blood to justify us.

3.    That death saves us.

4.    We were enemies, but we have been reconciled.

5.    By means of death, we are saved.

 

E.   With these thoughts in mind, consider the next verse, Romans 5:11.

 

And not only so, but we also joy in God through our LORD Jesus Christ, by whom we have received the atonement.

 

1.    Once a person experiences the atoning effects of Jesus death, he then experiences “joy in God through our LORD Jesus Christ.”

2.    He now understands and appreciates the wonderful love that God has for him.

3.    Paul describes it as “his great love wherewith he loved us” (Eph. 2:4).

 

III.         TO BE SAVED IS TO BE FORGIVEN

 

A.   When we sin, we violate God’s holy Word.

When we sin, we transgress His commandments.

When we sin, we turn from God’s law.

When we sin, we show contempt for the Scriptures.

When we sin, we cease trusting God’s will for our lives.

 

B.   Sin is an assault against God and all that is holy, righteous, and good (Jam. 4:4b).

 

…whosoever will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

 

C.   But, if you are saved, you are forgiven (Col. 2:13).

 

And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses.

 

1.    The word “forgiven” means “to be pardoned.”

2.    It involves being released from the sentence of death.

3.    It means that your sins are no longer recorded in the book of our life.

4.    It means that the slate of sin is wiped clean.

 

D.   It might be difficult for us to truly appreciate forgiveness.  In Romans 4:7-8, Paul proclaims that it is a blessing.

 

Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.  Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

 

IV.         TO BE SAVED IS TO BE FREE FROM GOD’S WRATH

 

A.   The penalty for sin must be paid.

 

B.   That penalty involves the wrath, the righteous indignation, of a holy God who cannot tolerate sin (Rom. 1:18).

 

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.

 

C.   This wrath is powerful and overwhelming.

1.    Ask those destroyed in the flood.

2.    Ask those who perished in Sodom and Gomorrah.

3.    Ask the children of Israel who died in the wilderness.

4.    Ask the Ten Tribes of the Northen Kingdom.

5.    Ask the Two Tribes of the Southern Kingdom.

6.    Ask the inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.

7.    Ask the seven churches of Asia.

D.   In the last day, God’s wrath will be poured out like an inferno on all who are lost and fail to obey the gospel (2 Thess. 1:7-9).

 

And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our LORD Jesus Christ;  who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.

 

E.   However, the saved will be saved from that wrath (Rom. 5:9).

 

Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

 

V.           TO BE SAVED IS TO HAVE HOPE

 

A.   Hope is defined as “deep desire coupled with earnest expectation.”

 

B.   What hope does a non-Christian have? 

1.    The only lasting hope that he has is that one day he will die.

2.    Is there any joy in such a hope?  I live my brief life.  I make a small indention in my little corner of the world.  Then, I die.

3.    Who in their right mind would say:  “I can’t wait!”

 

C.   When a person is saved, he has the “one hope” mentioned by Paul in Ephesians 4:4.

1.    It does not involve death.  It involves life.

2.    It does not involve the grave.  It involves a mansion.

3.    It does not involve rottenness and corruption.  It involves incorruption and immortality.

4.    It does not involve an end.  It involves continued existence forever and ever.

 

D.   This hope enables us to rejoice.

1.    Romans 5:2

 

By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

 

2.    Romans 12:12

 

Rejoicing in hope…

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.   Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could immediately inject into the mind of another what it means when we say:  “I want you to be saved”?

1.    I want you to no longer be lost.

2.    I want you to experience the fulness of God’s love.

3.    I want you to be forgiven.

4.    I want you to escape the wrath of God.

5.    I want you to live your life in hope.

 

B.   In Revelation 22:24, John writes these words about the holy city, the New Jerusalem:  “And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it…”

 

C.   It is our desire that all men be saved and experience that wonderful abode.