WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE SAVED? Part 3

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WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE SAVED?

In-depth Three-Part Series! Part 3 of 3

Justified, Sanctified, Reconciled, and Saved (Part 3 of 3)

In part 1, we focused on the indisputable fact that all humans are born with a sinful nature that dominates our unregenerated lives (Romans 3:23). In part 2, we learned that Jesus is the only Savior who can rescue and save all who repent and turn to God (Acts 4:12). Now, in part 3, we will concentrate on the specific terms of salvation under the New Covenant (New Testament), established in the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁰ In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you (Luke 22:19-20)

The word covenant (Gr. diathēkē) means an agreement, contract, or promise made exclusively by God to all humanity. Christ is the sacrificial lamb of the Covenant. He is also our substitute on the cross, paying our debt to sin and thereby freeing us from sin’s consequences. He is the mediator of this New Covenant, which was initiated in his life-giving blood. He is the High Priest of the New Covenant who ascended to His Father with his own sacrificial body and blood to satisfy the requirements of God’s law. He is our intercessor and advocate (1 John 2:1) who sympathizes and compassionately understands our weakness to fall short and miss the mark (Hebrews 4:15-16).

For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.(Hebrews 9:15)

This New Covenant offers many benefits, but among the greatest of these is avoiding the Judgment fires of hell and spending eternity in the presence of God. None of this would be possible without God’s great love in sending his son, Jesus, to rescue us and save us from our sins. God has already done everything He needs to do; He is now waiting for us to respond to the invitation to enter into His covenant relationship. We must come to terms with who we are, rotten to the core sinners on our way to the judgment fires of hell. If we truly turn to God in true biblical repentance with godly sorrow, here’s what God will do according to His Covenant.

Justified: God Will Justify Us

The term justified (Gr. dikaioō) means to be declared righteous by God. Without being declared righteous, we could never become righteous on our own because of our sinful nature and propensity for sin. We would be unacceptable (disqualified) for heaven and find ourselves cast into the eternal fires of judgment. Therefore, God credits us with righteousness when we believe and place our faith in Christ, who took our place on the cross. This righteousness is a gift we receive by faith. It is imputed (credited) to all followers of Christ. Part of our spiritual regeneration, being born again, is that we become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus through faith. The Apostle Paul tells the Corinthian Church:

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:22-24)

Our active faith connects us to God the Father through Jesus. When we experience godly sorrow, repent, and completely surrender our lives to Christ, God justifies us and declares us righteous. Justification and righteousness are accessed by faith in the finished work of Christ. Do you believe this? If so, you can be saved.

God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— ²⁶ he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:25-26)

No one can be made righteous through their own efforts. Sinless perfection is not possible. No one is worthy of salvation or deserves God’s forgiveness. It is through Christ’s finished work on the cross that we are declared “not guilty” of sin, and therefore, the ungodly are declared righteous by God the Father. 

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. ⁵ However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. (Romans 4:4-5)

When the revelation of what we are talking about truly reveals itself to you, your heart and mind will be filled with overwhelming gratitude and thankfulness toward God, surpassing human words.

You have never seen Him but you love Him. You cannot see Him now but you are putting your trust in Him. And you have joy so great that words cannot tell about it. (1 Peter 1:8)

Sanctified: God Will Sanctify Us

The term sanctified (Gr. hagiazō) means to be separated from the profane and dedicated to God, to be made holy, cleansed, washed clean, and set apart by the Holy Spirit as God’s separate people. This is our position in Christ. It is our state of being. We now belong to God (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Therefore, sanctify yourself (separate yourself from ungodliness) to live a holy life, which is a lifelong progressive journey of becoming Christlike in all our ways. The final stage of sanctification is when your body dies along with the sinful nature of your flesh, and you are translated into the heavens. At the resurrection of the dead in Christ, we will be raised in an incorruptible body. Then you will be fully sanctified and glorified— body, soul, and spirit. (1st Corinthians 15: 50-54).

Our position or the way God views us in Christ is washed clean of sin and separated from our former sinful lives. Experientially, we fall short of our sanctified position in Christ, even though the power and dominance of our sinful nature has been crucified with Christ and considered dead; under certain circumstances, it seems to be very much alive. Nevertheless, as sanctified believers, we possess the power to say no to sin and yes to righteousness.

Our Progression toward Christlikeness is a lifelong, daily process. The Holy Spirit teaches and empowers us to walk in the Spirit and not after our carnal nature (sinful nature). We are to set our minds on the things above, the things of God, focusing on daily prayer, the Scriptures, and being filled with the Spirit.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. ¹³ For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. (Romans 8:12-13)

Our Glorification is the final stage of complete sanctification, never to sin again. The Apostle Paul tells us that to be absent from our body is to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8). So when we die, our body goes to the grave, and our soul and spirit go to be with the Lord. At an unknown future date, Christ appears in the clouds (the rapture of the church), and the dead in Christ experience a physical resurrection from the grave with new, incorruptible, and glorified bodies.

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. ⁵¹ Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, ⁵² In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. ⁵³ For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. ⁵⁴ So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. ⁵⁵ O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? ⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 15:50-58 KJV)

When officiating at a funeral service, one of my graveside scripture passages is 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. I read these verses to encourage the Christians and educate the non-Christians.

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. ¹⁴ For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. ¹⁵ According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

Reconciled: God Will Reconcile Us

The term reconciled (Gr.katallassō) means restored to God’s favor, to a restored relationship with the Father through Christ our Savior. We are redeemed and purchased with the precious blood of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:18-19).

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

We could never go to where the Lord was, so the Lord came to us, and he purchased us with his body and blood to restore us to God the Father, Himself, and the Holy Spirit. We are now in the body of Christ, restored to a glorious relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Saved: God Will Save Us

So what does it mean to be saved?

The term saved (Gr. sozo) characterizes being rescued (saved) from the punishment and penalty of eternal separation from God, awaiting all who reject Christ as Savior and Lord. The foundation of salvation rests upon the finished work of Jesus Christ. There can be no salvation apart from the righteous requirements of God’s law being satisfied (Romans 8:3-4, Romans 6:23). Jesus bore the consequences of our sin, our punishment, our pain, and our place on the cross. Jesus was our substitute. With His innocent, sinless body and blood, He paid our debt to sin. It was not His cross but our cross upon which he was crucified. How can it be that God would die for me?

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. ⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:5-6)

In his Epistles to the church at Galatia, the Apostle Paul shares a spiritual truth that every believer needs to understand. In God’s view, when Christ died, we were present with him on the cross. When he died, our old sinful person was crucified in Christ.

For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin— (Romans 6:6)

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

The fact that we are guilty sinners deserving of Hell’s punishment is indisputable. To disagree with this is to take the position that Christ’s crucifixion was unnecessary because you are not that sinful or bad. Did Jesus make a mistake giving His life on your behalf? Was Jesus unnecessarily crucified? It’s ridiculous to entertain such thoughts. We are sinners, and without the finished work of Christ, there is no hope of being saved. Without Christ dying for our sins, we would face eternal separation from God in a place called Hell. When you understand who you are, and who Christ is, and what He’s done, how could you ever walk away, walk past, or ignore Him?

It is by faith in God’s word and what Christ accomplished on the cross that we become (receive) the righteousness of God in Christ our Lord (2 Corinthians 5:21). For it is by God’s grace (God’s undeserved favor) that we are saved. By faith, we trust our lives to Christ, our Savior and Lord, for complete and total reconciliation (restored to a right relationship) to God (Ephesians 2:8).

Jesus came to declare the “good news!” The Scriptures teach us in 1 Corinthians 6:11: You were washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

We are justified, sanctified, reconciled, and saved to God through Jesus. Consider what the Apostle Paul told the church at Rome:

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! ¹⁰ For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! ¹¹ Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:9-11)

Conclusion

In summary, we are all sinners in need of salvation. Only Christ can save you from your sin. We must turn to God with true, genuine, godly sorrow and repentance. Jesus has already demonstrated His love by dying in our place. We must believe with all our hearts and confess with our mouths that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior, and we will be born again and saved.

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